Tag: crime fiction

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Blogathon: Buried – Lynda La Plante

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DC Jack Warr and his girlfriend Maggie have just moved to London to start a new life together. Though charming, Jack can’t seem to find his place in the world – until he’s drawn into an investigation that turns his life upside down.

In the aftermath of a fire at an isolated cottage, a badly charred body is discovered, along with the burnt remains of millions of stolen, untraceable bank notes.

Jack’s search leads him deep into a murky criminal underworld – a world he finds himself surprisingly good at navigating. But as the line of the law becomes blurred, how far will Jack go to find the answers – and what will it cost him?

In BURIED, it’s time to meet DC Jack Warr as he digs up the deadly secrets of the past . . .

My thoughts: Obviously, Lynda La Plante is one of the best crime writers out there, and her quality never lets up.

This series is so, so good. I have raved about it in person already to several friends, in the best way. Now it’s your turn faithful blog readers.

Jack Warr has recently joined the Met from Devon, and is plunged into a complicated case involving murder, robbery and conspiracy going back decades.

The story is so clever and I really love the gang of female crooks he uncovers, who wanted to do something really good with their ill gotten gains, but couldn’t, because the police were already suspicious of them. They’ve waited years, lost several of their original group and now, just as it seems they’ve been forgotten, a dead body and a burnt out cottage might spoil everything. Unless Jack looks the other way.

He’s also dealing with complicated personal issues – his beloved adoptive dad Charlie has terminal cancer and his parents are planning to take an around the world cruise for his final few months. He doesn’t want treatment, and he doesn’t want Jack to be upset.

This triggers a desire to find out more about his biological parents, especially his father. Even though his partner, Maggie, thinks this might not be for the best.

As he investigates his origins, it crosses paths with some of the names in his new case, will learning who his father was lead Jack down a dangerous path?

This is addictive writing, as soon as I finished this book, I was straight into book two, which I will tell you all about very soon.

If you love well written, gripping, intelligent crime writing, get reading!

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

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Blog Tour: The Little Girl in the Wardrobe – C.J. Grayson

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The police receive a call.

‘Please help. He’s coming.’

The small voice is barely a whisper.

‘Who’s coming? Are you in danger?’

‘He has a knife. He killed her.’

The line goes dead.

Nine-year-old Anya crawls into a cupboard in her bedroom and calls the police again. The line connects as the bedroom door creaks open.

‘They’re here . . .’

A blood-curdling scream barrels down the phone, filling the earpiece of the operator.

For the second time, the lines goes dead.

Detectives Tanzy and Byrd are called to Anya’s home, a small, semi-detached property.

They’re hit by the familiar smell of death.

Something terrible happened here — and it’s up to Tanzy and Byrd to pull together the pieces of this terrifying puzzle.

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Chris was born in Darlington, North East of England. He loves spending time with his family which include his three sons. He enjoys walking on the beach, listening to music, going for the occasional run to keep fit, playing football, and coaching his son’s football team.

When he’s not at work and at home, he loves reading (crime), watching engineering and construction programs (he loves how things methodically fit together), likes to immerse himself in horror / supernatural films and series which make the hairs on his neck stand on end, satisfying his strange fixation for unusual escapism, and possesses a disturbing obsession with drinking far too much coffee to feed his writing habits.

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My thoughts: This had me hooked from the beginning, who was Anya and why was she so scared? And then when she’s not the only child in peril, but that little girl has vanished, and there’s more murders, plus there’s something weird going on at the rehab/spa place that is suspicious.

I like Tanzy and Byrd, I enjoyed their previous outings, they’re interesting characters, both with full personal lives that often take a back seat to their jobs. Which throws up other issues and they have to balance things. They’re also very good detectives, with the ability to spot the thing that the whole case could hinge on.

Good, solid crime writing, lots of twists and hold-your-breath moments.

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

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Blog Tour: Into Thin Air – Ørjan Karlsson, translated by Ian Giles

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When nineteen-year-old Iselin Hanssen disappears during a run in a popular hiking area in Bodø, Northern Norway, suspicion quickly falls on her boyfriend.

For investigator Jakob Weber, the case seems clear-cut, almost unexceptional, even though there is some suggestion that Iselin lived parts of her life beneath the radar of both family and friends.

But events take a dramatic turn when another woman disappears in similar circumstances – this time on the island of Røst, hundreds of miles off the Norwegian coast, in the wild ocean. Rumours that a killer is on the loose begin to spread, terrifying the local population and leading to wild conspiracies.

But then Jakob discovers that this isn’t the first time that young women have vanished without a trace in the region, and it becomes clear that someone is hiding something. And another murderous spree may have just begun…

Ørjan Karlsson (b. 1970) grew up in Bodø, in the far north of Norway. A sociologist by education, he received officer training in the army and has taken part in many missions overseas. He has worked at the Ministry of Defence and is now head of department in the Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection. He has written a wide range of thrillers, sci-fi novels and crime fiction, and been shortlisted for or won numerous awards, with a number of his books currently in production for the screen. He lives in Nordland, where the Jakob Weber crime series is set, and Into Thin Air is the first book in his first detective/police procedural series.  

My thoughts: This was a really good, tense crime thriller, with lots of twists and shocking moments, totally gripping.

Set in northern Norway, where the midnight sun makes detective Noora unable to sleep, a young woman goes missing while out on a run. As the police start to investigate her disappearance, questioning her friends and on/off boyfriend, another woman goes missing, but on a small island. Is this the same culprit?

The team step up their investigation, looking for both missing women, and find it has happened before, some years ago. Was it the island’s odd duck doctor or someone else, easily overlooked by the community?

It’s a race against time, the longer the women are gone, the more likely it is they’ll end up dead. When even lead detective Jakob’s dog Garm gets involved, because dogs make excellent investigators, and they’re beginning to lose hope, finally the clues start to stack up and the team have their suspects. Or do they?

An excellent and exciting new voice in translated crime fiction, I cannot wait to read more.

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

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Blog Tour: The Baguette Murders – Anne Penketh

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Meet Pippa. She’s feisty, forty-something — and living her best life in the charming little town of Louennec, Brittany.

Not so long ago, she was a corporate career girl. Now she runs her own bakery — and goes home every night to her dishy gendarme boyfriend and a glass of Merlot.

But murder is just around the corner . . .

Pippa is out on her rounds, delivering delicious crusty bread to her most loyal customers. Her first stop is Derek’s remote gîte. Fitness instructor Derek sees carbs as the enemy. But even he can’t resist Pippa’s signature baguettes.

Pippa cycles to Derek’s door . . . only to discover, someone got there first.

Derek is dead! His body lies slumped across the piano, in a mess of blood and — to Pippa’s horror — breadcrumbs.

He’s been bludgeoned over the head with . . . a lethal stick of bread?

Just like that, Pippa finds the finger of suspicion pointing at her.

Can she follow the trail of breadcrumbs to uncover the true killer — before more of her friends and neighbours die?

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Anne Penketh is originally from Lancashire, England, and turned to fiction after a career as a foreign correspondent. After writing a series of police procedurals for Joffe books set in Norfolk, where her relatives live, she has now followed her heart to Brittany for some amateur sleuthing. Anne worked in France for many years and divides her time between London and Paris.

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My thoughts: I like this series set in Brittany in a town filled with a mix of locals and British ex-pats, where things can get a bit tense between the two. The Bretons don’t even really like people from other parts of France, so British people “taking over” drives a few of them a bit mad.

These issues flare up in different ways, and now someone is killing people with a baguette filled not with delicious dough but metal pipes! And Pippa, as a baker, is on the suspect list.

So she and her friend and fellow ex-pat Judith, start their own investigation. It’s enough to make Yann, her boyfriend (and police officer) say “Peeper!!” Which is the amusing way her says her name and always makes me giggle.

Taking in the interesting (and stereotypically French) way of conducting affairs while married, rivalries over  bread, complicated and messy relationships, and occasionally making me hanker for a proper French baguette (British ones are too big and too doughy), this is a fun, entertaining read and if you solve the crime before either Pippa or the police, get yourself a croissant!

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

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Blog Tour: How to Get Away With Murder – Tam Barnett

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A delightfully twisty and darkly comic crime thriller, for fans of My Sister, the Serial Killer and How to Kill Your Family

I’m obsessed with true crime. All the podcasts, the documentaries… I can’t get enough.

And now there’s a murderer on the loose where I live. What a rush!

Of course, some people might wonder if it’s me. Am I an innocent soul with an unhealthy fascination, or a deadly psychopath?

It’s the killer question. After all, I would love to know how to get away with murder…

Tam Barnett’s debut novel is perfect for readers of Katy Brent, CJ Skuse or Bella Mackie.

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Tam Barnett is a journalist, living in London. His debut with Boldwood is How To Get Away With Murder, a darkly comic thriller set in the Wirral.

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My thoughts: This could be subtitled “when a true crime obsession goes too far”

Our narrator is a journalist covering crime stories, but one without a home these days, as she’s been let go from various papers, luckily an old friend is editor at one of the nationals, because her competition is at one of the local papers, and she’s determined to get to the story first.

Her obsession with crime leads her to consume a huge amount of it, books, documentaries, the news, to the point where it’s become a bit unhealthy, and now this new serial killer, who might just be someone close to home…

Dark, twisted, blackly comic at times, this is a really enjoyable addition to the genre from a new writer and I really liked it.

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

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Blog Tour: Murder on the Menu – Katie Marsh

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Since Amber started the Bad Girls’ Detective Agency, she’s been feeling the pressure. So – when she and her best friends win a trip to a new luxury castle retreat on a remote island – she hopes it will be a chance to relax in style.

The girls are all excited to experience world-famous chef Valerie la Fontaine’s tasting menu.
But none of them expect there to be another dish being served that weekend: revenge. And when Valerie is found dead inside a locked room in a tower, the Bad Girls know this is a case that only they
can solve…

Hilarious and gripping mystery – perfect for fans of The Thursday Murder Club, The
Traitors, and How to Kill Men and Get Away With It.

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Katie Marsh wrote five bestselling, uplifting women’s fiction novels before turning to cosy crime for Boldwood. Previously published by Hodder, the first in her new crime series How Not To Murder Your Ex, following the fortunes of the Bad Girls Detective Agency, will be published in December 2023.


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My thoughts: I am constantly surprised at how many people willingly go to remote, easily cut off islands in crime novels, Amber is a former cop turned PI and even she doesn’t think it could end badly, but it does.

Having won a supposedly glamorous weekend at a luxury hotel run by a famous chef, with food so good they’re salivating on the boat across to the island, Amber’s hoping for some time to relax, to stop worrying about running out of money and not being able to pay her team/friends. However life has other plans.

Someone really doesn’t want Valerie La Fontaine to continue, they know her biggest secret and they want revenge for something she did years before. And they’ve chosen this weekend, as she launches her new hotel, as the perfect time for her to get her comeuppance.

Of course they didn’t know that Amber and co would be there, how could they? Trapped in a storm, phone line cut, no mobile signal, no WiFi, guess it’s up to them to work out who among their fellow guests and the skeleton staff is the killer, preferably before anyone else dies. 

There’s lots of secrets and hidden agendas at play as they try to stay together and investigate in a house full of secret passageways and locked doors. Is there someone else on the island? Supposedly, some protesters are hiding somewhere, but Amber’s not so sure. Something isn’t quite right.

Funny, a bit silly at times (in the best way), clever and highly entertaining.

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

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Book Review: I Will Ruin You – Linwood Barclay

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WHEN IT’S LIFE OR DEATH, WHO CAN YOU TRUST?

Teacher Richard Boyle certainly never thought he would find himself talking down a former student intent on harming others, but when a former student shows up at school with a vest packed with explosives, he springs into action. Thanks to his quick thinking, Richard averts a major tragedy but his moment in the spotlight puts him in the sights of a deranged blackmailer with a score to settle…

As events rapidly spiral out of control, Richard is drawn into a tangled web of salacious accusations and deadly secrets. As he tries to uncover the truth, Richard discovers that there’s something dangerously wrong in the town. Everyone in his life seems to be hiding something, and trusting the wrong person could cost him everything he loves.

My thoughts: As soon as I got this, I dived straight in, I knew it was going to be good and I wasn’t wrong. 

Starting with a horrific event that could have been so much worse, putting teacher Richard in the spotlight and a misunderstanding with serious and deadly consequences. 

Richard is being threatened by an blackmailer, it’s having a terrible impact on him, he knows he’s innocent of the accusation, but how can he prove it, he can’t pay the blackmailer’s demands and he doesn’t want to tell his wife or boss about it. But when they find out anyway, it doesn’t exactly make things better. 

Events get steadily worse, and suddenly Richard’s not just a high school English teacher who saved his students, but entangled with dangerous and to be honest, quite stupid, drug dealers and their associates. His family is at risk and instead of going to the police – or at least his detective sister-in-law, for help, he tries to sort things out himself.

I really enjoyed this book and actually talked about it during a discussion with my friends about morality and guilt (we are so cool) as parts of it (no spoilers) definitely dive into that territory. Linwood Barclay knows how to craft a story that hooks you in and keeps you hooked as events twist and turn, he even throws in a discussion about what books people should be reading, which is interesting as well.

It’s excellent story telling and well worth grabbing a copy as it’s out this week in all the usual places. 

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book to read and review if I wanted to. Which I did!

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Blog Tour: Bye Bye Baby – Fiona McIntosh

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There is a killer on the loose. Scotland Yard’s brightest talent is chosen to head up the high-profile taskforce, a DCI who must confront his own past as the body count rises. There are few leads, and Jack Hawksworth can only fall back on instinct and decades-old cold cases for any clue to the killer’s motive and identity.

Fiona McIntosh is an internationally bestselling author of novels for adults and children. She co-founded an award-winning travel magazine with her husband, which they ran for fifteen years while raising their twin sons before she became a full-time author. Fiona roams the world researching and drawing inspiration for her novels, and runs a series of highly respected fiction masterclasses. She calls South Australia home.

My thoughts: This was an excellent slice of crime writing, with a compelling plot and a committed killer, who’s willing to do whatever it takes to stay one step ahead of the police and complete their plan.

DCI Jack Hawksworth and his hand picked team of officers must find the murderer before another person is harmed. But what is the connection between the victims and what does the way their bodies have been left mean to their killer?

With twists and turns, a killer as smart as the detectives on their trail and a motive spanning decades, this will keep you hooked till the very last page.

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

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Blog Tour: The Serpent Under – Bonnie McBride

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Holmes and Watson face treachery and danger in the latest full-length thriller by Bonnie MacBird, author of the bestselling Sherlock Holmes novel Art in the Blood.

Murder, jealousy, and deceit underscore three interlocking mysteries as Holmes and Watson take on a high profile case at Windsor Castle, a boy drowned in the Serpentine, and a crusading women’s rights activist who suspects a traitor in her organization. The cases send them into danger into locales as varied as the Palace itself, a dockland cannery, an arts and crafts atelier, and a Gypsy encampment. But is there peril underfoot as well – right at 221B Baker Street?

The twisting, breathlessly plotted conjoined mysteries that Bonnie MacBird is known for provide a thrill ride that will delight Sherlockians worldwide.

Born in San Francisco, educated at Stanford, Bonnie MacBird lives in London with her husband, computer scientist Alan Kay. A fan of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle since age ten, she’s active in the Sherlockian community in both the UK and the US, and lectures regularly on Sherlock Holmes, writing, and creativity. A longtime veteran of Hollywood, MacBird has been a screenwriter (original script for TRON), an Emmy winning producer, a playwright, studio exec (Universal) and actor.

MacBird attributes her enjoyment in capturing “voice” to both her acting and screenwriting experience and her music training as well. She teaches a popular screenwriting class at UCLA Extension, which approaches writing for film using techniques of other art forms.

In her Sherlock Holmes novels, she aims to accurately portray the brilliant detective and his friend as closely as possible to Doyle, yet expanding the original short-form fiction to full-length novels. ART IN THE BLOOD features a child who has disappeared, and a bloody art theft and touches on the theme of the perils and blessings of the artistic temperament. UNQUIET SPIRITS features a murdered girl, a threatened scientist, and a haunted whisky estate while reflecting on the dangers of not dealing with the ghosts of one’s past. THE DEVIL’S DUE brings Holmes to the edge of evil in order to combat a devilish serial killer. And THE THREE LOCKS involves magic, cutting-edge science at the Cavendish Laboratories at Cambridge, and a mysterious box which arrives at 221B and which defies all efforts to open it. WHAT CHILD IS THIS? provides a Christmas conundrum in which danger stalks two boys, both sought by their fathers, and the mysteries surrounding their identities.

My thoughts: I do enjoy additions to the Conan Doyle canon, especially when they’re well written and give us a similar voice for Dr Watson, as this does. It feels faithful to the original and to the many, many lives Holmes has lived since.

There’s several interwoven cases in this book, and quite a few snakes, including of the human kind. The title of course references Shakespeare’s Macbeth, and there is betrayal and treachery here too.

The tattoo laid across the face of a beautiful young woman, cruelly murdered, and dumped at Windsor Castle, where she was the companion of a cantankerous old Duchess, sees the crime solving duo invited expressly by Her Majesty, Queen Victoria, to investigate, putting the police on the back foot.

Meanwhile an acquaintance of theirs brings them the news of the sorry death of one of the Baker Street Irregulars. He too has been killed. Do these deaths connect to one another?

Holmes picks up straight away on tensions within the young woman’s family, she’s practically estranged from her younger siblings, and their mother’s death twelve years before has a bearing on the cases he believes.

There are other deaths and kidnappings before Holmes holds all the pieces of this fiendish mystery together, with Watson at his side as they encounter Roma (referred to as Gypsies in the book in keeping with the period) who hold answers to several key elements to the sorry tale of death, revenge and greed.

Clever, filled with twists and turns that only Sherlock’s singular mind can unravel, this was an enjoyable and compelling read that Conan Doyle himself might have enjoyed (and yes, I know he hated Holmes).

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

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Blog Tour: The Doll’s House – Natasha Boydell

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She lives in my old home, she looks like me, she dresses like me… And now she wants my life.

Naomi is devastated when the sale of the apartment falls through, her dreams of moving to an amazing ‘forever home’ nearby with her family are momentarily dashed.
But then a sweet-natured single mother named Summer appears, announcing her intention to buy Naomi’s old apartment.

And all of a sudden, it looks like Naomi might get her new house after all.
At first, it feels like Summer’s saved her life. But as soon as the sale goes through, Summer starts turning up at Naomi’s new house. She’s enrolled her child in Naomi’s daughter’s class. She’s dressing like Naomi. She’s suddenly best friends with all her friends… And then Naomi discovers she’s got a pretty little doll’s house. One that looks just like Naomi’s new home.

Naomi wants to believe she’s just imagining things. What could Summer possibly want? And how far will she go to take everything that Naomi has?

A totally page-turning psychological thriller, that fans of Lisa Jewell, Sue Watson and Daniel Hurst will be unable to put down.

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Natasha is an internationally bestselling author of psychological fiction, including The Missing Husband and The Woman Next Door. She trained and worked as a journalist for many years before moving into communications in the charity and education sectors.

She decided to pursue her lifelong dream of writing a novel in 2019, when she was approaching her 40th birthday and realized it was time to stop procrastinating. Her debut, The Missing Husband, was released in May 2021 and she went on to write three more novels, which are published by Bloodhound Books. Her first novel with Boldwood Books is The Fortune Teller.

Natasha lives in North London with her husband, two
daughters and two rescue cats.

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My thoughts: This was very good, while at first I was on Naomi’s side, some of the things she was worrying about did seem slightly paranoid and maybe an overactive imagination – but then other things happened and once she finally had someone else who saw through Summer as well, then I was back on Team Naomi is Not Crazy!

It didn’t help that some of her concerns were about the friendship group of her seven-year-old daughter, children are fickle and friends change all the time, so it did seem a bit off to be so worried.

But Summer’s strange behaviour and the sullen nature of daughter Luna did ring a few bells. I used to work with kids and still remember all the things we were trained to look out for, there were definitely some concerns there.

The twists started coming thick and fast. Some of Summer’s plays were straight out of the mean girl handbook, but others were a bit scary. She seemed to have multiple sides to her character.

There are some great WTF? moments and the ending was truly troubling. Summer’s mind needs unscrambling and fast! Naomi’s woes may not be over yet. Truly clever crime fiction.

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