Category: Book Review

The Stranger Within by Tara Lyons (DI Hamilton #4)

51+tZ4nXAIL._SY346_ Synopsis: Torn away from his family life, DI Denis Hamilton is urgently called into a briefing in the early hours of his weekend off. He must unravel an investigation he thought had long closed.

Putting his personal worries to one side, Hamilton and his Murder Investigation Team come up against a patient with a mental disorder hell-bent on revenge.

Comparing the present day with memories of his tragic past, can Hamilton open his mind to the difficulties of mental illness in order to catch a murderer?

And when a colleague’s life is threatened, can Hamilton unlock the truth of the stranger within before it’s too late?

Kat’s Rating: 5/5 Continue reading “The Stranger Within by Tara Lyons (DI Hamilton #4)”

Blood Secrets by Dreda Say Mitchell (Flesh and Blood #4)

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Synopsis: The past comes back to haunt her. Will it destroy her family?

Only two people know what’s happened to the gold stolen in an underworld bullion heist. That’s East End gangster’s widow Babs Miller and her best friend Pearl. So when the gold vanishes from its hiding place that means there can only be two suspects. 

Neither can believe they’ve been betrayed by the other. Neither wants a war. But honour, pride and tit for tat revenge drag them and their families towards a cliff edge of brutal gangland violence. 

And as they try and stay alive, what other dirty secrets are going to be dug up while these two women duel to the death?

Kat’s Rating: 5/5 Continue reading “Blood Secrets by Dreda Say Mitchell (Flesh and Blood #4)”

The Teacher by Katerina Diamond

51HE0OpJ8YL Synopsis: You think you know who to trust? You think you know the difference between good and evil? You’re wrong …

The body of the head teacher of an exclusive Devon school is found hanging from the rafters in the assembly hall.

Hours earlier he’d received a package, and only he could understand the silent message it conveyed. It meant the end.

As Exeter suffers a rising count of gruesome deaths, troubled DS Imogen Grey and DS Adrian Miles must solve the case and make their city safe again.

But as they’re drawn into a network of corruption, lies and exploitation, every step brings them closer to grim secrets hidden at the heart of their community.

And once they learn what’s motivating this killer, will they truly want to stop him?

My Rating: 3/5

My Review: I have to be honest and say I am not entirely sure what to think about this book. This book focuses on DS Adrian Miles after his return to work following a suspension. He is teamed with DS Imogen Grey who has been relocated and they have to investigate the death of a headteacher. Of course that is just the beginning in terms of story line but it’s also a book I don’t feel you can say too much about without spoiling.

I struggled at the beginning to get into this and I cannot even work out why or what my issue was but it just felt sluggish and hard going at times. I actually liked the two main characters Miles and Grey, but aside from that…I just don’t know. It’s a very graphic book with very explicit descriptions of pretty gruelling scenes. This certainly doesn’t bother me but may be worth readers being aware of it.

Overall it was just middle of the road for me. I may well go back to this author in the future and hopefully will find the next book a little easier to get into.

When The Waters Recede by Graham Smith

Synopsis: When a car is pulled from raging floodwaters with a dead man in the front and the decapitated body of an evil woman in the boot, Cumbria’s Major Crimes Team are handed the investigation.

The woman is soon recognised, but the man cannot be identified and this leads the team and their former leader, Harry Evans, into areas none of them want to visit.

Before they know it, they’re dealing with protection scams and looking for answers to questions they didn’t know needed to be asked.

Kat’s Rating: 5/5 Continue reading “When The Waters Recede by Graham Smith”

BLOG TOUR – Love Lies and Wedding Cake by Sue Watson

Synopsis: Faye Dobson is in crisis. You wouldn’t know it, because of the big fat smile on her face, but inside, she’s one step away from nuclear meltdown. And she shouldn’t be. Dan ?? is the man of her dreams. Her really quite energetic dreams, that frequently come true. Sometimes twice in one night. And he’s just asked her to marry him.

But Faye’s been down the marriage road before and it ended up with her having Ryan Gosling fantasies while her ex-husband obsessed about the plumbing. The actual plumbing. Faye and Dan have been living their lives to the fullest, travelling around the world, having sex under the stars… They haven’t argued about unrolling socks before putting them in the laundry.

Besides, even if she wanted to say yes, how could she move to the other side of the world? Because marrying Dan would mean living in Australia. Beautiful, warm and a gazillion miles from Faye’s daughter, Emma, a single mum with her own crazy little girl who both need Faye every single day. Leaving them – even for someone who makes her laugh as much as Dan – simply isn’t an option. 

Dan is offering Faye everything she ever wanted. So why does she feel like she’s about to lose it all? Continue reading “BLOG TOUR – Love Lies and Wedding Cake by Sue Watson”

Dead If You Don’t by Peter James (Roy Grace #14)

Synopsis: Roy Grace, creation of the CWA Diamond Dagger award winning author Peter James, faces his most complex case yet in Dead If You Don’t.

Kipp Brown, successful businessman and compulsive gambler, is having the worst run of luck of his life. He’s beginning to lose, big style. However, taking his teenage son, Mungo, to their club’s Saturday afternoon football match should have given him a welcome respite, if only for a few hours. But it’s at the stadium where his nightmare begins.

Within minutes of arriving at the game, Kipp bumps into a client. He takes his eye off Mungo for a few moments, and in that time, the boy disappears. Then he gets the terrifying message that someone has his child, and to get him back alive, Kipp will have to pay.

Defying instruction not to contact the police, Kipp reluctantly does just that, and Detective Superintendent Roy Grace is brought in to investigate. At first it seems a straightforward case of kidnap. But rapidly Grace finds himself entering a dark, criminal underbelly of the city, where the rules are different and nothing is what it seems .

Kat’s Rating: 4/5 Continue reading “Dead If You Don’t by Peter James (Roy Grace #14)”

Need You Dead by Peter James (Roy Grace #13)

Synopsis: Lorna Belling, desperate to escape the marriage from hell, falls for the charms of another man who promises her the earth. But, as Lorna finds, life seldom follows the plans you’ve made. A chance photograph on a client’s mobile phone changes everything for her.

When the body of a woman is found in a bath in Brighton, Detective Superintendent Roy Grace is called to the scene. At first it looks an open and shut case with a clear prime suspect. Then other scenarios begin to present themselves, each of them tantalizingly plausible, until, in a sudden turn of events, and to his utter disbelief, the case turns more sinister than Grace could ever have imagined.

Kat’s Rating: 4/5 Continue reading “Need You Dead by Peter James (Roy Grace #13)”

Blood Feud by Anna Smith (Kerry Casey #1)

Synopsis: They came for her family. Now she’s coming for them. This nail-biting thriller introduces Glasgow’s newest gangland mistress, Kerry Casey – a gripping read perfect for fans of Martina Cole and Kimberley Chambers.

Kerry Casey thought she’d made a life away from the dirty dealings of her gangster family. Her father wanted to make them legit – her brother Mickey had other ideas, and now it’s got him killed. When Mickey’s funeral turns into a bloodbath at the hands of a group of anonymous shooters and Kerry’s mother is killed in the crossfire, Kerry finds herself at the head of the Casey family, and desperate for revenge. Continue reading “Blood Feud by Anna Smith (Kerry Casey #1)”

BLOG TOUR – No Comment by Graham Smith (Harry Evans Novella)

Synopsis: When a single mother, Julie Simon, is found in her kitchen with a stab wound to her stomach, Cumbria’s Major Crimes Team are handed the case. Under the supervision of DI Campbell and witîh advice from his former DI, Harry Evans, DC Amir Bhaki fights to discover who assaulted an innocent woman and left her with life-threatening injuries.
Nothing is as it first appears and when the team looks into Julie’s life they uncover a hidden sex-life that may just hold the key to the identity of her attacker.

Kat’s Rating: 4/5

Kat’s Review: This novella/short story is just under 100 pages, and although these sorts of short books aren’t always my cup of tea, this was a really enjoyable bite sized read.

The Major Crimes Team are handed a case involving the stabbing of a single mother Julia Simon. Even though a short story Smith manages to pack a fair bit into this latest installment. This is almost like a mini catch up to see where the team are and what they are up to.

We see DI John Campbell trying to replace the now retired Harry Evans, however somehow I don’t see it happening. What I did get was a small but jam packed mini investigation with colleagues such as DC Amir Bhaki and DC Lauren Phillips making a welcome return. Thankfully this seems like the perfect time to read this with a full length novel entitled ‘When The Waters Recede’ due in May.

Blog Tour: The Absent Man by Robert Enright

 Synopsis: BERMUDA JONES AND ARGYLE ARE BACK IN THE THRILLING SEQUEL TO DOORWAYS


Something is killing…

A woman is found dead in her flat on a freezing night in Glasgow, her heart ripped from her chest. With no signs of a weapon or forced entry. Hours later, her heart is delivered to the Necropolis on the outskirts of town.

Six months after stopping the terrifying Barnaby atop Big Ben, Bermuda finds himself on the hunt for a killer in a city he doesn’t know with a police force that doesn’t want him. With no links between the victims and the death toll rising, Bermuda has to face a sceptical detective, a seemingly distracted Argyle and an unknown horror that stalks from the shadows.

All in the name of answering one question…

Who is The Absent Man?

Kat’s Rating: 5/5 Continue reading “Blog Tour: The Absent Man by Robert Enright”