Tag: #policeprocedural

Blog Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Fury on the Island by Stewart Giles

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for FURY ON THE ISLAND by Stewart Giles on this Book ‘n’ All Promotions Blog Tour.

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

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Book Description

The midsummer madness that hit Guernsey with a vengeance has abated, but if Detective Inspector Liam O’Reilly thought he could relax he’s sorely mistaken. A fury like no other is about to take hold of the island, and O’Reilly is going to be thrown headfirst right into the middle of it.

The murder of a teenager at a party on the beach is just the beginning. Things on the island are about to get much worse.

A gang of masked phantoms on mountain bikes are hell bent on terrorizing the people of Guernsey. They strike without warning, and with a fury like no other. And O’Reilly cannot figure out why they’re doing it. They attack with precision, and the brutality on display is like nothing the Irishman has ever seen before.

The fury on the island spreads far and wide as the residents gather to take the law into their own hands. The Island Police aren’t doing enough, and O’Reilly faces a war on two fronts.

How do you stop a fury when you have no idea what lies behind it?
This is going to be O’Reilly’s bloodiest investigation yet.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/227887108-fury-on-the-island?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=LU7acNbzYW&rank=1

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

FURY ON THE ISLAND (Detective Liam O’Reilly Book #15) by Stewart Giles is a new case of murder and mayhem for my favorite team of detectives on Guernsey Island. This story once again has DI Liam O’Reilly working with his team on a difficult murder investigation, dealing with a new temporary superintendent, and bringing the reader up to date with family and regulars on the island. One of my favorite mystery/police procedural series with a unique protagonist and the unique setting of Guernsey Island.

A gang of masked riders on mountain bikes viciously murder a teenager when he walks away from beach party. O’Reilly and his team are shocked at the fury of the attack. When more victims are attacked in the same way, the people of the island are scared and about to take the law into their own hands. There seems to be no connection or motive between those killed and injured that O’Reilly and his team can find.

With the masked riders leaving no clues or evidence, O’Reilly and his team face an island population on the brink and they are desperate for answers.

This was a different type of murder case in this series with the lack of evidence, it was less of a procedural until almost the resolution, and it still was not evidence O’Reilly could use in court. The current murder mystery reader or crime junkie wants physical evidence and DNA, but that is not always how a case is resolved. Tips, interrogations, and confessions, I believe, resolve cases more than we know. The inclusion of the temporary superintendent storyline, for me was just a space filler, although it did show O’Reilly’s care for an old colleague. I enjoyed catching up with all of O’Reilly’s police colleagues, family, and friends once again. As always, I will be anxiously waiting for the next book in this series.

I highly recommend this addition to the Detective Liam O’Reilly mystery/police procedural series.

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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. I also have another series featuring an Irish detective who relocated to Guernsey, the Detective Liam O’Reilly series. There are also 3 stand alone novels.

Social Media Links

Website: www.stewartgiles.com

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

DI O’REILLY MYSTERIES:

Book 1 – Blood on the Island
Book 2 – Lies on the Island
Book 3 – Fear on the Island
Book 4 – Malice on the Island
Book 5 – Revenge on the Island
Book 6 – Christmas on the Island
Book 7 – Silence on the Island
Book 8 – Secrets on the Island
Book 9 – Chaos on the Island
Book 10 – Sadness on the Island
Book 11 – Danger on the Island
Book 12 – Evil on the Island
Book 13 – Fire on the Island
Book 14 – Madness on the Island
Book 15 – Fury on the Island

Book Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Her Burning Lies by Pamela Fagan Hutchins

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for HER BURNING LIES (Detective Delaney Pace Book #5) by Pamela Fagan Hutchins on this Bookouture Book-On-Tour blog tour.

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

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About the Book

As a blazing wildfire rages through Kearny County, homes are destroyed and the town is in turmoil. Amongst the debris, the body of a young woman lies totally still, her eyes looking to the sky, a silver sword pinning her to the ground.

When fire wardens search the scorched remains of an abandoned farmhouse, underneath the rubble, they make a shocking discovery—a young woman, stabbed and left to die in the middle of the fire zone. Detective Delaney Pace and Sheriff Leo Palmer are called in to investigate.

Leo takes in the woman’s petite features, his voice shaking as he turns to Delaney. He knows the victim—they had met on an online dating site. How did she end up in the middle of the wildfires, and who would want to kill an innocent young woman?

As a second body is discovered at a remote ranch, also stabbed with a silver sword, Delaney is sure the victims are linked—both young mothers, both looking for love. Could Kearny County have a serial killer preying on single women?

Delaney’s heart pounds when she learns that her close friend, Clara Eckhardt, is missing, last seen driving towards the fires. She ignores the evacuation orders and races towards the inferno. But when shots are fired, she knows the murderer has her in their sight. Will she turn back and save herself or chase the killer further into the fire to save her friend’s life?

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/224716409-her-burning-lies?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=hqrJd1ufsg&rank=1

Buy link: https://geni.us/B0DVLF5DMLsocial

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

HER BURNING LIES (Detective Delaney Pace Book #5) by Pamela Fagan Hutchins is an edge-of-your-seat action packed crime thriller/police procedural featuring Detective Inspector Delaney Pace in Kearny County, Wyoming. This is the fifth book in the series and can be read as a standalone crime thriller, but the main characters’ personal relationships change and grow over the series. I have read them all in order and really enjoy the crime plots and the growing relationship between Delaney and Leo.

Detective Inspector Delaney Pace and Sheriff Leo Palmer have their hands full with a large wildfire raging through the county. When the fire wardens gather to set up a staging area at an abandoned farm, they discover the body of a young women in the stone farmhouse dead and pinned to the ground with a large sword.

A second body is discovered the next day in the burned-out barn. The body is as charred as the barn, and it also is pinned to the ground with a sword. As Delaney and Leo investigate the identities of their victims, they discover they have both given birth, but no babies are found in the apartment building that houses several young women.

When one of Delaney’s friends disappears, she and Leo are racing against the clock to find her and discover if there is a connection between her and the dead young women as the wildfire gets ever closer.

This is another fantastic addition to the Detective Delaney Pace series! I am never disappointed. The crime thriller plot always keeps me guessing to the climax with plenty of twists and surprises throughout. Delaney and Leo’s extended families add relatability and realism to the story. Their personal relationship is a rollercoaster ride that finally, after five books, has left me with good feelings for their future. This is a must-read series for me, and I am always excited to get the next book.

I highly recommend this addictive crime thriller/police procedural book and series.

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About the Author

Pamela Fagan Hutchins is a USA Today bestselling and Silver Falchion Best Mystery winning mystery/thriller/suspense author (and recovering attorney and investigator) who splits her time between an off-the-grid lodge on the face of Wyoming’s Bighorn Mountains and a rustic cabin on Maine’s Lake Mooselookmeguntic with her husband, kids and grandkids, rescue pets and sled dog, and draft cross horses.

Social Media Links

Website: https://pamelafaganhutchins.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pamela.fagan.hutchins.author

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

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/her-burning-lies-a-completely-nail-biting-and-absolutely-addictive-crime-thriller-detective-delaney-pace-book-5-by-pamela-fagan-hutchins


Book Review: Outsider by Linda Castillo

My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

OUTSIDER (Kate Burkholder Book #12) by Linda Castillo is another gripping and intricately plotted suspense/mystery police procedural featuring small town Chief of Police Kate Burkholder in Painters Mill, Ohio. I love curling up on the couch with each book in the series because I know I will get a great smalltown police procedural while also learning something new and interesting about the Anabaptist Amish life in Ohio.

Widower Adam Lengacher is out on a sleigh ride with his children on a snowy afternoon. They discover a pickup truck stuck in a snow drift off the road. When Adam looks inside for anyone who is hurt, the cab is empty, but there is blood on the seat. Further down the road they find a women curled up and almost frozen. Adam calls Katie and tells her what he has found and asks for her help.

Katie is shocked when she arrives at Adam’s farm to find Gina Colorosa, who befriended her when she moved to Columbus after leaving Painters Mill. Katie has fond memories of Gina, but also bad. When they became police officers together everything was fun and exciting, but Gina soon began to work with other officers and detectives on the vice squad that there are serious rumors being whispered about. Now she is in Adam’s home with a gunshot wound, a story of running for her life from corrupt fellow cops in Columbus, and a blizzard raging outside. Kate wants to believe her, but she knows Gina is not telling her everything.

With Tomasetti’s help, Kate attempts to find the truth as she and Gina stay with Adam and his children on their farm, but two determined detectives want to make sure Gina can never talk.

Ms. Castillo’s storytelling completely engaged me in the personal conflict between what Kate feels she owes her old friend, what she knows Gina did wrong in her past, and what she can believe of what Gina is telling her now. Besides all this personal tension in the story, you have Kate worrying if Gina is bringing danger to Adam and his children. While Tomasetti does the investigating away from the farm, there are still surprises and twists brought into the story just with their conversations trading information. When the dirty cops arrive, it is edge-of-your-seat action time and the surprises that happen very close together have Kate reevaluating her life and relationships.

I highly recommend this addition to the series! I am never disappointed when I pull out a Kate Burkholder book to read.

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About the Author

Linda Castillo is the author of the New York Times and USA Today bestselling Kate Burkholder series, set in the world of the Amish. The first book, Sworn to Silence, was adapted into a Lifetime original movie titled An Amish Murder starring Neve Campbell as Kate Burkholder. Castillo is the recipient of numerous industry awards including a nomination by the International Thriller Writers for Best Hardcover, the Mystery Writers of America’s Sue Grafton Memorial Award, and an appearance on the Boston Globe’s shortlist for best crime novel. In addition to writing, Castillo’s other passion is horses. She lives in Texas with her husband and is currently at work on her next book.

Social Media Links

Website: https://www.lindacastillo.com/

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

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/outsider-by-linda-castillo

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0818PX5KG/?bestFormat=true&k=outsider%20linda%20castillo&ref_=nb_sb_ss_w_scx-ent-pd-bk-d_de_k0_1_23&crid=6QOT60XHQ3XM&sprefix=outsider%20linda%20castillo

Feature Post and Book Review: In the Name Of: A Hidden Valor Military Veteran/K-9 Suspense by Candace Irving

Book Description

He’ll do anything for his country…even murder.

Former Army detective Kate Holland finally remembers what happened during her eleven hours as a POW in Afghanistan. She wishes she didn’t.

Her PTSD raging, Kate’s ready to turn in her badge with the Braxton PD, but she can’t. The wife of a Muslim US Army soldier has been found stabbed and left to burn in a field, and Kate’s boss has turned to her. Again.

Kate suspects an honor killing…until the wife of another soldier is found in the next town over, also stabbed and burned. When a third military wife is murdered, Kate uncovers a connection to a local doctor. But the doc is not all she appears to be. Worse, Kate’s nightmares and her case have begun to clash. The fallout is deadly as Kate’s lured back to where it all began.

This time, she might not make it home.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/194928469-in-the-name-of?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=gj4J4t0kEH&rank=1

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

IN THE NAME OF: A Hidden Valor Military Veteran/K-9 Suspense (Hidden Valor Book #2) by Candace Irving is another edge-of-your-seat action suspense/mystery/police procedural mash-up featuring a small-town deputy who’s past as a former Army detective seems to continue to follow her. Both books, one and two have been great reads and with Kate’s continuing battle with PTSD and the overlap of important characters, I feel they are best read in order of release.

Deputy Kate Holland’s PTSD is taking over her life and even though she has started seeing a VA psychiatrist, she feels it is best to turn in her badge. Then she gets called to a horrific scene of a female with stab wounds and her burned body in a field. It brings back flashbacks from her attacked burning Humvee during her deployment. When a second body is found the same way in a neighboring town, Kate is reunited in her investigation with Deputy Aresh, who is still in the Army Reserve and helped in The Garbage Man case. Both believe these are “honor killings”. Both women are Muslim, and their husbands are Muslim Americans in the active services.

The women all seem tied to a doctor who claims no knowledge of either, but Kate knows she is lying. When a CIA operative warns them off the case, Kate and Aresh only dig deeper after a third murder, and Kate discovers that she must return to a place she swore never to return to.

I cannot say enough about this series. Kate is a complex, realistic, fully developed protagonist that makes me feel every emotion as I discover more and more of her story. She is a complex mix of fragile and yet strong. I enjoyed the scenes with Kate’s German Shepard, Ruger once again, even though he does not play a pivotal role in this plotline. It is also nice to see Kate take another chance on a “maybe” romance after so many men have let her down or betrayed her in the past. There are graphic descriptions of stabbed and burned women, but I never felt it was gratuitous. Kate’s PTSD is realistically portrayed, and the author does provide information on PTSD and the treatment regimen Kate is receiving in a postscript. The suspense plot in this story is intricately plotted and fast paced to lead Kate and Aresh in many different directions due to their own personal past experiences and it kept me guessing all the way to the climax. I am looking forward to reading the next book in this series.

I highly recommend this powerful and thrilling action suspense/mystery!

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About the Author

A former US Navy Lt., Candace Irving is the daughter of a librarian and a retired boatswain’s mate chief. Candace grew up in the Philippines, Germany, and all over the United States. Her senior year of high school, she enlisted in the US Army. Following basic training, she transferred to the Navy’s ROTC program at the University of Texas-Austin. While at UT, she spent a summer in Washington, DC, as a Congressional Intern. She also worked security for the UT Police. BA in Political Science in hand, Candace was commissioned as an ensign in the US Navy and sent to Surface Warfare Officer’s School to learn to drive warships. From there, she followed her father to sea.

Candace Irving writes gritty military thrillers. She is the author of the Deception Point Military Detective Thriller Series and the Hidden Valor Military Veterans/K9 Psychological Suspense Series. She also writes military romance and romantic suspense as Candace Irvin (without the “g”).

Social Media Links

Website: https://candaceirving.com/

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

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/the-garbage-man-a-hidden-valor-military-veteran-k-9-suspense-1-by-candace-irving

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Name-Psychological-Suspense-Military-Veterans-ebook/dp/B08PCB9S3S/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3E3RTO1RWBJAZ&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.9GhOylO

Feature Post and Book Review: The Sheriff’s Baby by Dolores Fossen

Book Description

When the mother of his unborn child is threatened, a lawman must match wits with a cunning killer.

A frantic call for backup brings Sheriff Duncan Holder to the home of his pregnant ex, a deputy haunted by her father’s unsolved murder. Now Joelle McCullough is the target of a kidnapping plot that’s only the beginning. When the twisting trail to the truth erupts in violence, Duncan will do whatever it takes to keep Joelle and their unborn baby safe. Even if that means going up against a killer leaving a string of dead bodies who won’t stop until a final revenge is carried out.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/205246628-the-sheriff-s-baby?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=n4oGQmK83X&rank=2

Discover more action-packed stories in the Saddle Ridge Justice series. All books are stand-alone with uplifting endings but were published in the following order:

Book 1: The Sheriff’s Baby
Book 2: Protecting the Newborn
Book 3: Tracking Down the Lawman’s Son
Book 4: Child in Jeopardy

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

THE SHERIFF’S BABY (Saddle Ridge Justice Book #1) by Dolores Fossen is a gripping, edge-of-your-seat first book in a Harlequin Intrigue series featuring a law enforcement family in Texas. While each book stands alone with its own romantic suspense plot, there is an overarching mystery involving the murder of the McCullough sibling’s father and the disappearance of their mother, so I will read the series in the order published.

Sheriff Duncan Holder receives a frantic call for backup in the middle of the night for assistance for Deputy Joelle McCullough, who is on leave due to her pregnancy. Five months ago, Joelle’s father was murdered while Duncan and Joelle were together and she has avoided him since out of guilt even though she became pregnant that evening, also. Joelle is the target of a kidnapping plot. With suspects tied to the illegal sale of babies and possible ties to her father’s murder, Duncan and Joelle are continually in danger coming at them from all sides. Will Duncan be able to protect Joelle and discover who is trying to take her and their baby away?

This is a very fast-paced plot with twists happening at every turn of the page. Ms. Fossen does a great job of keeping all the suspects in play and keeping me guessing right up to the climax. Joelle and Duncan are fighting their attraction, but the danger has a way of clearing up any reservations or guilt and the chemistry takes over. There is one steaming sex scene in the shower, but it is later in the book and felt natural in the progression of their romantic reconnection. The mystery involving Joelle’s murdered father and missing mother is unresolved, but the main romantic suspense plot for this book is resolved. Joelle has two older brothers and a younger sister, so I am assured of more exciting books in this series.

I highly recommend this exciting romantic suspense/police procedural/mystery mash-up and I am looking forward to reading more in the series.

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About the Author

Former Air Force Captain Delores Fossen is a New York Times, USA Today, Amazon and Publisher’s Weekly bestselling author whose books have sold over nine million copies worldwide. She’s received the Booksellers Best Award for Best Romantic Suspense and the Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award. In addition, she’s had nearly a hundred short stories and articles published in national magazines.

Social Media Links

Website: https://www.deloresfossen.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorDeloresFossen/timeline/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deloresfossen/?hl=en

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/delores-fossen

ARC Feature Post and Book Review: Head Cases by John McMahon

Book Description

FBI Agent Gardner Camden is an analytical genius with an affinity for puzzles. He also has a blind spot on the human side of investigations, a blindness that sometimes even includes people in his own life, like his beloved seven-year-old daughter Camila. Gardner and his squad of brilliant yet quirky agents make up the Patterns and Recognition (PAR) unit, the FBI’s hidden edge, brought in for cases that no one else can solve.

When DNA links a murder victim to a serial killer long presumed dead, the team springs into action. A second victim establishes a pattern, and the murderer begins leaving a trail of clues and riddles especially for Gardner. And while the PAR team is usually relegated to working cold cases from behind a desk, the investigation puts them on the road and into the public eye, following in the footsteps of a killer.

Along with Gardner, PAR consists of a mathematician, a weapons expert, a computer analyst, and their leader, a career agent. Each of them must use every skill they have to solve the riddle of the killer’s identity. But with the perpetrator somehow learning more and more about the team at PAR, can they protect themselves and their families…before it’s too late?

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/211004897-head-cases?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=j7HammCJbK&rank=1

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

HEAD CASES (PAR Unit #1) by John McMahon is an engaging and exciting first book in a new series featuring a group of extremely talented and specialized FBI agents, who while brilliant in their specific areas, have had a serious misstep in their careers and are now grouped together for a last chance to keep their jobs. While the PAR (Patterns and Recognition) unit is quirky, the book’s crime plot is gripping, gritty and graphic as they chase a serial killer of serial killers.

FBI Agent Gardner Camden is an analytical genius with an eidetic memory who loves puzzles but is extremely socially awkward. The PAR unit is not deployed to the field but is used when all others have failed to solve a case by analyzing data from their office and finding that missing piece that helps solve the case.

But this case is different. The DNA of a murder victim has come back as a match to a serial killer who was presumed dead. Gardner’s supervisor and the head of the FBI have chosen him to lead this hunt in the field. While the Gardner and the team look forward to the field work, they also realize that if this case is not solved, the recriminations will blow back on them and they could be reassigned or terminated.

The killer has personal information on Gardner that could only come from his FBI file as he taunts and threatens him and his family after another kill. Can Gardner and his unit stop this killer before his endgame and final disappearance?

This is an exciting serial killer crime thriller that kept me reading from page one to the end. Gardner is such a great protagonist, and the author brings him to life as a fully developed and believable character. While not stated in the story, you realize he is somewhere on the spectrum, but his mother has taught him how to deal with his special intellect and social awkwardness from childhood. All his other teammates are brilliant and interesting in their own quirkiness and specialties and will probably be more in the limelight in future books.

The crime thriller plot in this story is perfectly paced with a God complex serial killer and the step-by-step hunt to capture him. Some of the surprises along the way come from more than just the antagonist and Gardner must make decisions that not only affect him, but his whole unit. There are graphic descriptions of blood and body parts throughout, but it is a serial killer thriller and to be expected.

I highly recommend this crime thriller police procedural with great new characters that I am looking forward to following in future books.

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About the Author

John McMahon studied Creative Writing at The University of Arizona. In his role as an ad agency creative director, his work has won a Gold Clio for Fiat, and he’s written a Superbowl spot for Alfa Romeo. He currently lives in Los Angeles with his family and two rescue animals. He’s hard at work on another P.T. Marsh book and dreams of splitting time between Cabo San Lucas and Lake Lanier.

Social Media Links

Website: https://www.johnmcmahonbooks.com/

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

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

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/head-cases-by-john-mcmahon