RoroblusMumReadsReviews/Rants

4* Would've been a 5* read but for the unnecessary tmi about the lead  character's sex/dating life.  As an intro to the author and the series, this would've been a 5* tale for me had it not been for the above. Why bring up her recently dumped partner and even more recently dumped work colleague, plus her former boss? This added nothing to the book, especially as the latter didn't appear in the tale at all, and the colleague couldn't care less, and the ex-partner wasn't in the tale until maybe the last 15%. That aside, there was a decent team of detectives doing actual 2026 detecting, plus the lead's dad, the local coroner, doing 70s-ish detecting and getting it right.  The tale itself made me hate Americans and their innate arrogance, and their cries of diplomatic immunity. I could go into more unsavory practices, but that'd spoiler was really was a well-thought-out and dovetailed tale. I'm annoyed that not everyone who deserved to pay for their part...

 4*, nearly a 5*, but for some of the slightly implausible actions of people who should be better.  This is another decent sortie in this series, with good dovetailing of the various characters and the woes that befall them  even though some were a bit worthy of eye-rolling. At one point I thought the series might be ending here, when Victor rejected an offer, but I think now some shades-of-grey characters are even more beholden to him, and the series might end up going in a slightly different direction. Are we going to find out that the Scots sell Kasper, Zofia and Victor out in the next book, or do they end up beholden themselves and double-crossing 'allies'? We learn a bit more about Craig's past in this and he turns into a more substantial character, one who does something needed,  but which crosses a line morally. Ish, circumstances being what they are. I suspect he'll be bigged-up in the next book because now that some corruption has been weeded out, it'll be ...

4* Is the end of the series as we know it? Seems likely but there's plenty left for a spin-off series. Well, things get put to bed in this book. The guy I've hated (forgotten his name) since finding out what he'd been doing to, and was continuing to try and do, to Anna, gets a very deserved comeuppance here. A very satisfying one. I loved the collusion between Sheridan, her boss and a scally seemingly with his heart, and some morals at least, in the right place. Only in Scouseland.  There's a lot of death in this book. There's revenge I could get behind. There's playing the long game, excellent plotting, and I felt for the bereaved. Double bereaved.  There's a Jackie Collins type of epilogue, the kind where you find out what happens to each character. It's satisfying. It's closure, hence my thinking it's the end of the series. ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer, for my reading pleasure. 

4* Very nearly a 5* tale...but some bits got forgotten about. This series can be read out if order, as tbh, none of the characters have lives outside of the job - the small attempts to create a personal life for Corstorphine, didn't really add anything to the storyline, nor did they really ring true, especially the potential for IVF. If it did happen, his partner would pretty much be a single parent.  The storylines starts with Janet being buried, only for her coffin to slip and dislodge a previously buried body. One who'd only hust arrived in town on a mission.  Unfortunately, it's not the only death in the book, all of which kind of felt plausible. There was a good range of characters and potential killers, but when one of those ends up dead themselves, it adds another killer to the mix. The explanation when that character got revealed felt a little anticlimactic, especially with one of the aforementioned killer's 'confessions'. Who was lying and who wasnt? Wh...

 4* This series is back on track after the not-so-great previous tale in the series.  This book picks up not long after the not-so-great book with the child who witnessed hus parents' murder, and it's a shocker from the start. Jack has an excellent team and it's hot long before 2 persons of interest are identified.  The tale delves into the past of a colleague of Jack's, and yes, over 30 years have passed, but still, would you not remember disruptive stuff that impacted your life and that of...fellow *noun* - trying not to Spoiler here? I'm not sure but it wasn't a deal breaker.  It ends satisfyingly, but it's sad tale. And, Jack is treading a fine line that might come to haunt him career wise, and it's already done so physically. This is a good overall arc to the series. I'm puzzled why this book was offered as a 'read now' on NetGalley, as Michelle Kidd's a pretty decent author. ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Joffe Books for my reading p...

3* A pity the body of the title wasn't Boring Colin's. What a drip that man is. Review contains spoilers.  This series is starting to wane, sadly, and I think this is its swan song for me.  There were too many cooks that I think the author was trying to create red herrings from, and it got boring. Georgina's repetition of 'my partner', Sibbie's repetition of 'dear girl' began to get on my nerves. Colin The Bore was even more boring and pompous than usual and I'm frankly sick of Georgina wanting to not talk about Doris to avoid an argument with Mr Not Supportive. I was glad that he ended up a victim in the tale, sadly not a fatal one 😔  The storyline was too farfetched and took too long to get there. The author's adopted JD Robb's modus operandi of mentioning every past/fringe character and giving them a not-always-organic cameo. Boring. Detracting. The last straw for me was Georgina's acceptance of Colin The Boring's proposal despite...