Category: Mystery/Thriller

#BookReview The Seagull by Ann Cleeves @AnnCleeves @PGCBooks

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#BookReview The Seagull by Ann Cleeves @AnnCleeves @PGCBooks Title: The Seagull

Author: Ann Cleeves

Series: Vera Stanhope #8

Published by: Pan Macmillan on Sep. 26, 2017

Genres: Mystery/Thriller, Police Procedural

Pages: 400

Format: Paperback

Source: Publishers Group Canada

Book Rating: 8.5/10

The much-anticipated eighth novel in Ann Cleeves’ bestselling Vera Stanhope series.

A visit to her local prison brings DI Vera Stanhope face to face with an old enemy: former detective superintendent, and now inmate, John Brace. Brace was convicted of corruption and involvement in the death of a gamekeeper – and Vera played a part in his downfall.

Brace promises Vera information about the disappearance of Robbie Marshall, a notorious wheeler-dealer, if she will look out for his daughter and grandchildren. He tells her that Marshall is dead, his body is buried close to St Mary’s Island in Whitley Bay. However, when a search team investigates, officers find not one skeleton, but two.

This cold case takes Vera back in time, and very close to home, as Brace and Marshall, along with a mysterious stranger known only as ‘the Prof’, were close friends of Hector, her father. Together, they were ‘the Gang of Four’, and Hector had been one of the last people to see Marshall alive. Vera must confront her prejudices and unwanted memories to dig out the truth, as the past begins to collide dangerously with the present…

The Seagull is Ann Cleeves’ searing new novel, about corruption deep in the heart of a community, and about fragile, and fracturing, family relationships.

Review:

Atmospheric, meticulous, and sophisticated!

In this latest novel by Cleeves, The Seagull, DI Vera Stanhope finds herself immersed in a cold case involving corruption, trafficking, drugs, blackmail, abuse, adoption, and murder that may just end up hitting a little too close to home.

The writing style is smooth, descriptive and effortless. The characters, including the nosy, complex, lovable heroine, are well-developed, relentless, and creative. And the plot is a well-paced, cleverly plotted police procedural full of suspects, clues, red herrings, solid deduction, and swirling emotions.

The Seagull is the eighth book in the Vera Stanhope series, and whether you’re new to the series or a long-standing fan this novel will be sure to please. It is an entertaining, gripping, mysterious tale that emphasizes the enduring psychological effects parents can have on their children even long after they’re gone.

 

This book is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

                                          

 

 

Thank you to PGC Books for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Ann Cleeves

Ann Cleeves is the author behind PBS’s Vera and BBC One’s Shetland. She has written over twenty-five novels, and is the creator of detectives Vera Stanhope and Jimmy Perez – characters loved both on screen and in print. Her books have now sold over 1 million copies worldwide.

Ann worked as a probation officer, bird observatory cook and auxiliary coastguard before becoming a crime writer. She is a member of ‘Murder Squad’, working with other British northern writers to promote crime fiction. In 2006 Ann was awarded the Duncan Lawrie Dagger (CWA Gold Dagger) for Best Crime Novel, for Raven Black, the first book in her Shetland series, and in 2012 she was inducted into the CWA Crime Thriller Awards Hall of Fame. Ann lives in North Tyneside, England.

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#BookReview The Blackbird Season by Kate Moretti @KateMoretti1 @SimonSchusterCA

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#BookReview The Blackbird Season by Kate Moretti @KateMoretti1 @SimonSchusterCA Title: The Blackbird Season

Author: Kate Moretti

Published by: Atria Books on Sep. 26, 2017

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 338

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 8/10

Known for novels featuring “great pacing and true surprises” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) and “nerve-shattering suspense” (Heather Gudenkauf, New York Time bestselling author), New York Times bestselling author Kate Moretti’s latest is the story of a scandal-torn Pennsylvania town and the aftermath of a troubled girl gone missing.

“Where did they come from? Why did they fall? The question would be asked a thousand times…

Until, of course, more important question arose, at which time everyone promptly forgot that a thousand birds fell on the town of Mount Oanoke at all.”

In a quiet Pennsylvania town, a thousand dead starlings fall onto a high school baseball field, unleashing a horrifying and unexpected chain of events that will rock the close-knit community.

Beloved baseball coach and teacher Nate Winters and his wife, Alecia, are well respected throughout town. That is, until one of the many reporters investigating the bizarre bird phenomenon catches Nate embracing a wayward student, Lucia Hamm, in front of a sleazy motel. Lucia soon buoys the scandal by claiming that she and Nate are engaged in an affair, throwing the town into an uproar…and leaving Alecia to wonder if her husband has a second life.

And when Lucia suddenly disappears, the police only to have one suspect: Nate.

Nate’s coworker and sole supporter, Bridget Harris, Lucia’s creative writing teacher, is determined to prove his innocence. She has Lucia’s class journal, and while some of the entries appear particularly damning to Nate’s case, others just don’t add up. Bridget knows the key to Nate’s exoneration and the truth of Lucia’s disappearance lie within the walls of the school and in the pages of that journal.

Told from the alternating points of view of Alecia, Nate, Lucia, and Bridget, The Blackbird Season is a haunting, psychologically nuanced suspense, filled with Kate Moretti’s signature “chillingly satisfying” (Publishers Weekly) twists and turns.

Review:

Ominous, haunting, and gritty!

In this latest novel by Moretti, she transports us to Mt. Oanoke, Pennsylvania, a small town that suddenly finds itself turned upside down not only by a sudden infestation of dead birds, but a teacher-student scandal that will test the limits of marriages, friendships, and community alliances.

The prose is chilling and eerie. The characters are multi-layered, damaged, and self-involved. And the plot told from multiple perspectives is ultimately a suspenseful ride riddled with poverty, familial drama, jealousy, obsession, abuse, love, infidelity, social strife, emerging sexuality, peer pressure, bullying, and murder.

The Blackbird Season is a dark, disturbing, compelling read that will keep you on the edge of your seat right from the very start to the unexpected ending you won’t see coming. And even though I didn’t find the characters to be the most endearing the overall pace, mood, and atmosphere of this story still makes it a good one.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

                                            

 

 

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Kate Moretti

Kate Moretti is the New York Times bestselling author of Thought I Knew You, Binds That Tie, and While You Were Gone. She lives in eastern Pennsylvania with her husband and two kids.

Photograph by PR Photography

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#BookReview White Bodies by Jane Robins @alfresca @SimonSchusterCA

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#BookReview White Bodies by Jane Robins @alfresca @SimonSchusterCA Title: White Bodies

Author: Jane Robins

Published by: Touchstone on Sep. 19, 2017

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 320

Format: Paperback, ARC

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada, Goodreads Giveaways

Book Rating: 7.5/10

This chilling psychological suspense novel–think Strangers on a Train for the modern age–explores the dark side of love and the unbreakable ties that bind two sisters together.

Felix and Tilda seem like the perfect couple: young and in love, a financier and a beautiful up-and-coming starlet. But behind their flawless facade, not everything is as it seems.

Callie, Tilda’s unassuming twin, has watched her sister visibly shrink under Felix’s domineering love. She has looked on silently as Tilda stopped working, nearly stopped eating, and turned into a neat freak, with mugs wrapped in Saran Wrap and suspicious syringes hidden in the bathroom trash. She knows about Felix’s uncontrollable rages, and has seen the bruises on the white skin of her sister’s arms.

Worried about the psychological hold that Felix seems to have over Tilda, Callie joins an Internet support group for victims of abuse and their friends. However, things spiral out of control and she starts to doubt her own judgment when one of her new acquaintances is killed by an abusive man. And then suddenly Felix dies–or was he murdered?

A page-turning work of suspense that announces a stunning new voice in fiction, White Bodies will change the way you think about obsession, love, and the violence we inflict on one another–and ourselves.

Review:

Menacing, dark, and incredibly eerie!

White Bodies is a gritty, gripping, character-driven novel that delves into the dynamic relationship between sister’s, especially twins, and highlights that we only see what people want to show us and even then we only see what we want to see.

The writing is fluid and clear. The characters are multilayered, deceptive, and unstable. And the plot uses a past/present, back-and-forth style to create suspense and tension as it subtly unravels the relationships, histories, personalities, and motivations within it.

White Bodies is ultimately a chilling psychological thriller about family, secrets, obsession, jealousy, mental illness, manipulation, obsession, and murder and is a wonderful debut for Robins in this genre. 

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

                                            

 

 

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada and Goodreads Giveaways for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Jane Robins

Jane Robins began her career as a journalist with The Economist, The Independent, and the BBC. She has made a specialty of writing historical true crime and has a particular interest in the history of forensics. She has published three books of nonfiction in the UK, Rebel Queen (Simon & Schuster, 2006), The Magnificent Spilsbury (John Murray, 2010), and The Curious Habits of Doctor Adams (John Murray, 2013). More recently, she has been a Fellow at the Royal Literary Fund.

Photography by Mat Smith

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#BookReview Cold Blood by Robert Bryndza @RobertBryndza @bookouture

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#BookReview Cold Blood by Robert Bryndza @RobertBryndza @bookouture Title: Cold Blood

Author: Robert Bryndza

Series: Detective Erika Foster #5

Published by: Bookouture on Sep. 20, 2017

Genres: Mystery/Thriller, Police Procedural

Pages: 356

Format: eBook, ARC

Source: Bookouture, NetGalley

Book Rating: 10/10

She fell in love with a killer, now she’s one too.

The suitcase was badly rusted, and took Erika several attempts, but it yielded and sagged open as she unzipped it. Nothing could prepare her for what she would find inside…

When a battered suitcase containing the dismembered body of a young man washes up on the shore of the river Thames, Detective Erika Foster is shocked. She’s worked on some terrifying cases but never seen anything like this before.

As Erika and her team set to work, she makes the link with another victim – the body of a young woman dumped in an identical suitcase two weeks ago.

Erika quickly realises she’s on the trail of a serial killer who’s already made their next move. Yet just as Erika starts to make headway with the investigation, she is the victim of a brutal attack.

But nothing will stop Erika. As the body count rises, the twin daughters of her colleague Commander Marsh are abducted, and the stakes are higher than ever before. Can Erika save the lives of two innocent children before it’s too late? She’s running out of time and about to make a disturbing discovery…there’s more than one killer.

Review:

Intricate, riveting, and creepy!

Cold Blood is an engrossing, chilling police procedural that highlights just how easily some people can be swayed and manipulated into doing the most horrific things and reminds us that desperate people will do almost anything, at any cost to protect themselves.

The writing is bold and crisp. The characters are resilient, impulsive, and troubled. And the plot, told from differing points-of-view, keeps you on the edge of your seat from start to finish as it whips you through well-timed twists, unforeseen surprises, deception, abuse, violence, corruption, and murder.

Overall, Cold Blood is a gripping, highly entertaining, harrowing thriller that proves once again Bryndza is a talented, natural storyteller with a vivid imagination.

Cold Blood is the fifth novel in the Erika Foster series and all I can say is if you’re not already reading this series, you should be!

This book is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

                                         

 

 

Thank you to Bookouture and Robert Bryndza for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Robert Bryndza

Robert Bryndza is an international bestselling author, best known for his page-turning crime and thriller novels, which have sold over four million copies in the English language.

His crime debut, The Girl in the Ice was released in February 2016, introducing Detective Chief Inspector Erika Foster. Within five months it sold one million copies, reaching number one in the Amazon UK, USA and Australian charts. To date, The Girl in the Ice has sold over 1.5 million copies in the English language and has been sold into translation in 29 countries. It was nominated for the Goodreads Choice Award for Mystery & Thriller (2016), the Grand prix des lectrices de Elle in France (2018), and it won two reader voted awards, The Thrillzone Awards best debut thriller in The Netherlands (2018) and The Dead Good Papercut Award for best page turner at the Harrogate Crime Festival (2016).

Robert has released a further five novels in the Erika Foster series, The Night Stalker, Dark Water, Last Breath, Cold Blood and Deadly Secrets, all of which have been global bestsellers, and in 2017 Last Breath was a Goodreads Choice Award nominee for Mystery and Thriller.

Most recently, Robert created a new crime thriller series based around the central character Kate Marshall, a police officer turned private detective. The first book, Nine Elms, was an Amazon USA #1 bestseller and an Amazon UK top five bestseller, and the series has been sold into translation in 18 countries. The second book in the series is the global bestselling, Shadow Sands and the third book, Darkness Falls, has just been published.

Robert was born in Lowestoft, on the east coast of England. He studied at Aberystwyth University, and the Guildford School of Acting, and was an actor for several years, but didn’t find success until he took a play he’d written to the Edinburgh Festival. This led to the decision to change career and start writing. He self-published a bestselling series of romantic comedy novels, before switching to writing crime. Robert lives with his husband in Slovakia, and is lucky enough to write full-time.

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#BookReview The Last Move by Mary Burton @MaryBurtonBooks @JoanSchulhafer

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#BookReview The Last Move by Mary Burton @MaryBurtonBooks @JoanSchulhafer Title: The Last Move

Author: Mary Burton

Published by: Montlake Romance on Sep. 19, 2017

Genres: Mystery/Thriller, Romantic Suspense

Pages: 338

Format: eBook, ARC

Source: Mary Burton, NetGalley

Book Rating: 9/10

In this gripping stand-alone from bestselling author Mary Burton, an FBI agent must catch a copycat killer. The only difference this time: she’s the final victim.

Catching monsters helps FBI agent Kate Hayden keep her nightmares at bay. Now an urgent call brings her back to San Antonio, the scene of her violent past. A brutal new murder shows hallmarks of a serial killer nicknamed the Samaritan. Tricky part is, Kate already caught him.

Either Kate made a deadly error, or she’s got a copycat on her hands. Paired with homicide detective Theo Mazur, she quickly realizes this murder is more twisted than it first appeared. Then a second body is found, the mode of death identical to a different case that Kate thought she’d put behind her.

Now Kate and Detective Mazur aren’t just working a homicide; the investigative pair is facing a formidable enemy who knows Kate intimately. While Mazur is personally trying to protect Kate, the closer they are drawn to the killer, the clearer it becomes that in this terrifying game, there is only one rule: don’t believe everything you see…

Review:

Disturbing, engrossing, and adrenaline pumping!

The Last Move, the latest novel by Burton, is a well-paced thrill ride featuring the tenacious and tough FBI agent, Kate, and the intelligent, patient homicide detective, Theo, as they join forces to hunt a serial killer with a penchant for reenacting the most heinous of crimes.

The writing is taut and tight. The characterization is well done. And the plot is a captivating police procedural with twists, turns, red herrings, family drama, deception, vengeance, depravity, murder and a smidgen of romance.

I have yet to pick up a Mary Burton book that wasn’t an entertaining, eerie, romantic mystery with exceptionally intriguing characters and The Last Move is no exception. And even though this novel is being billed as a standalone I sure hope we get to see Hayden and Mazur on another case sometime down the road.

This book is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

             

 

 

Thank you to Mary Burton and Joan Schulhafer Publishing for providing me with a copy of this story in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Mary Burton

New York Times and USA Today bestselling novelist Mary Burton is the highly praised author of twenty-six romance and suspense novels and five novellas. She lives in Virginia with her husband and three miniature dachshunds.

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#BookReview The Bakersville Dozen by Kristina McBride @McBrideKristina @skyponypress

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#BookReview The Bakersville Dozen by Kristina McBride @McBrideKristina @skyponypress Title: The Bakersville Dozen

Author: Kristina McBride

Published by: Sky Pony Press on Aug. 8, 2017

Genres: Young Adult, Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 336

Format: Hardcover

Source: Sky Pony Press

Book Rating: 8/10

You have four days to locate five treasured trophies. Break the rules and you all die. Happy hunting!

Back in September, the town of Bakersville, Ohio made national news when a video went viral featuring thirteen of the high school’s elite in compromising positions. Now it’s May, and every month since the “Bakersville Dozen” made their infamous appearance on the national stage, one girl has gone missing. Officials are no closer to identifying the criminal.

Bailey “Like a Virgin” Holzman is getting really fed up with the scrutiny. She just wants to enjoy the rest of her senior year and have an epic summer before heading off to college. So when she discovers a note in her locker on the last day of school inviting her on a scavenger hunt, she thinks it’s just a sweet surprise from her boyfriend trying to cheer her up.

But following the clue leads her, instead, to the first official casualty. And another sinister envelope. The killer is close, and it could be anyone. Even the people Bailey’s always trusted most—her best friend, her perfect boyfriend, or the boy-next-door she’s always pined for.

With the clock ticking, she faces a terrifying choice: play the game by the killer’s rules—follow the clues, tell no one, and no cops—for a chance to save the rest of the missing girls, or risk becoming the next grisly victim.

Review:

Mysterious, unpredictable, and sinister!

The Bakersville Dozen is a young adult novel that takes us to the small town of Bakersville, Ohio where five popular, senior girls have one-by-one gone missing after being featured in a libelous video with eight of their peers.

The characters are nervous, bold, and at times impetuous. The writing is edgy and taut. And the plot is filled with an abundance of teenage drama, secrets, danger, jealousy, murder, red herrings, tension, and romance.

Overall, The Bakersville Dozen is a well-paced, suspenseful YA whodunit that reminds me of those classic 90s teen thrillers like Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer that had you thinking “why would you do that?” while you simultaneously gripped the edge of your seat. It’s captivating, entertaining and has an ending you definitely won’t see coming.

If you haven’t had a chance already to check out my review for A Million Times Goodnight by McBride you can find it here:

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

                                            

 

 

Thank you to Sky Pony Press for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Kristina McBride

Kristina McBride is a former high school English teacher and yearbook advisor, as well as an adjunct professor at Antioch University Midwest and Wright State University. She dreamed of being a published author since she lived across the street from a library as a kid. She is the author of two previous novels, The Tension of Opposites and One Moment. She lives in Centerville, Ohio with her husband and two young children.

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#BookReview Gone Astray by Michelle Davies @M_Davieswrites @PGCBooks

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#BookReview Gone Astray by Michelle Davies @M_Davieswrites @PGCBooks Title: Gone Astray

Author: Michelle Davies

Series: DC Maggie Neville #1

Published by: Pan Macmillan on Sep. 5, 2017

Genres: Mystery/Thriller, Police Procedural

Pages: 450

Format: Paperback

Source: Publishers Group Canada

Book Rating: 8.5/10

What if someone thinks they deserve their life more than you?

When a Lesley Kinnock buys a lottery ticket on a whim, it changes her life more than she could have imagined. . .

Lesley and her husband Mack are the sudden winners of a £15 million EuroMillions jackpot. They move with their 15-year-old daughter Rosie to an exclusive gated estate in Buckinghamshire, leaving behind their ordinary lives – and friends – as they are catapulted into wealth beyond their wildest dreams.

But it soon turns into their darkest nightmare when, one beautiful spring afternoon, Lesley returns to their house to find it empty: their daughter Rosie is gone.

DC Maggie Neville is assigned to be Family Liaison Officer to Lesley and Mack, supporting them while quietly trying to investigate the family. And she has a crisis threatening her own life – a secret from the past that could shatter everything she’s worked so hard to build.

As Lesley and Maggie desperately try to find Rosie, their fates hurtle together on a collision course that threatens to end in tragedy . . .

Money can’t buy you happiness.
The truth could hurt more than a lie.
One moment really can change your life forever.

Review:

Suspenseful, absorbing, and skillfully executed!

Gone Astray is a well-paced psychological thriller set in Buckinghamshire, England that is told from multiple perspectives; Lesley, Rosie’s loving, distraught mother who is not entirely comfortable with her new wealth; Maggie, the dedicated, appointed Family Liaison Officer whose own personal life is in tatters; and finally a menacing, aggressive character whose hostility and anger towards the Kinnocks is escalating rapidly.

The writing is crisp and fluid. The characters are flawed, complex, and intriguing. And the plot, using alternating chapters, does an excellent job of intertwining, unraveling and building not only all the tension and increasing family drama but also the suggestions, clues, and procedures of the unfolding police investigation.

Overall, I think Gone Astray is a fantastic debut for Davies that definitely highlights money doesn’t always bring happiness and often we don’t know people as well as we think.

The second novel in the DC Maggie Neville series, Wrong Place, is due out later this fall and you can be confident it’s already on my TBR list.

 

This book is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

                                         

 

 

Thank you to Publishers Group Canada for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Michelle Davies

Michelle Davies has been writing for magazines for twenty years, including on the production desk at Elle, and as Features Editor of Heat. Her last staff position before going freelance was Editor-at-Large at Grazia magazine and she currently writes for a number of women's magazines and newspaper supplements. Michelle has previously reviewed crime fiction for the Sunday Express's Books section.

Michelle lives in London with her partner and daughter and juggles writing crime fiction with her freelance journalism and motherhood. The Maggie Neville Series consists of Gone Astray, Wrong Place, False Witness and Dead Guilty.

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#BookReview The Coldest Fear by Debra Webb @DebraWebbAuthor @HarlequinBooks

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#BookReview The Coldest Fear by Debra Webb @DebraWebbAuthor @HarlequinBooks Title: The Coldest Fear

Author: Debra Webb

Series: Shades of Death #3

Published by: Mira Books on Aug. 29, 2017

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 416

Format: Paperback, ARC

Source: Harlequin Books

Book Rating: 9/10

A killer with nothing left to lose…

Afraid or not, Detective Bobbie Gentry has a monster to confront. The pain of losing her family and nearly her life to a criminal’s vile hunger is still fresh, but now the landscape is different. Now she’s not alone. Now she has Nick Shade to trust. Nick treats the terror of his past with vengeance. He’s dedicated his life to hunting serial killers, and he’d give up his last breath to save Bobbie. When a string of killings bloodies Savannah’s elite society and causes cold cases to resurface, Bobbie is captured in a city more haunted than Nick’s inescapable nightmares. And as the murderer strikes close, Nick and Bobbie will need to become even closer if they’re going to survive.

Review:

Gripping, gritty, and highly suspenseful!

The Coldest Fear is a taut, disturbing police procedural that delves into a 32-year-old cold case involving missing children and takes you on a hunt for an escaped, sadistic serial killer.

The writing is fluid and intense. The plot is a skillfully crafted mix of twists, turns, murder, retribution, justice, fear, deception, lies, and secrets. And the characterization is remarkably well done with some of the usual gang back including the wounded, determined Bobbie Gentry who finds herself heading to Savannah to help out on the case and the mysterious, troubled Nick Shade who still seems to be hiding in the shadows.

The Coldest Fear is truly a macabre thrill ride with great pace, good character development, and an ending that will leave you wanting more. And even though this is the third book in the Shades of Death series and can be read as a standalone novel, I highly recommend the first two titles in the series, No Darker Place (Book #1) and A Deeper Grave (Book #2) as well.

This book is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

                                       

 

 

Thank you to Harlequin Books for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Debra Webb

DEBRA WEBB is the USA Today bestselling author of more than 140 novels, including reader favorites the Shades of Death, the Faces of Evil and the Colby Agency series. She is the recipient of the prestigious Romantic Times Career Achievement Award for Romantic Suspense as well as numerous Reviewers Choice Awards. In 2012 Debra was honored as the first recipient of the esteemed L. A. Banks Warrior Woman Award for her courage, strength, and grace in the face of adversity. Recently Debra was awarded the distinguished Centennial Award for having achieved publication of her 100th novel.

With more than four million books in print in numerous languages and countries, Debra’s love of storytelling goes back to her childhood when her mother bought her an old typewriter in a tag sale. Born in Alabama, Debra grew up on a farm. She spent every available hour exploring the world around her and creating her stories. She wrote her first story at age nine and her first romance at thirteen. It wasn’t until she spent three years working for the Commanding General of the US Army in Berlin behind the Iron Curtain and a five-year stint in NASA’s Shuttle Program that she realized her true calling. A collision course between suspense and romance was set. Since then she has expanded her work into some of the darkest places the human psyche dares to go.

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#BookReview Anatomy of a Scandal by Sarah Vaughan @SVaughanAuthor @AtriaBooks

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#BookReview Anatomy of a Scandal by Sarah Vaughan @SVaughanAuthor @AtriaBooks Title: Anatomy of a Scandal

Author: Sarah Vaughan

Published by: Atria/Emily Bestler Books on Jan. 23, 2018

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 392

Format: eBook, ARC

Source: Atria Books, NetGalley

Book Rating: 8/10

An astonishingly incisive and suspenseful novel about a scandal amongst Britain’s privileged elite and the women caught up in its wake.

Sophie’s husband James is a loving father, a handsome man, a charismatic and successful public figure. And yet he stands accused of a terrible crime. Sophie is convinced he is innocent and desperate to protect her precious family from the lies that threaten to rip them apart.

Kate is the lawyer hired to prosecute the case: an experienced professional who knows that the law is all about winning the argument. And yet Kate seeks the truth at all times. She is certain James is guilty and is determined he will pay for his crimes.

Who is right about James? Sophie or Kate? And is either of them informed by anything more than instinct and personal experience? Despite her privileged upbringing, Sophie is well aware that her beautiful life is not inviolable. She has known it since she and James were first lovers, at Oxford, and she witnessed how easily pleasure could tip into tragedy.

Most people would prefer not to try to understand what passes between a man and a woman when they are alone: alone in bed, alone in an embrace, alone in an elevator… Or alone in the moonlit courtyard of an Oxford college, where a girl once stood before a boy, heart pounding with excitement, then fear. Sophie never understood why her tutorial partner Holly left Oxford so abruptly. What would she think, if she knew the truth?

Review:

Intricate, dark, and compelling!

Anatomy of a Scandal is a gripping tale that reminds us that justice may not always be blind in the face of privilege, politics, charisma, and power and that rape has devastating and enduring emotional and psychological effects on its victims.

The story is told from differing perspectives; James, a handsome, entitled politician accused of a heinous crime; Sophie, a dependable, intelligent wife who believes in her husband’s innocence; and Kate the tough, tenacious barrister who wholeheartedly knows he’s guilty.

The characters are multilayered and well developed with some wounded and resilient and others ostentatious, arrogant, and callous. And the plot uses a past/present, back-and-forth style to create tension and suspense as it subtly unravels the personalities, motivations, and histories of all those within it.

Anatomy of a Scandal is ultimately a novel about marriage, overindulgence, consent, scandal, revenge, deception, adultery, social status, rape, and the British legal system and is certainly an excellent, highly entertaining debut for Vaughan.

 

This novel is due to be published January 2, 2018.

Preorder a copy now from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

                                            

 

 

Thank you to Atria Books for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Sarah Vaughan

Sarah Vaughan read English at Oxford and went on to be a journalist. After training with the Press Association, she worked for The Guardian for 11 years as a news reporter, health correspondent and political correspondent before leaving to freelance. She started writing fiction the week she turned forty. Anatomy of a Scandal is her third novel and will be published in January 2018 by S&S in the UK, US and Canada, plus other commonwealth countries. It will also be translated into 16 languages. She lives in Cambridge with her husband and two young children and is currently writing her fourth novel.

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#BookReview #TheSister by Louise Jensen @Fab_fiction @bookouture @TheCrimeVault @littlebookcafe

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#BookReview #TheSister by Louise Jensen @Fab_fiction @bookouture @TheCrimeVault @littlebookcafe Title: The Sister

Author: Louise Jensen

Published by: Bookouture on Jul. 7, 2016

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 307

Format: eBook, ARC

Source: Bookouture, NetGalley

Book Rating: 8/10

Grace hasn’t been the same since the death of her best friend Charlie. She is haunted by Charlie’s words, the last time she saw her, and in a bid for answers, opens an old memory box of Charlie’s. It soon becomes clear there was a lot she didn’t know about her best friend. 

When Grace starts a campaign to find Charlie’s father, Anna, a girl claiming to be Charlie’s sister steps forward. For Grace, finding Anna is like finding a new family, and soon Anna has made herself very comfortable in Grace and boyfriend Dan’s home. 

But something isn’t right. Things disappear, Dan’s acting strangely and Grace is sure that someone is following her. Is it all in Grace’s mind? Or as she gets closer to discovering the truth about both Charlie and Anna, is Grace in terrible danger? 

There was nothing she could have done to save Charlie …or was there?

Review:

Suspenseful, creepy and entertaining!

The Sister is a psychological thriller that reminds us of the mental and physical anguish that can be caused by abandonment, isolation, trauma, grief and revenge.

The main character, Grace, is a young woman struggling in her everyday life due to extreme levels of guilt, grief, and paranoia. And as the story unfolds, through a past/present style, we are introduced to all sorts of colourful characters that interact and intertwine to captivate and intrigue us until the last piece of the puzzle fits.

The story is well written. And the plot is fascinating and mysterious, with lots of twists and turns you won’t see coming.

Overall, this is a really sophisticated debut novel, and I look forward to reading more from Louise Jensen in the future.

 

This book is now available in paperback.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

                 

 

 

Thank you to NetGalley, especially Bookouture, for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Louise Jensen

Louise Jensen is a USA Today bestselling author of psychological thrillers. Her first two novels, The Sister and The Gift, were both international bestsellers, and have been sold for translation to sixteen countries. Her debut novel, The Sister, was nominated for The Goodreads Awards Debut of 2016.

Louise lives in Northamptonshire with her husband, children, madcap dog, and a rather naughty cat. She loves to hear from readers and writers and can be found at LouiseJensen.co.uk, where she regularly blogs flash fiction.

Photograph by T. M. Elliston.

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