Tag: crime fiction

When Anna Matheson fails to collect her son from the babysitter after a works party, the police are swiftly called. Anna is a stickler for time and a good mother – she would never abandon her baby. Her disappearance is totally out of character and DI Isabel Blood and her team soon suspect foul play.

CCTV footage shows Anna was last seen at precisely 11.11pm, as she collected her coat to leave the party. But the cameras outside the venue have failed to pick up her exit from the car park – how could she have vanished in plain sight?

Rumour has it that Anna was set to make big changes in the workplace, and Isabel can’t help but think someone wanted her out of the way.

Everyone at the party is a suspect, and all the clues point to murder…

My thoughts: I like this series, I like Isabel and her team, especially Zoe, who came to the fore in this book, working as the FLO (Family Liaison Officer) and getting crucial information from the victim’s mother that helps steer the investigation in the right direction – towards a killer.

As the police gather information, and interview suspects, you’d think the killer would show themselves, give themselves away, but this one is stone cold.

There are some distractions for Isabel too – her son still hasn’t found a job or an idea of what to do, the family’s beloved dog disappears and her boss is breathing down her neck – wanting her in the office and not out investigating crimes.

The revelations keep coming about the victim – her baby’s father, her own father, she’s been well trained in keeping secrets by her mother, who has a fair few herself. But it’s time for them all to come out and allow the team to get some justice.

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

CSI Ally Dymond’s commitment to justice has cost her a place on the major investigations team. After exposing corruption in the ranks, she’s stuck working petty crimes on the sleepy North Devon coast.

Then the body of nineteen-year-old Janie Warren turns up in the seaside town of Bidecombe, and Ally’s expert skills are suddenly back in demand.

But when the evidence she discovers contradicts the lead detective’s theory, nobody wants to listen to the CSI who landed their colleagues in prison.

Time is running out to catch a killer no one is looking for – no one except Ally. What she doesn’t know is that he’s watching, from her side of the crime scene tape, waiting for the moment to strike.

My thoughts: I’m very familiar with North Devon as part of my family comes from there and several relatives still live there. I’ve spent many holidays down there visiting my rellies, and am weirdly familiar with supermarkets and traffic queues of the area, it’s what happens when you’re staying with residents, not in the more “Holiday” areas.

Breakneck Point is set in that world, the part tourists don’t see, the rundown estates and unlovely bits in which real people live their whole lives, not eating fish and chips washed down with a Mr Whippy for every meal.

I liked Ally, she’s very dedicated and dogged when it comes to her work, she doesn’t like people who break the rules and won’t lie to get a conviction, even if she knows the scumbag’s guilty. But that backfires on her and leaves her without a friend in the police when she spots inconsistencies and evidence they’ve overlooked that could have prevented further deaths.

But when it comes to her daughter, she’s not as focused as maybe she should be and I get that too. It can be hard, teenagers are secretive and don’t share, she and Megan have lost some of their closeness – which is normal, but the fact she’s been a little distracted means she’s even more passionate about solving this case when Megan becomes a victim.

The writing was really clever, flipping between viewpoints and tenses – you get a really disturbing insight into the mind of a violent criminal as well as the attempt to stop him. The author worked as a CSI and draws on her knowledge here, and that adds a layer of expertise and insider details to the story.

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

A drowned man. A missing teenager. A deadly secret.
When Emmy Leach discovers the body of a drug addict, wrapped in a tent and submerged in the icy waters of a Cumbrian tarn, she causes more than one problem for investigating officer DCI Jude Satterthwaite. Not only does the discovery revive his first, unsolved, case, but the case
reveals Emmy’s complicated past and opens old wounds on the personal front, regarding Jude’s relationship with his colleague and former partner, Ashleigh O’Halloran.
As Jude and his team unpick an old story, it becomes increasingly clear that Emmy is in danger.
What secrets are she and her controlling, coercive husband hiding, from the police and from each other? What connection does the dead man have with a recently-busted network of drug
dealers? And, as the net closes in on the killer, can Jude and Ashleigh solve a murder — and prevent another?
A traditional British detective novel 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: this was very clever, when you find out who the body is and then as the case unfolds, there’s so much more going on than just an accident or misadventure. Family secrets will be revealed and relationships changed forever.

Jude and Ashleigh have their own complicated relationship to work out while investigating the family at the centre of this terrible crime. It adds extra layers, looking at others makes them look at themselves too. No one wants to admit to their dysfunction after all.

*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 edge-of-your seat murder mystery set in a forgotten, ocean-facing town on Vancouver Island!

A body washes up on the shores of Lake Templeton, a small town on the coast of Vancouver Island. Sharon Reese, the victim, was a dedicated government employee. Everyone liked her, but no one knew much about her. Was she hiding something? Maybe a questionable past riddled with scandal. And did it lead to her plunge to death, in a drunken stupor, off the dock outside her secluded lakefront lodge?

Was it an accident? A suicide? Or cold-blooded murder? Private Investigator, Fati Rizvi, is determined to find out.

Fati arrives in Lake Templeton to find secrets that run as deep as the City’s sewers. Everyone is hiding something and nothing is as it seems. A cult escapee. A corrupt politician. A struggling airline. A multi-million dollar public-private project to revitalize the Lake Templeton waterfront. How are they all connected?

As Fati valiantly unravels the knots, another body is found on the shore. Is it the same killer? And can Fati stop them before they strike again?

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HS Burney writes fast-moving, action-packed mysteries set against the backdrop of majestic mountains and crystalline ocean in West Coast Canada. She loves creating characters that keep you on your toes. A corporate executive by day and a novelist by night, HS Burney received her Bachelors’ in Creative Writing from Lafayette College. A proud Canadian immigrant, she takes her readers into worlds populated by diverse characters with unique cultural backgrounds. When not writing, she is out hiking, waiting for the next story idea to strike, and pull her into a new world. 

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My thoughts: I really liked Fati, the PI in this book, she’s smart and funny and never lets anything stop her including rude mayors and potentially corrupt politicians. She seems to have a sense for when she’s being lied to and spots things the police seem to miss. She might not be popular in the small town of Lake Templeton after exposing crooked goings on and catching a killer but she’s not bothered. Justice must be served, and she’s the one to do it.

The case looks pretty straightforward but Fati isn’t persuaded it’s as open and shut as the local cops would like it to be and the mire she digs the more it seems that there’s a lot going on. Clever and gripping, funny and enjoyable.

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

Worn down by a job he hates, and a stressful family life, middle-aged, middleclass Bradley picks up a teenage escort and commits an unspeakable crime. Now she’s tied up in his warehouse, and he doesn’t know what to do. Max is homeless, eating from rubbish bins, sleeping rough and barely existing – known for cadging a cigarette from anyone passing, and occasionally even the footpath. Nobody really sees Max, but he has one friend, and she’s gone missing. In order to find her, Max is going to have to call on some people from his past, and reopen wounds that have remained unhealed for a very long time – and the clock is ticking…

Publication coincides with International Women’s Month and Homeless Women’s Day, with a percentage of profits to SHELTER

Vanda Symon is a crime writer, TV presenter and radio host from Dunedin, New Zealand, and the chair of the Otago Southland branch of the New Zealand Society of Authors. The Sam Shephard series, which includes Overkill, The Ringmaster, Containment and Bound, hit number one on the New Zealand bestseller list, and has also been shortlisted for the Ngaio Marsh Award. Overkill was shortlisted for the CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger. Twitter @vandasymon, Instagram @vanda-symon, Facebook, @vandasymonauthor, www.vandasymon.com.

My thoughts: It’s easy to imagine that violent criminals are different from ordinary people, that no one with a 9 to 5 job, a family, a suburban life could do anything terrible. But that’s just not true. Behind that Pleasantville facade can be some really twisted people.

Billy is a street kid, doing what she has to in order to survive after being kicked out by her parents. Max is also homeless. They look out for each other, and when she goes missing, he’s the only one who cares. And he will do anything to find her.

Max is a fascinating character, there’s something sad and lost about him, and as his story is revealed, you understand why he’s so broken. But he’s also kind and loyal and he cares so much for Billy, she reminds him of someone he lost. Billy is street tough, brave, resourceful and terrified. I rooted for them both the whole time, hoping their story would end well. Bradley however, can get in the bin. What an awful creep. A very angry, disturbed man. I felt sorry for his family.

What follows is a clever, twisted tale of a good man using whatever resources he can, including turning to people he never thought he’d see again, to save an innocent life. Although he doesn’t know it, there is a deadline as Bradley’s rage and desperation to avoid being caught build. It’s also the story of a brave and rather incredible young woman who won’t be a victim and is channelling her grandmother’s love to stay alive and find a way to fight back.

I do sometimes wonder where crime writers get their ideas and characters from, especially the awful ones. Plumbing the depths of human depravity needs to be offset by the Maxs and Billys of this world. Good people in bad places. A hope of redemption and a fresh start.

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

Keep your enemies close
But keep your friends closer…

Six women:

Each receive a copy of an old school group photo, in which their own face has been savagely scratched out.
Within a week, two of the women are dead.


Detective Sergeant Tina Bassett:

Known to colleagues as the Hound, she believes both women were murdered by the same person and that someone is intent on killing off the class of 98 one by one ..

As the death toll rises , DS Bassett finds herself in a desperate race against time, as she delves deeper into the past to help uncover the catalyst to the unfolding rampage in the present.

Will she succeed in stopping a killer hell bent on having their revenge ?

Or will the class of 98 finally pay their price ..

Bad Sweet Things is the new gripping Irish Crime thriller from Maria Hoey, perfect for fans of Jane Casey , Claire McGowan and Claire Allan.

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Maria is an author and poet from Dublin, Ireland.  Her poetry has appeared in Ireland’s foremost poetry publication, Poetry Ireland. Her short stories have featured in various publications and been shortlisted for a number of awards.  

In 2017, Maria’s debut novel, The Last Lost Girl was published by Poolbeg Press, and went on to be shortlisted for the Kate O’Brien Debut Award 2018.  

Maria’s second novel, On Bone Bridge was published by Poolbeg in 2018. She has also had a book for children published by Poolbeg in 2019, The Little Book of Irish Saints. 

Bad Sweet Things was published in 2021 and listed in the Amazon Kindle Bestseller chart (Irish Crime).

Maria has one daughter, Rebecca, and lives in Portmarnock, Co Dublin, with her husband, Garrett, and their moustachioed cat, Midge.

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My thoughts: teenage girls are monsters and what these women did back when they were teenagers was pretty awful, it went beyond the usual bullying and became something far nastier. It’s finally come back to haunt them, someone wants them to pay for their crimes. Or these are just unfortunate accidents – as DS Bassett’s boss, known as Colonel Mustard (he’s called Coleman) would prefer. But Tina knows there’s something a bit off about these things, something isn’t right and she’s determined to prove it.

Clever, twisting and gripping this really makes you rethink the way you might have behaved and whether someone might be coming for you! Tina is a great character, tenacious and smart, she follows her gut and chases the tiniest scraps of evidence to try to prevent more deaths before it’s too late.

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