RATED 3/5 – Page 2 – Best Crime Books and More

THE CHRISTMAS WISH BY LINDSEY KELK

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Synopsis: Newly single lawyer Gwen Baker is hoping that a family Christmas – countryside, a mountain of food and festive films – will salve the sting of her career hanging by a thread and her heart being trampled on. Because everyone else has their life sorted: even Dev, her boy-next-door crush, is now a tall, dark and handsome stranger with a fiancée. She can’t help wishing her future was clearer.

Then Gwen wakes up to discover it’s Christmas day all over again. Like Groundhog Day but with turkey. And family arguments. On repeat.

As she figures out how to escape her own particular Christmas hell, Dev is the one bright spot. He might be all grown-up but underneath he’s just as kind and funny as she remembers.

Maybe, just maybe, her heart can be mended after all.

But how do you fall in love with someone who can’t remember you from one day to the next?

Kat’s Rating: 3/5

Kat’s Review: Over the years I have really enjoyed Lindsey Kelk books and was looking forward to this Christmas themed one. Gwen Baker is on her way to her Mum and Dad’s house along with her cousin Manny. Her life has gone a little bit pear shaped and she hopes that the Chritsmas break will get her mind into the right place and help her figure things out. At first the chapters ease you in and introduce to her very funny family and I was certainly enjoying it. However when Christmas Day goes terribly wrong it left you wondering what Boxing Day would bring. However when Gwen wakes up she is stuck on a Groundhog day situation and has to relive Christmas Day over and over again.

At first this seemed endearing and quirky, however this soon wore off for me and I found myself getting a little annoyed with it all. The story and writing was as ever brilliant but for me this whole Groundhog day situation just wore a little thin and I found myself wishing I had finished the book. It certainly isn’t a bad book, it’s just not my cup of tea and I will look forward to the next Lindsey Kelk book I read back in her usual style.

CUT TO THE BONE BY ALEX CAAN (RILEY & HARRIS 1)

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Synopsis: One Missing Girl. Two Million Suspects.

Ruby is a vlogger, a rising star of YouTube and a heroine to millions of teenage girls.

And she’s missing . . .

But she’s an adult – nothing to worry about, surely?

Until the video’s uploaded . . .

Ruby, in the dirt, pleading for her life.

Enter Detective Inspector Kate Riley; the Met’s rising star and the head of a new team of investigators with the best resources money can buy. Among them, Detective Sergeant Zain Harris, the poster boy for multiracial policing. But can Kate wholly trust him – and more importantly, can she trust herself around him?

As hysteria builds amongst the press and Ruby’s millions of fans, Kate and her team are under pressure to get results, and fast, but as they soon discover, the world of YouTube vloggers and social media is much darker than anyone could have imagined.

And the videos keep coming . . .

Kat’s Rating: 3/5

Kat’s Review: Continuing my theme of reading older books on my Kindle I figured I would try an author new to me. Alex Caan released this in 2016 and it features DCI Kate Riley and Zain Harris. The opening of the book is pretty straightforward with Harrix being sent to the home of a missing woman Ruby who also happens to be a You Tube Vlogger. Both Kate and Zain are revealed and sections of their own personal lives show they both have their own issues. I have to be honest and say that I didn’t particularly warm to Kate as a character. She just rubbed me up the wrong way from the get go and it didn’t improve as the story progressed.

The chapters are nice and short and sharp and nothing wrong with this author’s style of writing however due to my dislike of Kate it made the book harder to enjoy. The storyline explores the world of social media and like I said before elements of characters are revealed as the story progressed. For me although the writing was decent I felt a little bit like I was struggling to finish. Sometimes it can feel like this with a new series so I think I will at some point try book 2 in the hope I can gel a little more with the characters.

THE LOST ONES BY BEN CHEETHAM

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Synopsis: Some secrets are better left undiscovered.

When a nine-year-old girl goes missing in Harwood Forest, the search for her brings back memories of an unsolved double murder some forty years earlier. Could the key to Erin Jackson’s disappearance lie in the bloody fate of Elijah and Joanna Ingham, bludgeoned to death while their young daughters slept? Were the Inghams really the victims of opportunistic burglars—or a more sinister fate?

The woods are combed for signs of the child, but Erin’s brother, Jake, mounts his own investigation, uncovering evidence that puts the Inghams’ daughters—vanished Rachel and ‘crazy’ Mary—in the frame. Meanwhile, Erin’s father suspects that the ragtag army of eco-warriors besieging his quarry development may have something to hide.

As devastating secrets and betrayals are revealed, the Jackson family is brought to a breaking point. But time is running out. Erin is still missing and Jake’s unorthodox enquiries have left him dangerously exposed. They must find Erin and lay the past to rest—before they become its latest victims.

Kat’s Rating: 3/5

Kat’s Review: I have read one other Ben Cheetham and rather enjoyed it so had high hopes for this one. Sadly although it wasn’t a terrible book it wasn’t as good as his other I had read. I normally enjoy the missing persons kind of cases and this one features missing child Erin Jackson. Whilst out walking with her mother Amanda she literally vanishes into thin air. Amanda’s husband Tom is informed and he is beside himself with worry. There are elements of the story that will make the reader question a variety of characters as they all have hidden secrets and skeletons in the closet.

The story feels a little stilted in places but I think that is more because the culprit was pretty obvious to me, but then maybe that is just me. The pace seemed okay and the writing is certainly as decent as the last book I just didn’t gel as well with this story. Overall not a bad book, just not a favourite for me!

SOMETHING HIDDEN BY KERRY WILKINSON (ANDREW HUNTER #2)

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Synopsis: Everyone hates Fiona Methodist.

Her war veteran father shot a young couple in broad daylight before killing himself. The engaged pair had witnessed a robbery and were due to give evidence but, with all three now dead, no one knows the true motive.

For Fiona, it’s destroyed her life. It’s not just those who whisper behind her back or the friends who pretend she doesn’t exist; it’s the landlords who spot her name and say no, the job agencies who can’t find her work.

But Fiona knows her dad didn’t do it. He couldn’t have – he’s her father and he wouldn’t do that . . . would he?

Private investigator Andrew Hunter takes pity on the girl and, even with stolen bengal cats to find, plus an ex-wife who’s not quite so ‘ex’, he can’t escape the creeping feeling that Fiona might be right after all.

Kat’s Rating: 3/5

Kat’s Review: I haven’t read the first book in this series but figured Book 2 was as good a place as any to start. The story features Andrew Hunter who is a Private Investigator who takes on a case working for Fiona Methodist. A young couple are shot and killed by a war veteran and then it’s discovered they were witnesses due to give evidence on a robbery they witnessed. That war veteran is Fiona’s father Luke and Andrew takes the case pro-bono. Alongside Andrew is his assistant Jenny and while Andrew is working one case she takes on another. Jenny is a great character and I really liked the fact that she and Andrew were polar opposites.

We also get to see Andrew dealing with family including his ex-wife and his Aunt. I liked Andrew but I think it may have helped me to read the first book to get a real idea of the main characters that are appearing again. The story kept me reading and the writing was decent but for some reason I couldn’t really engage with this book on some level. It is definitely not a bad book but I think I should have either read book 1 first or maybe tried this authors series featuring Jessica Daniel. I think I may well give it a couple of months and try book 1 of that series.

DINNER PARTY BY TRACY BLOOM

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Synopsis: Never has an unexpected guest caused such chaos!

Three couples take it in turns to host a monthly dinner party.

Beth, Sarah and Marie have been friends forever. Now they are grown up, with busy lives, busy husbands, busy kids… but they still find time to meet up over dinner once a month. A cosy, comfortable gathering of happy couples – or so they thought.

Until one night, someone brings along a last-minute guest whose wife has just left him.

Simon is standing on the doorstep in floods of tears. While the women do their best to console him, their husbands feel the need to mark their territory.

And as Simon becomes more involved with the group, his presence changes everything these three couples thought they knew about each other, leading to a final dinner party that no-one will ever forget.

Kat’s Rating: 3/5

Kat’s Review: I tried reading this book a couple of times and couldn’t get into it and have finally got back around to trying again. The story is based around three couples who have a dinner club going. Beth and Chris, Sarah and Tony and finally Duncan and Marie. The three couple take it in turns to host a dinner party but when Chris decides to invite a friend Simon who is newly separated to one of their dinner parties things start to get interesting.

The overall story and writing was easy to read and flowed well. Each chapter and character revealing more and more about them all as individuals as well as couples. There were some funny moments but generally this was just a book that was okay in my opinion. Some of the characters just really irritated me and I couldn’t get my head around not liking them which made it hard to have an opinion about what happened to them. Not a terrible book but not amazing either!

COLD HEART BY STEPHEN EDGER (KATE MATTHEWS#3)

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Synopsis: It has been a week since anyone last saw fifteen-year-old Daisy, after she left her best friend’s house and started her short walk home. Detective Kate Matthews and her team have been looking for her ever since.

When a tip-off leads Kate to a disused gymnasium at Daisy’s school, she is shocked to find evidence linking to the murder of a different girl.

Working the two cases side by side, Kate’s blood runs cold when a gift-wrapped box containing a human heart is delivered to her at the station. The heart belongs to yet another unknown victim, but the message is clear: there will be more, and Daisy could be one of them.

When activity on Daisy’s Facebook account indicates she is still alive, the race is on for Kate and her team. Will Daisy be the killer’s next victim? Is Kate prepared to risk everything to stop another innocent life from being taken?

Kat’s Rating: 3/5

Kat’s Review: This is the third book in this series that I have read and I enjoyed this one slightly more than the last, however it was still missing something! A young fifteen year old girl Daisy is missing and Kate and the team are trying to find out where she has gone. We see the return of her colleagues Patel, Olly and Laura and they receive a tip off leading them to a school gymnasium. The discovery sets them off on a whole new path and from the very early stages there are plenty of suspicious characters.

The story unravels slowly throwing crumbs of evidence or clues along the way. The writing was very good and I do actually really like these characters yet I cannot help but feel there is something missing. As somebody who reads a lot of this type of book I have come to the conclusion that these books are just not memorable enough. So as soon as you finish one they don’t linger like some others, or the characters just don’t make enough of an impression. It’s certainly a decent enough read and the writing is good, I just think I need to read a different series of books by this author as I think maybe these characters just aren’t grabbing my attention enough.

THE BONE FIELD BY SIMON KERNICK

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Synopsis: SOME CRIMES CAN TAKE A LIFETIME TO AVENGE…

1990

A young woman goes missing while backpacking in Thailand. She is never seen again.

2016

Her bones are discovered 6000 miles away in an English field and, within hours, the boyfriend who reported her disappearance all those years ago is dead.

So begins a hunt to solve her murder that will take DI Ray Mason and PI Tina Boyd into a dark and terrifying world of corruption and deadly secrets, where murder is commonplace, and nothing and nobody is safe…

Kat’s Rating: 3/5

Kat’s Review: I have a bit of a strange feeling about Simon Kernick books, I seem to love them or just think they are pretty middle of the road. Sadly for me this book was just middle of the road and left me feeling unbothered about reading another in this series. It features both DI Ray Mason and PI Tina Boyd (both featured in other books) and although I like Tina Boyd, I felt she took more of a backseat in this book than Ray did.

The synopsis explains the main storyline which is based around the murder of a young woman in Thailand in the 90s and the discovery of bones in England in 2016. The boyfriend of the victim who originally reported her missing then turns up dead. So it seems that Ray and Tina are the ones digging into the case.

Synopsis: felt a little forced and the writing didn’t flow as well as it does in some other books by the same author. I actually started this book once and then went back to it as I felt it was too slow. I persevered with it the second time around but in all honesty there was nothing too much that jept me hooked or interested enough to look at book 3.

DYING DAY BY STEPHEN EDGER (KATE MATTHEWS 2)

Synopsis: When the body of a young woman is found in the boot of an abandoned car near the Southampton Docks, Detective Kate Matthews is ordered to stay well away from the scene.

Exactly a year ago, Amy, a junior detective on Kate’s team, was murdered when she was sent undercover to catch a serial killer targeting young girls. Kate never forgave herself for letting the killer slip through her fingers and her team are worried this coincidence might push her over the edge.

When another girl’s body is uncovered days later with similar bruising around the neck, Kate launches an investigation of her own, determined to connect new evidence to the old to catch this monster before more innocent lives are taken…

Mysterious sympathy cards left with the families of the victims finally lead Kate to the twisted individual from her past. But if she’s found the killer, why does the body count keep rising?

Kat’s Rating: 3/5

Kat’s Review: I am back for book 2 in this series to see how she has fared and I must say I enjoyed this but I felt this was a predictable move in terms of storyline and I felt it was a little bit too much of an easy fix to an element of Kate’s story in book 1. Detective Kate Matthews is desperate to get involved with the case that sees a young woman murdered in a very similar fashion to one of Kates undercover officers who was killed whilst under Kate’s command. The one thing that was a huge draw for me in this book was the switch between chapters where we go from seeing Kate and her current investigation, before switching to see a chapter from Amy’s storyline from the year before.

The plot was great and it was very readable in terms of the pace and characters. However, it just would have been a great move to do something outside of the most obvious choice from book 1. Kate is certainly unpredictable and that’s always pretty enjoyable as a reader, but to be honest she also seems very edgy with a dark side and weirdly that makes me like her even more! I will certainly move on to book 3 and think that Kate has made an excellent base for this series along with her colleague Laura.

RETREAT TO THE SPANISH SUN BY JO THOMAS

Synopsis: Eliza has a full house! When her three children grew up and moved out, she downsized to a smaller property… but now they’re all back. Every room in the house is taken and Eliza finds herself sharing her bed with her eldest daughter and her daughter’s pug. Combined with the online course she’s trying to finish, plus her job to fit in, there just isn’t the peace and quiet that Eliza needs.

So when an ad pops up on her laptop saying ‘house-sitters wanted’, Eliza can’t resist the chance to escape. She ends up moving to a rural finca in southern Spain, looking after the owner’s Iberico pigs, learning about secret gastronomic societies… and finding a new zest for life and love along the way.

Kat’s Rating: 3/5

Kat’s Review: Eliza is a mum with three grown up children, however Eliza has had enough and needs a break from real life. She decides on a whim to sign up to be a house-sitter and as luck would have it somebody is in need of a house-sitter for a farmhouse in Spain. Eliza packs up her things and leaves her adult children to it, determined to make the most of the few weeks of peace enabling her to finish an online course she is currently working on.

When she arrives to the house, the owner is somewhat abrupt but Eliza sees him off and is left in charge of the beautiful house and two dogs. Eliza is a nice enough character to read about, and I have certainly enjoyed all the Jo Thomas books I have read before this one. However, for some reason there was an element of disbelief to this story. Don’t get me wrong it didn’t make the book any less enjoyable it just didn’t quite live up to her other books I have read and thoroughly enjoyed.

There are a few funny moments as Eliza manages to get herself into quite a predicament whilst doing something as simple as house sitting. Stolen prized hams, ex-pat Spanish language classes and tapas bars make for some amusing scenes and likeable additional characters. This was still a reasonably enjoyable book that is perfect getaway material, maybe just not quite as enjoyable as some of her other books.

THE SECRETS SHE KEEPS BY MICHAEL ROBOTOHAM

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Synopsis: Everyone has an idea of what their perfect life is. For Agatha, it’s Meghan Shaughnessy’s.

These two women from vastly different backgrounds have one thing in common – a dangerous secret that could destroy everything they hold dear.

Both will risk everything to hide the truth, but their worlds are about to collide in a shocking act that cannot be undone.

Kat’s Rating: 3/5

Kat’s Review: I absolutely love the books created by Michael Robotham featuring Cyrus Haven. This book is a standalone (yet weirdly we do see Cyrus as a cameo role). Agatha and Meghan are the lead characters in this book and they are both seemingly in the same boat as expectant mothers. However their worlds couldn’t be further apart. Meghan already has two children and is a ‘Mummy’ vlogger alongside her dashing tv sports presenter husband. Agatha on the other hand is a loner who has a supermarket job and a boyfriend in the Navy.

The chapters are told from both Agatha and Meghan’s viewpoints making the story flow well and give you a real idea of each person’s story. Agatha is a strange woman and that is clear from the outset, although it also becomes just as clear before long that both women are sitting on huge secrets. The book is pretty well paced and there was certainly enough going on to keep you interested. However for me, this book just wasn’t as good as others of his I have read.

The characters although readable, just left no impression on me either way and I couldn’t care less what happened to them. It’s such a shame as this book by Robotham seems such a departure from the norm which can sometimes be exciting but for me it just didn’t leave any lasting impression. It certainly isn’t a ‘bad’ book it just wasn’t one from this author I particularly loved.