Tag: crime fiction

They say human life is the most precious thing. The Collector doesn’t agree.

When world renowned archaeologist Philip Carlton suddenly and unexpectedly commits suicide, the police are called to investigate. Heading up the investigation is Detective Lucy O’Hara, a Forensic Linguist – and she immediately sees something is wrong with the suicide note. In her gut, she knows this was cold-blooded murder.

Battling sceptical superiors and the Irish establishment, Lucy digs for the truth and begins to uncover a shadowy trade in ancient artifacts led by a mysterious figure known only as ‘The Collector’.

As Lucy works to uncover his identity, she soon realises she is up against a ruthless mastermind who is systematically eliminating anyone who might lead her to him. But Lucy won’t give up and soon The Collector turns his attention to her…

The Collector – the first in a gripping new series featuring Detective Lucy O’Hara.

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John Maher has published five novels and a collection of short stories. He has won national awards for radio play and short story with RTE in Ireland. His novel, The Luck Penny, was shortlisted for debut novel on BBC Radio 5.

A former teacher and lecturer, he holds a Phd from the School of Oriental and African Studies (London).

He lives in a small Irish village, between the Atlantic and the Irish Sea, from which he steals away, from time to time, to visit the world outside the island.

THE COLLECTOR will be his first novel published with Inkubator Books.

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My thoughts:

This was a fast paced crime ride as detective and forensic linguist Lucy O’Hara unravels what at first glance seems to be an unfortunate suicide but turns out to be part of an international conspiracy masterminded by the mysterious Collector.

Gripping and enjoyable, I look forward to the next book in the series as Lucy is an interesting character and I want to see how forensic linguistics can be applied to other crimes.

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

A good police force is one that catches more crooks than it employs’ – Sir Robert Mark

A clever, accomplished Cambridge graduate with a good job and an attentive lover, Imogen Lester seems to have the world at her feet. But when her parents are murdered abroad while working for the Diplomatic Service, she is suddenly thrown headlong into a murky world of espionage and organised crime.
When she is charged with drug trafficking, even Ben Schroeder’s skills may not be enough to save her – unless a shadowy figure from Ben’s past can survive long enough to unmask a web of graft and corruption…

Peter Murphy graduated from Cambridge University and spent a career in the law, as an advocate, teacher, and judge. He has worked both in England and the United States, and served for several years as counsel at the Yugoslavian War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague. He has written eight novels: two political thrillers about the US presidency, Removal and Test of Resolve; six historical/legal thrillers featuring Ben Schroeder, A Higher Duty, A Matter for the Jury, And Is there Honey Still for Tea?, The Heirs of Owain Glyndwr, Calling Down the Storm and One Law for the Rest of Us. His new series features Judge Walden who will return in 2019 with a fresh series of cases. He lives in Cambridgeshire.

My thoughts:

This was really interesting, rather than being a spy thriller or even a police procedural as I thought it might be, it was instead a clever legal drama with elements of the spy thriller and police procedural, a really enjoyable mix of genres.

Drawing on his extensive legal background Peter Murphy has created a complex and compelling plot, travelling from the sitting rooms of Hampstead to pre-perestroika Yugoslavia to the Central Criminal Court at the Old Bailey and the pubs of Soho and the West End.

With twists and turns aplenty, dead bodies dropping at the most inconvenient moments and dodgy cops happy to lie under oath, the reader is never quite sure what’s going to happen next. Very satisfying.

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

Hella Mauzer has just been fired by the police and is now a reluctant private investigator. Escaping the mind-numbing routine of shadowing unfaithful spouses, Hella finds herself at the centre of an investigation of multiple murders.

It all begins when a prostitute is found floating upside down in Helsinki Harbour. Not exactly a high priority case for the Helsinki police, so homicide chief Jokela passes the job to his former colleague Hella. It’s beginning to look like a serial killer is at work when another lady of the night narrowly escapes being driven into the harbour, handcuffed to the car by her client.

What begins like a taut whodunit turns into something more tantalizing as Hella turns her attention to different suspects, often to the consternation of the fascinating Inspector Mustonen, charismatic, ambitious and trying desperately to live up to the standards of his high-maintenance wife.

Katja Ivar grew up in Russia and the U.S. She travelled the world extensively, from Almaty to Ushuaia, from Karelia to Kyushu, before finally settling in Paris where she lives with her husband and three children. She received a B.A. in Linguistics and a master’s degree in Contemporary History from Sorbonne University. Evil Things was her debut novel.

My thoughts:

This was a clever tale of murder and mystery in 1950s Finland, with a female PI doing her best to solve crimes and keep her business afloat.

At a time when women in the UK were only just about being allowed to join the police, seeing a female detective leading the charge is pretty interesting, makes a nice change from most historical crime novels with their male protagonists.

The writing is crisp and the plot tight, the supposedly straight forward death of a prostitute goes somewhere completely different and twists and turns around the city as Hella and Inspector Mustonen try to solve the mystery.

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

“You have one hour to live.”

Those are the only words on the phone call. Then they hang up. Surely, a prank? A mistake? A wrong number? Anything but the chilling truth… That someone is watching, waiting, working to take your life in one hour.

But why?

The job of finding out falls to DI Helen Grace: a woman with a track record in hunting killers. However, this is a case where the killer seems to always be one step ahead of the police and the victims.

With no motive, no leads, no clues – nothing but pure fear – an hour can last a lifetime…

My thoughts:

I read the first Helen Grace book a while ago so I was vaguely familiar with the characters, but this can easily be read as a standalone.

A clever, twisted plot, a game played by a cruel and determined killer, and no immediately obvious links between the victims.

Arlidge is an accomplished writer and knows how to keep a reader successfully hooked as the detective and her team come ever closer to the truth.

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

A freak accident. An impossible choice. But what was…

THE FIRST LIE

When Paul Reeve comes home to find his wife in the bathroom, bloodied and shaking, his survival instinct kicks in.

Alice never meant to kill the intruder. She was at home, alone, and terrified. She doesn’t deserve to be blamed for it. Covering up the murder is their only option.

But the crime eats away at the couple and soon they can’t trust anyone – even one another…

My thoughts:This was a lot more twisted and complicated than it first appeared. As the secrets and lies stack up and the mental states of both Paul and Alice appear to deteriorate things become more complex and a conspiracy comes to light.*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour but all opinions remain my own.

She’ll care for you. Until you’re dead.

Maureen might be getting on in years but she’s fiercely independent and smart as a whip.

But when she falls and injures her ankle, her daughter Alva is convinced Maureen can no longer take care of herself and is determined to get her some help – which comes in the shape of local caregiver, Dolores.

Maureen tries to say no, she’s fine on her own, but it’s not so easy to get rid of Dolores. She seems to be everywhere, poking her nose into every corner of Maureen’s life, implying to Alva that her mother is getting senile and will soon need constant care.

Maureen feels as if she’s under siege 24/7. And she knows in her heart that there’s something not right about Dolores… But no one will listen.

Then one of Dolores’s other charges dies in mysterious circumstances and Maureen realises she may be fighting for a lot more than her independence.

Because once Dolores has you in her care, death may seem like a sweet release.

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Jackie Morrissey lives in County Dublin and worked for many years in adult education. Her job took her into colleges and prisons all around Ireland, and introduced her to a range of interesting people. She loved the buzz of teaching, but came to hate the tyranny of correcting assignments. She has written throughout her adult life and has had many short stories published, one of which won the Molly Keane Short Story award. She has also been a regular contributor of short pieces for the Irish radio program Sunday Miscellany. About four years ago, she took the decision to write full time. The psychological thriller Before I Die is her first published novel.

My thoughts:

This is something I genuinely worry about – the carer who’s out for whatever they can get. As someone with mental health issues, married to a disabled person I fear being left, like the elderly victims in this book, with someone who presents a different face to the outside world.

That being said, most people in the caring professions are nice and would never turn into Dolores.

I liked that the heroine is an older woman – Maureen is in the Miss Marple mold of a sleuth who many overlook due to her age.

There were some genuinely chilling moments and a satisfying denouement, a very impressive debut novel all round.

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

A beautiful young social-media star goes missing.

But who took her?

When controversial internet celebrity Violet Armstrong vanishes in the middle of a scorching Peak District summer, the case sparks a media frenzy.

The clock is ticking for DI Meg Dalton and her team to find Violet before online threats explode into real-life violence. And then the blood and hair of a young woman are found in an empty pig trough at the local abattoir…

The more Meg finds out about this unnerving case, the more she becomes convinced that something very, very bad has happened to Violet. With temperatures rising and the press demanding answers, the case is about to take a terrifying turn…

My thoughts:

One of the grimmest things I’ve seen on TV was a drama where human remains were found in a pig pen. Pigs will eat literally anything, including each other.

Which is why I was a bit perturbed by this starting at a pig farm – disposal by pig being very efficient.

Roz Watkins is a cracking writer and this was a gripping read, her characters are believable and realistic, the Peak District a backdrop to twists and turns taking in animal rights campaigners, social media and farmers.

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

As the Hughes family celebrate bonfire night, a terrible accident leaves the garden shed in flames – and father and grandfather Thomas trapped inside.
Tragic though it is, Thomas’s death passes without suspicion – until a local journalist makes accusations of a police cover-up in the press. WPC Trudy Loveday is sent to investigate, and asks coroner Clement Ryder to help.
But the more questions the two ask the less clear the case seems. There’s no evidence of foul play, and yet the dead man’s family are obviously hiding something. Then there are Thomas’s dubious business practices – was someone out for revenge?
All Trudy and Clement know for sure is that everyone is lying – and that they must find the truth…

My thoughts:

Families are strange things – a many headed beast made of people who may not like each other but have a connection regardless.

This family is full of secrets, hatred and anger. Patriarch Thomas is a cruel man and his death isn’t exactly mourned.

The pairing of Loveday and Clement is an interesting one, the young PC and older coroner make a unique team, combining their skills and knowledge.

I enjoyed this book, in a way it reminded me of a Golden Age locked room mystery – there was only a few suspects and witnesses, it took place in one garden. A clever concept for a police procedural style novel.

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

What could be so bad that a six-year-old stops talking?

Domestic violence isn’t only perpetrated by men. Ask Paul Jackson who is on remand, accused of stabbing his wife, Michelle. As he reveals his reality behind their troubled marriage, it seems that only his six-year-old knows what really happened. But she’s trapped in her own world of silence.

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Maria Frankland’s life began at 40 when she escaped an unhappy marriage and began making a living from her own writing and becoming a teacher of creative writing.
The rich tapestry of life with all its turbulent times has enabled her to pour experience, angst and lessons learned into the writing of her novels and poetry.
She recognises that the darkest places can exist within family relationships and this is reflected in the domestic thrillers she writes.
She is a ‘born ‘n’ bred’ Yorkshirewoman, a mother of two and has recently found her own ‘happy ever after’ after marrying again.
Still in her forties, she is now going to dedicate the rest of her working life to writing books and inspiring other writers to also achieve their dreams too!

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My thoughts:

Domestic violence is often portrayed as only happening to women, but increasingly men are coming forward as victims too. When I worked at a charity that supported victims of crime, there was an increasing awareness of this fact and more organisations are being established to support these men.

However women are more likely to be victims and this fact makes proving them as perpetrators harder. Partly because men are often physically larger and stronger and also we don’t believe they can be victims – we live in a society that insists that men be strong and in charge.

This then is a timely story of a complicated and troubled marriage, with a jealous and domineering wife and a husband who tries to keep things together.

When Michelle dies of a suspicious stab wound and Paul is charged with her murder, the secrets in their marriage come to light. Their daughter, Emily, is six and so traumatised by witnessing the event that she stops speaking – a condition called selective mutism, often developed by children in stressful situations (I once worked with a little girl who had this and it is very sad).

The bulk of the plot takes place in the courtroom where Paul faces a murder charge. Revealing the past through witness statements and evidence is an interesting device, offering some insight into the way legal arguments are set forward.

There’s a very unexpected twist at the end too (no spoilers).

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