Tuesday 19 December 2017

The Other Half Lives (Culver Valley Crime) by Sophie Hannah

Synopsis:

Ruth Bussey knows what it means to be in the wrong - and to be wronged. She once did something she regrets, and was punished excessively for it. Now Ruth is trying to rebuild her life and has found a love she doesn't believe she deserves. Aidan Seed is a passionate, intense man who has also been damaged by his past. Desperate to connect with the woman he loves, he confides his secret: he killed a woman called Mary Trelease. Through her shock, Ruth recognises the name. And when she's realised why it's familiar, her fear and revulsion deepen. The Mary Trelease that Ruth knows is very much alive...

My review:

From time to time I go back to my own library of paperbacks I have collected over the years and pick out a real cracker. And this was definitely one of them. Second novel by Sophie Hannah that I have had the pleasure to read and happy to say there are another three on my shelves that I can look forward to reading.

Sophie has a real talent in getting the reader involved in the story, not giving anything away until the last few pages and letting you get completely engrossed in the lives of all the characters.

When Ruth turns up at the police station to see Charlie Zaylor, she has no idea that this one step will start an avalanche of events that will change her live and the lives of all of those she loves. The man she loves told her that he killed a woman called Mary Trelease. But to Ruth that’s not the problem. The problem is that she know the woman and she is very much alive.

From there on things spiral very quickly and events from decades ago have to be brought up to surface in order to understand the present. The characters have a real live to them which forces the reader to experience their emotions and have a proper relationship and involvement with the story.

Fabulous book, a proper page-turner.

My rating: 5/5

Available to purchase from:

Friday 8 December 2017

The House on Rectory Lane by Stuart James

Synopsis:

Jake and Kate live in Camden, London and have had enough of the hassle with parking, overbooked restaurants and burglaries.

After an altercation with a stranger who pulls a knife on Jake, they take their son Sean and move to a house in the woods. It’s their dream home, or so they think.

People in the village warn them they shouldn’t have come.

Neighbours are overly friendly and who was the face at the window Kate saw late at night?

They find a tape hidden in the loft of their new house, a homemade video recording of the previous family, the Prescotts. What they view, chills them to the bone.

They realise that the family living there before them have disappeared and now, they could be next....................

My review:

Wow. What a rollercoaster of a book. I am still trying to process everything that has happened in this brilliant, fast-moving page-turner.

Jake and Kate have had enough of the bad air, bad traffic and high crime whilst living in London and all they want is a nicer place for their little boy Sean to grown up in. And when Jake gets confronted with a homeless man drawing a knife at him and they interrupt a burglar in their own flat, the time seems perfect for the move.

Now picture a small town, country lanes, woodlands, lakes, seclusion and a five bedroom house in a quiet spot that has just come on the market and is available straight away. Talk about right time and right place.

But as they old saying goes, if things look too good to be true, they usually are. With a stranger telling Jake they need to leave, the house being broken into, previous owners missing and a sinister DVD found in the loft of their new home, the dreams are shattered and the family find themselves the new targets of someone who will not stop at anything to get them out of the house.

It’s brilliant. There are twist and turns on every page and the story keeps on unravelling until the last page of the book.

Thank you to the author and TBConFB for access to this book in return for an honest review.

My rating: 5/5

Available to purchase from:

Tuesday 5 December 2017

Liar Liar (DC Charlotte Stafford #3) by Sarah Flint

Synopsis:

A faithful dog lies wounded beside the mutilated body of its owner. 

A woman is discovered bound and gagged, dead in her own bed. 

Both are police officers. 

Both have a red rose at their side... worryingly more will follow...
Lies and accusations abound but who is behind the murders and why are the victims being targeted?

Charlie, Hunter and the team must find the killer targeting their own before another body is found.

My review:

This is the third novel in the DC Charlie Stafford series and what a rollercoaster this was. The books just seem to get better and better. Sarah Flint doesn’t give anything away until the right time and the right place and this novel is a proof of that.

When a body of a police officer is found, it sends shock waves through the whole organisation.  And when Charlie and her boss Hunter arrive at the scene and see the gruesome crime for themselves, it leaves them feeling angry and determined to catch whoever did this and to prevent any further officer deaths.

But with no witnesses, no DNA traces and no clear suspects, Charlie and her team hit a wall. That is until another two bodies are found. Someone has it in for the authority and they are not afraid to use some brutal force to let everyone know exactly what they think.

This one is personal and every member of the team is feeling the pressure. In this book I feel that Sarah Flint became even more of a master of investigations, there was more detail into the evidence and psychology of the killer. It was fab to read, a real page turner and I cannot wait to read the next book. The book also continues the complicated story of Charlie’s relationship with her friend Ben and I am intrigued as to where the next book takes them – I am rooting for them, but we’ll have to wait and see.

This is another excellent book for lovers of all things crime. Nothing is given away until the right time arrives and the reader is kept guessing until the last minute.

Thank you to the publisher, author and NetGalley for access to this book in return for an honest review.

My rating: 5/5

Available to purchase from:

Sunday 3 December 2017

Nearly Dead (Detective Alec Ramsay #0) by Conrad Jones

Synopsis:

The renovation of a remote farmhouse on the outskirts of Liverpool uncovers a chamber of horrors but the crimes are historical. DI Alec Ramsay must sift through the evidence to identify both the victims and the perpetrators, while trying to dismantle the dangerous drug gangs that plague the city. 

The prequel to The Child Taker, this book is a must for fans of the Alec Ramsay series.

My review:

I was so confused as to what rating to give this book right up until the last page. I started of thinking this was about 2 stars for me, then moved to 3 about half way through and ended up with 4 so it's an obvious grower for me.

Firstly I need to say that I have never read any other books by Conrad Jones and understand that this is a prequel to a series already published. Knowing that I now fully understand the journey this book took to set the scene for the first book in the series.

However the blurb was a complete fluke for me. I went back to the blurb numerous times whilst reading the book thinking I was reading the wrong book as the blurb suggested that the book takes of when something terrible is found at an old farmhouse. This doesn't happen until well into the book. 

For me this was a little too much. Very gritty, detailed torture and murder scenes, drug and money underworld - a world I am not that familiar with as a reader (or otherwise I am happy to say). There are a lots of different characters that keep popping up and dropping like flies and until it came to the farmhouse and things started to slot into place more. So in that way this was actually very cleverly written as it really does make the reader want to delve into that dark world again and read the first book in the series.

Overall - to start with I didn't think this was for me, but now I think I will look out for this author again.

Thank you very much to TBConFB and the author for access to this book.

My rating: 4/5

Available from:
Amazon UK
Amazon US