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The Mind Of A Murderer. Michael Wood

Billed as the first Dr Olivia Winter book, I’m really hoping this turns into a long series.

Dr Olivia Winter carries the scars of a failed attempt on her life when she was 9 years old.

The attacker killed her mother and sister, and was the last attacks of a notorious serial killer. He was also her father, who is now serving a life sentence.

Olivia has become a world renowned expert on serial killers, travelling the world to interview them, publishing books on them, and doing lecture talks to students and academics.

But, she won’t work live cases. She has been asked numerous times but she won’t get involved.

When her best friend, a Detective in the Met, visits with a file on four recent murders she still refuses to get involved, until the unthinkable happens, then she has no choice.

Somebody is just walking into peoples houses and killing women. There’s no sign of a forced entry, no attempt at sexual assault, but there is signs of a chase. All of the scenes indicate that the killer likes to instil fear into his victims before making the final stab or slash.

Nobody has seen them come, or go, from the buildings.

The Police are at a dead end.

So what can Olivia add to the investigation.

As it turns out her insight and thoughts are brilliant, but there’s one person that could help identify the killers thought process even better, her father.

The story is great and I enjoyed every page. Michael Wood has created at least one character, in Olivia, that I’m really looking forward to reading more of.

My only problem is all the time I was reading this book I was thinking I’ve know this story, or at least the plot.

As much as the story felt familiar I know haven’t read a version this good.

The one thing I hope is that the series doesn’t turn into the daughter, brilliant minded, police consultant; and father, incarcerated mass murderer, forming an alliance that is unwanted by Olivia, but manufacturing by her father’s manipulations.

That really would be too similar to other things

Pages: 454. Publisher One More Chapter. Publishing date: 28th March 2024

A Soul For A Soul. Carol Wyer

Carol Wyer has done it again.

This is the fifth book in this series and everyone of them has had me gripped from the very start, and this is no different.

Although this book is part of a series Carol does a great job of filling in the skeleton of the running theme in the first two chapters. So, anybody reading this as a standalone novel will not be left totally in the dark.

What’s on the back of the book, or in this case on the Amazon page

DCI Kate Young never meant to shoot Superintendent John Dickson at the reservoir that night—even if, as a scheming corrupt cop and head of the shady syndicate, he probably had it coming. But now Kate has photographic evidence that someone else knows her terrible secret…

Tormented by guilt and the voices of the dead, Kate is desperate to unmask the rest of the corrupt officers before her own sins catch up with her. When DI Harriet Khatri, awaiting trial for the murder of Kate’s mentor, claims she was framed by Dickson’s syndicate, Kate reluctantly agrees to help in the hope of finding answers.

Meanwhile, DI Emma Donaldson finds herself on the hunt for a double murderer—a man who incapacitates his victims with a powerful narcotic called Devil’s Breath. Desperate to measure up to her role-model boss, Emma finds herself hurled into the deep end in more ways than one…

While Kate’s grip on reality wavers and the syndicate closes in, and with the mystery killer taking a special interest in Emma, could this be the case that defeats both detectives?

What I think

Kate Young lost her husband to a murderer. He was an investigative journalist and he was on to a ring of sex offenders.

At least one of which was a high ranking police officer.

Every investigation since his murder has almost been a “side hustle” as Kates main focus has been catching his killer and busting the sex ring.

I have questioned her mental health from the start, she hears voices, mainly that of her husband but latterly the dead Superintendent Dickinson.

It’s like having an Angel on one shoulder, and a devil on the other.

What I began to realise, or for my own opinion on, was that actually she was just hypothesis building, the voices she was hearing was just a manifestation of her own thinking.

Police shouldn’t investigate with a bias, and Kates way of building her case was to have the two voices neutralising each other to make sure she was getting things right.

Haven’t we all had that little voice saying “one more drink” and another saying “no you’re going to regret it in the morning”

This book brings that story to a head and draws a line underneath it.

But will it silence the voices?

Is this the end of the DCI Kate Young series?

I sincerely hope not, but Carol Wyer has left us with an ending that might mean it is.

It’s not a cliffhanger, it’s the end of a running story, the logical place to conclude and for Kate to walk away. But the last few lines give me hope that we may see her again.

What a series, what a book, what an ending.

Print length 381 pages. Publisher Thomas and Mercer.

Bad Blood. Angela Marsons

I’ve been with this series since the start, and dispite my old bias that I always thought books lost their impact the longer the series went on, this series just keeps getting better and better.

In an unusual chain of events DI Kim Stone is sent to a murder, only to find that the body isn’t actually a dead…….yet!

To all intents and purposes, to the point it’s even confused the pathologist, it looks dead, but suddenly somebody realises the man is still alive.

He doesn’t survive long and Kim, and the team, start a murder investigation that has them scratching their collective heads.

When another body turns up, killed and posed in a similar manner, there appears to be no link between the two victims.

But there is, and as the team start to put the pieces of the puzzle together hey begin to build a list of suspects.

Based on revenge, but revenge for who, and by who. The killer has an agenda, and is the epitome of the “a dish best served cold” killer.

But it’s not just the murders that Kim is having problems with. One of her team is struggling. They made a mistake and are suffering for it. Their work is affected, as is their home life.

But what really gets on Kim’s nerves is that they didn’t feel they could share the problem with her and the rest of the team.

Angela Marsons writes these books as if she’s been in an incident room. The procedures, are there but rules are to be broken, and not just by Stone. Things get done because the team use their knowledge and experience to push boundaries.

The relationships in the team. Stones trusty DS Bryant acting as the filter between her and the DC’s, and at times, her and the public. The DC’s both loving working with her but scared of her wrath hence things aren’t going well.

Even though stone hasn’t got a family she is the matriarch of her little Police team. So when one of the DC’s falls out of favour it affects everybody.

He humour is also spot on, the gallows humour of the emergency service first responders is sometimes overlooked, by others, but not here.

The interaction between Stone and Keats, the Pathologist, had me chuckling….I mean, he did think a living man was dead.

One of the things I love about these books is the way Angela introduced that element of doubt early in the series, by killing off one of the main characters. There’s not guarantee that everything’s going to turn out rosy. So you can’t take it for granted that bridges will be mended.

I saw a post on TikTok the other day where a blogger had started a thread, “ Which books do you wish you could read again for the first time” I didn’t even have to think about it. The Kim Stone series. From book 1, Silent Scream, right up to this latest instalment, all in one binge.

But now we might just have something to look forward to in that respect. Angela Marsons announced a few weeks ago that the series has been taken by a TV company that produces dramas for the BBC.

So maybe we will get to enjoy them all over again.

Pages: 415. Publisher: Bookouture. Available now. Audiobook. 8 hours 12 minutes. Narrator: Jan Cramer.

AMZ: https://geni.us/B0CFK57VD9social

Apple: https://ow.ly/iQUQ50Q6JbI

Kobo: https://ow.ly/yIkI50Q6JbQ

Google: https://ow.ly/CBLS50Q6Jc0

The Alter Girls. Patricia Gibney

I can’t believe we’re already at book 13 in this series.

Don’t worry if you haven’t read the others because this can be read as a standalone and is still a fantastic read.

The ongoing stories involving Detective Lottie Park, her team, and her family add to the series massively, but the main story in each book is the real star.

In this book two young girls go missing on a snowy day. The only problem is nobody really notices they’re missing for a good few hours.

Both girls are connected to the church through the choir and serve as alter girls, both are very young, still in primary school.

When the first girl turns up dead in the Cathedral grounds people naturally start suspect the involvement of somebody in the clergy. A bias that has riddled the church for years.

When the second girl is found in similar circumstances the Catholic Fathers come under even more suspicion.

Lottie can’t afford any type of bias as her team start the investigation.

The families of both girls also have their secrets, but the main person Lottie would suspect, one of the girls fathers, is in prison

Nobody writes crime fiction better than Patricia Gibney.

She relates the frustrations of the investigation team with unerring realism.

When instinct is telling you there is something wrong, but there is no evidence. When old biases rear their head, but you daren’t act on them because people will think you’re going for the obvious, easy hit.

Gibney never shies away from putting her characters through the mill. She never avoids a difficult subject. In the Alter Girls she addresses some of the concerns people have around the clergy. She looks at the secrets kept behind closed doors in, what should be the sanctuary, of the family home.

And all the way through she shows the minefield that is building hypothesis during an investigation. It is absolutely compelling.

The book is just over 500 pages long but every word is used well and is relevant to the current story, or the ongoing stories of the main characters.

As close as it could be this was a “pick it up and read from start to finish” for me. In fact if I hadn’t have to go to work, it would have been.

Pages 504. Publisher: Bookouture. Audiobook 13 h 35m. Narrator Michele Moran

The Scorned. Alex Khan

A good Police Procedural novel with strong characters.

At times this book is a tough read and contains triggers for anybody who has suffered domestic abuse.

A tough Asian Lady who has run away from her own “arranged” , and abusive marriage is now a Detective Sergeant working on serious crimes. Moomy Ali is a great character.

When two women, with no apparently link are brutally murdered, within hours of each other Moomy and her team are tasked to investigate.

Why have the Home Office sent an observer in to watch over the team, even before the first victim is identified.

The teams fears that they are being used as some form of political pawn doesn’t stop them carrying out an investigation that uncovers a disturbing scenario.

There appears to be a group of people being manipulated to kill, born on their hatred of women.

During the investigation they uncover bigoted hate in various forms, which are unfortunately very realistic and believable.

But which group, and which leader are responsible for the killings.

As much as this book is a great story it’s also a sad reflection on elements of today’s society.

Frighteningly realistic, and at times hard to read, it’s a great book.

Pages 377. Publisher: Hera Release Date: 5th October 2023

Anna O. Matthew Blake

I’ve read a few books with really original plots recently but I think this one stand out.

Anna O is an infamous young lady who was found lying between two people who had stabbed to death. She was asleep, and four years later she still is.

The judiciary wants to put her on trial, but first they need to get her into a fit enough condition to stand trial.

They have her moved to the Abbey sleep clinic on Harley Street and place her under the treatment of Dr Benedict Prince, who has recently published a paper on Resignation Syndrome. (That had me reaching for Google and spending a good hour reading about the syndrome)

From there the plot splits between several characters.

Benedict himself.

His ex wife, who was the first Police Officer on the scene of the murder.

Anna O’s Mom, an ex Shadow Minister, now Vicar , who was, and is, more interested in saving her own reputation than that of her daughter.

Anna’s Dad, a Banker who has little in common with his wife or daughter.

Lola, a blogger and armchair detective that is linked to Anna, and possibly the murders. Her online persona is @Suspect8. Insinuating she was at the scene.

The plot is brilliantly woven from the outlook of each of these characters.

It’s a battle for the truth. Is Anna O a murderer, or a convenient scapegoat.

Can Benedict rouse her from her sleep and have her sufficiently compos mantis enough to tell her story.

The Publishers Gumph

What if your nightmares weren’t really nightmares at all?

We spend an average of 33 years of our lives asleep. But what really happens, and what are we capable of, when we sleep?

Anna Ogilvy was a budding twenty-five-year-old writer with a bright future. Then, one night, she stabbed two people to death with no apparent motive–and hasn’t woken up since. Dubbed “Sleeping Beauty” by the tabloids, Anna’s condition is a rare psychosomatic disorder known to neurologists as “resignation syndrome.”

Dr. Benedict Prince is a forensic psychologist and an expert in the field of sleep-related homicides. His methods are the last hope of solving the infamous “Anna O'”case and waking Anna up so she can stand trial. But he must be careful treating such a high-profile suspect–he’s got career secrets and a complicated personal life of his own.

As Anna shows the first signs of stirring, Benedict must determine what really happened and whether Anna should be held responsible for her crimes.

Only Anna knows the truth about that night, but only Benedict knows how to discover it. And they’re both in danger from what they find out.

What I thought

It’s a real page turner of a book. I’d never heard of Resignation Syndrome before, and I’ve found out that it’s a relatively newly diagnosed condition, but I can see many more authors using it as the spine of a plot.

The plot itself is really good and with one exception I didn’t second guess where the story was going.

At 448 pages it’s a bit long but not a page is wasted.

I can’t wait to see what Matthew Blake writes next.

Saving Myles. Carl Vonderau

Every parents nightmare, and that’s just the beginning.

As a father I would do anything to ensure my daughters safety, and that’s where things start to go wrong for Banker Wade.

His son Myles is really troubled, failing school, heavily into drugs, slowly ruining his own life.

Wade arranges an intervention. He has Myles forcibly taken from his home and placed into rehab, for a year.

When Myles comes home he runs off to Mexico with his “Girlfriend” and is kidnapped by the cartel.

To raise the ransom Wade agrees to work for another Bank, but what he is actually doing is working for the Cartel.

This is a story of love and sacrifice that leads to a parents downward spiral.

Moralistically I emphasised with Wade, and wanted to slap Myles.

But ultimately I wanted to shout at Wade to wake up and see what he was getting himself into.

And all of this is only the begining

Publishers Gumph ⬇️⬇️⬇️

When the FBI can’t help, an unassuming banker takes matters into his own hands to bring his son home

Wade, a respected banker in La Jolla, CA, and his estranged wife, Fiona, make the unbearable decision to send their teenage son, Myles, away to an expensive treatment center after a streak of harmful behavior. After a year of treatment, Myles comes home, seemingly rehabilitated. But soon, he sneaks off to Tijuana to buy drugs—and is kidnapped.

When the ransom call comes, Fiona is frantic and accepts help from Andre, the Quebecois whose charity Fiona runs. Wade is wary of Andre’s reputation and the bank he owns, but seeing no other way to secure a kidnap negotiator or the ransom, he swallows his doubts to get his son home.

In order to get the ransom money, Wade makes a deal with Andre—he’ll work for Andre’s bank in exchange for the cash. But as Wade races to rescue Myles before his kidnappers lose their patience, he realizes he’s wrapped up in more crime than just a kidnapping—he’s now indebted to a cartel.

Vengeance. J.K Flynn

I recently read and reviewed The Art Merchant by J.K Flynn and raved about it. I said then I couldn’t wait for the next instalment and I was lucky enough to get my hands on a copy this week.

It didn’t disappoint.

Flynn has taken DS. Esther Penman to the next level.

Now a recovering alcoholic who has been sober for over fifty days things are going well.

But her reputation is still there like a dark shadow. Everybody knows she’s the best Detective on the force, but her past erratic behaviour, and tendency to wake up in strange bedrooms, is tarnishing her, and her DCI is making her life difficult.

Thankfully her DI, Jared Wilcox, is on her side but how much can he protect her.

When they start to investigate a murder Esther uncovers a link to a missing person that the Met are dealing with.

From there spurious links start to surface to other crimes and strange occurrences.

Jared is a good DI but he knows Esther is the brains of the team, and is happy to run with her instincts, even when she has a bit of a wobble.

The title of the book gives away the motive of the crimes but the way the plot develops kept me totally enthralled.

Esther Penman has established herself of one of my favourite characters in the Crime Thriller World.

What the publishers say

A MURDERED EXECUTIVE.

A MISSING STOCKBROKER.

A DRUG WORTH BILLIONS.

When a body turns up in a Belfield alleyway, Detective Sergeant Esther Penman quickly realises there’s more to it than simple homicide. With links to a missing London stockbroker, and the dead man’s firm on the brink of launching a new medicine worth billions, there’s plenty of motive for murder.

Meanwhile, Esther has trouble of her own to deal with. Having recently made an enemy of one of the city’s most ruthless criminals, she knows she has to watch her back. But as she begins to unravel the web of intrigue surrounding the alleyway murder, she can’t shake the unsettling sense that she herself is becoming a target…

Can Esther stay one step ahead of her enemies in her hunt for the killer?

Find out in Vengeance, the thrilling sequel to The Art Merchant.

What I think.

A no brainier recommendation. A cracking book.

Brilliant characters, especially Esther.

A realistic crime set against a realistic background.

And best of all, it was every bit as good as the first in the series, if not better.

The Body In Nightingale Park. Nick Louth

Billed as the final instalment of the DCI Craig Gillard series I read this book with some trepidation. I’ve really enjoyed this series and didn’t really want it to end but Nick Louth has dealt with the ending brilliantly.

The frustrations of being a Police Officer and maintaining a personal life is depicted really well

As the SIO of some very high profile investigations Gillard has always put his family slightly behind his job whilst always being a loving and caring husband.

Now it’s different. Sam, Gillard’s wife is heavily pregnant, and even though he has been given reassurances that he can have leave to support her through the birth Gillard is called in again, and again.

The end of the series? I’m still not 100% sure we’ve heard the end of Gillard and his team. There is scope to have some of the characters move forward in their own series. But by the end of the book I was thinking how Gillard should really be left alone to enjoy faintly time as best as he can.

Publishers Gumpth

The final instalment of the DCI Gillard Crime Thrillers,

Another impossible case for DCI Gillard, but this time the answers are very close to home…

With a baby on the way, a pregnant wife to take care of and a new home to settle into, DCI Craig Gillard seems to have found a life of domestic bliss.

But when retired police sergeant Ken Stapleford is found stabbed to death in front of his own TV while watching Saturday afternoon football, Gillard’s peace is once again disturbed.

Only a day later, just a short walk from his new home, Gillard is himself witness to the killing of a jogger in Nightingale Park. A strange forensic connection emerges between the two killings, something that seems impossible. As he digs into the evidence, Gillard uncovers two more attacks, and any chance of taking time off for the birth of his child disappears.

And all the time the killer is circling closer and closer…

Perfect for fans of Stuart Macbride, Mark Billingham and Robert Bryndza.

What I thought

As always Nick Louth has written a brilliant Police Procedural Crime Thriller.

The crimes in this series have all been original, well conceived, and realistic, and this one is no exception.

Effectively Gillard is investigations two unrelated crimes, a series of rapes carried out in a park near his house, and a prominent influencer killed in the same park.

But the connections between these crimes soon become obvious, as does a more tenuous thread to the murder of a retired Police Officer being investigated by one of Gillard’s colleagues.

As more crimes get linked it looks almost impossible for one person to have carried out the attacks, over such a vast area, in such a relatively short time.

Gillard’s thinking, and the logic in which he applies his thoughts are really well written and just like the rest of the series I was hooked before the end of the first chapter.

As I said earlier I can see spin offs from this series.

Whatever Nick Louth decides, I’ll be at the front of the queue for his next book.

Pages: 323. Publisher: Canelo Crime. Publishing date: 17 August 2023

Salt Island. Lisa Towles

The way of writing that involves just one persons perspective, a story told from one persons point of view, through their eyes, through their thoughts and emotions, is one of the most effective ways of telling a story, and Lisa Towles is a master at it.

Billed as Ellwyn and Abernathy book 2, the story is purely told via Mari Ellwyn’s point of view, and this work’s fantastically.

Ellwyn starts the story in the British Virgin Islands on a personal quest but is quickly called back to California when her mother is taken ill.

Whilst there she is contacted by an old friend to look into things which are happening around a young entrepreneur that specialises in financing agricultural start ups and companies.

Somebody is trying to discredit Jack Darcy, but is anything they are doing illegal? The drip of intimidation is skating the edge of legality. Rumours that his high profile wife has been abducted only add to the intrigue, but no missing persons report has been filed.

Meanwhile Abernathy is off investigating the death of two brothers in an agricultural accident in a small farming town and keeps going “off-radar”.

Ellwyn employs some of the side characters from the series to help her with her investigations and to keep an eye on her Mom, who’s erratic behaviour in hospital can’t all be the result of her suffering a stroke.

When Ellwyn starts to receive warnings, it’s not about her case, it’s about her partners, but why do the people who are sending her the message also appear to be involved in her case.

A great story that has some complex plots weaving through it.

The frustrations felt by Ellwyn are passed to the reader because of the way the story is written. She, and the reader, do not know what is happening to her partner, until it’s revealed by her discoveries and observations.

The distraction of her Moms illness and behaviour diverts her from her investigations.

You would think that this style of writing is simplistic, but it’s not, it’s realistic.

We only know what we know. So why should that be any different in a book. I’ve fully brought into this series and I can’t wait for the next book

Pages: 297 Publisher: Indies United Publishing House. Available now