Tag: crime fiction

Instead of escaping reality to this fantastic city, this city of phantoms, I was rushing towards it – hard fate awaited me in this soupy shade of a place…

In the oppressive heat of summer in Bologna, English detective Daniel Leicester is reliving his beloved wife Lucia’s final days. Vivid memories have been awakened by the sight of her bicycle, missing since the accident that killed her, ridden by a stranger through the city’s tight medieval streets.

As unfinished business bleeds – quite literally – into the present, the sickening realisation that Lucia’s death wasn’t accidental dawns on Daniel. He embarks on a quest for the truth, and this most personal of crusades leads him to two contrasting worlds: the secretive, ancient realm of freemasonry, and the revolutionary ‘Reclaim Bologna’ activist movement.

What links these two opposing factions? Is there a chance Lucia wasn’t the woman Daniel believed her to be? And will the truth be too painful, or too perilous, to bear?

Tom Benjamin grew up in the suburbs of north London and began his working life as a journalist before becoming a spokesman for Scotland Yard. He later moved into public health, where he developed Britain’s first national campaign against alcohol abuse, Know Your Limits, and led drugs awareness programme FRANK. He now lives in Bologna.

Find Tom on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook at tombenjaminsays.

My thoughts: I’ve read a couple of books in this series before so I knew I would enjoy it. In investigating his late wife’s death, Daniel is also filling in some of the gaps in his back story too. We learn why they moved to Italy, and then why they really moved to Italy.

He’s wrapping up the last few investigations before the summer, and heading to the family summer house, or so he thinks. Instead he is being flooded with memories, of Lucia, of his involvement with a rather peculiar aristocrat who was a member of the Masons, but had to flee the city.

After seeing Lucia’s distinctive bicycle, missing since her death, he starts following and investigating a group of local protesters, who are wrecking holiday homes in the city, demanding that the local government house locals not tourists. The police would very much like to speak to these people too.

Daniel discovers a web of connections between his client, the protesters, his former acquaintance and Lucia’s death. It all ends in truly dramatic fashion, and a headache for the police to sort out.

Moving between time lines as Daniel roams the city looking for the bicycle, and hoping to get some answers, his only assistance a reluctant Dolores, and the drones Carlos operates from the comfort of his sunlounger. Bologna in the summer is a hot, sweaty mess, much like Daniel.

This series is really interesting and enjoyable, Daniel is a likeable and wry protagonist, and Englishman in a country he still, despite years living there, doesn’t quite understand.

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

Ray Eke has always found peace in his job, collecting litter for the city council. Until the day he finds the brutalized, bloodless body of a girl on his round. He recognizes her immediately too. Lauren Pascoe went missing three years before.
It’s also clear she hasn’t been lying on the roadside verge all this time. Someone’s clearly been holding her prisoner. Keeping her as their very special toy.

The police know it couldn’t have been Ray, whose gentle heart is obvious to all. But then another girl is taken. And she’s someone who Ray had a connection to, back in his previous job as an accountant,
before his breakdown…

The twists in this novel are guaranteed to leave readers with their jaws on the floor. Just when you think you know who the killer is, you’ll have your mind blown!

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Anita Waller is the author of many bestselling psychological thrillers and the Kat and Mouse crime series. She lives in Sheffield, which continues to be the setting of many of her thrillers.

Facebook: @anita.m.waller
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My thoughts: Well, this was deeply unsettling stuff, the police have a nightmare of a case on their hands. Lauren went missing three years ago and now her broken, tortured body is found dumped by the road still dressed in the clothes she was wearing when she went missing.

Opening a cold case when it isn’t good news must be quite hard but the team are dedicated and willing to dig until they get some answers. And then Hannah goes missing. She just popped out to get some milk for the office, and then she was gone. If it is the same person, then she’s in for a world of pain.

Ray Eke, who works for the council collecting rubbish, found Lauren, and he knew Hannah too. Can this seemingly benign musician be involved? It seems unlikely, but as they struggle to find any evidence of who might have taken both victims, and as what they do uncover seems to point in one direction…oops, no spoilers but the twists will make your head spin.

I enjoyed this but was definitely creeped out at the same time, the things Lauren endured are horrific. And the shocking moments towards the end, the last page *shudders*. So good but also so sinister.

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

Detective Mike Nash thought that moving back to Yorkshire from London would give
him a quieter life. Instead he finds a sleepy little town where nothing is what it seems . . .

Two dead bodies, locked in a disused mortuary. In the basement of a hospital that shut its doors over twenty years ago. The irony isn’t lost on veteran DI Mike Nash.

The victims have been shot in the head, execution style — by a consummate professional who knows exactly how to cover their tracks, leaving no evidence and no solid leads for Nash to go on.

The deeper Nash digs, the more he fears the past will come back to bite him. These bodies are tied to a dark history of crime and betrayal, and a past case with more loose ends than Nash cares to remember. It’s not long before a third body surfaces. This time the scene’s awash with DNA, belonging  to a man who died decades ago.
Now Nash must face the chilling possibility that his oldest adversary is behind it all, watching  and waiting to take his own brand of deadly vengeance . . .

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Bill Kitson was born in Bradford, West Yorkshire. His father, a wool merchant, was a fan of crime books giving Bill access to his diverse thriller collection from a young age.
Educated at Ashville College, Bill worked in the family business before spending over thirty years as a bank executive. A keen cricketer and sportsman, the highlight of his career came when he umpired a one-day international at Lords.
He and his wife now live in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, where he writes crime, romance, and general fiction. Bill’s interests include Cricket, Crime, Crete, Cookery, Cryptic crosswords – and also Alliteration.

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My thoughts: This was really good, very clever, compelling and just convoluted enough. When a fire at an old hospital building reveals two corpses in the former mortuary, both with gun shot wounds, the bullets and the victims are linked to a series of underworld killings, almost like someone was cleaning house.

Then there’s a dummy with a bullet hole or three, a dead hitman, a pair of lovers on the run, and all sorts of other complications in this far from simple case. Could it all be linked to a man Detective Mike Nash knew at school? Even though he’s dead.

As the team investigate and attempted to ID ‘The Keeper’, the criminal shot caller they believe might be behind it all, other interested parties are making plans of their own. Can Mike get to the bottom of this and help out a charming former celebrity at the same time?

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

Foul play at the sheep show…

Tensions are high at the Three Counties Show when accusations of cheating add fuel to a longstanding feud. For Jude Gray, whose only hope was to not make a fool of herself showing her Kerry Hill sheep, farming life has never been so dramatic.

When a body is found, belonging to one of the competitors, there is no shortage of suspects. Every sheep farmer in this close-knit community has a motive and beneath their show-ready smiles, they
all have something to hide.
Experience has taught Jude that when there’s a murderer at large, nobody is truly safe. And with secrets simmering beneath the surface, this may be her most challenging investigation yet.

Can she
unearth the truth before it’s too late?

A gripping new instalment in the Malvern Farm Mystery series, perfect for fans of Frances Evesham, Merryn Allingham, and Faith Martin.

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Kate Wells is the author of a number of well-reviewed books for children, and is now writing cosy crime set in the Malvern hills, inspired by the farm where she grew up.

Facebook: @KateWellsPoels
Instagram: @KatePoelsWrites
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My thoughts: I never thought a county fair would have so much scandal and intrigue, they don’t sound like they would be that exciting. Especially among the sheep farmers, who you would think would be more like their flocks, placid and cuddly. Not so this lot.

Jude is only showing two of her flock, but the more experienced farmers have more animals, and history. Lots of history, prickly, difficult history. Which Jude slowly learns as things go sideways and someone is killed. Was the murderer former musician turned eco warrior farmer/social media nuisance Zander? I was surprised he wasn’t the victim, the way he was carrying on.

Or will it be one of the farmers? Someone who knew the victim of old and was acting out an old grudge? Jude helps Binnie out with this case from the inside, the other sheep farmers are happier to confide in her than the police. But there’s other secrets and schemes going on and now Jude is in a bit too deep…

Another cracking case for Jude to solve in between mucking out and taking the always adorable Sebbie to school or out on the tractor. Her sister’s wedding plans are coming along nicely, or expensively, depending on how you look at it, and the farm is doing well. As long as Jude doesn’t end up as another victim of this killer.

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

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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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.