#britishpoliceprocedural – Page 2

Blog Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: The Ash Lake Murders by Helen H. Durrant

Hi, everyone!

Today is my turn on the Book ‘n’ All Promotions Blog Tour and I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for THE ASH LAKE MURDERS (Detective Alice Rossi Book #1) by Helen H. Durrant.

Below you will find a book blurb, my book review and the author’s bio and socila media links. Enjoy!

***

Book Blurb

MEET DETECTIVE ALICE ROSSI IN THIS BRILLIANT NEW CRIME SERIES.

A female serial killer with a deadly agenda. The detective who must stop her. Luxury holiday lodges in the stunning Peak District. The game begins . . .

Callum is lured to an isolated boathouse by an attractive older woman. When she gets him alone, she knocks him out with a single blow. As he wakes up, her voice comes out of the darkness, “You’re a sprat to catch a mackerel.”

Surrounded by hills and lakes, Still Waters is home to a close-knit community of wealthy retirees. It’s an unlikely setting for violence. The police don’t take Callum’s disappearance seriously: he’s 24-years-old, after all. But Callum’s mother, a Still Waters resident, knows that something is very wrong.

Then a body is discovered floating in the lake. Head bashed in. But it’s not Callum.

And someone tweets: Come out to play one last time, Alice. Still Waters run deep. #MadHatter.

That’s when DCI Alice Rossi is called in. She’s back.

IT’S A CAT-AND-MOUSE GAME BETWEEN AN OBSESSED KILLER AND A DETERMINED DETECTIVE IN THIS GRIPPING MYSTERY FULL OF STUNNING TWISTS.

###

THE DETECTIVE
DCI Alice Rossi of Greater Manchester’s Serious Crime Squad has served with the police for the past twenty-nine years. Since the death of her husband, Paul, six years ago, she has lived alone in a large, three-storey Edwardian terrace on the outskirts of Manchester. Her grown-up son lives in Edinburgh with his family. Alice is about to retire — but she’s not looking forward to it. Since her husband died, work has been her mainstay, not because she misses Paul — he was a bad man — but because it keeps her dark thoughts at bay.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60399454-the-ash-lake-murders?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=8BoOq01IFE&rank=1

ALSO BY HELEN H. DURRANT

DETECTIVE RACHEL KING
Book 1: NEXT VICTIM
Book 2: TWO VICTIMS
Book 3: WRONG VICTIM
Book 4: FORGOTTEN VICTIM
Book 5: LAST VICTIM

THE CALLADINE & BAYLISS MYSTERY SERIES
Book 1: DEAD WRONG
Book 2: DEAD SILENT
Book 3: DEAD LIST
Book 4: DEAD LOST
Book 5: DEAD & BURIED
Book 6: DEAD NASTY
Book 7: DEAD JEALOUS
Book 8: DEAD BAD
Book 9: DEAD GUILTY
Book 10: DEAD WICKED
Book 11: DEAD SORRY

THE DCI GRECO BOOKS
Book 1: DARK MURDER
Book 2: DARK HOUSES
Book 3: DARK TRADE
Book 4: DARK ANGEL

MATT BRINDLE
Book 1: HIS THIRD VICTIM
Book 2: THE OTHER VICTIM

DETECTIVES LENNOX & WILDE
Book 1: THE GUILTY MAN
Book 2: THE FACELESS MAN

***

My Book Review

RATING: 3 out of 5 Stars

THE ASH LAKE MURDERS (Detective Alice Rossi Book #1) by Helen H. Durrant is the first book in a new British police procedural mystery series featuring a more mature female lead character, DCI Alice Rossi.

A serial murderer known as the Mad Hatter has once again returned to taunt DCI Alice Rossi. Over the last six years, when a tweet is sent with the killer’s hashtag dead bodies begin to appear. This time the murders occur in a luxury holiday resort in the Peak District were Alice lost her husband to a climbing accident.

Once again, the obsessed killer has Alice in her sites, and she is determined to end the game this time with Alice’s death.

I am always excited to read Ms. Durrant’s books, but this story was a letdown for me. The police procedural plot kept me turning the pages more from wanting to know the killer’s motive than who she was because her identity was easily deduced early on in the book. I was expecting a plot twist that would shock me as Ms. Durant is very good at surprising me, but it did not happen. The surprise twist was just not believable. Alice’s experience and expertise are set up for use in future books in this series and I will be interested in reading more.

A good, quick read with an interesting protagonist, but not my favorite from this author.

***

Author Bio

OVER 1 MILLION BOOKS SOLD!

Helen is one of the ‘baby boomer’ generation and began writing when she retired from her job at a local college. Born in Edinburgh to an English father and Scottish mother the family settled in a Pennine village between the counties of Lancashire and Yorkshire. It is an environment which has shaped her stories. Writing is a second career and, despite having a bus pass, keeps her busy, and tuned in.

Helen’s children are all grown-up and she has five grandchildren.

Social Media Links

Book Review: Killing Mind by Angela Marsons

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

KILLING MIND (D.I. Kim Stone Book #12) by Angela Marsons is another great addition the D.I. Kim Stone crime thriller/British police procedural series. While each of these books can stand alone on the crime thriller plot, the main characters continually evolve and develop. This is just one of those series that is best read in order.

Kim and Bryant get called out to check an apparent suicide. While everyone agrees at first, something about the scene just does not sit right with Kim. After checking the crime scene photos, it is discovered to be a murder. This murder and the discovery of a body in a local lake leads Kim and her team to Unity Farm, which is a cult, which at first Kim does not believe or understand. Kim sends Tiffany “Tink” in undercover and they discover the truly manipulative power of the cult.

While they are working the Unity Farm case, Bryant is also entangled in a past case from when he was just an officer guarding a crime scene. A murderer is paroled and all those entangled in the old case are once again fearful of another murder.

The main characters all feel like friends now and the crime plots are always intriguing and realistic. Ms. Marson has a way of keeping everything fresh and interesting even in this twelfth book. I was extremely impressed with the research information on cults throughout the story and the demonstration of the manipulation used in the dialogue of the cult members.

I really am not able to come up with much new to tell everyone how much I love these books! This is an excellent series that I recommend to all.

***

Author Bio

Angela is the author of the Kim Stone Crime series. She discovered a love of writing at Primary School when a short piece on the rocks and the sea gained her the only merit point she ever got. Angela wrote the stories that burned inside and then stored them safely in a desk drawer. After much urging from her partner she began to enter short story competitions in Writer’s News resulting in a win and three short listed entries.

She used the Amazon KDP program to publish two of her earlier works before concentrating on her true passion – Crime.

Angela is now signed to write a total of 16 Kim Stone books for http://bookouture.com and has secured a print deal with Bonnier Zaffre Publishing.

Blog Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: The Abberley Beach Murders by D.E. White

Hi, everyone!

Today is my turn on the Book n All Promotions Blog Tour and I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for THE ABBERLEY BEACH MURDERS (Detective Dove Milson Book #3) by D.E. White.

Below you will find a book description, my book review, the author’s bio and social media links. Enjoy!

***

Book Description

THE ELECTRIFYING NEWEST NOVEL STARRING DETECTIVE DOVE MILSON.

Four dead.

One clinging to life.

Are they tragic accidents or is someone out to kill?

Detective Dove Milson is called out to a gruesome scene under the pier: four bodies floating in a flooded escape room. What really happened after midnight in room 6?

Then Dove discovers one of the dead was a person of interest in a cold case involving Olympian in-the-making Mickey Delaney. She was left for dead in an abandoned quarry and has been in a coma for five years.

What’s the connection between these cases and do they have anything to do with the attacks on the beach?

One thing is clear.

Dove’s in a dangerous game of cat and mouse and only one of them will escape with their life.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58754876-the-abberley-beach-murders?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=u7FPRyagEm&rank=1

###

DETECTIVE DOVE MILSON SERIES

Book 1: GLASS DOLLS

Book 2: THE ICE DAUGHTERS

Book 3: THE ABBERLEY BEACH MURDERS

***

My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

THE ABBERLEY BEACH MURDERS (Detective Dove Milson Book #3) by D.E. White is another outstanding British police procedural crime mystery in the Detective Dove Milson series. This has quickly become one of my favorite series in this genre. The books can all be read as standalone crime mysteries, but Dove, her colleagues and family have all been evolving and I believe this series is best read in order.

Detective Dove Milson and her partner, DS Steve Parker are called to the scene of a gruesome crime. Four bodies are found floating in a flooded escape room.

Dove discovers one of the dead was a person of interest in a cold case where a promising Olympian gymnast was attacked and left for dead in a quarry. She has been in a coma for the last five years.

Dove is being watched as she works to discover if there is a connection between these two cases. Will she be able to solve the crimes before she too becomes a victim in this dangerous game?

I love Dove and D.E. White’s writing style. This book, like all the others in the series, is an intricate puzzle that is cleverly crafted and builds momentum as it comes together and reaches a surprising climax and conclusion, and I am always surprised at the end. The crimes may be gruesome but Dove and her colleagues are realistically portrayed in their determination to catch the killer and solve the crime.

I highly recommend this British police procedural crime mystery, the entire series and this author!

***

Author Bio

Daisy White started writing fifteen years ago, scribbling ideas on napkins at work on the night shift. After various jobs, including working as cabin crew, in a hospital, a supermarket, and as a 999 call handler for the ambulance service, she began writing full time in 2018.

She writes cosy crime as Daisy White, including the Amazon bestselling RUBY BAKER MYSTERIES (Joffe Books), and psychological thrillers as D.E. White; REMEMBER ME and THE FORGOTTEN CHILD (HarperCollins).

Her latest book, THE FORGOTTEN CHILD, was released on kindle, audiobook and paperback in October 2019, and charted at number 15 in the US Amazon Kindle Top 100. It has been described as ‘…an explosive gangland thriller.’

Daisy’s new police procedural, GLASS DOLLS, featuring DC Dove Wilson, was published by Joffe Books in 2020. She is also working on a new cosy crime series and another standalone psychological thriller.

Rep’d by Lina Langlee at the Kate Nash Literary Agency.

BOOKS BY D. E. WHITE

DETECTIVE RUBY BAKER SERIES:

BEFORE I LEFT
BEFORE I FOUND YOU
BEFORE I TRUST YOU

DOVE MILSON SERIES:

GLASS DOLLS
THE ICE DAUGHTERS
THE ABBERLEY BEACH MURDERS

Social Media Links

AUTHOR WEBSITE
FACEBOOK
TWITTER
INSTAGRAM
GOODREADS

Blog Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Wishbone by Stuart Giles

Hi, everyone!

Today is my turn on the Books n All Promotions Blog Tour and I am excited to be sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for WISHBONE (A DS Jason Smith Thriller Book #15) by Stuart Giles.

Below you will find a book blurb, my book review and the author’s bio and social media links. Enjoy!

***

Book Blurb

‘BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR.’

These seemingly innocent song lyrics are about to send Detective Jason Smith over the edge.

Still traumatised after a harrowing trip back home, Smith is sent headlong into the stuff of nightmares when he returns to work. When a woman is found dead with her spinal cord severed Smith and his team are thrown into the most disturbing investigation ever.

Then another body is found and when Smith realizes what this woman was subjected to he knows he’s on the trail of the most sadistic killer he’s ever come across.

All clues point to a death metal band.

Wishbone are in town for a few shows and when Smith realizes all the murders bear striking similarities to their song lyrics he starts to wonder if there is something more to this band than meets the eye.

This is the most horrifying case of Smith’s career and one the people of York will never forget.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57756546-wishbone?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=AJlpkvhXzE&rank=1

***

My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

WISHBONE (A DS Jason Smith Thriller Book #15) by Stuart Giles is the latest thriller/British police procedural with DS Jason Smith and his family back in York from their trip to Australia and trying to return to normal. Five-year-old Laura is still traumatized, DC Erica Whitton is not yet ready to return to work, but Jason cannot stand another minute of leave. All the books in this series can be read as standalones, but I know you will want to read many more.

DS Jason Smith is on the hunt for a sadist killer. He comes back to work with his team and is called to the scene of a woman found in her bedroom with her spine severed in two places. Then a second mutilated body is found. As Jason is at the new murder scene, he is called back to the station to hear a story from two members of a death metal band called Wishbone. At first, it does not seem connected to his present case.

Then a USB is anonymously left for Smith at the police station which seems to connect the sadistic murders to the disturbing lyrics of Wishbone’s songs. Smith and his team work to uncover the clues to lead them to a sadist killer who could be a fan, roadie or even a member of the band.

I read through this DS Jason Smith thriller at warp speed! I was glad that Mr. Giles exposed Laura’s continuing problems which are from her time in “Australia” and did not just gloss over the realistic expected trauma. Smith is his usual workaholic self, and this case throws some very gruesome crime scenes his way. The violence in this book is graphic and not for the faint of heart, but it does not feel exploitive due to the subject matter. This story, like all the other DS Jason Smith thrillers, is fast paced, well plotted and gives a thoroughly satisfying conclusion.

I highly recommend this new thriller in the series and the entire DS Jason Smith series!

***

Author Bio

After reading English at 3 Universities and graduating from none of them, I set off travelling around the world with my wife, Ann, finally settling in South Africa, where we still live.

In 2014 Ann dropped a rather large speaker on my head and I came up with the idea for a detective series. DS Jason Smith was born. Smith, the first in the series was finished a few months later.

3 years and 8 DS Smith books later, Joffe Books wondered if I would be interested in working with them. As a self-published author, I agreed. However, we decided on a new series – the DC Harriet Taylor: Cornwall series.

The Beekeeper was published and soon hit the number one spot in Australia. The second in the series, The Perfect Murder did just as well.

I continued to self-publish the Smith series and Unworthy hit the shelves in 2018 with amazing results. I therefore made the decision to self-publish The Backpacker which is book 3 in the Detective Harriet Taylor series which was published in July 2018.

After The Backpacker I had an idea for a totally new start to a series – a collaboration between the Smith and Harriet thrillers and The Enigma was born. It brought together the broody, enigmatic Jason Smith and the more level-headed Harriet Taylor.

The Miranda trilogy is something totally different. A psychological thriller trilogy. It is a real departure from anything else I’ve written before.

The Detective Jason Smith series continues to grow with book 16 coming soon. In addition I have an new series featuring an Irish detective who relocated to Guernsey. The first 4 books in the Detective Liam O’Reilly series are now available.

Social Media Links

Website: www.stewartgiles.com

Twitter: @stewartgiles

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stewart.giles.33

Blog Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: A Cut for a Cut by Carol Wyer

A Cut for a Cut (Detective Kate Young #2) by Carol Wyer

#ACutForACut #DetectiveKateYoung @carolewyer @AmazonPub @damppebbles #damppebblesblogtours

Hi, everyone!

I am excited to be included on this Damppebbles Blog Tour and sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for A CUT FOR A CUT (Detective Kate Young Book #2) by Carol Wyer.

Below you will find a book blurb, my book review an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!

***

Book Blurb

DI Kate Young can’t trust anybody. Not even herself.

In the bleak countryside around Blithfield Reservoir, a serial murderer and rapist is leaving a trail of bloodshed. His savage calling card: the word ‘MINE’ carved into each of his victims.

DI Kate Young struggles to get the case moving—even when one of the team’s own investigators is found dead in a dumpster. But Kate is battling her own demons. Obsessed with exposing Superintendent John Dickson and convinced there’s a conspiracy running deep in the force, she no longer knows who to trust. Kate’s crusade has already cost her dearly. What will she lose next?

When her stepsister spills a long-buried secret, Kate realises she’s found the missing link—now she must prove it before the killer strikes again. With enemies closing in on all sides, she’s prepared to do whatever it takes to bring them down. But time is running out, and Kate’s past has pushed her to the very edge. Can she stop herself from falling?

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56879257-a-cut-for-a-cut?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=aTfUyp3Bzl&rank=1

***

My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

A CUT FOR A CUT (Detective Kate Young Book #2) by Carol Wyer is the second mystery/British police procedural that I have been waiting for. I loved the first book “An Eye for an Eye” with the introduction to DI Kate Young. The crime investigation in this book can be read as a standalone, but these books are better read in order due to the continuing personal investigation by Kate into her investigative journalist husband, Chris’ murder.

DI Kate Young and her team are called to a crime scene where a woman was brutally raped, marked and then thrown away like trash. Even after more violent rapes occur with the same M.O., Kate and her team have very few clues or viable suspects. When Kate’s stepsister finally shares a long-buried secret, she realizes her stepsister is the missing link in her case. Now she has to find the proof and catching the killer has become imperative.

At the same time, during the investigation for the serial rapist and killer, Kate is also privately learning more about the murder of her husband. Still battling her own personal demons since his death, she is convinced her superior and several others on the police force are behind his murder and are involved in an illegal conspiracy revolving around underage sex trafficking.

I find Kate to be a very compelling character. Ms. Wyer has brought Kate to life with her extreme grief that continues, but it also begins to turn to guilt as she moves on with her every day living as she begins to realize she does not think of him every minute of every day and she is afraid of losing his memory. I liked the addition of Kate’s stepsister and nephew to give Kate a reason to start to live a balanced, normal life and help with her grief. Kate’s team is also becoming more fully fleshed and complex characters as the series continues.

I very early on guessed the connection between the serial rapist and killer with the person he considered his first true love, but it did not take away from my racing to the exciting climax. The intertwining plot arc of Kate’s personal investigation into Chris’ murder will once again be carried over into the next book and once again I am anxiously waiting for its publication.

I highly recommend this main character, the series and this author!

***

About Carol Wyer

USA Today bestselling author and winner of The People’s Book Prize Award, Carol Wyer writes feel-good comedies and gripping crime fiction.

A move from humour to the ‘dark side’ in 2017, saw the introduction of popular DI Robyn Carter in LITTLE GIRL LOST and demonstrated that stand-up comedian Carol had found her true niche.

To date, her crime novels have sold over 750,000 copies and been translated for various overseas markets.

Carol has been interviewed on numerous radio shows discussing ”Irritable Male Syndrome’ and ‘Ageing Disgracefully’ and on BBC Breakfast television. She has had articles published in national magazines ‘Woman’s Weekly’, featured in ‘Take A Break’, ‘Choice’, ‘Yours’ and ‘Woman’s Own’ magazines and the Huffington Post.

She currently lives on a windy hill in rural Staffordshire with her husband Mr Grumpy… who is very, very grumpy.

When she is not plotting devious murders, she can be found performing her comedy routine, Smile While You Still Have Teeth.

Social Media Links

Website www.carolwyer.co.uk

Blog www.carolwyer.com

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/AuthorCarolEWyer/

Twitter https://twitter.com/carolewyer

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/carolwyer

Pinterest http://www.pinterest.com/carolewyer

Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/carol-wyer-407b1032

Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14925467.Carol_Wyer

YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCj5O-lvkAYO19S0AMW8VqJQ

Purchase Links

Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/3pCnXyX

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2TXmOGn

Publishing Information:

Published by Thomas & Mercer in paperback, audio and digital formats on 29^th June 2021

Blog Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Dead Sorry by Helen H. Durrant

Hi, everyone!

Today is my turn on the Books n All Promotions Blog Tour and I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for DEAD SORRY (Calladine & Bayliss Mystery Book #11) by Helen H. Durrant.

Below you will find a book description, my book review and the author’s bio and social media links. Enjoy!

***

Book Description

THE PAST COMES BACK TO HAUNT THEM

Twenty-five years ago a schoolgirl was attacked by three bullies in her home where she lived with her grandmother.

Now, the mother of one of those bullies is found murdered on the Hobfield housing estate. Written on the wall in the victim’s blood is the word, “sorry.”

There is a link to the discovery of bones at an old house up in the hills — the home of the teenage girl who was attacked.

Detective Tom Calladine and his partner DS Ruth Bayliss have more than this puzzling case on their hands. Arch-villain Lazarov is threatening Calladine’s granddaughter and a valuable hoard of Celtic gold is coming to a local museum.

The pressure is on, and this time Calladine is cracking . . .

THE DETECTIVES

Tom Calladine is a detective inspector who is devoted to his job. His personal life, however, is not so successful. Having been married and divorced before the age of twenty-one has set a pattern that he finds difficult to escape.

Ruth Bayliss is in her mid-thirties, plain-speaking but loyal. She is balancing her professional life with looking after a small child.

THE SETTING

The fictional village of Leesdon is on the outskirts of an industrial northern English city. There is little work and a lot of crime. The bane of Calladine’s life is the Hobfield housing estate, breeding ground to all that is wrong with the area that he calls home.

THE CALLADINE & BAYLISS MYSTERY SERIES

Book 1: DEAD WRONG

Book 2: DEAD SILENT

Book 3: DEAD LIST

Book 4: DEAD LOST

Book 5: DEAD & BURIED

Book 6: DEAD NASTY

Book 7: DEAD JEALOUS

Book 8: DEAD BAD

Book 9: DEAD GUILTY

Book 10: DEAD WICKED

Book 11: DEAD SORRY

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58090110-dead-sorry?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=9FBtZoSYqT&rank=1

***

My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

DEAD SORRY (Calladine & Bayliss Mystery Book #11) by Helen H. Durrant is a smartly plotted mystery/British police procedural in an ongoing series that I cannot believe I have not read before now. This book can be read as a standalone because the author fills the reader in on the characters’ backstories that are relevant to interactions in previous books.

DI Tom Calladine and DS Ruth Bayliss are called to a brutal murder scene at the crime ridden Hobfield housing estate. When the victim is identified, Ruth realizes it has similarities and family ties to an old case from her school days. As they begin the investigation, Calladine receives a call from an old nemesis who threatens the lives of his daughter and new granddaughter if he interferes in his return to the area.

Calladine and Bayliss need to find out which suspects are tied to which case as more people end up dead or are the two cases somehow tied together?

The author does a great job of mixing in red herrings and twists that continued to surprise me. When I was two thirds of the way through the book, I thought I had it all figured out. NO, I did not. The two main detectives and their whole team make this an enjoyable character read and the two plot lines are expertly paced with a balanced amount of intrigue and surprises. Also, make sure you read to the very last page. (That is all I can say about that.) Time for me to go back and catch up with Calladine and Bayliss from the very beginning.

I can highly recommend this mystery/British police procedural and author!

***