Tag: crime fiction

With a reputation for solving bizarre murders Detective Inspector Jonah Pennance, recently transferred to the National Crime Agency, is brought in to investigate the mysterious death of celebrity fund manager, Grady Carnegie – choked to death, then his body arranged and ready for a wake.

Then a second corpse turns up under identical circumstances – that of washed-up investigative reporter, Stan Thewlis. But how are the two men connected?

Soon, Pennance’s partner, Sergeant Simone Smithson, comes under suspicion for the deaths – the evidence seems overwhelming. To save her Pennance must determine what role the shadowy organisation Blackthorn plays and who is in the background, pulling all the strings…Buy

Keith Nixon is the best-selling author of sixteen novels and one million words in print, including the Margate based Solomon Gray series of over 250,000 copies in circulation and reached no.1 on Amazon in the UK, US, Canada and Australia.

Keith lived near the gritty seaside town of Margate, where many of his novels are based, for 17 years before relocating to the edge of the Peak District with his family where he lives today. Keith works in a senior sales role within a high-tech industry and has regularly travelled all over the globe.

His novels are published by Gladius Press and Bastei Lubbe (German)

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My thoughts: financial crimes can be a bit boring, so I’m glad this had several weird murders to liven things up. A man choked to death on cheap white bread forced down his throat, no one quite gets the symbolism, but then it turns out, after another victim is killed the same way and two more are almost poisoned to death with salt, that it’s all smoke and mirrors. Something has prompted the killer or killers to carry out these very specific crimes. Can DI Pennance put the pieces together, work out how the victims are connected, sort out his love life, and prevent any more tragedies?

Racing back and forth across London from crime scenes to interview witnesses, sometimes on the tube and sometimes on foot (someone get this man a car!), going into strange old buildings you might walk past every day and huge glass towers where the wealth management play brings Pennance into contact with an interesting cast of characters. And somewhere in amongst them could be the killer.

I’m not entirely sure many of the characters, especially the cops, have anything approaching normal lives – no one seems to sleep much or eat proper food – certainly vegetables don’t play a role. I do sometimes wonder how fictional detectives don’t all fall down at their desks. The adrenaline alone must come crashing down – Pennance seems to do everything at breakneck pace. But then again lives are at stake, plus the British economy and his romantic future. I suppose he doesn’t want to slow down.

Intelligent and enjoyable, with some very quirky characters, this was a nice introduction to a series I’d not yet come across but will certainly be searching out the back list for.

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

An ex-convict. A dead body. A Women’s Institute meeting like no other…
It’s an unusually challenging meeting at the Wasby Women’s Institute, with local resident and former drug-dealer Adam Fleetwood talking about his crimes and subsequent rehabilitation…but
events take a gruesome turn when prospective member Grace Thoresby is discovered murdered in the kitchen.
The case is particularly unwelcome for investigating officer DCI Jude Satterthwaite. Adam was once
his close friend and now holds a bitter grudge, blaming Jude for landing him in jail in the first place.
To complicate things further, the only thing keeping Adam from arrest is the testimony of Jude’s former girlfriend, Becca Reid, for whom he still cares deeply.
As Jude and his colleague and current partner, Ashleigh O’Halloran, try to pick apart the complicated tapestry of Grace’s life, they uncover a web of fantasy, bitterness and deceit. Adam is deeply
implicated, but is he guilty or is someone determined to frame him for Grace’s murder? And as they close in on the truth, Jude falls foul of Adam’s desire for revenge, with near-fatal consequences…
A traditional detective mystery set in Cumbria.

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Jo Allen was born in Wolverhampton and is a graduate of Edinburgh, Strathclyde and the Open University, with undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in geography and Earth science. She’s
been writing for pleasure and publication for as long as she can remember. After a career in economic consultancy she took up writing and was first published under the name Jennifer Young, in genres of short stories, romance and romantic suspense. She wrote online articles on travel and on her favourite academic subject, Earth science. In 2017 she took the plunge and began writing the genre she most likes to read — crime.
Jo lives in the English Lakes, where the DCI Satterthwaite series is set. In common with all her favourite characters, she loves football (she’s a season ticket holder with her beloved Wolverhampton Wanderers) and cats.

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My thoughts: I do enjoy this series, I like Jude and his world weary understanding of human nature. After a body is found at a WI meeting, by Jude’s ex Becca no less, an investigation is launched. Adam – a former drug dealer, and former friend of Jude’s, is in the spotlight but might Grace’s murderer be closer to home?

Digging into a family’s lives and complicated relationships isn’t easy, especially one that’s prickly and dysfunctional. But after another death, there’s not much choice.

Adam has it in for Jude and seems determined to cause him misery and harm. Popping up everywhere and never missing a chance to be nasty. Even though Jude never rises to it. There’s a rather hairy (or should that be “dairy”) moment for Jude, but luckily he’s quick.

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

The back yard is full of balloons and streamers, and a piñata hangs from a tree branch, circling lazily in the breeze. But beneath the table of party food, a body lies half-covered by a brightly coloured tablecloth, blood seeping onto the floor…

A child’s birthday party ends in chaos when one of the parents is found brutally beaten to death. With no way for anyone to leave unnoticed, it’s clear the killer must be another guest, but with twenty high-spirited children as a distraction, anyone might have had the opportunity to slip away from the rest of the party.

Detective Meredith Somerset soon discovers the victim had no shortage of enemies, and everyone has a potential motive. Fractured marriages, jealousy and betrayals all come to light but Meredith can’t seem to cut through the lies and find the truth.

When another party-goer disappears Meredith knows the clock is ticking before the killer strikes again. But when everyone has a motive, how can she be sure who was the one who struck the fatal blow? Who is innocent—and who is out for blood?

My thoughts: Detective Meredith Somerset is back. She’s still following the clues to her sister’s kidnapping, still keeping her investigation a secret from everyone but needs to put it to one side as she and partner Tyler need to look into the violent murder of a man at a children’s party.

Everyone is keeping secrets – the wife, the employees, the former business partner, and some of those secrets are worth killing for. There’s an entire nest of snakes to sort through and find the venomous one.

Tyler’s sister Hannah isn’t doing too well, and he’s a bit distracted too. Otherwise he might have spotted Meredith’s rising paranoia before her daughter does. Things are coming to a head and Meredith needs to start talking.

There’s a lot happening here and it’s really interesting, the character development is great, to be honest Tyler and Meredith’s lives are far more intriguing than the case they’re on. Next book I want more of the detectives and fewer murders!

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

The murder of Sofia Suarez is both gruesome and seemingly senseless. Why would anyone target a respected nurse who was well-liked by her friends and her neighbours? As Detective Jane Rizzoli and Forensic Pathologist Maura Isles investigate the baffling case, they discover that Sofia was guarding a dangerous secret — a secret that may have led the killer straight to her door.

Meanwhile, Jane’s mother Angela Rizzoli is conducting an investigation of her own. She may be a housewife, not a police detective, but she’s savvy enough to know there’s something very strange, perhaps even dangerous, about the new neighbours across the street. The problem is, no one believes her, not even her own daughter.

Immersed in the hunt for Sofia’s killer, Jane and Maura are too busy to pay attention to Angela’s fears. With no one listening to her, and danger mounting in her neighbourhood, Angela just may be forced to take action on her own…

Bestselling author TESS GERRITSEN is also a physician, and she brings to her novels her first-hand knowledge of emergency and autopsy rooms. Her thrillers starring homicide detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles inspired the hit TV series Rizzoli & Isles. But Tess’s interests span far more than medicine and crime. As an anthropology student at Stanford University, she catalogued centuries-old human remains, and she continues to travel the world, driven by her fascination with ancient cultures and bizarre natural phenomena.

My thoughts: I’ve been a Tess Gerritsen fan for a long time, so the new Rizzoli and Isles book was bound to be exciting. And it doesn’t disappoint. I love that Angela, Rizzoli’s mum, is running her own neighbourhood investigation too. She’s pretty sure her daughter got her detective’s nose from her.

The murder of Sofia Suarez is baffling, a widowed nurse, she doesn’t seem to be a typical victim – was it a burglary gone wrong as it appears? Or does her recent Internet search history hold the answers?

Meanwhile the quiet neighbourhood Angela lives in gets some new residents and there’s something odd about them. She’s going to find out what, and find a runaway teenage girl too. Even though the local police would prefer it if she didn’t get involved.

Cracking crime writing as always from the author, much more going on underneath than the apparently straightforward crimes appear. Sofia Suarez opened a whole can of worms and it can only end badly if the detectives can’t work it out fast. And Angela Rizzoli might be in serious trouble too.

I really enjoyed having a secondary story that was so fun and slightly less serious than the murder being investigated. The supporting characters have grown since the first book to become more interesting and more of a presence, adding to Rizzoli and Isles’ lives and helping them evolve into more rounded figures. Sometimes the other stuff, Isles’ piano playing in an orchestra of doctors, Rizzoli’s crazy family, is more interesting than the crimes they solve. I liked the way this one was linked into their lives in some ways – a colleague of the victim is in the same orchestra. It made it feel more realistic and also gave them another way into the victim’s life.

I keep thinking about authors whose work I want to go back and re-read and Tess Gerritsen is definitely one of those, I remember borrowing The Surgeon from the library when it was first published in 2001, and being completely thrilled by it. Her books have only gotten better.

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

One private island. Seven guests. One killer…

The perfect holiday. The perfect murder. The perfect beach read…

Get away from your problems.
Multimillionaire Robert Rathwell and his entourage arrive at their private Greek island. White sand, turquoise water, the perfect place to relax. But this is no ordinary family, and this holiday will be their last.

Get away from your life.
The next morning, a scream shatters their peaceful world. Someone has been murdered, his body arranged to make it look like suicide. Everyone has a motive and, under the burning sun, secrets quickly simmer to the surface.

Get away with murder.
Soon the guests see a darker, more violent side to paradise. Because the Rathwells don’t just own the island; they own the people on it. And they can do whatever they like – maybe even commit murder…

My thoughts: a reclusive millionaire, his family and a few staff on a disconnected private island. What could go wrong? With a few uninvited guests (or are they?), the patriarch in poor health, secrets and assumed identities abound.

Everyone is hiding something – but are they the killer? Between them they intend to find out and get off the island once the weather clears. But who can they trust?

With multiple narrators, all with their own agendas, it’s hard to decide who to believe, although some of the things they’re hiding aren’t as bad as murder. There’s plenty of motivation to do away with a few people. And even when it’s supposedly resolved, there’s a few lingering questions. The ending gives a sudden whole new slant on everything too. Very cleverly done.

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

Twelve-year-old Sophie and her mother, Amelia-Rose, move to London from Massachusetts where they meet the charismatic Matty Melgren, who quickly becomes an intrinsic part of their lives. But as the relationship between the two adults fractures, a serial killer begins targeting young women with a striking resemblance to Amelia-Rose.

When Matty is eventually sent down for multiple murder, questions remain as to his guilt — questions which ultimately destroy both women. Nearly twenty years later, Sophie receives a letter from Battlemouth Prison informing her Matty is dying and wants to meet. It looks like Sophie might finally get the answers she craves. But will the truth set her free — or bury her deeper?

My thoughts: this is a clever, complex and interesting book with a fascinating concept – Sophie’s father figure turned out to be a serial killer, she’s spent her whole life trying to understand why he did it. She talks to her mother but gets no answers there, would finally confronting the dying Matty resolve things?

I really enjoyed the author’s Ziba Mackenzie books, and I was excited to read this, her writing is accessible and the book’s premise unfolds nicely. Sophie is an intriguing protagonist – guilty by association, even though she was a child and had no idea what was going on. She’s piecing the clues together though, fragmented memories and newspaper inches. An intelligent and engaging 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.

Detective Anjelica Henley confronts a series of ritualistic murders in this heart-pounding thriller about race, power and the corrupt institutions that threaten us

When Detective Anjelica Henley is called to investigate the murder of a popular preacher in his own church, she discovers a second victim, tortured and tied to a bed in an upstairs room. He is alive, but barely, and his body shows signs of a dark religious ritual.

With a revolving list of suspects and the media spotlight firmly on her, Henley is left with more questions than answers as she attempts to untangle both crimes. But when another body appears, the case takes on a new urgency. Unless she can apprehend the killer, the next victim may just be Henley herself.

Both fans of The Jigsaw Man and readers coming to Matheson’s work for the first time will get swept away in this heart-pounding thriller. Drawing on her experiences as a criminal attorney, Nadine Matheson deftly explores issues of race, class and justice through an action-packed story that will hold you captive until the last terrifying page.

Listen to an extract here

My thoughts: this book goes to some dark places – it seems to be Henley’s lot in life. Extreme religious beliefs, secrets, embezzlement, lies and murders. Vulnerable people, often with mental health issues are disappearing and later turning up dead, looking like they’ve been tortured. What is the connection to the dead preacher? And can Henley and team stop it before anyone else loses their life?

I really liked the previous book in this series – The Jigsaw Man, and I think Henley is a really interesting protagonist. She’s clever and good at what she does but keeps a lot of things close to her chest, and isn’t always as open, even with her closest colleagues, as she could be. These crimes are in her community, and she wants to keep people safe but when all she gets is lies and obfuscation from those involved, it’s not easy.

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

Welcome to the book tour for cozy mystery, Bee Movie by Wendy W. Webb. Read on for more!

Bee Movie (The Beluga Stein Mysteries Book 1)

Publication Date: March 30th, 2022

Genre: Cozy Mystery/ Suspense/ Paranormal

Publisher: The Wild Rose Press

Beluga Stein is here, with her signature loud muumuus, pastel cigarettes, and hit-or-miss psychic ability. She and her feline familiar, Planchette, are ready for their closeups. Or are they?

Beluga is called to investigate paranormal activity and other strange events on the set of a low budget horror movie. But after a mysterious fire, an actor dressed in a bee costume is found hoisted high in the air by a crane. Is the set haunted? Or are the supernatural stirrings and death the result of special effects?

From the dark screening room to the madcap SFX warehouse and scary set itself, Beluga and Planchette are there as reluctant cast members. But even a bit part in this film could be murder.

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Production Manager’s Notes

Shooting on set of Bee Mine delayed yet another day due to unforeseen circumstances of boom falling on antenna of actor playing part of giant bee. Actor sustained minor injury (covered by insurance), antenna sent to SFX department for surgical repair (not covered by insurance), boom operator yet to be found after his exit from soundstage, screaming, “It’s a ghost. It’s a ghost.”

Budget overrun in Craft Services department. Snack Head places blame on Beluga Stein.

Available on Amazon

About the Author

Wendy Webb (aka Wendy W Webb) has published dark fantasy short stories and supernatural-humor murder mystery novels over many years. After a hiatus for far too long as a professor of emergency management and as a disaster responder, she welcomes the return to fiction writing. She adores her husband; two dogs, one of which turns on iTunes whenever Wendy leaves her office; dry red wine; theatre; and travel as long as she doesn’t see anymore ghosts.

My thoughts: this was a strange story, a bit confusing and completely mad. There’s odd events on a low budget film set, including the death of the Bee Man (not the actor hired to wear the suit but someone wearing it nonetheless). Hired by the producer to find out what’s going on and who is trying to destroy the movie, biology professor, PI and psychic Beluga Stein, her feline sidekick Planchette, friend Tanya and eventually her daughter Olivia, is on the case.

As more strange things occur, the brightly dressed sleuth starts to narrow down her suspects, but has she overlooked the real killer?

Funny, weird and entertaining.

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