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THE GRAVE SONG by Andrew James Greig

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...
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THE CELLO CASE KILLER by Michelle Kidd

 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...
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THE BODY AT AT EDMUND'S by Kate Hardy

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...
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HUNTED by DE Beckler

4.75* Even better than the first in the series. Long may it continue! This book picks up pretty quickly after the events in book 1, with cops still hunting the killers of the Novak brothers, and the Scotsman still insisting that Kasper and Zofia are still working for him, forcing them to take on new work. But there's a new baddie to add to the mix - Novak senior, who wants revenge.  There's a lot more to the tale, with a senior cop I can't figure out, a sympathetic one, and, if I'm not mistaken, one that's a snitch for Novak, but whose fate we don't get to find - unless I missed something. There's more homeless people, but not all are who they're trying to seem. Victor's friends from the previous book turn up again whilst they try to get to the bottom of their mutual friend's murder, and he's targeted. Oscar continues to steal the show, and the conversations between him and Victor, are hilarious. One of the best, if not the actual best, thing...
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IRONWOOD by Michael Connelly

3.5* It plods, but it's detailed and the lead guy, Stil, has a cop's instinctive intuition. But, the ending is REALLY annoying. There's nothing too overt about this tale, although if I mentioned a single noun, I'd be giving the whole thing away. But it's a good police procedural if only for Stil, exiled to a backwater that cops go to if they've been deemed to have messed up. I don't recall his back-story, but there's back-story to the guy who gets...'killed' at the start, leading to a cold-case team and the FBI getting involved. There's posturing and veiled threats from higher-ups, but Stil is pretty adept at climbing out of windows, literally, to get out and do what needs to be done to get the bad guys. Ish. The 'ish' is where the book loses 1.5* for me, because all that footwork, all that putting himself in danger, all that following the trail of breadcrumbs and finding the bakery, and the book ends as it does?? Unsatisfying. Not un...
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BAD LANDS by Joshua Harkin

4* Reacher by almost any other name, but what's Frank Ranger's aim/mission/motivation now that his name's been cleared? Likely this series should've ended with the previous book. This is a decent read but it's completely a rinse-and-repeat job. Yes, there was a storyline, decent characters, as well as one who was completely blinkered and utterly stupid - Del - but this book added nothing to the series or Frank's future. Why's he continuing to drift? He has money, his kid, the chance at a future, but he comes across as selfish, leaving Dane and his wife to raise his daughter, who's already dealing with the brutal loss of her mother, then her father going on the run... ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Inkubator Books, for my reading pleasure. 
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KILL TO KEEP by Elena Taylor

3.5* Not the first in the series, but I had no trouble getting into the tale. This has a few decent twists that not only won't you see coming, but they appear quite late into the tale. There's a female sheriff, a deputised former-FBI guy and love interest, plus 2 decent deputies and an older lady that's the boss of everyone in the station, with some kickarse tech skills. And a lovely dog.  It's not an original tale, as it's very much like the Mercy Kilpatrick and Bree Taggert books, but it's a decent read and there's a satisfying end to the baddie.  ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Severn House for my reading pleasure. 
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