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What The Dark Whispers. M.J Lee

The DI Ridpath books are right up there in my favourite reads, and are always the next-to-read, as soon as they are available to me.

Ridpath is a brilliantly conceived character. Employed by Greater Manchester Police, and posted within the MIT, he has, from the start of the series, been on secondment to the Coroners Office, allowing him a greater range of deaths to investigate.

His secondment was intended to give him an easy ride back to work following a battle with cancer, but over the years he has been involved in some serious murder investigations. He has become a single parent who is struggling to bring up his now teenage daughter, and balance his home life with work. A typical cop his work often comes first.

Now, with GMP under increasing scrutiny , and with staff shortages being exacerbated by increased crime levels the Police want more and more of Ridpath’s time.

So when he is called in by his boss (police) to look at a serious crime that another DI and his team have already wound up Ridpath is put into conflict with one of his peers.

The crime, a young girl accused of killing her mother, a seemingly open and shut case following the girls confession. But she is a minor, and the interview was not carried out well.

Did she really killer mother.

In a separate case Ridpath is tasked by the coroner to look into the death of a man who set himself on fire on a petrol station forecourt.

Suicide? Everything points to it.

But why did both victims, who died hours apart, say the same thing insinuating they are dying in order to save others.

As the investigations continue more similarities are uncovered.

Add to this another team investigating the murder of a family of four, which in isolation seems unrelated. And that’s the problem if these crimes were looked at in isolation nobody would ever get caught.

Can the connections be made.

Are there more deaths to come.

The pace of the book is none stop. M.J Lee’s cadence in his writing just keeps me hooked every time I pick one of his books up.

This one, in my opinion, is one of the best in the series.

Could it be read as a standalone, yes, there is enough mention of previous happenings to leave new readers with no doubt as to how Ridpath, and his family, have got to where they are.

Nicely, for those of us that have read the previous books there’s not too much rehashing and it certainly doesn’t detract from the story, it more reminds us of what has gone before.

But, if I was to be asked, I’d say read the series in order. It really is that good.

Pages: 351. Publisher: Canelo Crime. Release date: 03/07/2025

The Secrets Of Forest Lane. Sian Morgan

The first few chapters of this book are scene setters so please don’t think you’ve stumbled across an urban romance, because that’s the last thing this book is.

This is a psychological thriller, and it’s a very good one.

Based around three families living in close proximity to each other this story could be happening on any street in the U.K.

Lily is a single mom to a young girl. Only 22 herself she is wondering what happened to her dream of a successful career and a university degree.

When her little sister Jasmin, 18, goes missing after a night out her mother spins into a panic.

Meanwhile two outwardly happy couples, both with children in the same nursery class as Lily’s girl are hiding troubled relationships.

Katherine and her controlling husband are in a destructive relationship. He’s controlling and increasingly heavy handed with her, she wants to go back to work and have her own life.

Tom and Carol appear to be the ideal couple, she’s a successful doctor and he’s a stay at home dad. So when he goes out after an argument and gets drunk and stoned it is out of character. So is the fact that he had drunken sex with an 18 year old girl in the toilet of the pub.

The problem is the girl he had sex with turns out to be the missing girl Jasmin, and he appears to be the last one to see her.

The story revolves around these three families and particularly Lily trying to find out what happened to her sister.

All the women like Tom and he’s that central overlapping part of the Venn Diagram made up of the sexual relationships between the three families.

This is a cracking story.

I can almost guarantee that you will never look at families doing the school run the same again. Yet as shocking as the murder is, the relationships and the characters are very, very believable.

Pages: 352 (paperback) Publisher: Mind Brief Publishing

The Seventh Floor. David McCloskey.

This is the third book in a stated series of four, with the fourth due to be published later this year (2025)

This story is about finding a mole somewhere in the higher ranks of the CIA.

With Artemis Procter still sitting at a desk in the diminished Moscow Station in Langley her patience is running out.

When one of her agents gets snatched in Singapore, whilst meeting with a Russian asset, she starts to suspect things are not right.

The fact that a highly placed asset had recently committed suicide on his return to Moscow only heightens her suspicions.

So when she is sacked by the people she once thought friends she has no choice but to go rogue, and try to out the person she suspects as the traitor, no matter how highly they are positioned.

Meanwhile in Russia two factions are fighting. One wants to act on every piece of information given by the mole in the CIA, one wants to take it more cautiously for fear of tipping their hand.

What follows are struggles in both America and Russia.

At times it’s hard to unwind the twisting plot, and that is where this book is not as good as the first two in the series.

There is too much rambling, too much unnecessary padding with side stories that don’t really add to the main story.

Some bit part characters carry too much detail, with their back stories taking up pages of unnecessary text.

If I awarded star markings both the previous books in the series would have been easy five stars. This one would be a three because of the unnecessary content.

Had this been the first book in the series I doubt I would have finished it, I definitely would not have read any others, but I’m invested and hope that the final book will throw some type of meaning, or give context to some of this story.

Moscow X David McCloskey

Espionage fiction at its best.

When a high ranking KSB Official sends one of his thugs to steal gold from the bank of one of the new rich it tips the first domino in a long and twisting line.

The gold is allegedly being taken back for the people, but why is it this one family is being targeted above the other newly rich and elite making a fortune since the end of the soviet era.

Anna is the daughter who can see her family fortune being taken and has to do something about it., as her father is arrested and jailed.

Vadim is her husband, from the Russian elite and in reality a husband in name only. The wedding was arranged. He’s riding on the success of Anna’s father and is heavily involved in Rushfarm, a stable in the wilds where Anna’s dad runs his empire. He is a violent, greedy egotistical thug.

When Anna starts to follow the trail of the missing gold she finds a lawyer, working in England is helping create off shore accounts where the gold, which has been converted to cash, ends up.

Sia Fox is the Lawyer, and a low level operative for the CIA who are also keeping tracks on the off shore accounts.

When Artemis Proctor, a CIA Station Chief who is serving time in the “penalty box” posting of Moscow X gets a sniff of what is happening she sees an opening to destabilise the Russian Government, and more importantly its President.

But utilising Sia, and another low level operative, the Mexican Max, to create chaos in Russia is a risky plan.

But risk it she does, and so the dominoes continue to tumble.

This book has one main thread it has been knitted into one hell of a plot.

The second book of four in the series it is equally as good, if not better, than the first, Damascus Station.

The only character shared between the two books is almost a bit part player in both books, Artemis Proctor, so this book could easily be read as a stand alone.

Set in modern day Russia I think Anna may be typical of some of the Russian society. She is used to the freedoms previously not associated with the country. She’s independently wealthy and hard working. She’s aware of the anti Russian feeling following the invasion of Ukraine. But she doesn’t want to destabilise the government, yes she doesn’t like the president but she does want him disposed of.

All she wants is to be treated fairly. She doesn’t seem to mind how her father made his money , she just wants revenge on the man who is targeting him.

What will happen if Proctors plan works. Can the world live with a Russia that is unstable.

Will Sia and Max be able to come out of this in one piece.

The one thing I’m learning about David McCloskey’s writing is rule nothing out. He doesn’t mind hurting his characters, he doesn’t mind things going badly wrong, and just like in real life, no matter how careful you think you’ve been, things never quite go as planned.

Bring on book 3 The Seventh Floor.

Pages: 460. Publisher: Swift Press. Available now. Audiobook length: 14.38 hours. Narrator: Andrew B Wehrlen

Phantasma & Enchantra . Kaylie Smith

My occasional foray into other genres has taken me back to the latest reading fad that seems to have struck over the last few years.

And it’s becoming somewhat of a guilty secret. I’m certainly not the target readership, either by age or gender, but I do enjoy these books.

The thing that initially peeked my interest in this series was that the first book is set in New Orleans. It’s one of my favourite cities, and as a place to set a book, in whatever era, it has loads to give.

Secondly the gumph on Amazon suggested an element of New Orleans occult, another subject that has pricked my interest over the years.

So I decided to read Phantasma, an I enjoyed it that much I was straight into Enchantra. Here’s my thoughts

Phantasma is a really good story, When Tess Grimm dies suddenly her gift as a necromancer passes to her eldest daughter Ophelia.

It’s not long before Ophelia finds out mother was hiding other secrets and that her, and her sister Genevieve are about to lose their home.

One thing leads to another an Ophelia finds herself inside a mansion that manifests into the city to hold a deadly competition.

Tasks based on the nine circles of he’ll are played out on a daily basis. The reward for wining is high but once in the competition there are only three ways out, forfeiting, dying, or win the whole thing.

Ophelia forms an unlikely alliance with a Demon who is also to escape eternally being held in the tournament.

Things get very spicy between the two, this is definitely not a book for younger teens, and the will they won’t they is more about, will they fall in love, more than will they get it on, which they definitely do.

The Second Book Enchantra has Ophelia’s sister as the main character.

Following on a few months after the end of Phantasma Genevieve is in Italy looking to unlock more of her mother’s secrets.

Disappointingly the story gets very familiar very quickly. A deadly game of hide and seek in a mystic mansion, a will they won’t they relationship with a Demon and a fair bit of spice.

The story in the two books is so similar it made me think did the author have two settings for the same story and just went ahead and wrote both versions.

It’s a shame really because the first book showed a lot of promise

Damascus Station. David McCloskey

This is one of the easiest reviews I’ve written. Buy the book.

My formative years of reading were taken up reading great espionage books by the likes of Robert Ludlum, Alistair McLean, Nelson Demille and the likes, and rarely have books that come close to their work.

This one does. Billed as the first of four this book it is set around the end of the Assad regime in Syria, and not only looks at American CIA activities but also the in fighting between different factions in Assad’s security and militia, and the rebels seeking to free the country from the Assad regime.

CIA agent Sam specialises in developing assets in foreign countries. So when a woman working at the heart of the Assad regime is thought to be a viable target to turn into an American agent it’s him they send.

Miriam works as an assistant to a high level officer in Assad’s security forces.

Miriam herself is tasked with silencing a rebel who is spreading the anti Assad message throughout Europe.

Unknown to her boss she is also having doubts about the regime, even though her father and uncle are high ranking officers in the Army she sees the tyranny and misjustices that comes with it. Her own cousin is caught at anti government rallies and is beaten badly before her uncle arranges her release.

The story of Sam making contact and attempting to lure Miriam is the main story, but the infighting and politics of the different factions in Syria make this complex and fascinating.

Family members on different sides of the political, and moralistic fences. Fanatics who thrive on violence, and people with more empathy and sympathy, clash within the same factions.

There are those who want war, and those who are not against it, but not at any cost, working for the same people.

How can Sam and Miriam navigate their way through this. Do they both want the same thing, and who is playing who, and to what end.

Not everybody comes out of this book in one piece. The happy-ever-after is not guaranteed. Just like real life the scenarios in this book are messy, and inevitably mistakes are made on both sides as all interested parties look to gain advantage.

This is a great read. At times I sat holding my breath, at others I found myself reading at a frantic speed to find out what happened next.

Brilliantly written, very realistic, great characters and a cracking story.

Pages: 433. Publisher: Swift Press Audiobook length: 12 hours 48. Narrator: Andrew B Wehrlen

The Seven Robyn Delvey

43 Dead, 24 injured. Two bombs devastate a London Theatre.

The Seven are the survivors of the gang that took the audience hostage during the celebration of a famous actress, before detonating two bombs.

The Seven are on trial at the Old Bailey, in what should be a slam dunk guilty verdict case.

Eve Wren, a young Solicitor is now working for the CPS and is trying to keep a low profile. She had been touted as one of the brightest defence solicitors in the country, until she spotted a mistake by a senior Barrister at the midland law firm she worked at. Her reward for pointing it out was to have the blame turned on her, which led to her firing.

She is young, she is diligent and she is very good at her job. Good enough to have been noticed by her new boss. Good enough to be pulled of a case she is working on to help the prosecution team in the trial of the seven. But the case has already begun, so why move her now.

The credibility of a member of the investigating team has been brought into doubt following mistakes in another case.

They had been responsible for logging evidence.

Some evidence in trials is never used. It’s things that were discovered during an investigation but are deemed irrelevant to the case, and therefore undisclosed to the defence.

Wrens job is to go over the evidence deemed irrelevant, just in case there is something there that should have been disclosed.

As you would imagined the Police Officers who investigated the incident are not happy. But the SIO and his boss have to accept that Wren needs to do her job.

The political wranglings of who Wren should inform of any discoveries first, the lead Barrister or the Police, as well as the moral dilemma of what she should do if she discovers evidence that may conflict the case are central to the plot.

I really enjoyed this book. At first I did have a problem with the now-and-then plot, switching between the night of the incident and the time of the trial. I thought some of the “then” sections were spurious, but actually the knitted the plot together nicely.

Book two in the series The Bait is also available and is now on my TBR list.

Pages: 364. Publisher Thomas & Mercer. Audiobook length: 10.36. Narrator: Moira Quirk

The Devil’s Code. Michael Wood

The second in the Dr Olivia Winter series.

Her father is still alive and in prison but has no big part to play in this book, except that a TV series based on his killings is about to be aired on prime time television. Bringing Olivia back into the unwelcome spotlight.

The main story in this book centres on the investigation into a series of murders. Isaac McFadden is in prison for one murder. He was stopped by the police for a faulty light on his car, but they discovered a dismembered body in the boot.

Throughout his arrest and questioning he replied no comment to all questions. In court he was found guilty of one murder. But when his daughter started to clear out his house she found a note book with some coded entries, and an eclectic mix of items she’d never seen before, hidden in the bedroom.

The police now think there may have been more than one murder and turn to Olivia to help her crack the code in the book, and McFaddens code of silence.

Moving to Newcastle to help the police she has to interview the daughter, a woman that is going through what Olivia went through, finding out the father she loved is actually a killer. She tries to help her emotionally, but the spotlight from the TV series has an adverse effect.

I have to say the plot in this book is brilliant. I love the characters, the way it’s written, the story, the cadence, everything.

I think the code in the notebook is clever, and most of it I’d never have got, but the two parts the team really struggle with, for me, were the most obvious. It didn’t detract from my enjoyment, but I think most people will suss it quite quickly.

The fears at the end of my review of the first book didn’t transpire. Olivia Winter is a brilliant Forensic Psychologist, who was the only survivor when her father killed her family, the latest in a series of his killings.

My fear was that it would be another of those series where the incarcerated father would be the go too expert relied on by the law abiding daughter. Apart from the TV series he has little part to play and is hardly mentioned, but when he is ……..

The second book in a series can often be “the difficult second book” but if anything this one is even better than the first, and now I can’t wait for number three.

Pages: 477. Publisher: One More Chapter. Audiobook length: 13.48 hours. Narrator: Olivia Mace

The Chemist A.A Dhand

A massive heads up to give about a book that I think is the best crime thriller I’ve read this year.

Not set with a cop as the main character, but with a pharmacist who is just trying to do the right thing.

Idris Khan is the “Chemist” a pharmacist on a tough council estate in Leeds. His chemist shop is where the locals go for their medicine, it’s also where the local drug addicts get their daily methadone treatment.

Khan is also the only pharmacist who the local drug lord allows into the Mews, a council estate of high rise flats.

Jahangir Hosseini is the drug lord. He runs the five flats and the houses around them. Nobody gets past his gatekeepers, nobody sells drugs unless they are his. But most importantly nobody ever leaves the estate to live elsewhere, because once he has you hooked on his drugs, he doesn’t want you to taking your trade anywhere else.

The rest of Leeds underworld is run by Thomas Mead and he has always wanted to run the Mews but can’t afford the damage a gang war would do.

Meanwhile a small time pimp is running prostitutes in Heaton, one of them, a fresh face is sent out on her first night. Her client attacks her but Liam says if he wants it rough, get him to pay extra. In desperation she turns to Rebecca, a councillor who works with street girls.

In a crazy turn of events Rebecca kills the client by stabbing him in the back. The client just happens to be Thomas Meads brother who has only just been released from prison.

In a panic Rebecca calls he ex husband, Idris Khan, for help.

And that is where the story really starts.

The more Khan helps the deeper the hole he is digging himself, Rebecca, and Amy the young prostitute

This is a compelling story of a man who is trying to help people. Drug addicts, prostitutes, people generally down on their luck, living in a terrible part of the country.

When that help takes him into the mews he is protected by the drug lord, but only their terms.

He has free range to move around in places the police daren’t go.

And in the words of some actor in a film I can’t remember the name of, he has skills. Not physical, he has a brain, and he has a pharmacy in a world where drugs are a daily necessity for most people.

This is the story of bad decisions and loyalties. The story of a man just trying to get along in life by helping others. When that help leads to trouble it comes from all directions. Two drug lords, the police and the community.

A cracking read from and unusual point of view, and I loved it.

Pages: 432. Publisher: HQ. Publishing date: 22/05/2025. Audiobook length 10 hours 14, Narrator TBC

What The Dead Want. M.J Lee

DI Ridpath #10

This series is constantly one of my top two British crime thriller, police procedural, reads

M.J Lee has created a unique character. DI Tom Ridpath has two jobs. His main job is in the Major Investigation Team of Greater Manchester Police. But following treatment for cancer he was seconded to the Corner as her investigator, a job he is still doing four years later, although he is increasingly back in the fold of the police.

The uniqueness of the situation sees Ridpath investigating deaths for the Coroner that sometimes haven’t raised suspicions of the police.

In this case a high death rate at a Residential Care Home for the elderly.

At the same time Ridpath is tasked, by the police, to look at the case of a fourteen year old boy who went missing during the Covid lockdown, and was never found.

Why was the case so badly handled in the first place?

It’s a hot chalice for Ridpath, often seen as an outsider, and an ideal scapegoat, could this be somebody engineering his failure.

Covid took its toll on the police and they were slow to respond, officers went sick and the continuity of the investigation was shattered. So what can the new investigation find, without highlighting just how badly the police had messed up, without Ridpath taking the blame.

Meanwhile a serial killer is lounging in a high security hospital plotting his escape. Ex medical examiner Harold Lardner wants revenge on the people that put him in jail. That includes everybody at Greater Manchester Coroners Office.

The residential care home starts to crop up in Ridpaths missing persons case, and his inquiries for the Coroner are being thwarted by the care home management.

Surely the two cases can’t be related.

Lardner is plotting and pulling strings like a master puppeteer, but surely he can’t have been playing the long game and somehow be responsible for the disappearance of the boy four years ago.

This is a great story in a great series.

The main character, Ridpath, struggles with his work life balance. A a widowed father with a fourteen year old daughter his home life is fractious. As a cop with two jobs, which comes with often conflicting loyalties, work is also fractious.

Ridpath and the recurring characters, the background storyline running through the series, and the story within each book makes these books unmissable.

Pages:394. Publisher Canelo Crime