Publisher: Minotaur Books

#BookReview Deadlock by James Byrne @JByrnemystery @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #MinotaurInfluencers #JamesByrne #Deadlock #DezLimerick

#BookReview Deadlock by James Byrne @JByrnemystery @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #MinotaurInfluencers #JamesByrne #Deadlock #DezLimerick Title: Deadlock

Author: James Byrne

Series: Dez Limerick #2

Published by: Minotaur Books on Aug. 8, 2023

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 368

Format: Hardcover

Source: Minotaur Books

Book Rating: 8.5/10

In this sequel to the highly praised The Gatekeeper, Dez Limerick, one of the best new thriller heroes returns.

Desmond Aloysius Limerick (“Dez” to his friends and close personal enemies) is a man with a shadowy past, certain useful hard-won skills, and, if one digs deep enough, a reputation as a good man to have at your back. Now retired from his previous life, Dez is just a bloke with a winning smile, a bass guitar, and bullet wounds that paint a road map of past lives.

Jaleh Swann, a business journalist hot on the trail of an auditor who was mugged and killed, lands in the hospital just one day after her Portland apartment is ransacked. When Jaleh’s sister, Raziah, reaches out to an old friend for help, Dez has no choice but to answer. The Swann sisters have been pulled into a dizzying web of cover-ups and danger. At the center lies an insidious Oregon-based tech corporation, Clockjack, which has enough money and hired guns to silence just about anyone—including this rag-tag trio. Luckily, Dez’s speciality is not just to open doors, but keep them open—and protect those working to expose Clockjack’s secrets.

More stands in the way of the truth than just one corporation. When hired thugs come to the finish the job and attack the Swann sisters at the hospital, Dez does what he does best. Now, the two captured men (and the corpse Dez left behind) attract the attention of not just Clockjack, but of the Portland police, the D.E.A, and the U.S. Marshalls. Dez and the Swann sisters are on the run from powers beyond their control and means. Outnumbered, under resourced and outgunned, Dez must use all his skills to keep his friends safe and stand up to corporate conniving. After all, the one thing Clockjack didn’t count on? A good man with a simple job to do.


Review:

Action-packed, ominous, and intricate!

In this compelling second instalment in the Dez Limerick series, Deadlock, Byrne has written an adrenaline-pumping thriller that sees the arrogant, part-time musician and talented ex-mercenary Desmond Aloysius Limerick back doing what he does best when fellow musician Raziah Swann phones him for a little help when it seems that her sister has become the target of some people who would not only prefer her journalistic investigation into the successful Oregon company Clockjack Solutions to come to an end quickly, but who are more than happy to leave bodies behind in order to make that happen.

The writing is descriptive and tight. The characters are astute, tenacious, and confident. And the plot keeps you on the edge of your seat with its short, zippy, intense chapters that submerge you, page after page, into a world full of danger, deception, secrets, corruption, lies, arrogance, violence, and murder.

Overall, Deadlock is a meticulously woven, sinister, highly entertaining mystery with a good sense of urgency, great characterization, and a brisk pace that’s a fabulous addition to the Dez Limerick series and a novel that really shouldn’t be missed.

 

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 Press for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About James Byrne

JAMES BYRNE is the pseudonym for an author who has worked for more than twenty years as a journalist and in politics. A native of the Pacific Northwest, he lives in Portland, Oregon.

#BookReview A Traitor in Whitehall @The_Julia_Kelly @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #MinotaurInfluencers #JuliaKelly #ATraitorinWhitehall #ParisianOrphan #SMPInfluencers

#BookReview A Traitor in Whitehall @The_Julia_Kelly @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #MinotaurInfluencers #JuliaKelly #ATraitorinWhitehall #ParisianOrphan #SMPInfluencers Title: A Traitor in Whitehall

Author: Julia Kelly

Series: Parisian Orphan #1

Published by: Minotaur Books on Oct. 3, 2023

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 304

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Minotaur Books

Book Rating: 8.5/10

From Julia Kelly, internationally bestselling author of The Last Dance of the Debutante, comes the first in the mysterious and immersive Parisian Orphan series, A Traitor in Whitehall.

1940, England: Evelyne Redfern, known as “The Parisian Orphan” as a child, is working on the line at a munitions factory in wartime London. When Mr. Fletcher, one of her father’s old friends, spots Evelyne on a night out, Evelyne finds herself plunged into the world of Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s cabinet war rooms.

However, shortly after she settles into her new role as a secretary, one of the girls at work is murdered, and Evelyne must use all of her amateur sleuthing expertise to find the killer. But doing so puts her right in the path of David Poole, a cagey minister’s aide who seems determined to thwart her investigations. That is, until Evelyne finds out David’s real mission is to root out a mole selling government secrets to Britain’s enemies, and the pair begrudgingly team up.

With her quick wit, sharp eyes, and determination, will Evelyne be able to find out who’s been selling England’s secrets and catch a killer, all while battling her growing attraction to David?


Review:

Mysterious, atmospheric, and engaging!

A Traitor in Whitehall is a suspenseful tale that takes us back to 1941 London and into the life of Evelyne Redfern who, after stumbling upon the body of a fellow secretary on her first day working in Winston Churchill’s war rooms, finds herself embroiled in a murder investigation that’s a little more complex than it originally appears, and for which she may have to join forces with the enigmatic, handsome David Poole who seems to be secretly working on a case of his own.

The prose is descriptive and light. The characters, including the intelligent, independent heroine, are multi-layered, intriguing, and well-developed. And the plot is a well-paced whodunit full of red herrings, duplicity, amateur sleuthing, deduction, attraction, and, of course, a touch of the unexpected.

Overall, A Traitor in Whitehall is the first book in the Parisian Orphan series, and if you love historical mysteries, this one won’t disappoint. It’s an entertaining, cosy, satisfying tale by Kelly that is not only a real treat to read, but a great start to what could be a fantastic new series in a slightly different genre than the author is predominantly known and revered for.

 

This novel is available October 3, 2023.

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 providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Julia Kelly

Julia Kelly is the award-winning author of women's fiction and historical romance books about the extraordinary stories of the past. She also writes fast-paced contemporary sports romance as Julia Blake. In addition to writing, she’s been an Emmy-nominated producer, journalist, marketing professional, and (for one summer) a tea waitress. Julia called Los Angeles, Iowa, and New York City home before settling in London.

Photograph by Scott Bottles.

#BookReview The Golden Gate by Amy Chua @amychua @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #TheGoldenGateBook #AmyChua #MinotaurInfluencers #SMPInfluencers

#BookReview The Golden Gate by Amy Chua @amychua @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #TheGoldenGateBook #AmyChua #MinotaurInfluencers #SMPInfluencers Title: The Golden Gate

Author: Amy Chua

Published by: Minotaur Books on Sep. 19, 2023

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 384

Format: eBook, Paperback

Source: Minotaur Books

Book Rating: 8.5/10

Amy Chua’s debut novel, The Golden Gate, is a sweeping, evocative, and compelling historical thriller that paints a vibrant portrait of a California buffeted by the turbulent crosswinds of a world at war and a society about to undergo massive change.

In Berkeley, California, in 1944, Homicide Detective Al Sullivan has just left the swanky Claremont Hotel after a drink in the bar when a presidential candidate is assassinated in one of the rooms upstairs. A rich industrialist with enemies among the anarchist factions on the far left, Walter Wilkinson could have been targeted by any number of groups. But strangely, Sullivan’s investigation brings up the specter of another tragedy at the Claremont, ten years the death of seven-year-old Iris Stafford, a member of the Bainbridge family, one of the wealthiest in all of San Francisco. Some say she haunts the Claremont still.

The many threads of the case keep leading Sullivan back to the three remaining Bainbridge heiresses, now Iris’s sister, Isabella, and her cousins Cassie and Nicole. Determined not to let anything distract him from the truth―not the powerful influence of Bainbridges’ grandmother, or the political aspirations of Berkeley’s district attorney, or the interest of China’s First Lady Madame Chiang Kai-Shek in his findings―Sullivan follows his investigation to its devastating conclusion.

Chua’s page-turning debut brings to life a historical era rife with turbulent social forces and groundbreaking forensic advances, when race and class defined the very essence of power, sex, and justice, and introduces a fascinating character in Detective Sullivan, a mixed race former Army officer who is still reckoning with his own history.


Review:

Rich, twisty, and unpredictable!

The Golden Gate is a mysterious, gripping tale set in Berkeley, California, during 1944 that sees Homicide Detective Al Sullivan investigating the bizarre murder of presidential candidate Walter Wilkinson in the Claremont Hotel which, as it unfolds, also seems strangely entangled with the death of a seven-year-old girl in the same hotel ten years previous, China’s first lady Madame Chiang Kai-Shek, and a whole slew of mischief, mayhem, and long-buried secrets.

The prose is sharp and brisk. The characters are multilayered, flawed, and persistent. And the plot, including all the subplots, intertwine and unravel seamlessly into a menacing tale full of corruption, coercion, politics, racism, inequality, deduction, suspicious motivations, criminal behaviour, dangerous endeavours, familial drama, red herrings, lies, and murder.

Overall, The Golden Gate is an ominous, atmospheric, sophisticated read by Chua that I hope is only the start of what could be an entertaining series with its noir-type feel, colourful characters, abundance of action, and straight-up detective work.

 

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 Amy Chua

AMY CHUA is the John M. Duff, Jr. Professor of Law at Yale Law School. She is an internationally bestselling author of several non-fiction titles, including her 2011 memoir Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, which was a runaway international bestseller that has been translated into over 30 languages. Chua graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College and cum laude from Harvard Law School. After practicing on Wall Street for a few years, she joined the Yale Law School faculty in 2001. The Golden Gate is her fiction debut.

#BookReview The Trade Off by Sandie Jones @realsandiejones @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #SandieJones #TheTradeOffBook #MinotaurInfluencers #SMPInfluencers

#BookReview The Trade Off by Sandie Jones @realsandiejones @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #SandieJones #TheTradeOffBook #MinotaurInfluencers #SMPInfluencers Title: The Trade Off

Author: Sandie Jones

Published by: Minotaur Books on Aug. 15, 2023

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 304

Format: ARC, eBook

Source: St. Martin's Press

Book Rating: 7.5/10

From the New York Times bestselling author of the Reese’s Book Club Pick The Other Woman comes The Trade Off, an electrifying new novel of suspense that begs the Would you tell a story, if you knew it was a lie? Or tell the truth and sleep at night?

For Stella, deputy editor of The Globe, the choice has always been clear. It doesn’t matter how low she has to stoop―getting the best story is what she’s built her reputation on.

For Jess, The Globe ’s rookie reporter, the story stops when the truth does. But she knows that the dirty tricks of the tabloids will be hard to overturn.

And when a celebrity is hounded by The Globe and pays the ultimate price, Jess wonders just how much Stella and the paper are responsible.

Determined to show the world what the tabloid is capable of, Jess will do whatever it takes to uncover the truth, but she needs to watch her back, because someone else is prepared to kill to bury it.

RISK or REWARD. JUSTICE or REVENGE. INNOCENCE or GUILT.


Review:

Intricate, crafty, and suspenseful!

The Trade Off is an engrossing, ominous tale that transports you into the lives of two main characters, Stella, the deputy editor of The Globe who will do whatever it takes to get the story, and Jess, the new rookie reporter who believes that the only story that should be printed is the truth, especially when that story can lead to devastating consequences.

The prose is tight and tense. The characters are secretive, ruthless, and driven. And the plot unravels quickly into a gripping tale full of twists, turns, lies, deception, power, abuse, corruption, greed, indulgence, revelations, ambition, and violence.

Overall, The Trade Off is a sinister, entertaining, intense thriller by Jones that explores the ethical and moral fine line between right and wrong. And even though it isn’t my favourite novel by this author, it does do a wonderful job of combining the morally questionable, somewhat sleazy atmosphere of tabloid journalism with unsavoury characters, poor choices, and eerie motivations.

 

This novel is available now.

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

         

 

 

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

 

About Sandie Jones

SANDIE JONES has worked as a freelance journalist for more than twenty years and has written for publications including The Sunday Times, Woman’s Weekly, and Hello magazine. She lives in Lon-don with her husband and three children. She is the author of The Other Woman, a Reese’s Book Club x Hello Sunshine pick, as well as The First Mistake and The Half Sister. The Guilt Trip is her fourth novel.

Photo by Harriet Buckingham.

#BookReview Dead and Gone by Joanna Schaffhausen @slipperywhisper @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #JoannaSchaffhausen #DeadandGoneBook #DetectiveAnnalisaVega #MinotaurInfluencers #SMPInfluencers

#BookReview Dead and Gone by Joanna Schaffhausen @slipperywhisper @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #JoannaSchaffhausen #DeadandGoneBook #DetectiveAnnalisaVega #MinotaurInfluencers #SMPInfluencers Title: Dead and Gone

Author: Joanna Schaffhausen

Series: Detective Annalisa Vega #3

Published by: Minotaur Books on Aug. 8, 2023

Genres: Mystery/Thriller, Police Procedural

Pages: 336

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Minotaur Books

Book Rating: 10/10

The next installment of Joanna Schaffhausen’s critically acclaimed Detective Annalisa Vega series.

For Chicago police detective Annalisa Vega, Sam Tran’s death presents an ominous puzzle. The ex-cop turned PI is found hanging from a cemetery tree with a message across his chest that suggests someone holds a murderous grudge against the police. Annalisa suspects the real answer lies in one of Tran’s open cases. She believes he stumbled on a dark secret during his investigations and someone killed him to keep him quiet. Her own family harbors plenty of secrets, something Annalisa is reminded of when her brother turns out to be one of Sam’s last clients.

Vinny Vega hired Tran to find a dangerous stalker on his daughter’s college campus. Now Sam is dead and the stalker remains at large, with Annalisa’s niece Quinn firmly in his sights.

To protect Quinn, Annalisa begins tracing Sam’s steps back through his open cases, which include not only the campus stalker but also a brutal double homicide from twenty years ago. Did Sam finally find the killer? Did he uncover the stalker’s identity? Annalisa must figure out which secret got Sam killed, and fast, or someone else will die. Every move she makes brings her closer to the truth of Sam’s death, and closer to a murderer who will stop at nothing to remain free.


Review:

Relentless, sinister, and intricate!

Dead and Gone is an intense, unpredictable thrill ride that takes us back to Chicago, where Detective Annalisa Vega now finds herself delving into the open cases of murdered former CPD officer turned private detective Sam Tran, which include the investigation into a missing mother from the late 1980s, a man looking for justice into the slaying of his wife and her lover, and the protection of Annalisa’s own niece who seems to have become the latest object of fascination for a stalker on her college campus.

The writing is eerie and tight. The characters are diligent, attentive, and flawed. And the plot builds quickly into an ominous tale full of twists, turns, red herrings, secrets, lies, danger, obsession, violence, mayhem, and murder.

I’ve been a huge fan of Joanna Schaffhausen since I read The Vanishing Season in 2017, and whether it’s one of her Ellery Hathaway novels or another saga in the Detective Annalisa Vega series, such as this latest release, Dead and Gone, I am always riveted, entertained, satisfied and highly impressed.

 

This book 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 providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Joanna Schaffhausen

JOANNA SCHAFFHAUSEN wields a mean scalpel, skills developed in her years studying neuroscience. She has a doctorate in psychology, which reflects her long-standing interest in the brain—how it develops and the many ways it can go wrong. Previously, she worked for ABC News, writing for programs such as World News Tonight, Good Morning America, and 20/20. She lives in the Boston area with her husband and daughter. She is also the author of The Vanishing Season and No Mercy.

#BookReview The Shadow Girls (Natalie Lockhart #4) by Alice Blanchard @AliceBooks333 @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #AliceBlanchard #TheShadowGirls #MinotaurInfluencers #SMPInfluencers

#BookReview The Shadow Girls (Natalie Lockhart #4) by Alice Blanchard @AliceBooks333 @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #AliceBlanchard #TheShadowGirls #MinotaurInfluencers #SMPInfluencers Title: The Shadow Girls

Author: Alice Blanchard

Series: Natalie Lockhart #4

Published by: Minotaur Books on Jul. 25, 2023

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 320

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Minotaur Books

Book Rating: 9/10

Someone is playing deadly games. Lieutenant Luke Pittman lies in the hospital in a coma after being attacked by one of their own. Veronica Manes, Burning Lake’s most respected modern-day witch, is dead, her murder left unsolved. Natalie Lockhart has become embroiled in a case with threads that become increasingly difficult to untangle.

Now, a new horror is uncovered, one that shocks the town as never before, and the dark, shadowy path forward for Natalie is paved with challenges that haunt her past―Veronica’s unsolved case. Her sister’s traumatic murder. The long-lost disappearance of her old best friend. Natalie’s obsession with finding the truth leads to a twisted, elemental struggle between good and evil―and nothing will ever be the same again.

The woods have secrets.

The trees are carved with curses.

There’s something wicked in Burning Lake.


Review:

Mesmerizing, dark and spine-chilling!

The Shadow Girls is an unpredictable, sinuous thrill ride that takes us back to Burning Lake, NY, where Detective Natalie Lockhart and her team now find themselves not only keeping their fingers crossed that Lt. Pittman will quickly awake from his coma but also investigating the death of a local employee of Murray’s Halloween Costumes, Randolph Holmes, who unbeknownst to most, seems to have had a penchant in the past for kidnapping, confining, and murdering young girls.

The writing is seamless and fluid. The characters are tough, determined, and flawed. And the engrossing plot is a tightly-paced, ominous tale full of twists, turns, surprises, violence, manipulation, depravity, and murder.

Overall, The Shadow Girls is a highly entertaining, gripping, eerie thriller by Blanchard that highlights her exceptional ability to write police procedurals that have well-drawn characters and disturbingly realistic storylines. It is the fourth novel in the Natalie Lockhart series, and if you’re not already reading this series, you really 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 St. Martin’s Press – Minotaur Books for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Alice Blanchard

Alice Blanchard is an award-winning author. She has received a PEN Award, a New Letters Literary Award, a Centrum Artists-in-Residence Fellowship, and a Katherine Anne Porter Prize for Fiction. Her debut novel, Darkness Peering, was a New York Times' Notable Book and a Barnes & Noble Best Mystery book. Her work has been published in 17 countries.

Photo Credit: DH Dowling.

#BookReview A Stolen Child by Sarah Stewart Taylor @SSTaylorBooks @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #MinotaurInfluencers #AStolenChild #SarahStewartTaylor #MaggieDArcy #SMPInfluencers

#BookReview A Stolen Child by Sarah Stewart Taylor @SSTaylorBooks @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #MinotaurInfluencers #AStolenChild #SarahStewartTaylor #MaggieDArcy #SMPInfluencers Title: A Stolen Child

Author: Sarah Stewart Taylor

Published by: Minotaur Books on Jun. 20, 2023

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 384

Format: Paperback

Source: Minotaur Books

Book Rating: 8.5/10

Sarah Stewart Taylor is known for her atmospheric portrayal of an American detective in Ireland, and her critically acclaimed series returns with A Stolen Child.

After months of training, former Long Island homicide detective Maggie D’arcy is now officially a Garda. She’s finally settling into life in Ireland and so is her teenage daughter, Lilly. Maggie may not be a detective yet, but she’s happy with her community policing assignment in Dublin’s Portobello neighborhood.

When she and her partner find former model and reality tv star Jade Elliot murdered—days after responding to a possible domestic violence disturbance at her apartment—they also discover Jade’s toddler daughter missing. Shorthanded thanks to an investigation into a gangland murder in the neighborhood, Maggie’s friend, Detective Inspector Roly Byrne, brings her onto his team to help find the missing child. But when a key discovery is made, the case only becomes more confusing—and more dangerous. Amidst a nationwide manhunt, Maggie and her colleagues must look deep into Jade’s life—both personal and professional—to find a ruthless killer.


Review:

Meticulous, sinister and sharp!

In this fourth instalment in the Maggie D’Arcy series, A Stolen Child, we head back to Dublin where former Long Island Detective and now Garda police officer Maggie D’Arcy finds herself working once again with DI Byrne as a part-time detective when she suddenly becomes immersed in a tricky investigation involving a murdered model, a missing toddler, a father with something to hide, and a few family members who don’t seem to be as concerned or helpful as one would expect them to be.

The writing is seamless and precise. The characters are flawed, diligent, and persistent. And the plot is a menacing tale full of twists, turns, deception, mayhem, lies, secrets, suspicious personalities, revelations, familial dysfunction, mental illness, and murder.

Overall, A Stolen Child is an ominous, sophisticated, entertaining tale by Taylor that had just the right amount of mystery, intrigue, atmosphere, and intensity to keep me engaged from start to finish and left me, a huge fan of this series, more than satisfied 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 St. Martin’s Press – Minotaur Press for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Sarah Stewart Taylor

Sarah Stewart Taylor grew up on Long Island and was educated at Middlebury College and Trinity College, Dublin. She lives with her husband and three children on a farm in Vermont where they raise sheep and blueberries.

Sarah is the author of THE MOUNTAINS WILD, an atmospheric thriller about a Long Island homicide detective named Maggie D'Arcy who returns to Ireland twenty-three years after the unsolved disappearance of her beloved cousin Erin in the Wicklow Mountains. When a young woman disappears and new evidence from Erin’s case is found, Maggie will have to uncover the truth about the Irish man she's never stopped loving and, in order to help Irish police save the missing woman, the truth about who Erin was and what happened to her.

It will be published by Minotaur Books on June 23, 2020.

Sarah is also the author of the Sweeney St. George mystery series, about an art historian who studies funerary art, "the art of death," from Minotaur Books. The first book in the series, O’ Artful Death, was nominated for an Agatha Award for Best First Novel.

Her non-fiction has been published in The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, and many other publications.

Photograph courtesy of Author's Goodreads Page.

#BookReview Speak of the Devil by Rose Wilding @Rose_Wldng @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #SpeakoftheDevil #RoseWilding #MinotaurInfluencers #SMPInfluencers

#BookReview Speak of the Devil by Rose Wilding @Rose_Wldng @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #SpeakoftheDevil #RoseWilding #MinotaurInfluencers #SMPInfluencers Title: Speak of the Devil

Author: Rose Wilding

Published by: Minotaur Books on Jun. 13, 2023

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 304

Format: Hardcover

Source: Minotaur Books

Book Rating: 8/10

All of us knew him. One of us killed him…

Seven women stand in shock in a seedy hotel room; a man’s severed head sits in the centre of the floor. Each of the women – the wife, the teenager, the ex, the journalist, the colleague, the friend, and the woman who raised him – has a very good reason to have done it, yet each swears she did not. In order to protect each other, they must figure out who is responsible, all while staying one step ahead of the police.

Against the ticking clock of a murder investigation, each woman’s secret is brought to light as the connections between them converge to reveal a killer.

A dark and nuanced portrait of love, loyalty, and manipulation, Speak of the Devil explores the roles in which women are cast in the lives of terrible men…and the fallout when they refuse to stay silent for one moment longer.


Review:

Dark, intricate, and engrossing!

Speak of the Devil is a layered, unsettling tale that sweeps you away to Newcastle, England and into the life of DI Nova Stokoe, a young police inspector who suddenly finds herself embroiled in a complex murder investigation involving the decapitated head of an esteemed scientist and a suspect list that includes seven local women all who at some time were a victim of his manipulation, deviance, gaslighting, betrayal, violence, or cruelty, and thus all with a motive for his murder.

The writing is brisk and tight. The characters are secretive, cunning, and vulnerable. And the plot, told from multiple perspectives, builds quickly creating intensity and suspense as it unravels all the personalities, motivations, relationships, deception, and devious behaviours within it.

Overall, Speak of the Devil is, ultimately, a story of lies, revelations, secrets, deception, betrayal, manipulation, mayhem, depravity, hatred, vengeance, violence, and murder. It’s a clever, sinister, solid debut by Wilding that certainly kept me thoroughly engrossed from start to finish.

 

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 Rose Wilding

ROSE WILDING is a crime writer from the north of England. She studied at the University of Manchester, University of Sunderland, and Towson University. When not murdering fictional people, she can usually be found drinking coffee, reading feminist sci-fi, or posting more pictures than anyone needs of her two chihuahuas on Instagram. Speak of the Devil is her debut novel.

#BookReview Murder at Haven’s Rock by Kelley Armstrong @KelleyArmstrong @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #MurderatHavensRock #KelleyArmstrong #HavensRock #HavensRockNovels #MinotaurInfluencers #SMPInfluencers

#BookReview Murder at Haven’s Rock by Kelley Armstrong @KelleyArmstrong @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #MurderatHavensRock #KelleyArmstrong #HavensRock #HavensRockNovels #MinotaurInfluencers #SMPInfluencers Title: Murder at Haven's Rock

Author: Kelley Armstrong

Series: Haven's Rock #1

Published by: Minotaur Books on Feb. 21, 2023

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 352

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Minotaur Books

Book Rating: 9/10

New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong’s Rockton Novels had one of the most unique towns in crime fiction. Murder at Haven’s Rock is a spinoff, a fresh start… with a few new dangers that threaten everything before it even begins.

Haven’s Rock, Yukon. Population: 0

Deep in the Yukon wilderness, a town is being built. A place for people to disappear, a fresh start from a life on the run. Haven’s Rock isn’t the first town of this kind, something detective Casey Duncan and her husband, Sheriff Eric Dalton, know first hand. They met in the original town of Rockton. But greed and deception led the couple to financing a new refuge for those in need. This time around, they get to decide which applicants are approved for residency.

There’s only one rule in Haven’s Rock: stay out of the forest. When two of the town’s construction crew members break it and go missing, Casey and Eric are called in ahead of schedule to track them down. When a body is discovered, well hidden with evidence of foul play, Casey and Eric must find out what happened to the dead woman, and locate the still missing man. The woman stumbled upon something she wasn’t supposed to see, and the longer Casey and Eric don’t know what happened, the more danger everyone is in.


Review:

Menacing, atmospheric, and absorbing!

Murder at Haven’s Rock is a dark, intricate tale that takes us back to the Yukon, where Casey Duncan and Sheriff Eric Dalton have begun building a new community, a hidden refuge surrounded by miles of forest that they’re hoping will escape the pitfalls, deception and danger that began to ravage their last home of Rockton but their not the only ones staking a claim to this rugged wilderness and before the final building is complete workers will start to go missing, bodies will begin to surface, and greed will once again rear its ugly head.

The prose is brisk and tight. The characters are secretive, troubled, and multilayered. And the plot is an intense, gripping tale full of twists, turns, surprises, secrets, suspects, malevolence, deduction, revelations, lies, desperation, avarice, violence, and murder.

Kelley Armstrong is the author of one of my all-time favourite mystery series, Rockton, so when I heard she was writing a spinoff series, I was super excited, and Murder at Haven’s Rock did not disappoint. It’s a suspenseful, eerie, action-packed read by Armstrong and a fantastic start to what is sure to be another must-read series for me.

 

This novel is available now.

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

         

 

 

Thank you to Minotaur Books for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Kelley Armstrong

Kelley Armstrong has been telling stories since before she could write. Her earliest written efforts were disastrous. If asked for a story about girls and dolls, hers would invariably feature undead girls and evil dolls, much to her teachers' dismay. All efforts to make her produce "normal" stories failed.

Today, she continues to spin tales of ghosts and demons and werewolves, while safely locked away in her basement writing dungeon. She's the author of the NYT-bestselling "Women of the Otherworld" paranormal suspense series and "Darkest Powers" young adult urban fantasy trilogy, as well as the Nadia Stafford crime series. Armstrong lives in southwestern Ontario with her husband, kids and far too many pets.

Photograph by Kathryn Hollinrake.

#BookReview Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun by Elle Cosimano @ElleCosimano @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #MinotaurInfluencers #FinlayDonovanJumpsTheGun #FinlayDonovan #ElleCosimano

#BookReview Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun by Elle Cosimano @ElleCosimano @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #MinotaurInfluencers #FinlayDonovanJumpsTheGun #FinlayDonovan #ElleCosimano Title: Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun

Author: Elle Cosimano

Series: Finlay Donovan #3

Published by: Minotaur Books on Jan. 31, 2023

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 304

Format: Hardcover

Source: Minotaur Books

Book Rating: 8.5/10

Author and single mom Finlay Donovan has been in messes before―after all, she’s a pro at removing bloodstains for various unexpected reasons―but none quite like this. When Finlay and her nanny/partner-in-crime Vero accidentally destroyed a luxury car that they had “borrowed” in the process of saving the life of Finlay’s ex-husband, the Russian mob did her a favor and bought the car for her. And now Finlay owes them.

Mob boss Feliks is still running the show from behind bars, and he has a task for Finlay: find and identify a contract killer before the cops do. The problem is, the killer might be an officer themself.

Luckily, hot cop Nick has just been tasked with starting up a citizen’s police academy, and combined pressure from Finlay’s looming book deadline and Feliks is enough to convince Finlay and Vero to get involved. Through firearm training and forensic classes (and some hands-on research with a tempting detective), Finlay and Vero use their time in police academy to sleuth out the real contract killer to free themselves from the mob’s clutches―all the while dodging spies, confronting Vero’s past, and juggling the daily trials of parenthood.

From USA Today bestseller and Edgar-Award nominee Elle Cosimano, comes Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun—the highly anticipated, hilarious, and heart-pounding next installment in the beloved Finlay Donovan series…


Review:

Sassy, amusing, and unpredictable!

Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun is a mysterious, captivating read that transports you back into the lives of romantic suspense author and mother of two Finlay Donovan and her partner in crime Veronica Ruiz as they find themselves once again reluctantly messed up in the world of crime when Russian mobster Feliks Zhirov continues to pressure them to identity the online contractor killer EasyClean before his case goes to trial and their amateur sleuthing leads them to a member of the Fairfax County PD and a placement in the citizen’s police academy run by the delectable Detective Nicholas Anthony.

The prose is light and fun. The characters are stressed, resourceful, and clumsy. And the plot is a spirited, action-packed tale full of life, love, family, friendship, parenthood, lies, secrets, tricky situations, humorous hijinks, danger, and a dab of romance.

Overall, Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun is another cute, comical, outlandish addition to the Finlay Donovan series by Cosimano that had just the right amount of zany antics and entertaining storyline to keep me engaged and laughing from start to finish.

 

This book is available now.

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

           

 

 

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

 

About Elle Cosimano

ELLE COSIMANO is an award-winning author. Her YA debut, Nearly Gone, was an Edgar Award finalist and winner of the International Thriller Award. Her novel Holding Smoke was a finalist for the International Thriller Award and the Bram Stoker Award. Her essays have appeared in The Huffington Post and Time. Elle lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia with her husband, two sons, and her dog. Finlay Donovan Is Killing It is her adult debut.

Photo by Powell Woulfe Photography.

%d bloggers like this: