Wendy Cartmell

Blood Lines by Angela Marsons

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A victim killed with a single, precise stab to the heart appears at first glance to be a robbery gone wrong. A caring, upstanding social worker lost to a senseless act of violence. But for Detective Kim Stone, something doesn’t add up. When a local drug addict is found murdered with an identical wound, Kim knows instinctively that she is dealing with the same killer. But with nothing to link the two victims except the cold, calculated nature of their death, this could be her most difficult case yet.
I tried really, really hard not to race through this book. Anticipation of the latest Angela Marsons release was high and I did hope DI Kim Stone wouldn’t let us down as I wanted to savour every minute of the read. And she didn’t let her readers down. In fact Ms Marsons played a double whammy by bringing back Dr Alex Thorne. What a coup! This brought such a chilling thread to the storyline.
As always Ms Marsons’ characters were believable, but not necessary likeable, with a story line that was rooted in reality. A page turning thriller, full of danger and suspense – it was so good I’m going to have to read it again, and again, and again!

Blood Lines is available from Amazon here.

What Remains of Me by A L Gaylin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

June 1980: 17-year-old Kelly Lund is jailed for killing Hollywood film director, John McFadden Thirty years later, Kelly is a free woman. Yet speculation still swirls over what really happened that night. And when her father-in law, and close friend of McFadden is found dead – shot through the head at point-blank range – there can only be one suspect.
But this time Kelly has some high-profile friends who believe she’s innocent of both crimes.
This was a very different setting to the normal thrillers I write. Set in the world of Hollywood in the 1980’s the book revolves around the children of film stars. They manage to run fairly wild without much adult supervision and it is from here that all starts to go wrong. Kelly is not really of their world, her father being a less than successful stunt man and a mother who refuses to let her daughter be pulled into that world. But pulled she is and that’s when things, inevitably, go wrong. A compelling novel I found hard to put down.
I received a copy of this book via Netgalley.

What Remains of me is available from Amazon here.

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The Devil’s Work by Mark Edwards

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It was the job she had dreamed of since childhood. But on her very first day, when an unnerving encounter drags up memories Sophie Greenwood would rather forget, she wonders if she has made a mistake. A fatal mistake. What is her ambitious young assistant really up to? And what exactly happened to Sophie’s predecessor? When her husband and daughter are pulled into the nightmare, Sophie is forced to confront the darkest secrets she has carried for years.
This was a good solid read. I loved the character of Sophie who is by turns naïve but brave and determined to fight for her family and her job. After being out of the work place for some time, she finds it difficult juggling family vs career but is desperate to make a good impression at work. So she over compensates, haven’t we all at some time or another. But in the end, being nice doesn’t cut it and Sophie has to learn to stand up for what she believes in and confront the evil lurking behind the scenes.
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley.

The Devil’s Work is available from Amazon here.

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Cold Kill: Monkeewrench Book 7 by P.J. Tracy

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

On a cold winter’s night in Minneapolis, two friends are brutally murdered on opposite sides of the city. It’s clear to homicide detectives Gino and Magozzi that the men were targets – but why? As Gino and Magozzi begin to uncover evidence, the clues rapidly start to disappear. Lost websites and missing CCTV footage lead them once more to Grace MacBride and her eccentric team of computer analysts – the only ones who can help.
This is a hugely enjoyable book, that really shouldn’t be taken too seriously. I don’t pretend to understand some of the technical stuff, but it all sounded plausible to me so I’ll leave it at that. I do enjoy a good conspiracy and this book had it in spades. I love the monkeewrench crew and the detectives Gino and Magozzi. Lots of tension, lots of twists and turns, what’s not to like?

Cold Kill is available from Amazon here.

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Watching Edie by Camilla Way

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Edie is the friend that Heather has always craved. But one night, it goes terrifyingly wrong. And what started as an innocent friendship ends in two lives being destroyed.
Sixteen years later, Edie is still rebuilding her life. But Heather isn’t ready to let her forget so easily. It’s no coincidence that she shows up when Edie needs her most.
This is a story of friendship wasted and lives wasted. In some respects, it is a very sad reflection on our society today with families torn apart and children ignored. The author tells the story from two timeframes, before and after. I did find it difficult to begin with to work out which girl was telling her story as there was insufficient difference between the two voices. However, I persevered and was so glad I did. This was a difficult read on an emotional level and at times was simply depressing, which I imagine was precisely what the author wanted to achieve. The conclusion came out of the left field, but was very apt.
I really enjoyed this book on many levels and loved/hated the characters and their families by turn. A very clever, well executed story. Highly recommended.
I received a copy of this novel via Netgalley.

Watching Edie is available from Amazon here.

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Last to Die by Arlene Hunt

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When Jessie Conway survives a horrific mass high school shooting, in the aftermath she finds herself thrust into the media spotlight, drawing all kinds of attention. But some of it is the wrong kind. A sadistic serial killer, has been watching her every move. A skilled hunter, he likes his victims to be a challenge. Jessie is strong, fearless, a survivor, and now… she is his ultimate prey.
There is a lot going on in this book. Mass shootings, a serial killer, people not being who they appear to be, all centred around Jessie Conway. The story is told from multiple points of view and I agree with other reviewers, who found this to be slightly clunky in so much as there is some repetition in the book. I did find this took away much of the tension and slowed the read down. Having said that, I did enjoy the read and found it entertaining.

Last to Die is available from Amazon here.

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The Girls Next Door by Mel Sherratt

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Six months after the stabbing of fifteen-year-old Deanna Miller, someone is coming after the teenagers of Stockleigh, as a spate of vicious assaults rocks this small community. Revenge for Deanna? Or something more? Detective Eden Berrisford is locked into a race against time to catch the twisted individual behind the attacks – but when her own niece, Jess Mount, goes missing, the case gets personal.
I am a fan of Mel Sherratt mostly because of her gritty realism. And that’s what got me about this book. It wasn’t gritty. At least not for me. There just seemed too much ‘niceness’ about it. The plot was good, the twist at the end was great but I expected more tension and more conflict. Read it and make your own mind up, but I prefer Mel’s earlier work.

The Girls Next Door is available here.

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The Good Sisters by Helen Phifer

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

1933, Mother Superior Agnes offers sanctuary to a desperate young woman fleeing for her life. Only to wake in the morning to discover a terrible fate has befallen one of the Sisters. Over 80 years later, Kate Parker, divorced, alcoholic, and broke, moves into the dilapidated old convent she dreams of turning into a bed and breakfast, whilst changing her life.
I do love a good horror story, but they have to have an element of realism first, before going off into the realms of nightmares. Everything was going well, suitably creepy things happening to ordinary people. But then we were told that the sister who had been killed in the convent in 1933 had been chopped into pieces and the room was locked from the inside. I didn’t believe in Sister Agnes’ reaction to the conundrum of how Sister Mary could have managed to chop herself to bits! The best horror is based on realism slowly built up so that you believe in the characters first, so you can then believe in the story once it starts to get horrific. I found this book to be too formulaic for me. I did finish it, but found I was skimming pages to get to the end.

The Good Sisters is available from Amazon here.

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Somewhere Inside of Happy by Anna McPartlin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Maisie Bean is a fighter. A survivor. Seventeen years ago, she went on a first date that went so badly it was enough to put the girl off chips. The marriage that followed was hell but it gave her two children: funny, caring Jeremy and bullish but brilliant Valerie. Just as it seems everything might finally start going right, sixteen-year-old Jeremy goes missing. The police descend and a media storm swirls, over five days of searching that hurtle towards an inevitable, terrible conclusion.
This is a heart-wrenching story, cleverly constructed and beautifully written. At times hilarious, at others tear jerking, the author never lets up with the emotion. Each character is drawn through flashbacks, conversations and confrontation. The only thing I would say is that for me there was too much information given as back story. I find this tends to feel too much like ‘info dumping’ and for me took away some of the tension that could have been built within the story. But I understand that this was more of a family saga than crime thriller. The message in the book is one of tolerance and understanding. Firstly, for two adolescent boys trying to find a way through the maelstrom of their hormones and emotions, and secondly the damage that domestic violence does, which goes far deeper than cuts and bruises.
I receive a copy of this novel via Netgalley.

Somewhere Inside of Happy is available from Amazon here.

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Dark Water by Robert Bryndza

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When Detective Erika Foster receives a tip-off that key evidence for a major narcotics case was stashed in a disused quarry on the outskirts of London, she orders for it to be searched. From the thick sludge the drugs are recovered, but so is the skeleton of a young child. The remains are quickly identified as seven-year-old Jessica Collins. The missing girl who made headline news twenty-six years ago. As Erika tries to piece together new evidence with the old, she must dig deeper and find out more about the fractured Collins family and the original detective, Amanda Baker. A woman plagued by her failure to find Jessica. Erika soon realises this is going to be one of the most complex and demanding cases she has ever taken on.
I was so pleased when I realised that Robert Bryndza had another book out and thank goodness I wasn’t disappointed. Rob goes from strength to strength with his writing. Erika continues to be a complex character and in this book faces her greatest challenges to date, not just from work, but in her personal life as well. Moss and Peterson make a welcome return, adding to the tension. Robert is becoming a master of the craft of dark, disturbing crime writing. There are twists and turns a-plenty; lots of conflict; new and interesting characters that we may meet again; and the book is so addictive. I couldn’t wait to get back to reading it and had to force myself to put it down at night and get some sleep. If you are considering reading Robert’s work, then do it! I’m confident you’ll enjoy it. Its a superb, dark, disturbing crime thriller.
I received a copy of the novel from the publisher via Netgalley.

Dark Water is available from Amazon here.

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