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28/2/2019 0 Comments

Review: Betty Church and the Suffolk Vampire

Betty Church and the Suffolk Vampire by M.R.C. Kasasian
Page length: 432 Pages
Genre: Literary Fiction   
Publication Date: 7 February 2019 (Paperback)
Publisher: Head of Zeus
Source: ARC via NetGalley
 
Stars:  4.5 out of 5
 
Link: AMAZON (UK)

 
ABOUT BETTY CHURCH AND THE SUFFOLK VAMPIRE
 
September 1939.
 
As Britain readies for war, Inspector Betty Church must battle a ruthless killer...
 
Inspector Betty Church – one of the few female officers on the force – has arrived from London to fill a vacancy at Sackwater police station. But Betty isn't new here. This is the place she grew up. The place she thought she'd left for good.
 
After a slow start, Betty's called to the train station to investigate a stolen bench. But though there's no bench, there is a body. A smartly dressed man, murdered in broad daylight, with two distinctive puncture wounds in his throat.
 
While the locals gossip about the Suffolk Vampire, Betty Church steels herself to hunt a dangerous killer.
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My Review:

I absolutely adored MRC Kasasian's Gower Street series (start with the Mangle Street Murders, so I was delighted to get the chance to read the first Betty Church story.
 
Betty Church is one of the first female police detectives, and let's be fair if it wasn't near-war time she might not have got a look in. As if those weren't difficult enough odds, Betty only has one arm. It's Girl Power 1930s!
 
Betty is a brilliant protagonist and as per Mr Kasasian's previous series, (set in Victorian London) the research of the time and location is exemplary. It's Team Betty the whole time when she comes up against common-place (of its time) discrimination and prejudice. It's heartbreaking at times how people are treated and disregarded.
 
The book is a riot from start to finish. I hope to see and read more of Betty Church's escapades.
 
VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
 
Thank you so much the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a complimentary electronic copy in return for an honest review. 
 
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25/2/2019 0 Comments

Review: Bitter Edge

Bitter Edge by Rachel Lynch
Page length: 296 pages
Genre: Crime Fiction, Thriller  
Publication Date: 25 February 2019
Publisher: Canelo
Source: ARC via NetGalley
 
Stars:  4 out of 5
 
Link: AMAZON (UK)

 
ABOUT BITTER EDGE
 
When a teenage girl flings herself off a cliff in pursuit of a gruesome death, DI Kelly Porter is left asking why. Ruled a suicide, there’s no official reason for Kelly to chase answers, but as several of her team’s cases converge on the girl’s school, a new, darker story emerges. One which will bring Kelly face-to-face with an old foe determined to take back what is rightfully his – no matter the cost.
 
Mired in her pursuit of justice for the growing list of victims, Kelly finds security in Johnny, her family and the father she has only just discovered. But just as she draws close to unearthing the dark truth at the heart of her investigation, a single moment on a cold winter’s night shatters the notion that anything in Kelly’s world can ever truly be safe.
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My Review:

This is the fourth in the DI Kelly Porter series, but the first one I have read (NB - I will definitely be checking out the others in the series).
 
The story is intertwined with many characters but you're never at a loss at who anybody is. There is a nice realism to the professionals and it felt like I was in the middle of a police investigation, with scraps of information and other cases and real life interruptions. There was a good amount of red herrings that kept you guessing what actually  happened on the night in question.
 
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
 
Thank you so much the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a complimentary electronic copy in return for an honest review. 
 
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21/2/2019 0 Comments

Review: Never Tell

Never Tell by Lisa Gardner
Page length: 405 pages
Genre: Crime Fiction, Thriller  
Publication Date: 21 February 2019
Publisher: Cornerstone Digital
Source: ARC via NetGalley
 
Stars:  5 out of 5
 
Link: AMAZON (UK)

 
ABOUT NEVER TELL
 
One death might be an accident.
Two deaths looks like murder.
 
A man is shot dead in his own home, and his pregnant wife, Evie, is found with the gun in her hands.
 
Detective D.D. Warren instantly recognises her. Sixteen years ago, Evie also shot her own father. That killing was ruled an accident.
 
D.D. doesn’t believe in coincidences. But this case isn’t as open and shut as it first appears, and her job is to discover the truth.
 
Evie might be a victim.
 
Or she might be about to get away with murder again.
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My Review:

A riveting read from start to finish.
 
The book is told from three the perspective female characters:
- Evie - 16 years earlier she accidentally killed her father and she has rebuilt her life and comes home to find her husband dead from a gunshot wound.
- DD - A senior policewoman who first questioned Evie all those years ago.
- Flora - The survivor of a violent kidnapping, and now works as DD's confidential informant.
 
From the very first chapter I was hooked. Why did Evie act so unexpectedly when she found her husband's body?
The book looks at the old case of Evie's father in more detail. DD is adamant Evie isn't going to get away again. Yet, when her informant Flora recognises Evie's husband, there is more than meets the eye in both deaths. Everyone is harbouring secrets. Flora's story is heartbreaking, her courage seeps through with her every action  - I hope to see more of her in the future!
 
I read this in as close to one sitting as possible, with meals and sleep getting in the way.
 
A brilliant book. And if you like Karin Slaughter and Gillian Flynn do not hesitate to read Never Tell.
 
VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
 
Thank you so much the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a complimentary electronic copy in return for an honest review. 
 
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11/2/2019 0 Comments

Review: Adèle

Adèle by Leila Slimani
Genre: Literary Fiction   
Page Length: 224 pages
Publication Date: 15 January 2019
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Source: ARC via NetGalley
 
Stars:  5 out of 5
 
Link: AMAZON (UK)

 
ABOUT ADÈLE
 
Adèle appears to have the perfect life. A respected journalist, she lives in a flawless Parisian apartment with her surgeon husband and their young son. But beneath the veneer of 'having it all', she is bored - and consumed by an insatiable need for sex, whatever the cost. Struggling to contain the twin forces of compulsion and desire, she begins to orchestrate her life around her one night stands and extramarital affairs, arriving late to work and lying to her husband about where she's been, until she becomes ensnared in a trap of her own making.
 
An erotic and daring story - with electrically clear writing - Adèle will captivate readers with its exploration of addiction, sexuality, and one woman's quest to feel alive.
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My Review:

I thought this was pitched as a story about an unhappy marriage and it is but it is so much more.  I went back to the book blurb and it says it all:
 
But beneath the veneer of 'having it all', [Adèle] is bored - and consumed by an insatiable need for sex, whatever the cost.
 
Adele is unhappily married and feels trapped by her husband and child, both of whom she loves. She's addicted to strangers and risky one night stands. She alienates her best friend who she uses as a regular alibi.
 
Adèle is a brilliant book, and the eponymous protagonist gives it all with little remorse. There are moments of sex, but rarely sensual. It concentrates of the perfunctory of coitus and Adèle's sex addiction is the chase and the conquest rather than the deed. As Adele herself confesses her only ambition is to be wanted. The betrayal of her family is deep-rooted. The story is fascinating as it flowed. It is intimate and revealing, as if I was being told the all the gory and exposing details from a friend.
 
VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
 
Thank you so much the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a complimentary electronic copy in return for an honest review.
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9/2/2019 0 Comments

Review: The Mystery of Three Quarters

The Mystery of Three Quarters by Sophie Hannah
Page length: 401 pages
Genre: Crime Fiction, Agatha Christie  
Publication Date: 23 August 2018
Publisher: HarperCollins
Source: ARC via NetGalley
 
Stars:  4 out of 5
 
Link: AMAZON (UK)

 ABOUT THE MYSTERY OF THREE QUARTERS
 
Returning home after lunch one day, Hercule Poirot finds an angry woman waiting outside his front door. She demands to know why Poirot has sent her a letter accusing her of the murder of Barnabas Pandy, a man she has neither heard of nor ever met.
 
Poirot has also never heard of a Barnabas Pandy, and has accused nobody of murder. Shaken, he goes inside, only to find that he has a visitor waiting for him — a man who also claims also to have received a letter from Poirot that morning, accusing him of the murder of Barnabas Pandy…
 
Poirot wonders how many more letters of this sort have been sent in his name. Who sent them, and why? More importantly, who is Barnabas Pandy, is he dead, and, if so, was he murdered? And can Poirot find out the answers without putting more lives in danger?
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My Review:

I was a little apprehensive to read The Mystery of Three Quarters. I had such high expectations. I'm delighted to say Ms Hannah delivered a genuine article. From the first chapter I was at home with Poirot and excited to read the rest of the book.
 
Poirot is brought into the aftermath of Barnabas Pandy's death which had been deemed natural causes. All the red herrings littered amongst the story brought joy. And then the gorgeous (and extensive) summing up. At a time where the punishment for murder was hanging, the tension of the gallows added to the plot.
 
Thank you Ms Hannah for bringing Hercule back to life. I look forward to reading more of Poirot's adventures.
 
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
 
Thank you so much the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a complimentary electronic copy in return for an honest review. 
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