Invisible Murder by Lene Kaaberbol & Agnete Friis

Invisible Murder is the second book in the series, coming on the heels of New York Times bestseller The Boy in the Suitcase. I missed the first book but the blurb for this one had me drawn in.

In Hungary two young Roma gypsy boys are scavenging in an old Soviet military hospital when they are able to access a formerly sealed up area and find something that could make them a lot of money. Their actions could threaten the lives of many others though. In Denmark nurse Nina is used to being in close contact with the poor and dispossessed but this time her work is about to damage everything she holds dear. Elsewhere Sandor is trying to escape his roots and make a good life for himself, but his new world is about to come crumbling down around him.

The story is told from a number of perspective and draws together several strands to an unlikely climax. In addition to the above we also see events unfold from the perspective of a Security detective, trying to head off terrorist threats, and an elderly man who thinks his wife is frittering away their life savings. It is clear how some of the threads dovetail but it takes right until the end to neatly tie them all together. Although there is a lot going on and plenty of characters to keep in mind I didn't find it hard to keep the strands clear or keep up with what was happening. The themes are very topical and I love that the ending wasn't what I had been expecting.

What I really enjoyed about this book was that it had a plot that kept moving and was full of little twists and turns but that it also had some great characters with real depth to them, where some thrillers like this get carried away with plot and offer slightly flat protagonists. Nina is devoted to her work  with the underground Network and determined to do what she can to look after children who need her, although husband Morten sees this as being at the expense of her own children. I also felt for Sandor while being slightly sorry for him feeling he almost had to deny where he came from. As a Roma man he is acutely aware of the discrimination his people face but wants to have a career. When his half brother comes bowling back into his life he struggles with uniting his two very different worlds. I felt for him as he became more controlled by others.

I really enjoyed this book and will try and get to the previous book at some point in the future.

Format: Kindle, review copy

Publisher: Soho Crime

My Rating: 4*

Stealing the Marbles by E J Knapp

Danny Samsel is at the top of his chosen profession, but his success has a price. His most recent job was so high profile he has had to get out of the limelight for a while, and has spent a year in exile on the beautiful Greek island of Kefalonia. Danny is a master thief and his last job involved liberating a painting from the White House. As a result he is a person of interest to various law enforcement agencies. Now he is getting itchy feet and has his eyes on a new prize. He is determined to find a way to return the Elgin Marbles, or the Parthenon Marbles, to the Greeks and is planning on calling on a gang of his international contacts, including estranged girlfriend Kaz, to make it happen.

The book is essentially divided into two parts, the planning and the execution. The first part really put me in mind of Oceans Eleven, which is no bad thing. Danny is a thief with his own moral code. He grew up stealing only what he needed to survive but is now driven to get unseen art back into the public eye and return works to their rightful owners. He intends to make no money from stealing the Marbles, merely doing so to right what he sees as a wrong and for the pure challenge of it. Whether you agree with his views or not he's a bit of a charmer and I was quick to warm to him. Danny has amassed a useful list of contacts after years stealing, and many of his colleagues have their own little eccentricities. I enjoyed meeting the characters and finding out about Danny, and appreciated the degree of tension stemming from Danny's unidentified but determined pursuers. The pace stepped up in the second part as the team started to mobilise and put the plan into action. I'm not going to even think about revealing whether the team are successful or not so will leave the plot there!

I pretty much devoured this book, enjoying the mix of quirky characters, political overtones and global travel to beautifully described locations. While there is plenty of tension and action there is also humour and romance to balance it out. This is a gratifying romp of a heist with a bit more depth than I had expected, which was all to the good. A definite 5* book!

Format: Paperback, review copy
Publishers: Rebel ePublishers
My Rating: 5*

Killerbyte (Ellie Conway series) by Cat Connor

I had my first experience of this series back in June, perhaps not entirely sensibly starting with the 4th book Flashbyte. I said at the time I wanted to go back and start at the beginning and now I have. As if being an FBI agent doesn't put enough on her plate Ellie Conway also runs a poetry chat room with friend Mac. Sounds harmless enough but on the same night that she gets a record number of death threats the virtual becomes all too real. When her would be killer turns up dead himself, in the boot of her car, it becomes clear she is dealing with more than just a disgruntled poet. The body count keeps rising and Ellie and Mac struggle to stay one step ahead of the seemingly omniscient murderer. 

I really took to Ellie reading Flashbyte and as a character she is just as likeable in this book. Despite the pressure she is under she shows she is one tough woman and still displays a sense of humour. Things don't just fall into place magically for her, although the big break in the case does come from a chance remark. Her family is complicated and, between finding out about her parents and brother and seeing her become closer to Mac, she becomes a character with depth. 

The story packs one punch after another, some of them in a slightly stomach churning way. As more and more chat room patrons turn up dead and Ellie and Mac keep moving to try and keep those around them safe a couple of good suspects emerge, but just when I thought I had it all sussed I discovered I was wrong. There was some benefit from reading the books out of order, as I recognised some characters who turned up in Flashbyte, and eventually I will work my way through the others in the series.

This is an eventful crime thriller, and from my point of view all the better for having a strong woman who I could imagine having as a friend in the lead. It misses out on being five stars by a narrow margin, although I would rate Cat Connor's series as on a par with some of the heavy hitters of the genre.

Format: Kindle, review copy
Publisher: Rebel ePublishers
My Rating: 4*

Coming Soon: The Uninvited (Krewe of Hunters series) by Heather Graham

This is Book 8 in the Krewe of Hunters series. I only read book 4 (The Evil Inside) in August last year, also as an advance review copy, so I had to go and double check I was right that this was the 8th. And it is, Heather Graham is a machine!

This book is set in a Philadelphia mansion that is a feature of the city's tourist trail. There are plenty of ghost stories attached to the house, and a number of curious deaths in recent decades, but head guide and academic Allison is sceptical. When she finds a colleague dead, having apparently impaled himself on his replica bayonet, she certainly doesn't believe ghosts were involved. When there is another mysterious death and a former visitor falls into a coma rumours are flying that ghost of Butcher Bedford is the culprit but Krewe member Tyler Montague is convinced otherwise. Both Allison and Tyler believe there is an earthly explanation, and the time they spend together begins to change Allison's view of the world of the paranormal, and her initial distaste for the Krewe's involvement evolves into an overwhelming attraction for Tyler. Allison and the team have to work together to get to the bottom of the strange events and prevent more untimely deaths.

Having read two of the books in the series it appears that the members of the Krewe who mainly feature change with each book, so not having read previous stories is no handicap. This book is narrated largely from Allison's point of view and this allows the reader to discover how the Krewe work through her eyes. The writing is fluid and makes for an easy read.

I liked the overarching story in this book and was wondering which of two prime suspects would turn out to be the real villain. The book serves up a good helping of the paranormal combined with a little bit of romance and that's obviously a successful formula for this author. However I definitely preferred The Evil Inside. While I learnt a little history that I didn't already know and enjoyed the descriptions of the mansion it wasn't as thrilling as I'd like and I never really felt any sense of peril threatening the lead protagonists.

This was a good read, and I can imagine reading further books in the series but they won't be heading my To Be Read list.

Format: Kindle, ARC, anticipated release 28th August 2012
Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
My Rating: 3*

Dead Ringer by Allen Wyler

Neurosurgeon Dr Lucas McCrae is in Hong Kong to carry out what should be a routine medical demonstration. When he uncovers the cadaver head he is to perform the demonstration on he is shocked to discover it is his best friend Andy Baer. He convinces himself he must be wrong but a niggling concern grows out of control when he returns to Seattle to discover Andy is missing. Elsewhere Detective Sergeant Elliott is looking into the disappearance of a prostitute she has befriended while working undercover. The trail leads to DFH Inc, a funeral home that also provides body parts for medical research. When the pair's paths cross it seems clear there is a link between the missing people and that DFH's involvement is more than just a coincidence. Their problem is proving it, especially when there appears to be a leak in Wendy's department.


The author is a renowned neurosurgeon and his background is a clear benefit as this book is a grisly but worryingly plausible thriller. The reader is thrown into the story from the very start and I was compelled to read on to discover whether the duo would be able to link DFH to the disappearances or whether all the evidence would go up in smoke before they could find a way to prove their suspicions. 


While the main plot moves at quite a pace there is still time for the author to develop the main characters. We discover Lucas is trying to salvage a crumbling marriage and Wendy working with her ex-husband. As two intelligent attractive people thrown together in stark circumstances it's no surprise when the sparks start flying. This provides a welcome relief from the gruesome business at hand. The bad guy, DFH boss Bobby Ditto was seriously creepy, and almost convincing in his justifications for what his company is doing. The balance between moving the plot on and building characters with some depth has been well done. 


This is very much the sort of thriller I enjoy and although there is a lot to the story it is progressed in a nice linear fashion, it was not difficult to follow and for me it reached a satisfying conclusion. I think had it not been for a couple of parts which seemed to push the boundaries of what was likely this would have been a definite 5* book.


Format: Kindle, review copy
Publisher: Astor + Blue Editions
My rating: 4*

Coming Soon - Champagne: The Farewell by Janet Hubbard

NYPD Detective Max Maguire is something of a disappointment to her French mother, due to her failure to fully embrace the French language and culture. As such she is delighted to help her prepare for a trip to France for friend Chloe's wedding on her family's grand estate in Champagne, near Paris. On her arrival she meets Olivier Chaumont, an examining magistrate who catches her eye as she overcomes the day old break up with her ex-boyfriend. The wedding is a beautiful, stylish affair but the fairytale is abruptly ended when the bride's aunt is found dead. Lea de Saint Pern was beautiful and successful, having taken over the reins of her late husband's champagne company. 

Max and Olivier's potential romance is halted in its tracks as they are jolted back into professional mode. Max is refused a formal role in the investigation into her murder but is determined to help, using skills inherited from her well-known detective father. Olivier is also hindered by colleagues with their own agenda and the two soon start collaborating. Max's approach starts unearthing numerous family secrets and the duo compile an ever lengthening list of people with a motive to kill Lea. Their route to finding the killer is punctuated with a Will they, Won't they? romance and fabulous scenery, food and drink.


There was a lot to like about this book. The side of me that likes to learn as I read enjoyed the details about champagne production and the French judicial system. I also loved the setting and the descriptions of food. I've visited France several times and the writing reminded me of places I'd been and I could well imagine the locations in my mind's eye.


There are a lot of characters, and suspects in particular, to keep track of but this was one of those books where I felt myself engaging with the story and trying to figure out whodunnit myself, unlike some books where I find myself feeling very passive about it, happy just to read and be told. The characters backgrounds were so different, from the German businessman hoping to buy Lea's company to the upper class French women. The little details about the mothers of the bride and groom seemed so precise and added greatly to my vision of these people.


Max is a character I warmed to from the start. She's got a hard to please mother, feels like she is living in her father's shadow and hasn't been lucky in love. However she is tough, has great instincts and is good at her job. Olivier, the apparently unflappable Gallic charmer is the perfect foil for Max and their potential romance provides another dimension to the story without taking away from the murder mystery element. My only criticism would be that I felt having learnt quite a lot about the two of them early on I didn't see a lot of character development while the investigation really ramped up. It felt like the characterisation was put to one side while the plot was moved along.


This is a stylish murder mystery with a hint of the sparkle of the Champagne that features so heavily. I'm hoping we'll see Max and Olivier again!


Format: Ebook, ARC, anticipated release 7th August 2012
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
My Rating: 4*

Guest Post - Why I Became a Crime Writer by John Barlow

Why I became a crime writer.

At the beginning of my writing career I was labelled a ‘literary’ writer. That was fine, and I tried to live up to it. About three years ago I had an idea for a cycle of stories based on the Grimm’s fairy tales, but modern, grown-up versions. Literary ones. I wrote several of these stories. In one of them a snowy-white Hollywood starlet gets poisoned on LSD at an orgy of seven midgets. I did it as an American noir, and I showed it to my agent. Do it as a full-length novel! she said.

The novel, WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO JERRY PICCO?, was shown to half a dozen big publishers in New York. But there were no takers for my porno-noir about a drugged-up fifteen year-old virgin and her well-hung midget lover. Strange. The crime publisher Mulholland very nearly bought it, then shied away. The novel was quickly forgotten, and I moved on.

However, last year I brought the novel out as an ebook, using the pseudonym Joe Florez. I did it as a way of testing the emerging ebook market, and I quite enjoyed the process. At about the same time I made an unusual discovery: my uncle John had been an arms dealer. He was also suspected of stealing munitions from the British army, and when he boarded a flight home from Amsterdam in 1984, British police were waiting for him at Heathrow. It was too late; he was found dead on the plane, his throat cut.

There are all sorts of theories as to what Uncle John had been doing. Apparently he’d made a lot of trips to Libya, and there was also rumours that he was supplying para-military groups in Ireland. His widow claimed publically that he’d been in contact with an organisation (which she wouldn’t name) that wanted him to work for them under cover. She vowed to fight for the truth, but nothing ever came of it. John was quickly forgotten.

What struck me as curious, when I saw the press cuttings and learned something about the case, was that I’d never heard about it before. He was actually a half-uncle on my father’s side, but nobody had ever mentioned the nature of his death or the job he’d been doing. After getting used to the idea that he might have been involved in some pretty awful things, what amazed me is how family life went on regardless, presumably as it had done while he was flying off to Tripoli back when Gaddafi was at the height of his terrorist-supporting powers. Uncle John had two young daughters and lived in a pleasant suburb of Leeds. He had a normal life.

I decided to write a crime novel about this contradiction. HOPE ROAD is not about Uncle John himself, although it is set in Leeds. It’s about a criminal family, and specifically about a ‘non-criminal’ son in that family. I was interested to explore what it might be like to grow up with a career criminal for a father, yet to reject that background and ‘go straight’. That’s what my family must have been doing all those years, tactfully rejecting one of their own, not only the manner of his death, but also what he did.

As I developed my main character, John Ray, I began to think about structure. I wanted him to be an amateur sleuth, using his family’s connections to solve a crime. But I also wanted to bring out the tensions inherent in this situation, and to do this I decided to give him a girlfriend: a police detective. As the novel grew, it drew more and more on the dynamics of this relationship. The detective is called Denise Danson, and I reckon she might get her own plot in a future novel.

Finally, as I was writing the book, two more things happened. Firstly, HOPE ROAD involves a subplot revolving around fake money, and quite by chance I got the opportunity to meet a real money counterfeiter. I learned a lot of details about the ‘funny money’ trade from him, especially about what it’s like to ‘pass off’ counterfeit banknotes in large numbers. Initially it was nerve-wracking to meet a professional criminal. But then I thought back to my own family! Secondly, the West Yorkshire Police were kind enough to offer me access to Leeds CID. I was assigned a detective, and I consulted with him on matters of police procedure and other plot details. Since I was writing about the very same Special Crimes department in Leeds, I considered this a sign: I’d made the right decision to turn to crime.

You can buy HOPE ROAD from Amazon.co.uk, or from various other vendors (see John’s website).

http://www.amazon.co.uk/HOPE-ROAD-cime-mystery-ebook/dp/B006LWJ75K/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1323875230&sr=1-1

http://www.johnbarlow.net/

Hope Road by John Barlow

John Ray has spent years trying to escape the connotations of his family name. He's known in Leeds as the son of Tony Ray, notorious crime boss. After almost making a clean break he comes back to take on his Dad's garage, and make it legit. He even has a police officer girlfriend completing the veneer of respectability. That is until a dead girl is found in the boot of a vehicle that traces back to the garage. His employee and friend Freddy looks set to be charged with the murder, and initially disappearing then refusing to talk only makes him look more guilty. The police though are equally interested in the counterfeit money hidden in the boot, and John is under pressure from them and another local bad boy who wants to know who killed the girl. He finds himself doing some sleuthing to try and save himself and Freddy. 


This book is the first in the John Ray LS9 series and our early encounters with John set him up as a man who has done well despite the early influences in his life. The story is told from his viewpoint and we find a man who's winning awards and living in a place he loves, with plans to retire early on a yacht somewhere. As the story unfolds the author gradually reveals more and more about him and he turns out to be a very complex character. It was like peeling away the layers on an onion and he became a well defined character with real depth to him. I really liked his assistant Connie, a distant relative who is a source of constant bemusement to John and would love to see more of her in future books. I enjoyed the feeling of dabbling in the underworld and felt the author portrayed a number of characters who might have been reprehensible almost sympathetically.


The plot wasn't overly complicated and I did spot a stand-out clue to where one of the threads was going, but with so many turns taken before the end it didn't feel predictable as I feared it might be. The pacing was good, taking enough time to paint a full picture of what was going on without being too ponderous, and it built to a satisfying finale. I also learnt a whole lot about counterfeiting and other scams, and it's always good to find a new crime series that doesn't feel too glossy and is set in good old Blighty for a change.


I really enjoyed this read and am pleased to share a guest post by the author in the next few days that gives some insight into the inspiration for the book, so if this sounds of interest keep an eye out for that!


Format: Kindle, review copy
Publisher: Storm Books
My Rating: 4*

Addicted to Love by C J West

Wes has holed up in a cabin in the holiday town he used to summer in with his family. He's sold up his business and fallen madly in love with a local hairdresser. He's completely besotted but his pleasure is interrupted by the death of the local sheriff. He is appointed to the role temporarily despite having no experience of any sort in law enforcement. What seems to be a one-off crime of passion turns out to be the start of a series of inexplicable attacks and Wes has to try and tear himself away from his new darling to try and prevent any more deaths in a town more used to love than hate.


I started this book with high hopes, having given The End of Marking Time 4* when I reviewed that book by West. And to begin with I was enjoying this book. However as things progressed, although the reason his behaviour became clear later, I just found Wes a bit too ridiculous. Also the whole premise of the town council appointing a man with no credentials but a respected family as sheriff for a murder investigation was unbelievable. The reason for the murders and attacks could have been chilling and thought provoking if it wasn't all quite so daft. 


I was also put off by the fact there seemed to be something missing when a major revelation was made about what was going on in the town. When an aspect of it was mentioned later in the book I thought maybe I had inadvertently skimmed the important sentence or paragraph but going back and re-reading the relevant part I still couldn't see it.


On the positive side there was one character I could warm to, and the author's style makes for an easy flowing read. There are some very interesting and potentially quite worrying ideas in this book but the way the story plays out almost cheapened those ideas. The end made my skin crawl a little. It was okay and might be to some people's taste but it's not a book I could really recommend.


Format: Kindle, freebie
Publisher: 22 West Books
My rating: 2*

Flashbyte by Cat Connor

Flashbyte is the 4th book in the Ellie Conway Byte series. I jumped straight in with this book and it works on its own, but more on that later.


FBI Special Agent Ellie Conway wakes one morning to find news of her death has been greatly exaggerated. Not a good start to the day but things get progressively worse as someone tries to shoot her and she receives an unwelcome package at home. Ellie soon finds herself facing up to ghosts from the past while trying to solve a string of bank robberies, uncover a possible serial killer in a hospital and keep various other balls in the air.


I took to Ellie Conway virtually from the start. She's certainly kickass but not invincible, and she works on all the competing demands while demonstrating a sense of humour and giving the impression of being a very capable woman. Her personal life is slightly complicated and she is self-deprecating which make her easy to warm to. However this is where I wish I had read the earlier books because there are a lot of people in the team she works with, and who become involved through the various cases, and I found it took a little bit of work to keep the other characters straight. Had I been used to them already I think I would have given the book another star.


The plot is full of twists and turns and there are some weird overlaps that appear as the tale progresses. At one point I thought I was starting to lose the plot but by the end it all made sense and I wondered how the author managed to conclude so many individual threads in one book, even if not all of them were very in-depth.


This was one of those books I struggled to put down, wanting to find out where the action would take Ellie and what would happen to her next. The hints of romance also kept me wondering, and every time I went to put it down I found myself trying to fit in just one more chapter.


I really enjoyed this book and think I will now have to go back and start at the beginning.


Format: Kindle, review copy
Publisher: Rebel ePublishers
My Rating: 4*

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

On the day of their 5th wedding anniversary Nick's wife Amy disappears. There are signs of a struggle at their home and she appears to have completely disappeared. As we've all been taught by endless TV crime series' the husband is always the main suspect, and Nick has some things he wants to hide. However he maintains his innocence despite a mounting pile of evidence, including Amy's diary which paints a picture of a turbulent marriage. Even his family starts to doubt him but there is more to the story than the police can see.


This book was a story of two parts, with the narrative switching between Nick and Amy throughout. It starts slowly painting the picture of a devoted young couple with a bright future. As their circumstances change so too does their relationship and it soon appears both have things to hide. In the second part of the book the pace really accelerates and the reader has to start questioning everything they believed at the start. There are twists and turns aplenty and I ploughed on through to see whether justice would be served. I found it a page turner and enjoyed the rather warped ride.


The characters are a motley crew, all of them with their own personality flaws. Amy appears to be a complete perfectionist and control freak. Nick, who starts off as a likeable guy, is shown to be a less than perfect husband. Amy's parents have more emotional investment in their successful fictional character Amazing Amy, who netted them a fortune and always trumped their daughter, achieving all the things she didn't. None of them were particularly sympathetic characters but at least Nick and Amy are very self-aware and this made me really wonder about what would happen after the book draws to a close.


Although Gillian Flynn has received much critical acclaim she is new to me, and on the basis of this book I would definitely go away and look for more of her work.


Format: Kindle, Netgalley
Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson 
My Rating: 4*

Steps to Heaven by Wendy Cartmell

This book is the first in the new Sgt Major Crane series, introducing the reader to the British Army Special Investigation Branch detective based at Aldershot Garrison. Crane is investigating a particularly horrific murder/suicide and discovers the dead soldier has links to an evangelical church. He is convinced there is more to the story than a soldier who returned from Afghanistan tormented by what he saw there. He is forced to drop the case until another one rears it's head with uncanny similarities. Meanwhile at home his relationship with his wife is suffering as he struggles with whether he wants to bring a child into a world like his.


I really liked the slightly different setting for this crime thriller and I find the topic of cults and less than mainstream religions quite intriguing. This set it up to be a book I could really enjoy. The story moved at a reasonable lick and some of the descriptions of the crime scenes were a bit gory if matter of fact, which is no bad thing in my opinion. I think there was room for a little more on the subject of how the dead soldiers became involved with the preacher who becomes of particular interest to Crane but otherwise the balance of providing information and progressing the plot was pretty good.


For about three quarters of the book I was really enjoying the read, and didn't want to put it down but Crane isn't always likeable and one particular revelation towards the end really affected the empathy I had with the character. It seemed either at odds with what had happened earlier or suggested he was a much darker character than I had thought. Whichever it was I felt it tainted the ending and I put the book down and started the review with a much lower rating in mind than I had expected from the bulk of the book.


I mostly liked this book but couldn't help feel such a level of distaste for Crane that it affected my overall enjoyment. Other people might have a completely different view on it and if you like a good crime thriller it's worth a look.


Format: Kindle, review copy
My Rating: 3*

Hostile Witness by Rebecca Forster

Josie Baylor-Bates has retreated from high profile criminal cases after successfully defending a woman who went on to kill her children after her acquittal. When an old college friend arrives at her door begging her to defend her daughter Josie intends to pass the case on to someone else but finds herself intrigued by her beautiful but delicate client. 16 year old Hannah is accused of killing her step-grandfather, a supreme court chief justice. Her mother and step-father seem to accept her guilt and are pushing to have her committed to a psychiatric facility. Josie though is determined to dig deeper and uncovers family, political and business tensions that all seem to have a bearing on the case.

This book is a real whodunnit and there are plenty of candidates for the role of the guilty party. There were enough twists and turns to keep me guessing and to keep me absorbed in the book. However some threads of the plot seemed to just fizzle out and I thought the author could have made more of the research Josie does into the victim's past conduct and Hannah's OCD and how it affects her behaviour. Josie begins to research the possibility that her OCD means she could not have started the lethal fire and destroyed the environment she was most comfortable in. However this line of enquiry becomes superseded by events and any in depth consideration of the subject is avoided. I also noticed a sprinkling of daft typos that need cleaning up.

I warmed to Josie who was a well defined lead protagonist. As well as her chequered legal career the reader finds out about her own troubled family past and her successes as a sportswoman. Josie finds herself questioning her own judgement to the point of almost alienating partner Archer which made her very human. Hannah is a vulnerable child but her outbursts made me unsure right up to the end about whether she was in fact guilty. It also made me think about how appropriate it is to treat a person of her age as an adult, but again this is a theme that could have been developed further.

Overall I really enjoyed this book which made for an easy crime read, and I would happily read further books in this series. At the moment this book is available for free on Amazon so if this is your genre pick it up!

Format: Kindle, review copy

My Rating: 4*

Matter of Faith by Brent Craig

I'm one of those readers who finds it easy to get into a rut, reading the same genre or author over and over. One of the authors I have read to death in the past is John Grisham, but lately I haven't read a lot of legal thrillers. Having had a long break I was instantly interested when I saw this book. The author's bona fides for the genre are enhanced by his years of experience as a prosecutor, defence attorney and latterly as a judge. 

Small town Alabama boy Jay Davis is a rookie lawyer who has returned to practice law in his quiet home town, rather than being lured away by bright lights and large paychecks. His introduction to legal practice seems relatively pedestrian until he is handed a high profile role in a high profile case. When two year old Faith disappears while her mother is working the little girl's new step-father becomes the prime suspect. The evidence begins to mount and with the public outraged it seems inevitable that he will be sentenced to death. Jay struggles with conflicting emotions, but is determined to uncover the truth.

I really liked this book. It is a pacey crime story with a charming main character and lots of Southern feel. Jay is close to his parents and fond of the place he grew up in. He's looking for love but serious about his career. He's almost too good to be true. I found myself feeling so sad for Faith's distraught mother April, and could well picture her grieving family. While the subject matter is gritty there was little in the way of graphic detail which was no bad thing. It wasn't a complicated read, for example the evidence didn't require long scientific explanations, but I didn't see the twist in the tail coming, which is always good. I sped through the book and was looking forward to seeing how the case would end.


Since I read this book the author has re-edited it, so while I would normally talk a bit about typos and formatting I think it's only fair here to say there were no big issues and that if refined further it should be a very polished product.


Format: Kindle, review copy
My Rating: 4*

Beta by Stephen Brayton

Mallory Petersen is a hard hitting Private Investigator, quite literally as she is also a fourth degree black belt with her own Taekwondo school. Most of her cases are mundane and run of the mill; employee checks, suspicious spouses and so on. When a distraught mother appears at her office Mallory is drawn into an investigation that will put her in danger and show her the worst of mankind. 


Eight year old Cindy McGee has been kidnapped from play park. Mallory establishes from her contacts that local police have few leads and the FBI breathing down their necks, as the disappearance is one in a recent series. Her investigation quickly leads her to the dark world of child pornography. When the trail leads from Des Moines, Iowa to the Quad Cities she teams up with a Special Case Squad who have their own share of drudge work and a team leader who appears to appreciate Mallory and her slightly unorthodox methods. This tense thriller has the reader wondering whether she can find Cindy and who is behind the ring peddling young children like merchandise.


This book tackles a dark and emotive subject but does so in a way that provides enough detail to make the level of depravity clear, but without becoming too graphic. What is left unsaid is powerful enough. There are parts where the viewpoint switches from Mallory to Cindy, and through her eyes the horror of the situation becomes even more immediate. I enjoyed the tone Mallory adopts, reminding me slightly of old fashioned PI films. The narrative is fast paced and there is plenty of action as Mallory comes up against those who have secrets they would rather keep hidden. The ending reinforced feelings I was having throughout the book and was unexpected. Fortunately a hint of romance with an Adonis provides a bit of light relief.


I really enjoyed the characters, most of whom had some little quirk that made them endearing. At one point Mallory seemed a little too close to indestructible, even with her training in mind, so it was good to see she had a vulnerable side. I was intrigued by her serene assistant and amused by her snitch Willy and persistent suitor Brougham. As the book is described as "A Mallory Petersen Mystery" I'm very much hoping we will see further instalments which will reveal a bit more about her past and develop some of the characters in this book further.


I raced through this book, which in addition to the positives above was well formatted and virtually typo free. I'd be very happy to read more by this author in future.


Format: Kindle, review copy
Publisher: Echelon Press
My Rating: 4* 

Book Review - Distracted: A Thriller by Phillip Thomas Duck

I picked this up as a freebie, on the basis of the suggestion it was similar to Lee Child's books. Shell is a hitman whose network has been uncovered. To prevent his Five women dying he must kill one man. That man, Roger Coke, is no easy mark, surrounded by hard cases and a beautiful woman who diverts Shell's attention from the job at hand.    

This is a novella that dives straight into the action and has a gritty feel about it. While it is well written and oozes dark and dangerous I felt that the characters were a bit flat. Coke's girlfriend could have been a character I sympathised with, but there wasn't enough of her history to illustrate exactly how bad her life was that she found herself in a relationship with him. The other hitmen felt a bit one dimensional too.

I also thought that some of the keys to the progression of the plot were a little unclear. Shell makes more than one visit to an individual related to his target for information but either I was paying attention or there was nothing to indicate how Shell knew of him.


I liked the author's style and the feel of the book but this novella didn't really do the story justice. I was originally going to give this 3 stars but coming back to do the review a day after finishing I only feel lukewarm about it, hence the 2* rating.


Format: Kindle, freebie
Publisher: Two Daughters
My Rating: 2*

Book Review - Cedardale Court by Nathan Lee Christensen

 Canner has spent ten years treading water after the death of his wife. He has wrapped daughter Chloe in cotton wool and tried to protect her from every possible danger. Now in an attempt to move their lives on they arrive to live with his Uncle Henry in Cedardale Court. In an apparently tranquil setting in the Oregon countryside he is hoping for a fresh start. What he gets instead is a living nightmare. It starts when a retreating flood in the road reveals a human hand, and finishes with a dramatic finale, taking in dangerous old passions and a kidnapping along the way.

This is a quirky dark murder mystery with a couple of great twists at the end. Far from being a rural utopia Cedardale Court turns out to harbour more than it's fair share of fiends. While the tale that unravels is faintly disturbing there are glimmers of humour to be found, mostly at the expense of Canner and the absurd situation he has found himself in. Out of the frying pan into the fire sprang to mind! I appreciated the way the author wove together several strands of the plot and found the style fluid with some great turns of phrase. 

While Canner comes across as almost bumbling, the way he cares for Chloe is endearing, and I found her a sassy young girl who is old beyond her years and a real match of wits for her father. Even some of the characters who probably shouldn't have been likable were, because of the way their stories were presented. The author has created strong characters who pack a real punch (in some cases literally)

This book has a few grim moments but will probably appeal to readers who appreciate a bit of black humour served up with their murder mysteries.

Format: Kindle, review copy 

My Rating: 3*

Book Review - The Saintmaker by Mary Carroll Patrick

I picked this book up admittedly a little unsure about what to expect from a Catholic genre mystery. However the description "When Janet Reed takes the job as pastoral assistant for a Catholic church after the death of her son, she hopes the job will bring her peace and healing. Instead she becomes a keeper of secrets, a murder suspect and a dead man’s last hope for making restitution for the sins of his past." sounded like an interesting proposition. 

Janet has come to the realisation that after the trauma of losing her son and fighting a lawsuit to bring those responsible to justice she needs to move on with her life. When a friend asks her to take on what is primarily an administrative job she doesn't expect to find herself embroiled in the maelstrom surrounding a suspicious death. Becoming the prime suspect drives her to find the true killer in order to clear her name. While trying to keep a pair of detectives off her back she also has to find time to put together a programme of work for an unexpected and tetchy visitor and deal with the ramifications of an apparent miracle occurring at the Church. 

For some people identifying this book as Catholic genre might be off-putting and I was concerned as someone who is not a Catholic about whether it would be overly religious in tone, or contain too much specific detail that I wouldn't understand. In the end neither was a problem. Instead it provides some interesting general points and thoughts, about the nature of faith among other things. I found Janet's atheist friend's battle to explain an event that didn't seem scientifically possible without accepting it was a miracle a good counterpoint to the many characters with a deep faith. While it did contain some details relating to the Catholic church that I wasn't familiar with there were brief explanations that meant I didn't feel completely in the dark.


In the main the book is written in the first person from Janet's perspective. I found her a complicated and slightly contradictory individual. Janet's determination to keep the dead man's counsel is a major cause of her problems. Has she revealed her conversation with him events would no doubt have unfolded in a very different way, but she is concerned about possibly unfairly tarnishing his reputation. She is effectively the author of her own misfortunes but is driven by her experience after the death of her son so it is somewhat understandable. I was occasionally surprised by outbursts of rather strong language from her, and by her apparent taste for eating takeaway food often, both feeling a bit out of character.


The start made quite an impact, detailing the death that initiates the events in the book, and from there the story moved at a good pace with more information gradually revealed until the pieces all came together at the end. The sub-plots added the picture of life in the parish and enhanced the overall tale. There were a few minor typos but generally I found this book an easy read.


Format: Kindle, review copy
My Rating: 3*

Book Review: Thomas Knapp and the Prophet of the Universe by David Daedalus

In this sci-fi mystery mankind has gradually colonised other habitable planets. However the opening of inter-dimensional gates to allow this has had other strange effects. Since it first happened detective Thomas Knapp has been unable to sleep. Aisha Ali has left her small town and her husband looking for something more out of life. Moving to New Chicago has been something of a disaster, and finding herself alone and broke she is desperate for work. When Knapp takes her on as a sort of receptionist come assistant she gets more than she bargained for.

While the sci-fi element is set up at the start and genetic engineering and other changes from the present have a role in the story this feels more like a slightly noir crime novel. Knapp is asked to investigate the apparent suicide of a young woman who was a member of a cult. Her brother doesn't believe she would take her own life so the detective and Aisha travel to their compound to make the thorough investigation that the authorities seem to have neglected, possibly due to the influence of the cult's leader, the Prophet of the Universe.

I found Knapp enigmatic and everything a good PI should be, complete with a range of vices and a surrounding cloud of cigar smoke. We see events unfold through Aisha's eyes and our view of him is no doubt coloured by her perceptions as a slightly naive, somewhat lost individual. She is an interesting character, brave enough to leave her husband and family and still maintaining a strong Muslim faith.

The foundations of the story and the concept were promising, but the delivery let this book down. In places the pace lagged as Aisha described things that really didn't impact the plot or characterisation, and it was at times heavy on tell rather than show so I occasionally found my interest drifting. What was more distracting though was the typos. Confusing "whose" and "who's" and "your" with "you're" is one of my bugbears. There were mispellings, repeated words and other issues to the point I found it irritating. These issues could all be dealt with via a good edit, and the author tells me that he has now hired a second editor to go through it with a fine tooth comb.
I found myself left with a number of questions about elements of the story, which will no doubt be gradually answered in upcoming stories. Despite the issues I had with this book there was enough positive to tempt me to take a look at the next installment. 

Format: E-book, review copy
My Rating: 2*

Book Review: The House at Sea's End by Elly Griffiths

The House at Sea's End is the third in the author's Ruth Galloway series. Ruth is a forensic archaeologist, and for a fan of Patricia Cornwell and co the book description of this book on Netgalley sounded right up my street. It was especially interesting that the book is set in the UK which makes a nice change for me. (Just a note, this was meant to be a Coming Soon review but a combo of being ill and a nightmare with my web access it is now available!)

In this book Ruth has just returned to work after a period of maternity leave. She is finding it hard to get the balance between work and motherhood right, and her problems are further exacerbated by having to work with D.C.I Nelson - the married father of her baby daughter Kate.

After a team of archeologists studying coastal erosion in Norfolk discover bones at the foot of a cliff Ruth is called in to advise the police. When she establishes the six skeletons are around 60 years old and that the deceased probably came from Germany the team are drawn into a wartime mystery and the secrets being kept by protective locals. As Nelson and his team investigate recent deaths begin to look less natural than they did at first glance. So who is still trying to protect a decades old secret?

I had absolutely no problem with this book standing alone, as there was enough reference back to what had happened earlier, and inferences about what had gone before, that I felt I understood the present situation the characters found themselves in. I loved Ruth. As the working mum of a toddler, the battle she is goes through wondering if she is a bad mother for trying to do both, and for not being the sort of person who wants to spend every waking moment with their offspring, was all too familiar. The situation with Nelson and his wife's interest in Kate made me squirm for her. Reading parts from his perspective I also actually managed to find some sympathy for him too, which surprised me a little. Around them are some colourful characters that give the book a real feeling of life and there were plenty of unlikely nominees for the role of murderer.

As mentioned I love this type of novel, but a lot I have read in the past are set in the US. It's always nice to read about more familiar locations and experiences etc. The small villages and bleak countryside depicted had an atmospheric feel that added nicely to the unfolding story. If I was to compare this with the work of another author it would have to be one of my favourites, Val McDermid.

The plot was a good blend of historical mystery and crime novel. As a subplot the relationship between Ruth and a visiting friend who worked together excavating mass graves in Bosnia, and the developing story what had happened some years ago while there, was also interesting. If I had any one complaint it would be that I would have liked a bit more about either the forensic archeology process or the police procedural elements included to balance the development of the various relationships and the personal lives.

I really enjoyed this book, Ruth is a character I warmed to so much and I'll definitely have to find time to go back and read the first two books.

Format: E-book, ARC
My Rating: 4*