RoroblusMumReadsReviews/Rants

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...

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 ger father going on the run... ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Inkubator Books, for my reading pleasure. 

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. 

3* Got this based on the several 5* NetGalley reviews, but found being in Smith's head confusing - and I don't think I was the only one.  I'm not sure and I'm also not interested enough to find out if this was the first in a series. I originally DNF'd it about 8 pages in and went to feed this back, saw all the 5* reviews about great British policing and had a rethink. I wish I hadn't.  It's a confusing tale as most of it seems to be in Smith-speak and Smith-think. His new partner/trainee? seemed as confused at times, and I couldn't figure if Smith had a vendetta with more than one colleague or if it was mountains out of molehills. The hint of the higher-ups getting involved didn't really ring true, nor did the connection that Smith supposedly made. I'm afraid I should've stuck with the DNF. ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Penguin Random House for my reading pleasure.

3.5* Not exactly thrilling, but an engaging read.  I'm not actually sure exactly what Jessica did in her job, tbh, but it was a British policing role of some kind. It wasn't thrilling but I did engage with the tale and with the little hint of the paranormal. I'm not convinced on the incident with the person she was asked to visit in prison - the 2026 incident, not the 20-odd-years-ago one, but I liked the help she got. I'm also not convinced about the racist copper and the victim that took their time reporting it. I'm pretty sure there's CCTV in some areas in nicks, however old they are, so this didn't really wash.  I normally hate cheating in books, but what happened here kind of felt okay, although where and when Jessica found time after a busy day's work, and rushing home to play mum - the latter because that's that it felt like, that she wasn't really present. I think I'd read another in this series, but I'm not inspired to read the p...

4* Slow, slow, slow, and not quite what the blurb leads you to believe, nor as it turned out, my cup of tea...But I kept coming back to it time and time again. There was something indefinable that drew me in... I expected a murder-mystery with the lead being a retired Chicago cop. Instead, I got Ireland's version of small town Anywhere, USA, where politicians are bought; justice is done local style; the local bigwig rules with smiles, jobs, favours, seeming benevolence, or veiled and not-so-veiled threats...until things change. And people rise up... This was slow to the point that I wondered why I was still going with it, as it was more saga and very much not cop procedural. Characters were many, and there wasn't really enough of an intro to most. I got the impression that mental health was an issue for more than a few, but not admitted, and that people in Ardnakilty had their own way of dealing with things. The ending was a surprise. In my book, pun not intended, justice didn...