Author: ramblingmads

Summer can be murder out on the sun-scorched Yorkshire Fells.

When the body of eighteen-year-old Tyler Prasad is found up on lonely Skye Moss, Detectives Leo Donovan and Shan Young are called in to investigate.

Tyler lies dead in a bone-dry ditch. His handsome face shattered in a brutal attack that leaves Donovan and Young baffled.
They dig into Tyler’s deepest secrets, following a twisty trail that leads straight to Patefield Grange, a luxury country-house retreat across the moors.
The well-heeled guests — gathered for a controversial grouse hunt in the sweltering summer heat — seem respectable on the surface.

But, beneath the façade, dark secrets smoulder. It’s only a question of which was worth killing for.

As temperatures soar, so does the pressure for Donovan and Shan to crack this impossible case.

Before tensions at the Grange ignite, and the body count rises again . . .

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Cath Staincliffe is a best-selling, award-winning novelist, radio playwright and creator of ITV’s hit show Blue Murder. Cath has been shortlisted for the CWA Daggers five times, winning 2012’s Short Story Dagger. She won the WGBB Best Radio Drama Award in 2019. Cath’s
standalone titles describe the human impact of crime on ordinary families, giving voice to victims, the bereaved, survivors and witnesses.
Cath is a reading junkie who loves hill-walking or pottering in the garden. Her new detective series features chalk and cheese duo Leo Donovan and Shan Young in the stunning setting of
the Yorkshire Dales.

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My thoughts: This was a really gripping and quite shocking read. A young man is murdered and his body dumped in a ditch, found by the ubiquitous dog walker. He’s an environmental activist, there for a local art protest camp, but he’s been shot and beaten, his phone and wallet stolen.

Tracing his path to a local grouse shoot (a horrible, cruel and quite frankly pointless “sport”) at a former country house, there are frankly, too many gun toting suspects. But someone isn’t telling the truth. Then another person is shot and the shooter goes on the run across the Fells.

Tragedy follows, and the duo of Leo and Shan are in terrible danger as they pursue their suspect. Summer out on the fells can be dangerous, a single spark can be lethal. Can they survive long enough to catch their killer?

Things on the home front are rocky too, with both detectives dealing with tricky relationships. Their brushes with death help put things in perspective, but you’d hope you wouldn’t need to go that far for some clarity.

I was hooked from the first page, Leo and Shan make a great team and this case is full of twists and turns, becoming more complex as they investigate.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

An iconic bridge…🌉
Private investigator, Dan Armstrong, lives and works in Florence and knows the world famous Ponte Vecchio well. Usually a magnet for tourists, on this occasion it is the scene of an unexplained death,
and Dan finds himself involved in the intriguing case.

An uncompromising man… 😠
Dan quickly discovers that the victim, an elderly jeweller, was every bit as hard as the diamonds he sold in his shop on the bridge. Few people liked him, not even his adult children, and his business
dealings look murkier than the waters of the River Arno. Dan suspects more secrets lie hidden…perhaps inside the massive safe in the old man’s luxury villa…

A complex case.💎🔍
As the evidence begins to mount up, so too do the suspects with their different motives. With a fortune in gold bullion and precious stones involved, Dan thinks the only way to catch the killer is to lay a trap, but might he be caught in the killer’s sights? Fortunately, he has Oscar, his canine wingman at his side, always eager to prove that he’s as good as gold. 🐶

Can Dan and Oscar sniff out the killer’s tracks or will this case be a bridge too far?

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T. A. Williams is the bestselling author of the Armstrong and Oscar cosy mystery series. Trevor studied languages at university and lived and worked in Italy for eight years, returning to England
with his wife in 1972. Trevor and his wife now live in Devon.

Facebook: @TrevorWilliamsBooks
Twitter: @TAWilliamsBooks
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Bookbub profile: @trevorwilliams3

My thoughts: We return to Italy with another case for one of my favourite detectives, Oscar, and his human assistant, Dan. This time, a jewellery merchant has been killed in his shop on the famous Ponte Vecchio in Florence. It’s been made to look like a suicide, although very clumsily, and the police are suspicious that the man’s estranged children are all in town to meet with their father for the first time in years.

But of course, it’s not that simple. The victim was involved in some dodgy dealings, and it soon becomes apparent his death is connected to those of two asylum seekers. There also seems to be something strange going on at the police headquarters and Virgilio asks Dan’s help in quietly looking into it.

Once more, Oscar’s excellent nose for rooting out the bad guys saves the day, whatever would Dan do without him?

I love this series and it goes from strength to strength, this was a really interesting addition, exploring the dark underbelly of the beautiful city on the Arno, and the lives of those at the bottom of the social order, who are easily forgotten. Dan makes a new connection and even has a go at treading the boards, I found Zebra the theatre director very intriguing, I hope we see her again.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.