Today is my turn to share my Feature Post and Book Review on the Damppebbles Blog Tour for DARK TRUTHS (A Will Traynor Forensic Mystery Book #1) by A.J. Cross.
Below you will find a book blurb, my book review, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Blurb
A fresh case lays bare old bones for DI Watt’s team
When a young woman’s body is discovered on a popular jogging trail in Birmingham, Detective Inspector Bernard Watts and his team are plunged into a disturbing murder investigation. Not only has the woman been violently stabbed – her head is missing.
When a close examination of the crime scene results in a shocking discovery linking the present murder to a past crime, criminologist Will Traynor is brought in to assist the police. Aware of Traynor’s troubled past, Watts is sceptical that Will can contribute anything useful to the investigation.
DARK TRUTHS (A Will Traynor Forensic Mystery Book #1) by A.J. Cross is the first book in a new series with criminologist Will Traynor. This book is a police procedural/mystery/thriller mash-up that takes the reader through a step-by-step investigation of a horrific murder.
DI Bernard Watts is assigned the case of a female body found on a jogging trail stabbed several times in the chest without a head. As he walks the scene with the new rookie, PC Chloe Judd they discover a skull without a body which does not belong to the body on the trail. The body is recent, but the skull is at least a decade old.
With the possibility of a serial killer, Watt’s boss informs him that criminologist Will Traynor will be joining his team, but Watt knows of Traynor’s troubled past and is not happy with this decision.
Will Watt be able to keep his inexperienced and brash rookie in line and learn to trust Traynor’s theories to bring a successful conclusion to this present murder which seems to be tied to several missing persons from the past?
I really enjoyed all the characters introduced in this book: the experienced detective, the abrasive rookie, the intelligent and kind pathologist and the criminologist with a tragic past. They all worked together well in the story to bring the clues and plot twists to a satisfying conclusion in the past and present mysteries. My problem was that DI Bernard Watts was more of a lead character than Will Traynor, who the book and new series is supposed to feature. This fact does not detract from the story itself; it just does not lead where I thought it would. I am looking forward to a return of all these characters in the future.
Overall, a strong investigative story to begin the series, but I will be looking for more of a lead role from Will Traynor in future books.
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About the Author
A.J. Cross is a forensic psychologist with over twenty years’ experience in the field. She lives in Birmingham with her jazz-musician husband and is the author of five Kate Hanson mysteries.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review on the Damppebbles blog tour for the first book in a hopefully new crime fiction/mystery series featuring DI Kate Young. AN EYE FOR AN EYE (Detective Kate Young Book #1) by Carol Wyer.
Below you will find a book blurb, my book review, an about the author section and the authors social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Blurb
A killer running rings around the police. A detective spiralling out of control.
DI Kate Young is on leave. She’s the force’s best detective, but her bosses know she’s under pressure, on medication and overcoming trauma. So after her bad judgement call leads to a narrowly averted public disaster, they’re sure all she needs is a rest.
But when Staffordshire Police summon her back to work on a murder case, it’s a harder, more suspicious Kate Young who returns. With a new ruthlessness, she sets about tracking down a clinical, calculating serial killer who is torturing victims and leaving clues to taunt the police. Spurred on by her reporter husband, Young begins to suspect that the murderer might be closer than she ever imagined.
As she works to uncover the truth, Young unravels a network of secrets and lies, with even those closest to her having something to hide. But with her own competence—and her grip on reality—called into question, can she unmask the killer before they strike again?
AN EYE FOR AN EYE (Detective Kate Young Book #1) by Carol Wyer is the first book in a hopefully new British police procedural crime fiction/mystery series featuring DI Kate Young.
DI Kate Young is suffering after a traumatic incident. She is having flashbacks and taking pills and alcohol to cope. After a narrowly avoiding hurting a civilian, her superintendent places her on forced leave in March.
Just three months later, Kate’s friend and fellow officer DCI Chase comes to tell her she is requested specifically for a murder investigation by her superintendent. In a small team, just two of her fellow officers, DS Morgan Meredith and DS Emma Donaldson, they work diligently to track down a ruthless killer who tortures his victims and taunts the police. This case is a tangled web of secrets, lies and vengeance.
Everyone worries about Kate’s mental state, but Kate is determined to prove she is able to work the evidence and clues step-by-step to catch the killer.
I could not put this book down! Kate is an absolutely stellar new main character that I am looking forward to following. Her personal story, which is intertwined in bits throughout the entire book, had me as intrigued as the crime/mystery itself. The plot moves at a steady pace and is full of red herrings and twists. Although the murders are gruesome, they do not occur on the page and are only discussed and in the forensics after the fact.
This book has me wanting the next book immediately! I highly recommend this new British police procedural crime fiction and author.
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About the Author
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.
Today is my turn on the Damppebbles Blog Tour to share my Feature Post and Book Review for THE PHOENIX PROJECT (DI Jack MacIntosh Book #1) by Michelle Kidd. This is an exciting thriller/international crime/mystery mash-up that is the first book in a new series by a new to me author.
Below you will find a book blurb, my book review, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Blurb
How long can the past remain buried?
A simple message in a local newspaper. A set of highly sensitive documents left in the back of a London black cab. Both events collide to cause Isabel Faraday’s life to be turned upside down. Growing up believing her parents died in a car crash when she was five, Isabel learns the shocking truth; a truth that places her own life in danger by simply being a Faraday. Detective Inspector Jack MacIntosh of the Metropolitan Police races against time to save her, and at the same time unravels long forgotten secrets involving MI5, MI6, the KGB and NASA. Secrets that have lain dormant for twenty years. Secrets worth killing for. With kidnap, murder and suicides stretching across four continents, just what is the Phoenix Project?
The Phoenix Project is the first Detective Inspector Jack MacIntosh novel.
THE PHOENIX PROJECT (DI Jack MacIntosh Book #1) by Michelle Kidd is an exciting thriller/international crime/mystery mash-up that is the first book in a new series by a new to me author.
Isabel Faraday is about to go from a simple shop assistant to becoming the center of an international plot which has her on the run for her life.
Long kept secrets that have lain dormant for twenty years are on the verge of being exposed, but there is a contingent that will do anything and kill anyone to prevent that from happening. Everyone is involved, MI5, MI6, the FBI, NASA and the KGB and with Isabel’s life on the line, Detective Inspector Jack MacIntosh of the Metropolitan Police races against time to save Isabel and unravel the secrets of the Phoenix Project and a secret organization protecting it called PRISM.
What is the Phoenix Project?
This book is a little confusing at first, not just trying to understand why Isabel is in danger, but also because there are so many characters from many different agencies. Once you get everything sorted out, each turn of the page increases the pace of the plot. The thrills, twists and turns, murders and intrigue take off and continues to crescendo towards a very satisfying conclusion. I was especially intrigued with Jack and I believe he is a great protagonist to follow into future books.
I am looking forward to following DI Jack MacIntosh and author Michelle Kidd in the future.
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About the Author
Michelle Kidd is a self-published author known for the Detective Inspector Jack MacIntosh series of novels.
Michelle qualified as a lawyer in the early 1990s and spent the best part of ten years practising civil and criminal litigation.
But the dream to write books was never far from her mind and in 2008 she began writing the manuscript that would become the first DI Jack MacIntosh novel – The Phoenix Project. The book took eighteen months to write, but spent the next eight years gathering dust underneath the bed.
In 2018 Michelle self-published The Phoenix Project and had not looked back since. There are currently three DI Jack MacIntosh novels, with a fourth in progress.
Michelle works full time for the NHS and lives in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. She enjoys reading, wine and cats – not necessarily in that order J
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review on the blog tour for this new dark and gritty British police procedural mystery HOW THE WIRED WEEP by Ian Patrick.
Below you will find a book blurb, my book review, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Blurb
The Wire crosses the pond.
Ed is a detective who handles informants. He recruits Ben, a young man, who is treading a dangerous path into the criminal underworld.
Ben’s unsure of where his loyalties lie. They have to find a way to work together despite their differences.
Both men are drawn into the world of Troy, a ruthless and brutal leader of an Organised Criminal Network.
Ben is torn between two worlds as he tries to walk the impossible line between criminality and helping Ed combat crime.
He lives in fear of discovery.
When your life is thrown upside down who do you turn to in order to survive?
Set against the backdrop of the 2012 Olympic Games, How the Wired Weep is a fast paced urban thriller where time is against both men as they attempt to serve their own agendas.
HOW THE WIRED WEEP by Ian Patrick is a new standalone dark and gritty British police procedural mystery. It takes the reader into a mystery in the world of covert police operations and how they handle the safety and anonymity of their criminal informants.
DS Ed Hunter and his teammates handle police informants out of the Metropolitan Police headquarters. Ed loves his work, but it is a tricky business. The informants are criminals and Ed does have rules and laws to work by and must also let the informants know that they cannot break them either. One of Ed’s informants, Ben is being released from prison and Ed is eager to get him back out on the streets.
Ben, a young gang member and his family have a history of being on the wrong side of the law. He likes the easy money from being an informant, but Ed is afraid Ben will end up back in prison for not being able to follow his rules. Ed needs him though to get information from the inside on a new violent gang leader.
Ben becomes more frustrated, greedy and angry at being used. Ed sees Ben spiraling out of control as he returns to the streets. Will Ed be able to continue to get Ben to walk the line and see beyond the easiest and quickest means to an end?
This story pulls you in to the two main characters lives and makes you feel everything they do. Mr. Patrick’s writing invests you in the outcome for both as the story is told in chapters related by each character. This book depicts the dark, dirty despair of the urban criminal landscape, but also has moments of friendship and humor. This is an intense, realistic and powerful read.
I highly recommend this book as a crime read that is very different from the norm.
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About the Author
Ian spent twenty-seven years in the Metropolitan police the majority as a Detective Sergeant within the Specialist Operations Command. He specialised in Child Protection and was part of a Major Investigation Team that targeted abusers and investigated the murder of children.
His last seven years were spent in the Covert Policing Command where he managed a specialist covert unit dedicated to the detection and disruption of organised criminal networks across London and the UK.
Rubicon, Stoned Love, and Fools Gold are published by Fahrenheit Press.
How the Wired Weep is a standalone novel.
Rubicon is in development with the BBC for a six part TV series.
He’s appeared at Bloody Scotland in 2018 as a spotlight author on the opening night with Val McDermid and Denise Mina.
Ian’s undertaken a mentorship with Write4Film Scotland and is developing a script for a short film. He’s also an ambassador for Muscular Dystrophy Scotland. He lives in Scotland where he divides his time between family, writing, reading and photography.
You can follow Ian on his website https://www.ianpatrick.co.uk where you can subscribe to his newsletter and get updates on blogs, events and books.
DEAD COLD by Jane Heafield is a new British police procedural mystery/thriller by a new debut author from Bloodhound Books. This begins as a whodunnit of a double murder that turns into an investigation of three murders separated by several decades. I am hoping this becomes a series featuring the two primary detectives in this book.
DI Lucy Miller loves nothing more than a high-profile case with a lot of publicity. She is the first to arrive at a bloody double murder scene which was called in by an anonymous caller. She digs in and starts looking for clues, but her superior is involved in a car crash on route to the scene and the case is turned over to another murder squad. She keeps investigating even when she is warned off the case.
DCI Liam Bennet is now in charge of the Pond Street murder investigation. A series of missed clues leads to wrong conclusions regarding the dead couple, but Bennet is determined to correct the mistake and solve the murders even as Lucy Miller continues to insert herself into his case. Both detectives are pulled into the mystery of the dead couple which leads to two other cold cases with similar injuries to the corpses and they decide to work together.
As Lucy and Bennet get closer to the truth, Lucy comes closer to losing the job she loves above all else. Will the resolution prove her right and save her job as well as Bennet’s life?
This is one of the most intricately plotted police procedural/mystery thriller I have read in quite some time. Ms. Heafield has managed to intertwine the plots of a current double murder and two cold case murders that flowed seamlessly with red herrings, twists and revelations. I found that I could not stop turning the pages.
Lucy is a strong female protagonist who at first rubbed me the wrong way and I was not sure if that would affect my enjoyment of the mystery, but as she begins to interact with Bennet and you get more of her backstory, you understand why she acts the way she does. I feel Bennet is the perfect foil to Lucy and they balance each other well. Both have been hurt in the past and I am hoping that this will become a series with the two of them working together again. Their relationship is tricky though because I want them together, but that is the perception that caused Lucy’s problems in the past. I will be interested to see how Ms. Heafield handles both of them in the future.
I highly recommend this new British police procedural/mystery thriller!
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Author Bio
Jane was born and raised in South Yorkshire, where she works as a scientist in a busy hospital. When not using a microscope or a TV remote, she likes to write. Plotting for her novels is done with a voice recorder while strolling around English Heritage sites. She loves all things crime and cannot sleep without an audiobook blaring. Her partner cannot sleep because of this.
Today I is my turn on the blog tour for the first book in a new British Police procedural/mystery series featuring a rather unique protagonist. I am excited to be sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for THE DENTIST (The DS Cross Mysteries Series Book #1) by Tim Sullivan.
Below you will find a book blurb, my book review, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Blurb
A homeless man. Violently strangled. No leads. Except his past.
An outsider himself, DS George Cross is drawn to this case. The discovery of the dead man’s connection to an old cold case then pulls Cross in further. Convinced this is where the answer to the murder lies, he sets about solving another that someone has spent the past fifteen years thinking they’ve got away with.
Cross’ relentless obsession with logic, detail and patterns is what makes him so irritatingly brilliant. It doesn’t exactly make him popular with colleagues or his superiors, though. He has numerous enemies in the force wanting to see him fail.
Red flags are soon raised as suspicious inconsistencies and errors in the original detective’s investigation come to light. Now retired, this ex-cop has powerful friends in the force and a long-standing dislike of Cross.
Set in picturesque Bristol in the Southwest of England, it’s not long before the city reveals its dark underbelly, in a case of intriguing twists and turns whose result astonishes even those involved.
Difficult and awkward, maybe. But Cross has the best conviction rate in Avon & Somerset Police. By far. Will this case put an end to that?
THE DENTIST (DS Cross Mystery Series Book #1) by Tim Sullivan is the first book in a new British police procedural series with an intricately plotted mystery and a rather unique protagonist. A DS with Asperger syndrome would seem unlikely, but the syndrome is on a spectrum and his absence of social skills and empathy is more than compensated for by his meticulous pursuit of facts and justice.
DS George Cross has the best conviction rate in the Avon & Somerset Police. The prosecuting lawyers all love to get his cases because every fact is checked and in a logical order for an easy conviction. This attention to detail does not always make Cross an easy person to work with though. He is brilliant at his job, but he is not good with his colleagues. He does not understand many social cues that everyone else takes for granted.
A homeless man is found murdered. Cross and his partner Ottey begin to investigate and soon find a suspect, but Cross does not believe he is responsible for the man’s death. They discover that the wife’s murdered man was a much loved dentist until the murder of his wife fifteen years previously. Cross believes the solution to their present case will be solved with the resolution of the wife’s murder.
Suspicious inconsistencies begin to be raised in the original investigation. Now retired, the officer in charge of the wife’s murder is hiding something behind powerful friends on the force. Cross and Ottey are following a trail that will shock all involved.
I enjoyed this new DS protagonist and all of his quirks. The rapport between Cross and Ottey is revealed throughout the story and as much as Ottey complains, she also finds Cross interesting and someone she can learn from. The third person working with Cross is Alice Mackenzie who is a police trainee. She is innocent and eager, but she has to learn how to interact with Cross which leads to some humorous exchanges and no recognition of her hard work except in Cross’ mind because he does not feel it is necessary to verbalize. The plot is very detail oriented with plenty of twists and surprises. I liked every revelation of character and plot in this mystery which made for an excellently paced read.
I recommend this mystery and DS Cross. I am looking forward to many more books in this series.
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About the Author
TIM SULLIVAN made his first short film before graduating from Cambridge University. His ambition to become a screenwriter was formed not so much by this experience but as an attempt to foil his father’s determination to turn him into a lawyer.
Within weeks of leaving university armed with a law degree he had met the film maker Derek Jarman and persuaded him to commission an original screenplay from him entitled BOB UPADOWN and so a career was born.
A few months later he joined Granada Television as a researcher. Here he was commissioned to write the first of many television scripts for the company. Two sitcoms entitled THE TRAIN NOW LEAVING and THE GREASY SPOON followed by the crime dramas MYSTERIOUS WAYS and MAIGRET.
While at Granada he was selected for the prestigious Directors’ Training scheme when only 26. Previous encumbents had included Mike Newell, Roland Joffe, and Michael Apted, more recently Julian Farino. Among other credits he directed CORONATION STREET, MADE IN HEAVEN, THATCHER THE FINAL DAYS and THE CASEBOOK OF SHERLOCK HOLMES with Jeremy Brett.
During this time he also co wrote the screenplays for the movies A HANDFUL OF DUST starring Kristen Scott Thomas, Judi Dench and Alec Guinness and WHERE ANGELS FEAR TO TREAD starring Helen Mirren and Helena Bonham Carter, both with producer the legendary TV producer Derek Granger (BRIDESHEAD REVISITED).
Upon leaving the bosom of Granada and venturing into the wild wide world of the freelance film maker he wrote and directed the movie JACK AND SARAH starring Richard E Grant, Samantha Mathis, Ian Mckellen, Judi Dench and Eileen Atkins. This led to a commission from New Line Pictures to write the screenplay WALKING PAPERS based on the Jay Cronley novel of the same name.
This screenplay came to the attention of execs at Universal and Imagine who then asked Tim to do a page one rewrite of a western for Ron Howard entitled THE PRETENDERS. Tim enjoyed working with Ron for over a year on this.
He then wrote an original screenplay, PERSONAL SHOPPING, which was promptly snapped up by Paramount for producer Scott Rudin.
He spent four months working for and with Jeffrey Katzenberg at Dreamworks animation as a production writer on the movie FLUSHED AWAY. Impressed by his work Katzenberg commissioned him to write a script for SHREK 4 which wasn’t used as a different storyline was decided upon as a director came on board.
During this time he was actively involved in British television directing the last ever ninety minute episode of the BAFTA award winning series COLD FEET. As well as a TV movie for ITV called CATWALK DOGS written by Simon Nye.
He was commissioned by the BBC to write a pilot for a TV series he invented called BACKSTORY as well as another pilot for the ITV network entitled OFFSPRING.
He also wrote HIS MASTER’S VOICE for the BBC as a radio play starring Rob Brydon which was broadcast in 2015.
He recently wrote the screenplay for LETTERS TO JULIET starring Amanda Seyfried and Vanessa Redgrave.
Oscar winning producers of The King’s Speech, Iain Canning and Emile Sherman then commissioned an original screenplay from him entitled THE WEDDING DRESS.
Tim is writing and co-producing and co-writing an animated feature screenplay for Hasbro and Paramount which is in production and scheduled for release in 2021.
He has now embarked on a series of crime novels featuring the eccentric and socially-awkward, but brilliantly persistent DS George Cross. Set in Bristol in the south west of England, Cross’ methods often infuriate his colleagues and superiors “not so much a thorn in my side as a pain in my arse,” according to his boss DCI Carson. But his conviction rate, thanks to his dogged persistence and attention to detail, is the best in the force. The DENTIST is in the first of a series.
Tim lives in North London with his wife Rachel, the Emmy award-winning producer of THE BAREFOOT CONTESSA and PIONEER WOMAN.
He is currently the UK chair of the Writers’ Guild of America (West).
