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BODY AT THE AIRFIELD by Kate Hardy

4* The actual tale was decent, but the bigging-up of Boring Colin got on my nerves, as did the ad nauseam mentions of his now-aversion to lemon cake; his accident/poisoning; his attitude towards Doris; repeated dialogues; and his not-believable plans for his potential new job. I'm leaving this series here. This is mostly a rinse-and-repeat tale with the usual M.O. courtesy of Doris and Burt, with some decent sleuthing by Georgina and Sybbie. The murder mystery was indeed murder and a well-hidden mystery, and a rather sad one, although it borrowed from the Fools and Horses episode when the Trotters go to France for Uncle Albert's memorial and discover...that the old gentleman got about in his day.  The reason for Gary keeping his mother's diaries secret seemed far-fetched in 2026, especially with 2 generations of the family being decent villagers and members of the community since then. It didn't ring true. Nor, really, did his feud with his former friend, which sounded ...
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THE CHAPEL OF BONES by Kate Ellis

3* Decent tale, but it dragged a bit. Veered into Tudor history, as well as the 60s, and at times it droned on, making me skim-read towards the last third. I'm new to the series but there's enough info given that I wasn't lost. Unfortunately it had too many cooks in it, and too many trivial things, such as the owner of the house coming on to Neil, and him repeatedly bringing his gf into the conversation; the marital strife of the owners; even the journal in the end started to become boring.  It's a mystery. The killing gets solved. I think another person dies. I can't remember anything else and sorry, I can't do this review justice. ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Little, Little Brown Books, for my reading pleasure.   ure.; 
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THE DEATH OF A WRECKER by Emylia Hall.

3.5* Not sure I believed the twist, the killer or the 'altruism' of the Charlie character at the end - what price will there be to pay? - but it's always nice to catch up with Jayden, Ali and Gus.  This is very readable as it's set in small-town, well, village actually, UK with characters that are believable and likeable, with tales that aren't normally unrealistic or OTT. It's got the usual decent, measured sleuthing that seems to come naturally to Ali (more than former-cop Jayden, strangely) and things that go from seemingly isolated and trivial-ish in the grand scheme, to connected and part of a bigger picture that's got underworld and scary connections and connotations.  Secrets and lies are outed. Justice is sort of done if you're of the an-eye-for-an-eye mindset - I am, under certain circumstances. But, it meant more than one life ruined, sadly. And yet maybe a rapprochement? It ends well for a few, but relationships will need to be worked on and r...
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CUT AND RUN by Michelle Kidd

4* Good, solid read with an unexpected twist at the end, which leaves a massive cliffhanger 🤨 MK can be occasionally hit and miss, but this is a solid read without filler.  There's a believable get-out-of-jail - no pun intended - for Jack where the gun, the teddy and Ritchie the bad guy are concerned, even if it gives rise to questions that the DCI should be asking. But, his secrets are safe. For now.  The slasher aspect is realistic enough to be chilling. And people's stupidity is very believable in making him go viral. That the cops were stumped was believable, but why oh why did no one think of Velcro? Really? I went there immediately.  The ending was perhaps, in hindsight, lightly hinted at. Very lightly. Kitty was seemingly stupid to call the person she'd shopped to the cops, but when the ending came to light, it was actually a bit shocking and sad, although sad is too strong a word for what I'm trying to say. Only a bit, though, as a certain person meeting a gris...
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JUST A BIT CRUSHED ALESSANDRA HAZARD

4* These books are such a guilty pleasure, so un-PC, and 🔥 🔥 🔥  There are a few inconsistencies with Cam being British or German, but this isn't a series about accuracy. Surprisingly, the F1 info does seem pretty accurate and the scenes realistic, so maybe the author's a fan. So, we get more of the same hot, sexy, un-PC stuff that we all read AH for, but here, it's maybe more than most, as Cam's unapologetically homophobic at the start. He's not a hater, he just doesn't mingle with anyone who's not straight and they don't feature on gus radar. He's also pretty rude and unsociable. So when he falls, it's great that he falls hard. His mindset, shared by pretty much all AH's alpha leads, is that he's not attracted to a guy, and getting blown by a guy doesn't make him gay... so no change from the modus operandi.  The sex is shit hot. I've read all the books and I think this surpasses Roman's one and the one with the Arab lead. ...
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BENJI by Wren Wilds

 3* Stormy turns into Mary Calmes' Jory in this, the authority on everything 🙄 And if you don't like cracked heels, don't read this - it should come with a warning.  This book is slow and repetitive - not just because Mickey's paralysed, but because the author says the same thing almost every other page. I really, really, really could've done without reading about cracked heels time and time again. So ick, but that's how Benji shows his gratitude and devotion. The leads' coming together is weird, and the tale didn't work for me. There needed to be more conversations about no need for guilt, about costs, about physical and mental tolls - basically about everything. Some characters are name-dropped, like Mickey's parents, but they're absent at the end? The biggest TSTL with this? They assume, despite medics not confirming it, that Mickey will be in a wheelchair permanently or semi-permanently and Stormy draws up plans, takes them to an architect a...
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STORMY by Wren Wilds

3* Lots of picking up and putting this down, as it's slow and the pacing is off. I nearly DNF'd 3 or 4 times before 40% gone. It only gets interesting around 70% in. Stormy needed counselling, not just somewhere to rest, heal, eat and call home. That not a single person, including a professional who deals in abused persons suggested any, was surreal.  There's a lot introspection from Stormy/Matthew, which feels realistic. But, Tex is so talkative, he's gotta be on the spectrum, yet no one clocks? Talking so much, bartender or not, isn't normal. But it seems like the author ignored obvious stuff for the sake of her tale. It did have heart and it had characters who had each other's backs, but far too much of it was spent on Tex's verbal diarrhoea. The biker community was great, though. Glad it was a KU title. 
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