Tag: crime fiction

The Boy is a powerful novel of wasted talent, loss, greed and revenge – but also of discovered genius and life-affirming friendship.

By turns terrifying, taut, humane and tender it tells the origin story of Ireland’s organised-crime epidemic with a skill and grace which belies a debut novel, and is the calling-card of a ringing new voice in Irish fiction.

When the Guards knock on the door The Boy already knows his mother is dead. His father flees to the pub, leaving him to wait alone. Soon his brother Fallon, half-protector and half-outlaw, draws him into a world where grief and crime are rarely separated. At the same time, a wealthy landowner harbours grotesque secrets in the countryside – a hidden “family” of abducted boys, a nightmare lurking beneath respectability.

As The Boy moves through these fractured worlds – his father’s guilt, his uncle’s paramilitary past, his brother’s violent death – he becomes both witness and inheritor of a brutal legacy.

Think of a space where the layered complexity of Tana French meets the whipsmart dialogue and brutal beauty of Colin Barrett and the sharp tenderness and humour of Graeme Armstrong’s The Young Team – and you’re somewhere near where this novel will take you.

The Boy is a dark, lyrical crime debut. It is unflinching, propulsive, and unforgettable.

Mark Gyves is an Irish crime fiction writer. He has lived and worked in the UK and Ireland and now resides in his hometown on the outskirts of Cork.

My thoughts: I actually thought this was a black comedy, as The Boy becomes mired in death and crime in order to buy video games, pizza and trainers. He takes over his brother’s drug business with his strange friend, gets caught up with some complete nutcases and goes all out for revenge.

The world he finds himself in is full of gangsters and drug dealers, people who don’t want to know what’s going on, but also kind neighbours and loving grandmothers. His dad’s a deadbeat, but was once a genius, until he used that brilliance to improve ways of blowing people up and turned to drink, The Boy makes sure his bar tab has been paid.

It’s a weird, dark place, the underbelly of Cork and full of very odd people with nasty habits like killing people or keeping them in dungeons under their ancestral home. The Boy is smart but perhaps a bit too young and naive for the life he finds himself in.

An interesting and quite enjoyable read.

*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 vanished without a trace. But someone knows exactly where she is.

Bronte Lowe — single mother and the key witness to a local hit-and-run — disappears in broad daylight.

Probation officer Cate Austin is used to spotting lies. So when Adam, one of her offenders, starts raising red flags, she can’t ignore her instincts.

Meanwhile, Adam’s girlfriend Freya has just moved into his remote cliffside home, hoping for a fresh start. But something isn’t right. The closer she looks, the more she senses the house is hiding something — or someone.

As Bronte’s disappearance collides with Cate’s investigation, a web of secrets begins to unravel. When desperation takes over, how far will three women go to protect what they love?

Don’t miss this gripping thriller, perfect for fans of Joy Ellis from award-winning, Kindle #1 bestselling author Ruth Dugdall.

My thoughts: Cate returns to Ipswich when her troubled sister Lizzie leaves rehab and goes missing. Staying with her ex, so their daughter can spend time with her dad, she gets drawn into the mysterious disappearance of the woman next door – Bronte. Everyone is adamant she wouldn’t abandon her son Kai and the dog came home from a walk without her.

Having exhausted the possibility that she somehow fell into the sea, the police move onto more sinister options  – did someone take Bronte? If so, is it because she was a victim in a hit and run – the van that hit her was driven by a notorious local drug dealer, or because of her job at local nuclear power station? There’s currently a protest being held about it.

Cate agrees to do a few days as a probation officer again – the money will be useful, and while supervising a new recruit, meets a suspicious character  – Adam. Her spidey senses tingling, she looks into him. All the while trying to find Bronte and get Lizzie back into rehab. 

Another complex and involved outing for Cate Austin, who really needs to start her own detective agency, she’s always doing so much. Returning to Suffolk wasn’t necessarily the best move – she gets sucked into so many people’s lives and reconnecting with Tim has its risks too.

I really enjoyed this, the whole series is great, and can’t wait to see what chaos Cate gets into next 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.

A skeleton tied to a chair. A witness whose story unravels. A killer who’s not finished yet.

Detective Greg Geldard is still reeling from a blazing row with his partner Chris when the call comes. A body in a derelict farmhouse outside the quiet Norfolk village of Themelthorpe. Nothing in twenty-five years of policing has prepared Geldard for this. A headless skeleton bound at the wrists and ankles. And facing it, a tripod. A video camera pointing straight at the remains. The only witness is a hitchhiker whose story falls apart the moment Geldard starts asking questions.

But one thing is clear: someone wanted this woman’s death to be seen. And someone may still be watching. Because somewhere on the Norfolk Broads, another woman is already tied to a chair. Waiting for her turn in front of the camera. She has days if she’s lucky. Hours if she’s not.

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Award-winning author Heather Peck has enjoyed a varied life. She has been both farmer and agricultural policy adviser, volunteer covid vaccinator and NHS Trust Chair. She bred sheep and alpacas, reared calves, broke ploughs, represented the UK in international negotiations, specialised in emergency response from Chernobyl to bird flu, managed controls over pesticides and GM crops, saw legislation through Parliament and got paid to eat Kit Kats while on secondment to Nestle Rowntree. She is author of the very popular DCI Geldard Norfolk Mysteries and her standalone thriller ‘Milestones’ won the PageTurner Book Award for best crime novel in 2024. She lives in Norfolk with her partner Gary, two dogs and two cats. See more and sign up for Heather’s free monthly newsletter at http://www.heatherpeckauthor.com

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My thoughts: This is a shocking case, starting with the remains of a young woman being found in a rotting farm house. The hitchhiker who found her body has a story that doesn’t add up and as the police investigate it becomes clear something dark and terrible happened to the woman.

And then it becomes apparent that there’s another victim, a woman being slowly starved to death on camera. The online team determine she’s somewhere in Norfolk, and a task force swings into place to find her and get her help as fast as they can. But who is behind this and what is the connection between the victims, a London university and the farm where the first woman was found?

DS Geldard also has some personal stuff going on, as his partner is struggling with returning to work in a reduced capacity, and it’s throwing a lot of things up in the air. He needs to focus on the case but he can’t neglect his family.

A sinister and disturbing story of vulnerable young women being exploited and killed by a murderer without a conscience. 

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

Two women hunting the same killer. One seeks justice. One seeks fame. Both have something to hide.

In a remote Scottish town where everyone knows everyone, the disappearance of local girl Lily Howard should be impossible to hide. But as Detective Ruth Lindsey discovers, some secrets run deeper than blood.

When internet sensation Mia Chaplin arrives to investigate, her viral YouTube videos about the case spark a media frenzy. The town divides: some worship Mia as a crusader for justice, others see her as a dangerous provocateur.

For Ruth, she’s a threat – not just to the investigation, but to the fragile peace of a community already fracturing under pressure.

As Mia’s revelations start destroying lives, Ruth realises she’s dealing with something far more sinister than a fame-hungry influencer. Because Mia knows things about Lily she shouldn’t.

And Ruth is beginning to suspect that the real predator isn’t hiding in the shadowy hills of Galloway, but broadcasting to millions from plain sight…

Charlotte Langley works as a journalist and a personal finance reporter at the Telegraph and is a fresh, breakout voice in gripping psychological police dramas.

My thoughts: This was a really good crime read, dealing with the true crime, social media investigator trend and the harm an inexperienced, non-professional detective can cause.

When Lily Howard goes missing, the police and mountain rescue are soon looking for her, but as the time goes by and she doesn’t turn up, the social media investigators start to descend, like locusts.

Mia Chaplin is one of them, but her previous case has done more harm than good, and it looks like this might be the same. As she pokes into Lily’s life, cosying up to her family, publishing unsubstantiated rumours and setting the online and irl ghouls on innocent people.

DI Ruth Lindsey is a professional, she and her team are ruling out suspects the correct way. Despite repeated warnings Mia won’t listen and continues to harass local residents and connect dots that just aren’t there.

As it becomes clear that Lily is no longer alive, Ruth and Mia are repeatedly at odds. And their confrontations are distracting Ruth from finding the perpetrator.

A really interesting, clever book with some shocking twists as a community is torn apart by accusations and mob rule.

*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 city on edge. A killer in plain sight. A detective running out of time.

On a crowded London bus, a young woman is slashed in broad daylight. The attacker vanishes before anyone realizes what’s happened. Detective Jack MacIntosh knows this isn’t an isolated attack.

The media call him the ‘Tube Slasher’ — a phantom who strikes on packed trains and crowded platforms, then disappears without a trace. No witnesses. No pattern. No evidence. Victims keep coming. CCTV offers only fleeting glimpses. And every attack feels random — until Jack realises it isn’t. So far, the wounds have been shallow. Controlled. Almost deliberate. But now the killer has changed his pattern. He’s left the Underground. And that can only mean one thing. Escalation.

With pressure mounting and time running out, Jack is chasing a man no one can see — and a motive he can’t yet understand. Because Jack knows what’s coming next. The next attack won’t be a warning. It will be murder.

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Michelle Kidd is a crime fiction author best known for the DI Jack MacIntosh and DI Nicki Hardcastle series. Michelle qualified as a legal executive in the early 1990s, spending ten years practising civil and criminal litigation. But the dream to write was never far from her mind and in 2008 she began writing the first book in what would later become the DI Jack MacIntosh series. Michelle now works full time for the NHS and lives in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. She enjoys reading, wine and cats — not necessarily in that order.

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My thoughts: Jack MacIntosh starts this book delivering his new niece on the floor of his sister-in-law’s cafe. But then he barely has time to breathe as the Underground Slasher, a masked man who cuts his victims with a knife, shallow but painful wounds, and waves to the CCTV, strikes again, but this time on a bus. Has he changed his MO? Will he now start killing people?

Jack and his team are up against it, a suspect who changes his appearance, brushing past his victims in the crush of the Tube, nothing to go on in their vague descriptions. No evidence left behind. Just strange smiley face calling cards.

Then he becomes a meme, a hash tag and something of an online sensation. Will all these strange fans set the Slasher off and put people in more danger or will he be flattered by the attention and draw his audience to him somehow?

Jack isn’t the most internet savvy, and needs an idiots guide to hashtags and the dark web, but thankfully his team are a bit more clued up.

There’s also a nasty strain of fentanyl laced ecstasy killing people, Jack’s pretty sure he knows where it’s coming from and who, but he can’t say too much to the other team investigating without dropping himself in it, he needs to carefully give them a lead. Because these pills must be taken off the streets before another young person dies.

It’s another busy caseload for Jack and his colleagues to handle, which is why he doesn’t have a personal life, but if they can catch the Slasher and get the dodgy pills off the street, he might just have time to feed his cat and maybe see his baby niece.

 

*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 icy morning, a muddy riverbank. The body of a promising swimmer is found in the River Don close to Thorpe.

Returning from a six-month absence, DI Kate Fletcher leads her first murder case
since she nearly lost her own life to a desperate killer.

Grappling with her own doubts and insecurities, she has to negotiate a team transformed by differences in staffing and in attitude. Everything has changed and nobody is comfortable.

A second body leads to a strong suspect, but the evidence is circumstantial and far from clear cut.

Kate’s ex-Detective Sergeant finds the breakthrough they need to help track down a cunning and meticulous murderer who has no conscience and no fear of consequences.

But can Kate act in time to prevent more deaths?

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Heleyne Hammersley is a British writer based in Cumbria. She writes psychological suspense thrillers
and crime novels.

Heleyne has been writing since junior school – her first work was a collection of poems called ‘Give Them the Works’ when she was ten years old. The poems were carefully handwritten on plain paper
and tied together with knitting wool.

When she’s not writing, Heleyne can often be found wandering on the fells or cycling the back roads of Cumbria in search of coffee and cake.

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Giveaway to Win 5 x Kindle Copies of Invisible (distributed via Amazon) (Open INT)

My thoughts: Returning to work after being off after almost being killed, DI Kate Fletcher finds her team off kilter with staff changes and her absence. Unfortunately there isn’t time to get them settled, a young woman’s body has been found in a local river, and the team need to find the killer.

As they look into the deceased, another body is found in similar fashion – is it the same killer? Both have a tenuous link to a former athlete turned motivational spokesman and he denies all knowledge.

As the team work on the case, it’s their former DS, retired due to injury, who offers up an interesting theory that sends the team in a different direction, but is it the right one?

A clever and twisted serial killer is stalking the streets, they’ve left one victim alive, unintentionally, and as Kate and her colleagues close in, could they be putting themselves in danger?

I really enjoyed this book despite not having read the previous titles, and I liked Kate’s team, they’re a little divided but as they work together they seem to be gelling more and finding a new way to work. 

*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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Julia Bird is as keen as anyone in Berrywick to see inside the famous Greystone Manor. But when she does, the last thing she expects to find is a body!

When Julia Bird is asked to clear out the gatehouse at Greystone Manor after the sudden death of Colonel Loxton’s sister, she is intrigued to finally see inside the impressive house. But when she discovers the body of the Colonel, who greeted her only hours before, dead behind the sofa with a bruise on his forehead, Julia believes his death is no accident.

Once forensics confirm it was murder, Julia tries to piece together what happened. On the day the Colonel died, she saw an unknown man getting into a car outside the manor. The butler Garforth and the housekeeper Biddy claim there were no visitors that day, so who was this mysterious man? Or is someone in the Colonel’s family not telling the truth, with tensions running high over the inheritance?

Days later, Julia finds another body dead among the rhododendrons and knows the deaths must be connected. At the Colonel’s funeral she heard his friends talking about a long-buried secret. Had the second victim discovered it, and is it motive enough to kill? With time running out, can Julia solve the case before there’s another murder at the manor?

An addictive and totally charming cozy mystery set in the English countryside. Perfect for fans of M.C. Beaton, Faith Martin and J. R. Ellis.

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Katie Gayle is the writing partnership of best-selling South African writers, Kate Sidley and Gail Schimmel. Kate and Gail have, between them, written over ten books of various genres, but with Katie Gayle, they both make their debut in the cozy mystery genre. Both Gail and Kate live in Johannesburg, with husbands, children, dogs and cats. Unlike their sleuth Epiphany Bloom, neither of them have ever stolen a cat from the vet.

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My thoughts: Julia is back and this time she’s having a nice, tomato heavy, summer, with daughter Jess in tow. She’s been asked to clear out someone’s home after they died, for the charity shop she volunteers in. Unfortunately while she’s there, the owner is murdered. Neither Bird saw or heard anything, but someone at the manor house must know.

As the police launch their investigation, the Colonel’s gardener is found with similar injuries, Julia as always, picks up some local gossip and some overheard things while popping into Greystone Manor to check on housekeeper Biddy. 

All of this extra information helps Hayley and her team get to grips with the family relationships and start to figure out the important things – means, motive and opportunity.

As always there’s lots of food, dog walks, book club and other distractions but Julia can’t stop thinking about the case and Hayley needs some help this time, so it’s a good thing Julia has lots of ideas and a quick visit to a local solicitor changes everything.

I really like this series so I was delighted to read another book with the delightful Julia and her friends as she helps solve another case.

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