Tag: crime fiction

FIVE WENT INTO THE WOODS. 

TWO NEVER CAME BACK.

An unforgettable story of murder, trauma and childhoods lost, by Richell Prize-winning debut author Ruth McIver

Erin Sloane was sixteen when high school senior Andre Villiers was murdered by his friends. They were her friends, too, led by the intense, charismatic Ricky Hell. Five people went into West Cypress Woods the night Andre was murdered. Only three came out.

Ativan, alcohol and distance had dimmed Erin’s memories of that time. But nearly twenty years later, an ageing father will bring her home. Now a journalist, she is asked to write a story about the Southport Three and the thrill-kill murder that electrified the country. Erin’s investigation propels her closer and closer to a terrifying truth. And closer and closer to danger.

An unforgettable story of murder, trauma and childhoods lost, I Shot the Devil is a taut, prize-winning debut novel from an electrifying new talent.

Ruth McIver is a Dublin-born, Western Australian and New York City raised writer currently based in Melbourne, Australia. She is represented by the Story Factory. In 2019 Ruth completed her PhD in the field of true-crime inspired fiction with Curtin University. Her unpublished manuscript, Nothing Gold, was runner-up in the inaugural Banjo Prize (2018) and was one of seven manuscript selected to be pitched at Bloody Scotland Crime Writing Festival (2014). I Shot the Devil is her debut novel and won the 2018 Richell Prize for Emerging Writers.

Find Ruth on social media: Twitter: @ruthmciver, Instagram: @rogetstrollope

My thoughts: this was a really interesting way of telling a story – told from Erin’s perspective and several others in the form of written, and highly dubious, accounts, it draws Erin back into a time she thought she’d moved on from.

Looking into the deaths of two of her high school friends – including the boy she was in love with, draws a lot more to the surface. Far from the “satanic panic” the media at the time insisted was involved, there’s a world of drug dealing, dirty cops and property fraud under the surface. And Erin drags it all into the light. Which puts her in terrible danger from unscrupulous people.

The middle section dragged a little, but once Erin decided what to do and heads to Florida to track down her old school friend and other suspects, the pace really picks up. As she digs deeper and the threats increase, the plot kicks into high gear. A dark and sinister thriller.

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

SOME TRUTHS CAN’T BE TOLD.

I had the perfect life – a nice house, a loving husband, a beautiful little boy.

But in one devastating night, they were all ripped from me.

It’s been fourteen years, and I’m finally ready to face the past.

I’m taking my son back.

He just can’t know who I am…or why we were torn apart.

A nail-biting thriller packed with twists and turns, perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell and Shalini Boland.

My thoughts: this was very clever, there were some twists I didn’t see coming, I honestly had no idea why Phoebe had been made to let her son go, the hints were so cleverly made that I thought something completely different than what was eventually revealed.

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

1989
DS Benjamin Chambers and DC Adam Winter are on the trail of a twisted serial killer with a passion for recreating the world’s greatest works of art through the bodies of his victims. But after Chambers almost loses his life, the case goes cold – their killer lying dormant, his collection unfinished.

1996
Jordan Marshall has excelled within the Metropolitan Police Service, fuelled by a loss that defined her teenage years. Obsessed, she manages to obtain new evidence, convincing both Chambers and Winter to revisit the case. However, their resurrected investigation brings about a fresh reign of terror, the team treading a fine line between police officers and vigilantes in their pursuit of a monster far more dangerous and intelligent than any of them had anticipated…

My thoughts: ooh this was good, nicely sinister, proper crime thriller stuff. I wasn’t hugely surprised as I read the Ragdoll trilogy and loved it, so I knew the author could write a cracking thriller but this is very well done.

The initial killings in 1989 set it all up nicely, and that final scene in the rain is very cinematic and striking. But then suddenly it’s 1996, we’re with a new detective, there’s more to go on and the case gets warm all over again.

The balance of personalities in Marshall, Chambers and Winter is nicely done, and they work well together. The investigation is solid and the resurgent crimes repellent but also fascinating. The use of classical sculpture, the obsession of the killer, it all comes together beautifully. Awfully, but beautifully too.

*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 Heights is a tall, slender apartment building among warehouses in London. Its roof terrace is so discreet, you wouldn’t know it existed if you weren’t standing at the window of the flat directly opposite. But you are. And that’s when you see a man up there—a man you’d recognize anywhere. He may be older now, but it’s definitely him.

But that can’t be because he’s been dead for over two years. You know this for a fact.

Because you’re the one who killed him.

My thoughts: this was really interesting in the way it was done. Moving between first person accounts, a memoir and newspaper articles, we learn the history between Ellen Saint and Kieran Watts – the tragedy and hatred that leads to a dramatic climax on the roof of a London apartment building.

Ellen’s memoir wants you to believe she had no choice in her actions – that her behaviour was justified. But both the newspaper articles and her ex-partner, Vic’s account suggest there’s a lot more grey to Ellen’s black and white, that not everything she believes is true.

Louise Candlish is easily one of my favourite writers around at the moment. Her books are clever and engaging, exploring different facets of people’s behaviour and thinking. They often hinge on suburban middle class women like Ellen, someone you might pass in the street and never for a second imagine them capable of the kinds of things they get up to in Candlish’s books. Which is what makes this so good – driven by grief, what would you do?

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

Read my reviews of other Detective Katie Scott books – Last Girls Alive and The Fragile Ones

In the thin light of the moon, the woman’s limp body hangs from the iron fence amongst the redwoods. Looped over the railings is the little gold locket her mother gave her when she turned sixteen. The picture of the girl inside smiles out at a future she’ll never see…

As day breaks over the fairground, Detective Katie Scott forces herself to take in another disturbing scene in front of her. A woman, the same age as her, found slumped in the carriage of the Ferris wheel, red lipstick dragged across her lips, her throat cut.

Katie doesn’t want to believe that the serial killer picking off women across the state has found their way to the small town of Pine Valley, California, but when her team finds a gold engagement ring hanging nearby, it’s a terrifying, but undeniable fact.

With a twisted killer on her doorstep, Katie knows if she doesn’t act fast, she’ll find more women left out in the cold like broken dolls. Her team hit dead end after dead end, but only she can see the vital link between the victims: a connection with Katie herself.

Katie has spent years pushing traumatic memories of her years in the military far out of reach, but she must confront them now or more innocent women will die. But as the killer circles closer and closer to Katie, what if the only answer is to give him what he wants? There must be another way…

Warning – This absolutely unputdownable thriller will keep you up all night! Fans of Lisa Regan, Rachel Caine and Melinda Leigh better hold on tight for a nail-biting rollercoaster ride!

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Jennifer Chase is a multi award-winning and best-selling crime fiction author, as well as a consulting criminologist. Jennifer holds a bachelor degree in police forensics and a master’s degree in criminology & criminal justice. These academic pursuits developed out of her curiosity about the criminal mind as well as from her own experience with a violent psychopath, providing Jennifer with deep personal investment in every story she tells.

In addition, she holds certifications in serial crime and criminal profiling. She is an affiliate member of the International Association of Forensic Criminologists, and member of the International Thriller Writers.

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My thoughts: this was excellent, another really enjoyable and twisted thriller starring former Army K9 handler turned detective, Katie Scott. This time her past career puts her in the killer’s crosshairs, as the FBI ask for her help. Partner Deputy McGaven and her tracker dog Cisco are on hand to help solve a string of brutal killings.

Katie has really grown on me over the course of reading the last few books and I really like her as a character, each time we learn a bit more about her, and what makes her so good at her job and so determined to solve these crimes.

While not strictly cold case, this is pretty grim and the FBI agent seems to be intentionally messing with her, not giving her all the info, following her and generally being a bit shady – are they a suspect?

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

When Detective Inspector Nathaniel Thomas is presented with an anonymous letter and three
unexplained deaths in less than twenty-four hours, he realizes that his idyllic home village, Crottendorf, masks a turbulent reality. Summoning his trusted colleague, DS Ann Collins, Thomas begins to unravel what quickly becomes an overwhelming mountain of conflicting evidence.
So many secrets. So many lies. So many attempts to cover things up.
All is not as it first appears and it proves a lot harder to pin down the killer who prides himself on
being more than one step ahead of the DI.
A deeply rooted family tragedy, greed and vengeance are at the core of this crime novel. The twists and turns of Sophomania leave you wondering to the very end who the real murderer is—or if there may actually be more than one killer on the loose in the anything-but-sleepy village of Crottendorf.
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Danielle Zinn is a German author, born and raised in a small village in the Ore Mountains/Germany
where not only her debut crime novel Snow Light is set but also her second book, Sophomania.
She holds a BA (Hons) degree in Business and Management from New College Durham/UK and has settled down in Leipzig/Germany where she works as a Financial Controller at an IT Consultancy.
She was introduced to the world of English literature and writing from an early age on through her mother – an English teacher. Over the last years, she circumnavigated the globe and loves visiting her friends scattered all over the world.

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My thoughts: this was a really interesting and enjoyable crime thriller, set in a small German town. Murdered twins, missing nuns, family secrets and babysitting his best friend’s daughter (and her dog), DI Nathaniel Thomas has his hands full, and that’s before he has to deal with his colleague’s instant dislike of their new team member.

After receiving a mummified finger in the post, a roofer falls to her death and then someone kills his dentist. Nat is at a lost as to how and why someone is killing off members of the same family, even the matriarch could be a suspect! The case has him chasing clues all over town and much to his boss’ dismay, the bodies keep coming.

In the end, there’s several shocking twists before he finally catches the villain of the piece. His theory about it being at least one of the seven deadly sins – something we’re all guilty of sometimes, is clever and not entirely wrong.

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