Tag: crime fiction

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: The Heights – Parker Bilal*

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What starts with the gruesome discovery of a severed head on the Tube soon becomes personal for former DI Cal Drake.

After one betrayal too many, Drake has abandoned the police force to become a private detective.He’s teamed up with enigmatic forensic pathologist Dr Rayhgana Crane and it’s not long before the case leads them to the darkest corners of the nation’s capital and in dangerously close contact with an international crime circuit, a brutal local rivalry and a very personal quest for retribution. With the murder victim tied to Drake’s past, his new future is about to come under threat.

Parker Bilal is the pseudonym of Jamal Mahjoub, the critically acclgaimed literary novelist. He is the author of the Makana Investigations series, the third of which, The Ghost Runner, was longlisted for the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award. The Divinities, the first in his Crane and Drake London crime series, was published in 2019. Born in London, he has lived in a number of places, including the UK, Denmark, Spain and, currently, the Netherlands.

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My thoughts:

A gruesome discovery on the Tube, of a woman’s head in an IKEA bag, kicks off several investigations. Who was she? Is she connected with the case that derailed former DI Drake’s career?

Meanwhile Crane and Drake have been hired to find a missing young woman, but all is not as it seems. Did she really get abducted by her uncle and taken back to the Middle East or is her aristocratic author boyfriend hiding something?

As the pair hurtle around London following various clues and red herrings, they deal with suspicious coppers and dodgy gangsters, uncovering more than they planned.

This was a really fast paced, gripping thriller, complete with untrustworthy and unsavoury figures, both criminals and police. A few innocent people get entangled along the way, but justice is served as the former police detective and criminal psychologist run the guilty parties to ground.

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

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Fifty Fifty – Steve Cavanagh*

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Alexandra Avellino has just found her father’s mutilated body, and needs the police right away. She believes her sister killed him, and that she is still in the house with a knife.

Sofia Avellino has just found her father’s mutilated body and needs the police right away. She believes her sister, Alexandra did it, and that she is still in the house, locked in the bathroom.

Both women are to go on trial at the same time. A joint trial in front of one jury.

But one of these women is lying. One of them is a murderer. Sitting in a jail cell, about to go on trial with her sister for murder, you might think that this is the last place she expected to be.

You’d be wrong.

My thoughts:

Eddie Flynn is back and with his most complicated case yet. Two sisters accuse each other of murdering their father, but who is the real killer?

Flynn represents one in a court case, there’s evidence that could go each way, and DNA’s no help – they’re identical twins.

As always Steve Cavanagh keeps us guessing right up till the last page and then throws in a few extra twists, just to completely fox his readers.

Brilliant as always, gripping and suspenseful, with a dash of humour for good measure.

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

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Truth Be Told – Kia Abdullah*

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ARE YOU READY TO START THIS CONVERSATION?

Kamran Hadid feels invincible. He attends Hampton school, an elite all-boys boarding school in London, he comes from a wealthy family, and he has a place at Oxford next year. The world is at his feet. And then a night of revelry leads to a drunken encounter and he must ask himself a horrific question.

With the help of assault counsellor, Zara Kaleel, Kamran reports the incident in the hopes that will be the end of it. But it’s only the beginning…

Powerful, explosive and important, Truth Be Told is a contemporary courtroom drama that vividly captures today’s society. You will not stop thinking about it for a long time to come.

My thoughts:

This author seems to specialise in plots where secular society and the criminal justice system butt the Muslim community. She examines not only the crime and its impact, but the shame and anger that accompany it, the sometimes toxic masculinity that families see as traditional.

Her previous book, Take It Back, was shocking and this one is too.

Following lawyer turned ISVA Zara Kaleel as she supports vulnerable victims of horrific crimes, in this case a teenage boy assaulted at school, you see the process of reporting and then the secondary trauma of a court case through both Zara and the victim’s eyes.

Dealing with sex crimes is heavy stuff (I used to work for a victims support service) and Zara has to battle her own demons to stay strong enough to support her clients. It makes her a more interesting, rounded character.

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

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Killing Dad & Other Crime Short Stories – Keith Wright*

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KILLING DAD
A family plagued by an abusive father finally take their revenge.
THE SHIFT
A detective completes a shift at work like no other. He couldn’t see the hit coming, and he couldn’t see the positive impact he’d had on so many lives.
THE MISSING LINK
A detective holds a retirement party. His old friend indicates he knows the truth.
THE PARCEL
A devoted son carries out his mother’s wishes.
DEAD TO THE WORLD
A detective stumbles across a murder. The problem is, he is alone with the killer and there is no way out.
THE VERDICT
A woman is abused in her back garden. But are things really what they seem?
THE CONFESSION
A Catholic priest is new to the parish and befriends a lady parishioner.
THE SLEEPER
A loving husband and father, discovers a horrific scene and blames himself.
APPOLLONIA’S MIST
An aging artist falls in love with his muse. But is she as devoted to him?
FRIENDS AND NEIGHBOURS
An elderly couple find themselves next door to a problem family. Surely they will listen to reason?
FROM THE CRADLE
A young detective discovers his partners impropriety, but he learns a life lesson which conflicts with his instincts.
JIMMY TICKLE’S CHRISTMAS
A boy from an underprivileged family has a run-in with an intruder. It ends in tears…of joy.

Keith Wright is the Author of the crime novels in the ‘Inspector Stark series’ available on Amazon, Kindle and Kindle Unlimited|Audiobook on Audible and iTunes.

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My thoughts:

These short crime stories are inspired by the author’s former career as a police officer and his life’s experiences. Before each story he offers an insight into the inspiration for the following tale, which are pretty intriguing themselves.

The short story can be a hard form to master, there’s a lot to deliver in a limited number of words, and these are clearly written by a confident master of the form. Succinct and satisfying, each story has enough world building and character development built in to satisfy, within a few paragraphs you can picture the entire scene.

A very enjoyable collection of tales, perfect for dipping into at leisure or skipping through one after the other.

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

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Ritual Demise – Sally Rigby*

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Someone is watching…. No one is safe

The once tranquil woods in a picturesque part of Lenchester have become the bloody stage to a series of ritualistic murders. With no suspects, Detective Chief Inspector Whitney Walker is once again forced to call on the services of forensic psychologist Dr Georgina Cavendish.
But this murderer isn’t like any they’ve faced before. The murders are highly elaborate, but different in their own way, and with the clock ticking, they need to get inside the killer’s head before it’s too late.
For fans of Rachel Abbott, Angela Marsons and L J Ross, Ritual Demise is the seventh book in the Cavendish & Walker crime fiction series.

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Sally Rigby was born in Northampton, in the UK. She has always had the travel bug, and after living in both Manchester and London, eventually moved overseas. From 2001 she has lived with her family in New Zealand (apart from five years in Australia), which she considers to be the most beautiful place in the world. After writing young adult fiction for many years, under a pen name, Sally decided to move into crime fiction. Her Cavendish & Walker series brings together two headstrong, and very different, women – DCI Whitney Walker, and forensic psychologist Dr Georgina Cavendish. Sally has a background in education, and has always loved crime fiction books, films and TV programmes. She has a particular fascination with the psychology of serial killers.

Check out her website for a FREE prequel story.

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My thoughts:

I really enjoy the Cavendish & Walker books so it was a pleasure to read this, the seventh novel, which find DCI Walker and Dr Cavendish once again hunting for a serial killer in Lenchester.

I love the fact that at least one character always comments on how a small British city seems to have so many serial killers, something few crime series’ ever acknowledge.

The protagonists feel like old friends after so many cases solved together, and don’t grate on each other as they did way back in book one, having settled into a comfortable working style.

My favourite character however, remains the prickly pathologist, Claire, who doesn’t like to be rushed and doesn’t have time for the various theories the others proffer.

An enjoyable, well written and very clever thiller, I think this might be the best one yet.

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

books, reviews

Book Review – Skelton’s Guide to Domestic Poisons

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I was gifted a copy of this book by the publisher via Netgalley with no requirement to review.

Mary Dutton is accused of killing her husband by poison, though there aren’t many who dispute her involvement in his death. The police see it as an open-and-shut case, and even those protesting for her freedom believe she committed the act, but is innocent of wrongdoing after suffering years of domestic abuse.

Since his recent success in the high-profile Dryden case catapulted him to the front pages of the national press, unassuming Yorkshireman Arthur Skelton is now one of the most celebrated and recognisable barristers in the land. His services are much in demand and, despite the odds, he agrees to represent Mary Dutton.

Yet with a general election on the horizon and both sides of the political divide keen to turn the Dutton case to their advantage, as well as long-held secrets within the Dutton family itself, can Skelton ever really expose the truth?




My thoughts:

This is a tremendously fun read. The humour is black and the plot is a murder that might have never been discovered.
Skelton’s cousins make excellent detectives with their travelling ministry and ear for details.
I thoroughly enjoyed this and really hope there will be more to come as I’m out of Christie and this harks back to the Golden Age of detective novels while also being refreshingly modern.
blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Crackle & Fire – Russ Colchamiro*

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Angela Hardwicke isn’t just any private eye.

She’s a PI from Eternity, the cosmic realm responsible for the design, creation, and maintenance of the Universe.

When accountant Gil Haberseau hires her to find an intern with stolen corporate files, Hardwicke soon finds herself embroiled in a deadly case of lies, intrigue, and murder, clashing with vengeful gangsters, MinderNot rallies, and a madman who’s come a long way to get what he wants.

In Russ Colchamiro’s thrilling Sci-Fi mystery Crackle and Fire, Angela Hardwicke learns once and for all that when it comes to being an intergalactic private eye, there’s no telling what threats she may face on-realm and off… including the demons that lurk deep within her soul.

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Russ Colchamiro is the author of the rollicking space adventure, Crossline, the zany SF/F backpacking comedy series Finders Keepers: The Definitive Edition, Genius de Milo, and Astropalooza, and is editor of the SF anthology Love, Murder & Mayhem, all with Crazy 8 Press.

Russ lives in New Jersey with his wife, two ninjas, and crazy dog Simon, who may in fact be an alien himself. Russ has also contributed to several other anthologies, including Tales of the Crimson Keep, Pangaea, Altered States of the Union, Camelot 13, TV Gods 2, They Keep Killing Glenn, Thrilling Adventure Yarns, Camelot 13, and Brave New Girls.

He is now working on the first novel in a new series featuring his hardboiled private eye Angela Hardwicke, and the first of three collaborative novella projects.

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My thoughts:

A crime thriller with a twist, set on a world similar to ours in some ways, but wildly different in others.

PI Angela Hardwicke is looking for a missing person but a lot of details haven’t been divulged and she’s also been tasked with finding missing fireworks by one of the individuals tasked with maintaining the entire galaxy. Could these two cases be connected?

Armed with a quick brain, a team of brilliant friends and allies, and y’know a gun or two, she’s in a race against time to solve both mysteries and save the universe.

Funny, fast-paced, and full of twists this is an excellent sci-fi crime noir.

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

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: A Dangerous Goodbye – Fliss Chester*

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Your lost love never came home after the war. Would you risk everything to find out what happened to him?

1944. While war rages in Europe, Fenella Churche is doing her bit in the green fields of England. But when she finds a letter addressed to her on the scrubbed farmhouse table, she knows the news won’t be good. She hasn’t heard from her fiancé Arthur since he was posted to France on a dangerous undercover mission, and from his very first words she knows he may not be coming back.

I fear this may be my last letter to you, my darling, Arthur writes. Fen won’t give up hope and calls the war office, wanting to know if Arthur is still alive; they refuse to tell her anything. Searching for answers, she returns to his letter, but parts of it just don’t make sense. Through her tears Fen realises that her darling Arthur is giving her all the clues she needs to find out what happened to him.

1945. With the war behind them and nothing left for her in England, Fen travels to the deceptively pretty French village where she thinks Arthur might be, but there’s no sign of him. She’s close to giving up when she finds his silver cigarette case and another letter full of clues. But when the local priest is killed, it’s clear someone wants to keep wartime secrets buried. If Arthur, a brilliant spy, was outwitted and betrayed, can Fen stay alive long enough to find out what happened to the man she loves?

A gripping story of war, mystery, espionage and murder. Fans of Jacqueline Winspear, Charles Todd and Rhys Bowen will absolutely adore this unputdownable World War Two murder mystery.

Fliss Chester lives in Surrey with her husband and writes historical cozy crime. When she is not killing people off in her 1940s whodunnits, she helps her husband, who is a wine merchant, run their business. Never far from a decent glass of something, Fliss also loves cooking (and writing up her favourite recipes on her blog), enjoying the beautiful Surrey and West Sussex countryside and having a good natter.

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My thoughts:

I really enjoyed this post-WW2 mystery, following Fen to rural France to discover what became of her fiance Arthur, and in the process solving a conspiracy and a string of terrible murders.

Fen is a likeable and engaging protagonist and the world building is simple but effective, bringing the vineyard and chateau to life.

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

Blog Tour: Innocent – Erin Kinsley*

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The pretty market town of Sterndale is a close-knit community where everyone thinks they know everyone else.

But at a lavish summer wedding a local celebrity is discovered slumped in the gardens, the victim of a violent assault that leads to a murder investigation.

As the police search for answers, suspicion and paranoia build – and the lives of the locals are turned upside down.

Secrets that lurk beneath the pristine façade of Sterndale come to light as detectives close in on the truth…

A gripping and moving thriller with the emotional drama of series like BROADCHURCH and LIAR this is the perfect read for fans of Cara Hunter, Heidi Perks and Claire Douglas.

My thoughts:

This had lots of red herrings and potential suspects lined up, easily misleading the reader (in this case me) down paths that went nowhere.

A nice, knotty crime novel that had a pleasing ending implying that people can change and make amends for past misdeeds.

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

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Nowhere To Be Found – Louisa De Lange*

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LUCY IS MISSING
Her husband Scott claims to have no idea where she is. But his behaviour suggests otherwise, and rumours begin to swirl about the seemingly perfect couple…

A BODY IS FOUND
DS Kate Munro is already investigating another murder, when she learns that it was Lucy who first reported the body of the victim floating in a lake.

AND TIME IS RUNNING OUT
But with Lucy still missing and both investigations leading Kate into dangerous waters, she must quickly piece together the link between the two crimes. Before it’s too late…

My thoughts:

This was a clever thriller, tying into conspiracy theories, preppers, intense paranoia and the good old the-husband-probably-did-it of crime writing.

But just when you think you know what happened, another body pops up, and off DS Munro and team go to try and find another link, another killer.

Suitably twisting and with several nicely placed red herrings, this was an enjoyable read.

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