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Six Graves. Angela Marsons

In the blink of an eye we’re at book 16

You would think that by now the series would be running out of steam, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

The prologue hooked me in a way no other start to a book ever has.

In places the story had me holding my breath till I was turning blue.

And the last page left me Gob Smacked and reaching for a glass of Jack Daniels.

A family dead. Mom, Dad, and two children all shot and the mother is still holding the gun.

Surely this is a straight forward murder suicide.

DI Kim Stone’s not sure. As she starts to dig into the family history she starts to uncover secrets. Helen, the mother has history of depression., but is that enough to tip her over the edge.

The team dig deeper and the clues start to surface, but it’s not just clues which are surfacing, so is a face from Kim’s past.

She receives a threat to her life. Typically she shrugs it of but this one’s serious and it has her rattled. Rattled enough to send Barney away on a holiday for his safety.

As she continues to lead the team looking at the death of the family a psychopath that is getting close, metaphorically and physically.

I challenge anybody not to read this in one sitting. It’s a book that brings a new meaning to the word tense, there was no way I could put it down

Angela Marsons has a way of writing that has always engaged with me. One of the things that her writing has is a realism that I can associate with.

It’s not just that her stories are based where I live, it’s not just the fact the characters are so realistic. It’s the empathy I have with Kim Stone.

That empathy really hit home in this book.

In all the crime scenes I attended, in all the fires I investigate, there has only ever been one thing that got to me. It was the normality of the scene. The rooms that hadn’t been affected. The rooms where it looked like the people who lived there were about to walk in and start their day.

In this book Angela Marsons captures that through Kim Stone better than anybody has captured it before.

The bar just got raised again.

Pages: 425. Audio book length: 8:33. Publisher: Bookouture Available now.

Amazon https://geni.us/B09RZZWN3Tsocial

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Playing With Fire. Mary Burton (Novella)

Where do I start with this review.

I loved the book, it kept me hooked, but a big part of me was irritated.

I’m a retired Fire Officer, in fact I was, and still am Fire Investigator, and for that reason I was able to spot the technical inaccuracies in this book.

That would usually put me off but the story just kept me hooked.

The two main characters, Darcy the journalist, and Gannon, the Fire Investigator who had retired following the “death” of his nemesis Nero in a fire in the big City.

Gannon was never convinced the body that had been found was the man who had started the fires, and killed the people. He was too intelligent and too neat to have been killed by one of his own fires.

Gannon quit his job after that fire and retired to a quiet town to run a motorcycle repair shop.

A year after Nero’s reported death Darcy receives a tip off that he wasn’t the body found in the fire, and that an innocent man has been framed for his crimes.

She’s got enough evidence to convince her editor to have a second look, but she is going to need to talk to Gannon, a man who is notorious for his hatred of the press.

Coincidentally Gannon has moved to Darcy’s home town and she goes to work in the family bar as she goes undercover in an attempt to get close to him.

Meanwhile the town has started to suffer a series of fires which are reminiscent of Neros. Is it him, or is there a copy cat. Either way they’re goading Gannon.

What follows the story of Darcy and Gannon learning to like each other and investigate the fires that are taking place now. But Darcy keeps getting a crisis of confidence. The one man who fits all the tags to be Nero is Gannon.

Is she thinking straight, in fact is she thinking with the right part of her anatomy when it comes to him.

Honestly the story is so good it outweighs the inaccuracies.

Print length 205 pages. Publisher: HQ Digital. Available now.

Hot House. Lisa Towles

For some reason this book reminded me of Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch series.

The location, the settings and although the main character is a civilian woman, and the writing style all got me thinking of Connelly and Bosch.

Mari Ellwyn, ex CIA, now part time Private Investigator, and Art Gallery owner is the main character

She has been employed to look at who is blackmailing a family friend, a Judge on Americas 9th Circuit.

Meanwhile ex cop and Private Investigator, Derek Abernathy, is looking into the disappearance two journalist, one of who has turned up dead.

Inevitably the two cross paths as they discover the death of a foreign student links both their cases.

By forcing the Police Officer investigating the students death to help them, and whilst dodging old colleagues from the CIA Ellwyn and Abernathy investigate the links and follow the ever increasing amount of leads, trying to sort the truth from the deliberately scattered red herrings.

But by who, and why, are they being stone walled and misdirected.

A short but cracking read, ideal for crime fiction lovers who want a book to stick in the pool bag or flight bag for this years summer holiday.

Pages: 286. Audio length: 6.43. Publisher: Indies United Publishing House. Available from 6th May 2022

The Lighthouse Girls. B.R Spangler

Detective Casey White is called when the body of a girl is found close to a lighthouse on the outer banks.

A family report their daughter missing from a nearby town.

When Casey goes to give the unfortunate family the bad news she’s in for a shock. It is their daughter thats dead, but it’s not the one they reported missing.

And that opens the door to one of the most original plots I’ve read for quite a while.

I read a lot of crime fiction so it’s not often I come across a story that lets me sit back and think, “I’ve not come across that before”

Casey and her team are brilliant. The ongoing stories and recurring characters that sit of the peripheries are great, but what really steals the show in these books is the setting.

The Outer Banks of North Carolina is fascinating. I’ve spent hours on Google Earth looking at the area.

One of the pleasures in reading is that the book can take you to places you’ve never heard of. Now I’ve found one I really want to visit.

A massive area of linked islands forming a false coast on the Atlantic Coast of America. Some island inhabited, some deserted, some overgrown wildernesses. Small towns, on the mainland side of the lagoon that’s formed by the islands, with the usual mix of rich, poor and eccentric characters.

For U.K. readers this is a bit like Midsummer, on the coast, and on steroids.

White is a brilliant character, she’s made enemies, and friends. The small town attitude means that whenever anything goes wrong the newcomer gets the blame. But things have got as bad as they’re going to get and the town is now on the rebound. It’s making its way back.

Will Casey get the credit and recognition she deserves, I doubt it.

Will she solve the riddle that is the two sisters, one dead, the other missing.

The key to it is embedded in the small town community, this small town just happens to be fragmented over a few islands and inlets.

A great story, a great series. I can’t wait till we find out what happens next on the Outer Banks.

Publisher: Bookouture. Print Length: 283 pages. Audio book: 8hrs 25 minutes. Available now

Death in Summer. Lina Areklew

I like Scandinavian Noir, in fact I’ve started to hunt down new authors, that is how I found this book, and it was worth hunting for.

Fredrik lost his family on the MV Estonia sinking. Him and his brother made it on to a life boat but his parents perished on board.

His brother went missing off the lifeboat and was never seen again. Except Fredrik is convinced he’s alive. He’s seen him several times.

This time he sees him he’s more than convinced it’s him.

Tracking him to a hotel, but losing him again. Fredrik follows a man he saw his brother meet to a remote island. The next day the man is dead.

Sofia Hortencia is a Police Detective who works on the mainland but lives on that remote island. She’s part of the investigation. She also knows one of the main witnesses, suspects, Fredrik. They were in Criminology classes together, and had developed a relationship.

All of that in the first fifty or so pages.

From there the story unfolds. An unthinkable series of murders. An unlikely connection. What is happening and just how long has it been happening for. How many victims have there been, and who is likely to be next.

This is a cracking story with a strangely plausible plot. The twists and turns flow throughout and surprises are always just around the corner, right up till the last page.

Pages: 375. Publisher: Canelo Crime. Publishing Date: 5th May 2022

Abiding Conviction. Stephen M. Murphy

A story within a story, both of which are intertwined via the main character Dutch Francis.

Both stories involve consequences, either accidental or considered and deliberate.

Dutch is a Lawyer who usually practices David and Goliath compensation cases fighting for the little man, but he has a reputation for being a brilliant Defence Attorney in his occasional criminal case practices.

He is also married to the beautiful Ginnie, the local TV News anchor, and is generally accepted as being a nice reliable man who everybody aspires to be like.

His professional life and his private life are perfect until……..

Dutch is defending a Judge, Carlos Garcia, who is accused of murdering his wife by Poisoning her.

On the morning this tricky case is about to start Ginnie announces she’s pregnant and isn’t sure she wants the baby, she’s at the height of her fame and wants to continue her career, and she doesn’t think a child is conducive to that.

Dutch leaves the house on an unhappy note, but is happier after a phone call from his wife who assures him they can talk about it that night.

Unfortunately Ginnie doesn’t make it home, she’s kidnapped.

Dutch is facing the biggest trial of his life, and one he can’t get out of at this late stage. He’s also receiving demands from the kidnapper, and has people helping him investigate her disappearance outside of the Police Investigation, whilst trying to get the ridiculously unrealistic ransom demand money together.

Dutch is obviously finding it hard to keep his mind on the day job and give his client the best defence. Meanwhile the story of the Judges late wife, and their relationship is exposed in the Court, and Dutch is blindsided more than once.

People obviously have issues with a Judge and the list of possible alternative suspects is huge, even though the Police have only ever had one suspect.

Likewise Ginnie has her haters. She reports the news put has psychos regularly sending her, personally or via the TV station, threats.

Is Ginnie’s kidnap coincidental and a completely unrelated event, or is it designed to put Dutch of his game whilst representing the Judge.

At 293 pages this is a relatively short book, but it packs one hell of a story into those pages.

A great story which is very much like a succinct Grisham.

And watch out for the last page.

Publisher: Ocean View. Print length: 293 pages. Publish date: 5th July 2022

The Corpse Flower. Anne Mette Hancock

2016, a man is butchered in his home. A woman walks out of the house and stands, covered in his blood, looking into a CCTV camera. Her name is Anna, she walks away and is never found.

2019, Anna starts to send letters to journalist Heloise Kaldan. Cryptic notes that have the journalist confused, a claim of a link between her and Anna.

At the same time a woman walks into a police station in Copenhagen and claims she has seen Anna in France. Detective Sergeant Eric Schafer, the Chief Investigator for the murder, doesn’t really believe her until, she shows him the picture she took of the woman

Anna contacts Eric and the two start separate investigations.

What they uncover is chilling, a history of abuse of the worst kind. An apparently untouchable criminal hiding in the mist of being a respectful and powerful business man.

But what is the connection to Anna.

Who is pulling the strings. Both Anna and Eric work separately but remain in touch. One of them is being played.

This is a belter of a story. Like most scandi- noir it has a bit of over description, but like most of scandi-noir it seems more in tune with the story than it does in any other form of crime fiction.

The pace of the story occasionally wallows but it gives the reader a chance to take stock.

I believe this is the first book by Anne Mette Hancock, and that a second featuring Eric and Heloise is due to be published in November 2022. If this is right I will be looking for it on the bloggers review sites in the hope of getting an early copy. If I can’t get it there I will be preordering and waiting anxiously for it to land in my Kindle in November.

Print Length: 331. Publisher: Swift Press. Available now

One Girl Missing. Carla Kovach

Gina Harte. Now that’s a name that we should be hearing on a TV Series.

Carla Kovach has really developed this character, to say she’s been through the mill would be an understatement, but she is one hell of a Police Officer.

This story sees the Harte storyline take another twist, and it’s a belter.

The main story is always the investigation into a crime, and this one opens a real can of worms.

Two women go out for a night. A man attacks them. One of the women disappears, the other is missing.

The missing woman’s 5 year old girl is at home waiting for her mom. When the Police find her she tells them a strange man had been looking in her window.

Then the book turns really dark.

What has life been like behind closed doors.

Every house, every flat, every apartment holds its own story. Most are happy, or just plain mundane, but a few hold dark secrets.

You can’t tell these fearful dwellings from the outside. Every now and then neighbours might hear arguments and banging, and have an idea something is going on, but the truly dark houses are silent. Hiding bad things in plain sight, in ordinary neighbourhoods.

What has been going on.

Why were the women attacked, and where is the missing woman

What a way to start a book.

This is 359 pages of fast paced criminal investigation rapped up in a psychological thriller.

Publisher: Bookouture. Available now

The Box Hill Killer & The South Bank Murders. Biba Pearce

The on going police series has now reached book 5. As I only discovered this series very recently I have been binge reading it. It’s a testament to how good these books are that I am gutted that I’ve got to wait until publication day for the next one.

The lead character, DCI Rob Miller is one of those lovely rarities, a cop with no issues. A happy family man. No vices, no irritations, just a man doing his job.

His team is ever evolving with a strong core of three or four , but with others rotating in and out of his team. Every one of them is well written and just right for the role they play in the Police, and in the story.

The villains and victims are also perfectly written and evoke just the right level of anger and empathy.

In these two books the team are on the tracks of more vicious killers, but one investigation is really personal.

The Box Hill Killer.

12 years ago four people were killed by, who the press dubbed, The Pentagram Killer. When a current murder investigation throws doubt on the original investigation, of the four murders, Millers team have the headache of a current, and a historic crime being linked highlighting a miscarriage of justice.

What they don’t expect is to find a body dump, but when a cadaver dog starts to indicate possible burials in a remote area of a park, that is exactly what they find.

A great story.

The South Bank Murders

Possibly the best book in the series, and it starts with a bang.

3 men are killed in a shooting in a restaurant. One of them as a retired Police Officer who was very close to Rob and his team. In fact he’d phoned Rob on the day he was killed and asked him out for a drink.

The team find themselves involved in an investigation that involves County Line Drugs dealings centred on a rough Council Estate.

The realism of the writing in this book is brilliant. The way young immigrants are exploited to run drugs and carry out burglaries. The way the gangs Cuckoo people on the estate. People who want nothing to do with crime having to be involved because they’re to scared not to be.

Trying to work out who is lying because they are guilty, and those who are lying because they are too scared to tell the truth.

Who can the team trust. The quandary of the modern day police where estates are run by gangs who hold more fear than the authorities.

This is not just the best book in the series, it’s one of the best books I’ve read. Stunning.

Publisher Joffe Books. Pages: 332 and 298. Available now.

The Hidden Child. Rebecca Griffiths

One of my often used phrases is “I love a book that gets me reaching for Google” and this is one of those books.

In fact it made me realise just how much I didn’t know about the Myra Hindley and Ian Brady murder spree that took place in the early 1960’s.

Maybe it was because the murders took place when I was two or three years old, maybe I thought I knew more about them because they have been in and out of the news ever since.

Rebecca Griffiths has taken those murders and woven a great story around them.

Ronald is a farmer, on Saddleworth Moor. He’s reclusive and keeps himself to himself.

It’s a solitary life and that’s what he wants. So when a couple start to appear on his land, he notices them straight away. When he starts to hear news reports about missing children he quickly realises what the mystery couple are up to.

But what can he do about it.

Go to the police, no way. Ronald has his own reasons for not wanting the Police snooping around his land.

Ronald is a great character, conflicted, would be the best way to describe him. But his story is tough and at times emotional.

Hindley and Brady, there victims, and the families of the victims are written about tactfully but grittily. In fact at times it’s a bit of a tough read when you realise that part of the story is factual

Books which weave fact and fiction can go both ways, really good, or really bad, this one is definitely in the really good category.

Rebecca Griffiths has used just the right mixture of fact and fiction, in fact it’s that good a mixture that I wouldn’t have been surprised if I hadn’t got to the end and found that I’d been reading a book bringing new evidence, and revealing new crimes. There have been rumours for years that there are more victims of Hindley and Brady, and that maybe there was another accomplice.

This book doesn’t open the door of another accomplice but it does open the door on other murders, and that’s where the fiction kicks in.

This is a great read. Weather you remember the Moors Murders, or as was my case, thought you knew a bit about them, I can guarantee that by the end of this book you will have used whatever research engines you have available to you, and learnt a lot more.

The story is great, the jump between what is present and what is past, within the story is sometimes a bit blurred and I got confused once or twice, but that may have been because I was reading it none stop. It hooked me from the start.

Print length: 361 pages. Audio book length: 10 hours 47 minutes. Publisher : Bookouture