When The Night Ends - MJ Lee

The Eighth book in the DI Ridpath series is out from Canelo Crime on 9th June

Ridpath is back and this time it's murder. Sorry, I was doing that silly voiceover you used to hear at the end of Columbo/Perry Mason episodes.

Yet those famous detectives are renowned for many things, one is their tenacity and never giving up - their desire for justice and truth amongst a world where every obstacle is put in front of you.

Author MJ Lee is a prolific novelist, one who has hit upon a star vehicle in the literary world, a returning hero who has an everyman quality, a stickler to uncover the truth in some plots that are brilliantly written all the while set amidst an ever changing world as government changes and pandemics take a grip of the world.

Ridpath is one of those characters that is a joy to journey with from investigation to investigation; in this tale he has to figure out how a prisoner died alone in his cell after seemingly falling over and hitting his head. The death occurred three years ago, a lot has happened before Ridpath in his role as working for the Coroner re-opens the case. Many have given statements and some have been moved sideways in their career as they deal with their role - from Saunders who has been stuck on desk duty due to being station agent when the death took place. Ridpath's intention to investigate a fellow police officer does not sit well with others in Greater Manchester Police (GMP) as anybody who watches Line of Duty can attest, internal affairs are not favoured in the police force; police should catch criminals not cops. But what if the criminals are cops?

This leads Ridpath to collide as always with his nemesis Turnbull, a man who detests Ridpath and his maverick streak. Yet Lee goes to great lengths to show that Ridpath does play well with others, respected by others especially when in partnership with Emily Parkinson and Sophie, they prefer Ridpath's candour and commitment to proving things right.

The case as always has its twists and turns, with bodies appearing from nowhere, witnesses being either unable to source or turning up cold; the spectre of organised crime looms over the case and that is where Lee is so good at bringing in factual information to his fictional storylines. While reading it you might think some of it is too good to be true and the fact as always is that truth is stranger than fiction.

This reader devoured the book in a few sittings, this is partly due to the knowing the rhythm established so effectively by the author yet this was an enjoyable read throughout - crisp, clean and intelligent crime writing with a real hero at the heart of the action.

When The Night Ends by MJ Lee is out from Canelo Crime from 9th June

My thanks to Canelo for the review opportunity via NetGalley.

Shiver - Allie Reynolds

 

Debut novel by Allie Reynolds out from Headline on January 21st

Allie Reynolds was a former professional snowboarder, her love for the pistes and the sport is perfect for the old adage of write what you know.

She tells the tale of Milla, who reunites with old friends in the Alps and from there we have a dual-narrative occuring as we go back to an incident that involved the disappearance of the mysterious Saskia. Ten years have passed since this event, and her brother Curtis has asked them all to return - some reluctantly and some have altered drastically since then.

Reynolds writes with a confidence and also does well to convey the changing of people's psyche and how influential people can become on your lives no matter how briefly there time in your life.

Milla is a hardworking individual eager to excel at snowboarding, but she does not have the natural talent of Saskia and her European rivals - she cannot make certain tricks and this frustrates her. Saskia is the Queen Bee of the group, loved by men but hated by women and this duality of the two main females is honed well by the debut author.

When I encountered this novel on my NetGalley TBR pile, I had just finished The Chalet by Catherine Cooper, and unfortunately that Christie style murder-mystery was more successful of dealing with character aspirations and arc effectively; while Shiver sadly faded by the end of the book. 

However, it should still be recommended for those in need of a good murder-mystery set on the luxurious Alps and the glamorous lifestyle that comes with it. For a debut it also smacks of rich potential for this young author. 

Shiver is out from Headline on 21st January on all formats.

What They Knew - Marion Todd

 

Fourth instalment of DI Clare Mackay series from Scottish based novelist Marion Todd via Canelo Crime.

Over the last two years of reviewing I have been fortunate to fall into via the NetGalley website the opportunity to review crime thrillers, one of my favourite genres. When liking publishers, you get familiar with a publishers writers and genres in terms of conventions and trends. This reader particularly likes MJ Lee and his Manchester noir novels, while also falling for the work of Marion Todd and her DI Clare Mackay series. It is the fourth book of the series, but Todd is not slowing down.

It is Hogmanay, Clare Mackay is set to return to work at her St. Andrews constabulary following the Christmas festivities, yet her return to work normality is ruptured by the death of a woman at her home alone with no signs of breaking in, instead she has been strangled and left for dead in her bathtub.

After initial enquiries, investigations lead to the discovery of another body in the Kinness Burn, this linkage of water in the killings leads Mackay and her partner Chris (engaged to Sara) to believe a serial killer is on the loose in the fair city.

What this reader likes in particular about Todd's writing is that the author clearly loves her main character, some writers can get a bit resentful of a famous character, yet Todd loves to spend time with her protagonist and her friends. The banter or dialogue between Clare and Chris is so winning, the slight joshing of Chris' new teeth whitening experience and the camaraderie in her workforce springs off the page. We are so familiar of television depictions of maverick cops and rogue policemen, it is always refreshing to see a positive workplace environment, a trait she shares with MJ Lee.

  

The plotting within this novel is sprightly, light and clever in its deliberate pacing - she allows Mackay moments of levity and time to herself in the pursuit of love and even the opportunity of a haircut, time to herself despite working fourteen straight days in pursuit of the killer.

Personally, I feared that Todd may have run out of steam and this book took a while to get going but once the second body is found in the burn, this novel took off and as per her first three novels it was devoured in three sittings over my own Hogmanay celebrations.

What They Knew is published from Canelo on 11th February 2021 on all formats 

Paper Soldiers

The streets of Greater Manchester are awash with drugs and weapons, and the gangs that control this multi-million pound business will stop at nothing to protect and grow their business. The Dolsen family are one such gang.

When the head of a rival Yardie gang is found brutally murdered, revenge attacks were always likely to follow, and gang members were unlikely to be the only ones hurt.

DCI Priest teams up with the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA); but they soon admit to conflicting objectives which may unravel their alliance, and prove to it be more of a hindrance than a help.

Was DCI Priest was about to undertake his most challenging investigation to date?

Pettinger has written a fast paced thriller which takes care to show the inner workings of a gang in the Greater Manchester area. 

Showing both sides of the story from both DCI Priest and the gang via an undercover agent.

The book was packed with action and there was plenty of content, and the book features one of the most gruesome death scenes committed to literature, there was a moment when you think they will escape the claws of their captors but when that moment hits it is like a 10 ton lorry hitting you at once.

A good sign of any crime series is that the main character does not have to carry the narrative fully, he can sometimes regress to the background and let someone else to the fore as happens here.

While I have not read any of the previous Priest novels, the requirement of previous knowledge was not necessary to enjoy this work.

PAPER SOLDIERS is out now in all formats.

My thanks to damppebbles blog tour for the opportunity

Marion Todd - See Them Run

Published by Canelo, Marion Todd's debut novel is out on 31st October

Set in the plush and lovely surroundings of the illustrious St. Andrews, DI Clare Mackay is in a new job having relocated from Glasgow following a firearms incident.

Mackay is trying to get back in the saddle and find a reason to work, the relocation to the supposed quiet surroundings of the famous golf resort should hold her in good stead, as she gets over the trauma of the shooting mishap.

The quiet gets disrupted by a hit and run case at a local wedding one Saturday night; a supposed mistake becomes a criminal case and apparently pre-meditated as a card with the number 5 on his body. Once they delve into the deceased's history they find that he simply disappeared every Thursday evening with no reason.

So a hit and run, no surprise. Accidents can happen, but then another attack occurs the next day with a number four on this victim.  With the second victim being a local business mogul who owns the renowned brewery, and a friend of Mackay's superior; the attention turns to finding the murderer quickly. Mackay knows there will be a third victim and suddenly a serial killer is on the loose

Mackay must navigate all manners of boundaries; be they constructs of her gender, her class and the fact that she is coming from the gritty Glaswegian streets to the quaint St Andrews countryside. Throughout the book, a great trick is Mackay learning her way around the town and surrounding locations, she constantly has to ask for directions and how far away places are.

And yet as Mackay tries to keep her head on straight, more bodies start to turn up with the same vehicular modus operandi - knowing that a third would turn up soon enough, it could have been prevented yet her eagerness scuppers the preventative measures.

Todd has written a unique character in Mackay, one who is secure in her position as an authority figure, confident in her decision making and respected for her work.  The camaraderie of her team is one that will build up in more novels in the future, yet it is good to read a book with a leading female protagonist defined by her job and not her being a women coupled with a fish out of water narrative.

For a debut, Todd has written a well crafted thriller with genuine moments of jeopardy faced by our St. Andrews police force as they track down the killers.  The use of the Scottish town is clever in that it translates the worst of human nature into a microcosm of a small town, as if St. Andrews is a petri dish of all that is wrong with the world.  This is something that could be developed in further tomes but it is clear that DI Mackay will be able to handle anything this bad world can throw her way.

See Them Run is released from Canelo on 31st October.
My thanks to Tracy Fenton for running the book blog tour

The Hunting Party

Lucy Foley's debut thriller is set to be one of the great thrilling reads of 2019

British crime novel writing is going through a vanguard or renaissance period currently, be it from the loner detective in Joseph Knox's Manchester set crime novels; to A.A. Dhand's Yorkshire set crime epics; and there is great representation by Fiona Barton from the female writers of these shores.

Set over a New Year's weekend of celebrations, Foley takes her protagonists away from their sheltered happy self-important London existence of wealth and privilege, dropping them into a remote part of the Scottish Highlands where they hope to engage in fun and frivolity over the four day weekend.

From the outset, the nine people she gives to us are of a millennial sort - highly educated having all met at university in Cambridge, in great employment and a better life than Riley.

The hope is that this is one last hurrah for the group before children and other responsibilities stop them in their tracks; and yet a swift blizzard puts pay to that as cabin fever sets in and the abundance of alcohol brings up resentment and old secrets amongst the group.

Atmospherically set amongst the vast landscape of a cold bleak Highland setting, Foley cleverly weaves an ever-changing narrative flash forwarding and backwards amongst many of the characters, this offers us different voices to listen to prompting quite a challenge for the debut author to maintain this flow of narrative.

From prissy Miranda, to quieter Katie, to lodge host Heather and gamekeeper Doug; Foley writes confidently in all these voices garnering quite a range of motives from all.

The anticipation for this novel has been met by the finished article here, and it is great to see a riveting example of crime fiction by a British female in the same vein as American Shari Lapena, Foley will be able to be heralded in the same company as Fiona Barton on the evidence of this first stab at crime novel writing.

The Hunting Party is out now Harper Collins in Hardback, Ebook