Tag: crime fiction

A chilling murder. A coastal town full of secrets. A detective with everything to prove.

When a man is found savagely murdered on an abandoned vessel off the north Kent coast, what begins as a routine inquiry turns deadly. Detective Gavin Piper had intended only a brief visit to assist his superior officer – but when circumstance forces him to take command, he finds himself leading his first homicide case in a place that feels both unfamiliar and unforgiving.

As the investigation deepens, a key witness is found dead and dark secrets begin to surface. With the body count rising and the pressure mounting, Gavin must race against the clock to find the only surviving link – before the killer strikes again. Will Gavin’s inexperience cost him more than just the case? Or can he uncover the truth before it’s too late?

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Before turning to writing, USA Today bestselling crime author Rachel Amphlett played guitar in bands, worked as a TV and film extra, dabbled in radio, and worked in publishing as an editorial assistant.

She now wields a pen instead of a plectrum and writes crime fiction with over 30 crime novels and short stories featuring spies, detectives, vigilantes, and assassins.

A keen traveller and accidental private investigator, Rachel has both Australian and British citizenship. You can find out more about Rachel and her books at http://www.rachelamphlett.com.

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My thoughts: I really enjoyed this, it has the signature Rachel Amphlett blend of really good writing, interesting characters and gripping plot.

Assigned temporarily to North Kent to lead the investigation DC Gavin Piper feels a bit out of his depth, his boss however knows he can do this. And he does. Gradually finding his feet as this far more complex than it first appears case proceeds.

A man on an abandoned boat, murdered with an axe. His ID is in his pocket, but his life is full of secrets. Then a key witness is drowned. Someone is cleaning house. A huge clue in the form of packaging on the boat connects to a break in, but it’s the awful discovery beneath a static caravan that will have you shocked and opens up the case.

Absolutely thrilling, shocking and full of gasp-out-loud moments, this is crime writing at its best.

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

Returning to Sydney, Detective Ramesh Ryan is promoted to the Homicide Squad. Zoe Yang joins him there. Now a detective herself, she is assigned as his junior partner.

Straight up, the cops are off and
running—investigating the discovery of a murdered company director. Following the clues, Detective Ryan finds that this and a second murder may be linked to past events.

As the pressure mounts for a quick solution to the case, the detective finds that he too, is in the killer’s crosshairs. But Ryan is distracted from the investigation by a romantic encounter with an old university friend.

He also worries about his mother, Mumta, and her new obsessive desire for grandchildren from her only son. Could this be linked to her recent medical tests? And there’s another pressing problem— the plague of rats in his apartment block.

Detective Ryan’s hands are well and truly full.

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Clive Fleury is an award-winning writer of novels and screenplays, including most recently the murder mystery Off Season, which was the first in the Detective Ryan Mystery series.

He is also a TV/Film writer, director, and producer who has worked for major broadcasters and studios on a wide variety of successful drama and documentary projects, in the US, the UK, Europe, Australia and the Middle East.

He has written and directed four feature films, one of which, “Big City Blues,” starred Giancarlo Esposito, the late Burt Reynolds, and Balthazar Getty. His most recent film, “Sons of Summer,” is a surfing movie set on the Gold Coast of Australia and stars Temuera Morrison and Isabel Lucas.

Clive currently spends his time between Miami, Florida and Sydney, Australia.

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My thoughts: Detective Ryan meets his new partner Detective Zoe Yang about two seconds before they’re sent off to investigate a murder. They’ve met before but their new partnership gets off to a rocky start as Ryan isn’t very good at sharing, his thoughts or the work.

But someone clearly has it in for the managing trio of the company, as first one, then two of its partners are killed. As the bodies mount up, their boss is running out of patience with his so-called dream team, and might have to send out the department’s dinosaurs if they don’t get some results soon.

But Ryan sends Zoe off to do paperwork, while getting side tracked by his mother’s health worries and the appearance of an old friend from his student days.

There’s also some rather nasty gangsters running around, and as a former organised crime detective, Ryan is aware that they’re operating in his city, and that they might be connected to his case.

Can he find the killer or killers, make his boss happy, look after his mother, find love and not drive his new partner away? As well as attend to the rat infestation in his apartment complex? Sure, why not.

A smart and enjoyable crime caper in the Sydney sunshine with an intriguing pair of detectives and entertaining cast of characters (I want more Tik and Tok!)

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

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Liz has been watching the neighbors. One of them has noticed.

Liz McAdams knows a lot about her neighbors. Recently divorced, with time on her hands, she amuses herself by observing them as she walks her dog past their houses. And no life looks more wonderful than Sabrina Thompson’s.

Beautiful, wealthy, married to a gorgeous husband, Sabrina seems to have it all. But one day Liz sees something through Sabrina’s bedroom window – something that could blow her seemingly perfect marriage apart. Liz is shocked and intrigued. She herself has always played by the rules and now she can’t help envying Sabrina’s reckless abandon as she risks everything for her own pleasure.

Fascinated, she starts to watch Sabrina’s every move. And soon realizes that her glamorous neighbor has some very dark secrets. Then there is a chilling murder on this affluent street, and Liz wonders if Sabrina could be involved.

Even more disturbing, Sabrina seems to have noticed that Liz has been shadowing her. Leaving Liz with two terrifying questions – Is Sabrina a killer? And what might she do to the woman who knows too much?

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Lauren Dykovitz writes psychological thrillers and suspense novels. She lives in New Jersey with her husband, Steve, and her black lab, Lucy. Lauren is a former police officer with a Bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and sociology, as well as a minor in legal studies. She has an unhealthy obsession with true crime and murder that makes her husband sleep with one eye open. Lauren has also self-published two memoirs about her mom’s battle with Early Onset Alzheimer’s.

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My thoughts: Liz has taken a sabbatical from her job as a divorce lawyer, hoping to spend her time writing a book but she’s having writer’s block. Lonely, she spends her time walking her dog, and watching her neighbours.

She’s fascinated especially by Sabrina and her husband Greg. Sabrina is beautiful, with a lovely house, great wardrobe and an apparently loving husband. Liz becomes a bit too obsessed with Sabrina.

When Sabrina’s husband is murdered, Liz starts her own investigation, which catches Sabrina’s attention. She’s fed up with her nosey neighbour, especially when she’s questioned by the police. She was at a spa weekend her husband sent her on when he died, but Liz is convinced the beautiful young widow was involved.

Can Sabrina, with her collection of lovers, truly be innocent? And what will Liz find out if she keeps spying on her neighbour? Well, read it and find out!

With a rather brilliant twist at the end, this is a smart and entertaining whodunnit.

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

Something old, something new, something borrowed… someone dead?!

When Sadie Sutton swapped four walls for the four wheels of her trusty orange VW campervan, she didn’t realise that it would come with a new career as a super sleuth! But when a wedding at local beauty spot Winching Priory Hotel is halted because the father of the groom has been found fatally poisoned, Sadie drops everything to take on her next case!

As the wedding grinds to a halt, Sadie soon learns that the victim, gifted local artist Benedict Lawrence, also had a talent for making enemies, from the snooty hotel owners to his long-suffering ex-wife. With an ever-growing list of possible suspects, Sadie is stumped. Until she finds a crumpled, threatening note sent to Benedict hours before he died.

The note leads Sadie deep into Benedict’s past, to a secret love affair, a bitter feud and a long-buried grudge. And when she finds a faded newspaper article about him and his artist friends in their youth, she’s stunned at who else she recognises in the photo…

With secrets and lies at every turn, Sadie knows no guests are safe. Can she crack the case before the nearly wed become newly dead?

This warm, witty and utterly addictive cosy crime novel from bestselling author Maeve Haran is perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, The Thursday Murder Club and Robert Thorogood.

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Maeve Haran is an Oxford law graduate who had a successful career in television before writing her worldwide bestseller Having It All , which was translated into twenty-six languages. She has written twenty contemporary novels, two historical novels, and a work of non-fiction in praise of life’s small pleasures. She has three grown up children and four grandchildren. She lives mainly in North London but escapes when she can to a much-loved cottage in the beautiful Cuckmere Valley near the sea in East Sussex. Her hobby is ignoring age and having a good time!

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My thoughts: The campervan detective is back! Asked by an old friend to help out because there’s something not quite right about her daughter’s wedding, Sadie isn’t expecting the groom’s father to be murdered.

And with both his current and ex wives present, as well as a few other people with old scores to settle, there seems to be plenty of suspects around. But who could have smuggled poison into the victim? Especially one that’s quite unpleasant taste-wise.

As Sadie investigates with the help of the Vintage Vanettes and her old teacher, there seems to be more than just murder going on at this country hotel!

Another fun and slightly dangerous adventure for our sleuth and her canine sidekick.

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

When a notorious investigation into Los Angeles’s darkest criminal network thrusts private investigator Trevor Finnegan into the national spotlight, the fallout is immediate—and lethal.

Haunted by his past as a cop and driven by an obsession with justice for the dead, Finnegan has spent years hunting the powerful men who profited from torture and murder on the dark web.

But when a billionaire suspect dies in federal custody and the agents involved turn up dead under suspicious circumstances, Finnegan finds himself facing a far more insidious enemy. One that doesn’t just silence people but drives them to the edge.

As Finnegan digs deeper, his search leads him into the orbit of a brilliant, charismatic tech mogul promising a cleaner, safer future through artificial intelligence. And the line between progress and cruelty blurs beyond recognition.

With his pregnant wife at risk, his agency on the brink of collapse, and his own moral compass under siege, Finnegan must decide how far he’s willing to go—and what he’s willing to lose—to stop a force that claims it can conquer death itself.

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Aaron Philip Clark is the author of the International Thriller Writers Award-nominated Detective Trevor Finnegan series. He has co-written and collaborated on works of fiction with rap artist and entertainment mogul Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Civil Rights Attorney and activist Benjamin L. Crump, and various public figures and luminaries.

He has two forthcoming novels: BLUES FOR THE DEAD (Severn House/Joffe Books), which features Det. Trevor Finnegan, an ex-LAPD detective turned PI, investigating a powerful tech CEO with a dark past and nefarious plans for the future, and ALL THE SMOKE (Amistad/HarperCollins), a psychological thriller inspired by The Talented Mr. Ripley, set in the world of hip-hop and scheduled for publication in Feb. 2027.

In addition to writing, Aaron is a professor at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA) in Hollywood, CA, and hosts the podcast, The Culture Point, on the Authors on the Air Global Radio network.

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My thoughts: PI Trevor Finnegan is helping the FBI look into a group of truly nasty predators, but when the agents he’s been working with turn up dead, it looks like it might all fall apart. But when the tech billionaire son of a dead suspect hires him, he finds a whole new layer of evil.

His wife’s pregnant and on bed rest, his ex is a mess which puts their young daughter in danger, and his team are not happy with his methods.

As he digs into his new client and tries to find out what really happened to the FBI agents, he puts everything he holds dear at risk.

A smart, gripping dark thriller that exposes the risks of progress when it does harm and the way powerful people manipulate the situation.

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