Genre: Police Procedural

#BookReview Unnatural History by Jonathan Kellerman @randomhouse #JonathanKellerman #UnnaturalHistory #AlexDelawareSeries #RandomHouse

#BookReview Unnatural History by Jonathan Kellerman @randomhouse #JonathanKellerman #UnnaturalHistory #AlexDelawareSeries #RandomHouse Title: Unnatural History

Author: Jonathan Kellerman

Series: Alex Delaware #38

Published by: Ballantine Books on Feb. 7, 2023

Genres: Mystery/Thriller, Police Procedural

Pages: 320

Format: Hardcover

Source: Random House

Book Rating: 8.5/10

The most enduring detectives in American crime fiction are back in this electrifying thrillerof art and brutalityfrom the #1 New York Times bestselling master of suspense.

Los Angeles is a city of stark contrast, the palaces of the affluent coexisting uneasily with the hellholes of the mad and the needy. It is that shadow world and the violence it breeds that draw brilliant psychologist Dr. Alex Delaware and Detective Milo Sturgis into an unsettling case of altruism gone wrong.

On a superficially lovely morning a woman shows up for work with her usual enthusiasm. She’s the newly hired personal assistant to a handsome, wealthy photographer and is ready to greet her boss with coffee and good cheer. Instead, she finds him slumped in bed, shot to death.

The victim had recently received rave media attention for his latest project: images of homeless people in their personal “dream” situations, elaborately costumed and enacting unfulfilled fantasies. There are some, however, who view the whole thing as nothing more than crass exploitation, citing token payments and the victim’s avoidance of any long-term relationships with his subjects.

Has disgruntlement blossomed into homicidal rage? Or do the roots of violence reach down to the victim’s family—a clan, sired by an elusive billionaire, that is bizarre in its own right?

Then new murders arise, and Alex and Milo begin peeling back layer after layer of intrigue and complexity, culminating in one of the deadliest threats they’ve ever faced.


Review:

Complex, menacing, and gritty!

In this thirty-eighth instalment in the Alex Delaware series, Unnatural History, we head back to Los Angeles where LAPD Lieutenant Milo Sturgis and psychologist Alex Delaware now find themselves immersed in a tricky case involving a murdered photographer who happens to be the youngest son of an enigmatic billionaire and whose latest project entitled the Wishers involved photographing homeless people dressed up as the person they always wished they could be.

The writing is tight and crisp. The characters are multilayered, vulnerable, and elusive. And the plot is a sinister tale full of twists, turns, deception, mayhem, suspicious personalities, revelations, homelessness, familial dysfunction, mental illness, and murder.

Overall, Unnatural History is an ominous, sophisticated, entertaining tale by Kellerman that has just the right amount of mystery, intrigue, and intensity to keep you engaged from start to finish and leave fans of this incredibly long-running series more than satisfied.

 

This book is available now.

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

         

 

 

Thank you to Random House for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Jonathan Kellerman

Jonathan Kellerman is the Number One New York Times bestselling author of more than forty crime novels, including the Alex Delaware series, The Butcher's Theater, Billy Straight, The Conspiracy Club, Twisted, True Detectives, and The Murderer's Daughter.

With his wife, bestselling novelist Faye Kellerman, he co-authored Double Homicide and Capital Crimes. With his son, bestselling novelist Jesse Kellerman, he co-authored Crime Scene, The Golem of Hollywood, and The Golem of Paris.

He is also the author of two children's books and numerous nonfiction works, including Savage Spawn: Reflections on Violent Children and With Strings Attached: The Art and Beauty of Vintage Guitars. He has won the Goldwyn, Edgar, and Anthony awards and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Psychological Association, and has been nominated for a Shamus Award. Jonathan and Faye Kellerman live in California and New Mexico.

Photograph courtesy of Author's Goodreads Page.

#BookReview The Devil You Know by P. J. Tracy @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #TheDevilYouKnowBook #PJTracy #MinotaurInfluencers #SMPInfluencers

#BookReview The Devil You Know by P. J. Tracy @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #TheDevilYouKnowBook #PJTracy #MinotaurInfluencers #SMPInfluencers Title: The Devil You Know

Author: P. J. Tracy

Series: Detective Margaret Nolan #3

Published by: Minotaur Books on Jan. 17, 2023

Genres: Mystery/Thriller, Police Procedural

Pages: 304

Format: Hardcover

Source: Minotaur Books

Book Rating: 8/10

LAPD Detective Margaret Nolan returns in The Devil You Know, the next book in the series where P. J. Tracy “seems to have found her literary sweet spot” (New York Times Book Review).

Los Angeles has many faces: the real LA where regular people live and work, the degenerate underbelly of any big city, and the rarified world of wealth, power, and celebrity. LAPD Detective Margaret Nolan’s latest case plunges her into this insular realm of privilege, and gives her a glimpse of the darkness behind the glitter.

The body of beloved actor Evan Hobbes is found in the rubble of a Malibu rockslide a day after a fake video ruins his career. It’s not clear to Nolan if it’s an accident, a suicide, or a murder, and things get murkier as the investigation expands to his luminary friends and colleagues. Meanwhile, Hobbes’ agent is dealing with damage control, his psychotic boss, and a woman he’s scorned. But when his powerful brother-in-law is murdered, he and Nolan both find themselves entangled in a scandalous deception of deadly proportion that shakes the very foundation of Hollywood’s untouchables.


Review:

Tense, captivating, and mysterious!

The Devil You Know is a scheming, twisty tale that sweeps you away to the glitz and glamour of Hollywood, where deception is rife, tensions are running high, everyone has a hidden agenda, and despicable behaviour, backstabbing, partying, sex and murder seem to always be on the table.

The writing is crisp and tight. The characters are ambitious, self-obsessed, and ruthless. And the plot is an enticing mix of lies, secrets, duplicity, infidelity, manipulation, mayhem, vengeance, and murder.

Overall, The Devil You Know is another entertaining, enjoyable, satisfying addition to the LAPD Detective Margaret Nolan series by Tracy that does a wonderful job of reminding us that revenge is best served cold.

 

This novel is available now.

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

            

 

 

 

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press – Minotaur Books for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About P. J. Tracy

P. J. Tracy is the pseudonym of Traci Lambrecht, bestselling and award winning author of the Monkeewrench series. Lambrecht and her mother, P. J., wrote eight novels together as P. J. Tracy before P. J. passed away in 2016. Lambrecht has since continued the Monkeewrench series solo. She spent most of her childhood painting and showing Arabian horses, and graduated with a Russian Studies major from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, where she also studied voice. She now lives outside Minneapolis.

Photo by Pamela Stege.

#BookReview Picture You Dead by Peter James @peterjamesuk @PGCBooks @panmacmillan #PeterJames #PictureYouDead #RoyGrace #PGCBooks

#BookReview Picture You Dead by Peter James @peterjamesuk @PGCBooks @panmacmillan #PeterJames #PictureYouDead #RoyGrace #PGCBooks Title: Picture You Dead

Author: Peter James

Series: Roy Grace #18

Published by: Pan Macmillan on Sep. 28, 2022

Genres: Mystery/Thriller, Police Procedural

Pages: 400

Format: Paperback

Source: Publishers Group Canada

Book Rating: 8.5/10

Discover the darkness that lurks around every corner in the latest instalment of Peter James’s award-winning detective series, which is now a major ITV programme starring John Simm as Roy Grace.

Harry and Freya, an ordinary couple, dreamed for years of finding something priceless buried amongst the tat in a car boot sale.

It was a dream they knew in their hearts would never come true – until the day it did…

They buy the drab portrait for a few pounds, for its beautiful frame, planning to cut the painting out. Then studying it back at home there seems to be another picture beneath, of a stunning landscape. Could it be a long-lost masterpiece from 1770? If genuine, it could be worth millions.

One collector is certain it is genuine. Someone who uses any method he can to get want he wants and will stop at nothing.

Detective Superintendent Roy Grace finds himself plunged into an unfamiliar and rarefied world of fine art. Outwardly it appears respectable, gentlemanly, above reproach. But beneath the veneer, he rapidly finds that greed, deception and violence walk hand-in-hand. And Harry and Freya Kipling are about to discover that their dream is turning into their worst nightmare.


Review:

Intriguing, complex, and intense!

Picture You Dead is an unpredictable, sinister thrill ride that takes us back to Sussex, where Detective Superintendent Roy Grace and his team now find themselves investigating a case involving a rare, priceless piece of art and a ruthless collector who will do whatever it takes, even murder, to add it to his collection.

The writing is crisp and bold. The characters are intuitive, meticulous, and determined. And the plot, including all the subplots, unravel and intertwine seamlessly into a suspenseful tale full of twists, turns, secrets, surprises, manipulation, coercion, greed, deception, violence, and murder.

Overall, Picture You Dead is another intricate, engrossing, action-packed police procedural by James that has just the right amount of well-drawn characterization and fast-paced, tortuous storyline to make it a satisfying, highly entertaining read.

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 Peter James

Peter James is the international bestselling author of many award-winning novels. His Detective Superintendent Roy Grace series, set in Brighton, has been translated into thirty-seven languages with worldwide sales of over eighteen million copies, and has given him eleven consecutive Sunday Times number ones. In 2015 WHSmith customers publicly voted him the Greatest Crime Author of All Time and in 2016 he became the recipient of the coveted CWA Diamond Dagger lifetime achievement award for sustained excellence. Peter has also written a short story collection, A Twist of the Knife, and his standalone titles include Perfect People and The House on Cold Hill. He has also co-written a non-fiction account of Brighton’s toughest cases with former detective Graham Bartlett entitled Death Comes Knocking. The Perfect Murder, Dead Simple and Not Dead Enough have all been turned into smash-hit stage plays. All his novels reflect his deep interest in the world of the police. Three of his novels have been filmed and before becoming a full-time author he produced numerous films, including The Merchant of Venice, starring Al Pacino and Jeremy Irons. He divides his time between his homes in Notting Hill, London and near Brighton in Sussex.

#BookReview The Rising Tide by Ann Cleeves @AnnCleeves @PGCBooks #TheRisingTide #VeraStanhope #AnnCleeves #PGCBooks

#BookReview The Rising Tide by Ann Cleeves @AnnCleeves @PGCBooks #TheRisingTide #VeraStanhope #AnnCleeves #PGCBooks Title: The Rising Tide

Author: Ann Cleeves

Series: Vera Stanhope #10

Published by: Pan Macmillan on Sep. 1, 2022

Genres: Mystery/Thriller, Police Procedural

Pages: 384

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Publishers Group Canada

Book Rating: 8.5/10

Fifty years ago, a group of teenagers spent a weekend on Holy Island, forging a bond that has lasted a lifetime. Now, they still return every five years to celebrate their friendship, and remember the friend they lost to the rising waters of the causeway at the first reunion.

Now, when one of them is found hanged, Vera is called in. Learning that the dead man had recently been fired after misconduct allegations, Vera knows she must discover what the friends are hiding, and whether the events of many years before could have led to murder then, and now . . .

But with the tide rising, secrets long-hidden are finding their way to the surface, and Vera and the team may find themselves in more danger than they could have believed possible . . .


Review:

Sharp, gripping, and wistful!

The Rising Tide is a well-paced, engrossing police procedural that sees Detective Chief Inspector Vera Stanhope and her team investigating the death of a famous personality on Holy Island who, while on a quinquennial retreat with some childhood friends is found hanging in his room, but while it seems at first glance to be a simple case of suicide it quickly becomes apparent that something a lot more sinister is underway that has strong ties to the past and events that began fifty years ago.

The writing is compelling and tight. The characters are secretive, multilayered, and persistent. And the plot is an intense, mysterious tale filled with twists, turns, mayhem, deception, suspicious personalities, lies, secrets, murder, and tragic loss.

Overall, The Rising Tide is another intricate, nostalgic, atmospheric addition to the Vera Stanhope series by Cleeves that ultimately left me enthralled, surprised, and undoubtedly confident that this is still a must-read series for me.

 

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.

#BookReview First Blood by Angela Marsons @WriteAngie @GrandCentralPub #AngelaMarsons #FirstBlood #DIKimStoneSeries #GCPInsider

#BookReview First Blood by Angela Marsons @WriteAngie @GrandCentralPub #AngelaMarsons #FirstBlood #DIKimStoneSeries #GCPInsider Title: First Blood

Author: Angela Marsons

Series: DI Kim Stone #0

Published by: Grand Central Publishing on Aug. 23, 2022

Genres: Mystery/Thriller, Police Procedural

Pages: 352

Format: Paperback

Source: Grand Central Publishing

Book Rating: 10/10

In the darkness of a cold December morning, Detective Kim Stone steps through the doors of Halesowen Police Station. She’s about to meet her team for the first time. The victim of her next case is about to meet his killer…

When the body of a young man is found beheaded and staked to the ground in a secluded area of the Clent Hills, Kim and her new squad rush to the crime scene.

Searching the victim’s home, Kim discovers a little girl’s bedroom and a hidden laptop. Why is his sister relieved to hear he’s dead – and where is the rest of his family?

As Kim begins to unearth the dark secrets at the heart of the case, D.C. Stacey Wood finds a disturbing resemblance to the recent murder of Lester Jackson. But that’s not all Stacey finds …

She’s convinced there is a link between the victims and a women’s shelter run by Marianne Forbes, Lester’s niece. A child of the care system herself, Kim knows all too well what it means to be vulnerable. Could Marianne be the key to cracking this case?

With the killer about to strike again, Kim is in deep water with a rookie squad. Inexperienced Stacey is showing signs of brilliance but struggling to hold her nerve and, while D.S. Bryant is reliable and calm, D.S. Dawson is a liability. With his home life in pieces, his volatile behaviour is already fracturing her fragile new team.

Can Kim bring Dawson in line and pull her crew together in time to catch the killer before another life is taken? This time, one of her own could be in terrible danger…


Review:

Chilling, suspenseful, and addictive!

First Blood is a clever, captivating mystery that takes us back to the very beginning and gives us a glimpse into how this dynamic investigative team of Stone, Bryant, Dawson, and Wood worked together to solve their very first challenging case involving a serial killer on a rampage to exact their own form of justice on the predators who prey on innocent children.

The writing is bold and intense. The characters are meticulous, persistent, and impulsive. And the plot is a gripping, sinister whodunit full of twists, turns, lies, deception, revelations, obsession, depravity, abuse, violence, and murder.

The DI Kim Stone series is one of my all-time favourite series, and it was brilliant to be able to see how it all began. First Blood is an intricate, riveting, absorbing police procedural by an author, Angela Marsons, who creates characters I can’t get enough of and juicy, complex stories that always suck me in and leave me shocked, surprised, highly entertained, and extremely satisfied.

 

This book is available now.

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

         

 

 

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Angela Marsons

Angela Marsons is the USA Today bestselling author of the Detective Kim Stone series, and her books have sold more than four million copies and have been translated into twenty-seven languages. She lives in the Black Country, in the West Midlands of England, with her partner and their two Golden Retrievers. She first discovered her love of writing at junior school when actual lessons came second to watching other people and quietly making up her own stories about them. Her report card invariably read “Angela would do well if she minded her own business as well as she minds other people’s.” After writing women’s fiction, Angela turned to crime — fictionally speaking, of course — and developed a character that refused to go away.

#BookReview Fatal Witness by Robert Bryndza @RobertBryndza #FatalWitness #RobertBryndza #ErikaFoster

#BookReview Fatal Witness by Robert Bryndza @RobertBryndza #FatalWitness #RobertBryndza #ErikaFoster Title: Fatal Witness

Author: Robert Bryndza

Series: Detective Erika Foster #7

Published by: Raven Street Publishing on Jul. 7, 2022

Genres: Mystery/Thriller, Police Procedural

Pages: 372

Format: Paperback

Source: Robert Bryndza

Book Rating: 10/10

Detective Erika Foster is back in FATAL WITNESS – with a chilling new serial killer case in Robert Bryndza’s multi-million bestselling crime thriller series!

How do you find a killer who has destroyed all the evidence?

Detective Erika Foster is on a late-night walk near her new house in Blackheath when she stumbles upon the brutal murder of Vicky Clarke, a true-crime podcaster.

Erika is assigned to the case and discovers that Vicky had been working on a new podcast episode about a sexual predator who preys on young female students around South London, staking out his victims in their halls of residence before breaking in at the dead of night. When Erika discovers that Vicky’s notes and sound recordings were stolen from her flat at the time of her murder, it leads her to believe that Vicky was close to unmasking the attacker, and she was killed to guarantee her silence.

The case takes on a disturbing twist when the body of a young Bulgarian student doctor is discovered in the same building, and this makes Erika question everything she thought she knew about Vicky. With very little evidence, the clock is ticking to find the killer before he strikes again.


Review:

Disturbing, dark, and exceptionally entertaining!

Fatal Witness is an unpredictable, sinuous thrill ride that takes us back to London, where Detective Erika Foster and her team now find themselves investigating the death of Vicky Clarke, a true-crime podcaster whose own investigation into a slew of sexual attacks on female students may have just made her the latest victim of a callous predator who is willing to do whatever it takes to keep his identity hidden forever.

The writing is bold and crisp. The characters are resilient, impulsive, and troubled. And the plot, including all the subplots, unravel and intertwine seamlessly into a sinister tale full of twists, turns, secrets, surprises, manipulation, coercion, deception, violence, and murder.

Overall, Fatal Witness is another riveting, spine-chilling, engrossing thriller by one of my favourite authors that kept me guessing from the very first page and left me unnerved, impressed, highly satisfied and eager to read whatever his devious mind manages to come up with next.

This book is available now.

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

      

 

 

Thank you to Robert Bryndza for gifting me 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.

#BookReview And There He Kept Her by Joshua Moehling @PPPress #AndThereHeKeptHer #JoshuaMoehling #inkedinpoison

#BookReview And There He Kept Her by Joshua Moehling @PPPress #AndThereHeKeptHer #JoshuaMoehling #inkedinpoison Title: And There He Kept Her

Author: Joshua Moehling

Published by: Poisoned Pen Press on Jun. 14, 2022

Genres: Mystery/Thriller, Police Procedural

Pages: 320

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Poisoned Pen Press

Book Rating: 8/10

They thought he was a helpless old man. They were wrong.

When two teenagers break into a house on a remote lake in search of prescription drugs, what starts as a simple burglary turns into a nightmare for all involved. Emmett Burr has secrets he’s been keeping in his basement for more than two decades, and he’ll do anything to keep his past from being revealed. As he gets the upper hand on his tormentors, the lines blur between victim, abuser, and protector.

Personal tragedy has sent former police officer Ben Packard back to the small Minnesota town of Sandy Lake in search of a fresh start. Now a sheriff’s deputy, Packard is leading the investigation into the missing teens, motivated by a family connection. As clues dry up and time runs out to save them, Packard is forced to reveal his own secrets and dig deep to uncover the dark past of the place he now calls home.


Review:

Gritty, menacing, and dark!

And There He Kept Her is a creepy, engrossing thriller that takes you to Sandy Lake, MN, where acting county sheriff Ben Packard suddenly finds himself unexpectedly uncovering a history of violence and murder nobody in this small town ever could have imagined when his investigation into two missing teens also leads to the discovery of a well-organized drug ring and two sadists with a penchant for confinement, torture, and rape.

The writing is crisp and tight. The characters are multilayered, persistent, and vulnerable. And the plot is a suspenseful, gripping tale full of twists, turns, secrets, deception, community, abuse, familial drama, depravity, mayhem, and murder.

Overall, And There He Kept Her is a shocking, ominous, spine-chilling tale by Moehling that kept me on the edge of my seat from the very first page and is undoubtedly an exceptionally promising debut.

 

This book is available now.

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

          

 

 

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Joshua Moehling

Joshua Moehling works in the medical device industry by day and writes at night. And There He Kept Her is his first novel. He lives in Minneapolis.

Photo courtesy of Author's Website.

#BookReview The Girl They All Forgot by Martin Edwards @medwardsbooks @PPPress #TheGirlTheyAllForgot #LakeDistrictMysteries #MartinEdwards #inkedinpoison

#BookReview The Girl They All Forgot by Martin Edwards @medwardsbooks @PPPress #TheGirlTheyAllForgot #LakeDistrictMysteries #MartinEdwards #inkedinpoison Title: The Girl They All Forgot

Author: Martin Edwards

Series: Lake District Mystery #8

Published by: Poisoned Pen Press on Jun. 7, 2022

Genres: Mystery/Thriller, Police Procedural

Pages: 352

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Poisoned Pen Press

Book Rating: 8/10

Calm waters are often deceptive―and dangerous.

Ramona Smith went missing, presumed murdered twenty-one years ago; her body was never recovered. Gerald Lace, accused, tried, and acquitted of the crime, took his own life shortly thereafter in the lovely-but-lethal waters along the Crooked Shore. In his suicide note, he blamed the police for wrongfully arresting him and ruining his life.

On the twentieth anniversary of his father’s suicide, Darren Lace has drowned himself in the very same spot. His death reopens the original investigation for cold case detective DCI Hannah Scarlett. Desperate to finally find answers, Hannah and her team chase leads as meandering as the shoreline. As the body count rises, old scores threaten to consume those dearest to Hannah. Will she be able to unwind both mysteries before her loved ones become collateral damage?


Review:

Twisty, sinister, and complex!

The Girl They All Forgot is an intense, menacing police procedural that takes us to the Lake District, England, where DCI Hannah Scarlett and her team now find themselves investigating the twenty-one-year-old cold case of a young woman, Ramona Smith, who vanished without a trace one evening, when the son of the man who was originally arrested for the crime, found innocent, and subsequently committed suicide, commits suicide himself in the same place on the twentieth anniversary of his father’s death.

The writing is sharp and tight. The characters are persistent, clever, and flawed. And the plot, including all the subplots, seamlessly intertwine and unravel into a gripping tale full of deception, manipulation, community, abuse, fraud, vengeance, mayhem, and murder.

Overall, The Girl They All Forgot is a surprising, suspenseful, taut eighth novel in this Lake District Mystery series that I thoroughly enjoyed with its intriguing characters, unpredictable storyline, and more than satisfying conclusion.

 

This book is available now.

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

        

 

 

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Martin Edwards

Winner of the CWA Diamond Dagger – the highest honour in UK crime writing

Martin Edwards was born at Knutsford, Cheshire and educated in Northwich and at Balliol College, Oxford University, taking a first class honours degree in law before qualifying as a solicitor. He published his first legal article at the age of 25 and his first book, about legal aspects of buying a business computer at 27; after thirty years as as an equity partner of his firm, he is now a consultant. He is married to Helena with two children (Jonathan and Catherine) and lives in Lymm. A member of the Murder Squad collective of crime writers, Martin became the longest-serving Chair of the Crime Writers’ Association since its founder John Creasey. In 2015 he was elected eighth President of the Detection Club; his predecessors include G.K. Chesterton, Dorothy L. Sayers, and Agatha Christie. He is Archivist of the CWA and of the Detection Club and consultant to the British Library’s Crime Classics.

Photo courtesy of Author's Website.

#BookReview The Day He Left by Frederick Weisel @PPPress #TheDayHeLeft #ViolentCrimeInvestigationsTeamSeries #FrederickWeisel #inkedinpoison

#BookReview The Day He Left by Frederick Weisel @PPPress #TheDayHeLeft #ViolentCrimeInvestigationsTeamSeries #FrederickWeisel #inkedinpoison Title: The Day He Left

Author: Frederick Weisel

Series: Violent Crime Investigations Team #2

Published by: Poisoned Pen Press on Mar. 1, 2022

Genres: Mystery/Thriller, Police Procedural

Pages: 384

Format: Paperback

Source: Poisoned Pen Press

Book Rating: 8.5/10

After he was gone, the only things left behind were secrets

Annie has fallen out of the habit of listening to her husband. She and Paul have been married for a long time; it’s easy to nod as he drones on, responding to his voice while completely ignoring every word he says. That becomes a problem, of course, when Paul disappears and the police have questions. Was Paul having issues at work? Is there any reason to think he might harm himself? Annie doesn’t know.

But someone does.

An unsettling photo found amongst Paul’s things turns the investigation toward his job as a middle school teacher and a troubled girl who is hiding secrets of her own. But what exactly happened to Paul on the day he left for work and never made it to the classroom? Is his disappearance related to a local heroin trafficking operation? As Eddie Mahler and the members of the Santa Rosa Violent Crime Investigations Team rush to find the teacher, they discover the members of his family have hidden lives of their own, and that Paul may not have been running away but toward something that could ruin his career and marriage–and even cost his life.


Review:

Menacing, intricate, and engrossing!

In this enthralling second instalment in the VCI Team series, The Day He Left, Detective Eddie Mahler and the VCI team find themselves immersed in a new high-stakes case involving a missing middle-school teacher who is either a victim of infidelity, slander, and misfortune or a predator who enjoys preying on his vulnerable students.

The writing is edgy and tight. The characters are multilayered, meticulous, and persistent. And the plot is a fast-paced, electrifying tale full of twists, turns, familial drama, red herrings, manipulation, secrets, deception, mayhem, danger, and murder.

Overall, The Day He Left is another sinister, addictive, thrilling addition to what is quickly becoming a must-read series for me, with its flawed, complex characters, great pace, and consistent sense of urgency that I can’t seem to get enough of.

 

This book is available now.

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

          

 

 

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

 

About Frederick Weisel

Frederick Weisel has been a writer and editor for more than 30 years. He graduated from Antioch College and has an MA in Victorian Literature and History from the University of Leicester in England. His short stories were awarded an Artists Fellowship from the Massachusetts Arts and Humanities Foundation, and his articles have appeared in the Boston Globe, Washington Post, and Christian Science Monitor.

The Silenced Women is his debut novel. He is currently at work on the third novel in the VCI series. He lives with his wife in Santa Rosa, California, and shares a birthday with his favorite author, Raymond Chandler.

Photo by Rob Martel.

#BookReview Play Dead by Angela Marsons @WriteAngie @GrandCentralPub #AngelaMarsons #PlayDead #DIKimStoneSeries

#BookReview Play Dead by Angela Marsons @WriteAngie @GrandCentralPub #AngelaMarsons #PlayDead #DIKimStoneSeries Title: Play Dead

Author: Angela Marsons

Series: DI Kim Stone #4

Published by: Grand Central Publishing on Jan. 18, 2022

Genres: Mystery/Thriller, Police Procedural

Pages: 400

Format: Paperback

Source: Grand Central Publishing

Book Rating: 10/10

Detective Kim Stone discovers the best place to hide a murder in this gripping psychological thriller from USA Today bestselling author Angela Marsons.

Westerley research facility is not for the faint-hearted. It’s a “body farm” known for its investigations into human decomposition, with inhabitants that are corpses in various states of decay. But when Detective Kim Stone and her team discover the fresh body of a young woman among the donated cadavers there, it seems a killer has discovered the perfect cover to bury their crime.

Then a second girl is attacked and left for dead, her body drugged and mouth filled with soil. It’s clear to Stone and the team that a serial killer is at work. But just how many bodies will they uncover? And who is next?

When local reporter Tracy Frost disappears, the stakes are raised. The past seems to hold the key to the killer’s secrets—but can Kim uncover the truth before a twisted, damaged mind claims another victim?


Review:

Relentless, unpredictable, and sinister!

In this latest novel in the DI Kim Stone series, Play Dead, Marsons has written a gripping, fast-paced mystery that sees Detective Inspective Stone and her team heading to the Westerley research facility to investigate an eerie case involving a potential serial killer with a penchant for dumping their victims amongst the decaying corpses being researched at the local body farm.

The writing is crisp and tight. The characters are impulsive, secretive, and scarred. And the plot keeps you engrossed from start to finish with all its twists, turns, deception, revelations, revenge, retribution, violence, and murder.

I have to say this series keeps getting better and better. Play Dead is an intricate, suspenseful, perfectly paced whodunit that has all the elements I look for in a thrilling mystery, along with a touch of authenticity not always found in police procedurals that kept me riveted and eager for more.

 

This book is available now.

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

            

 

 

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Angela Marsons

Angela Marsons is the USA Today bestselling author of the Detective Kim Stone series, and her books have sold more than four million copies and have been translated into twenty-seven languages. She lives in the Black Country, in the West Midlands of England, with her partner and their two Golden Retrievers. She first discovered her love of writing at junior school when actual lessons came second to watching other people and quietly making up her own stories about them. Her report card invariably read “Angela would do well if she minded her own business as well as she minds other people’s.” After writing women’s fiction, Angela turned to crime — fictionally speaking, of course — and developed a character that refused to go away.

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