RoroblusMumReadsReviews/Rants

 4* intro to this author, DI Anna and her crew.  I've read a ton of UK-based police procedurals recently, mostly from Joffe Books. The Britishness of the tales make them refreshing and believable, although some take liberties with real-life policing, like this one, which supposedly has a former gang member as a DC. He's suspicious and under observation, but lo and behold, there well may be another, whose identity isn't known in books 1 or 2. But, at the heart of the books, there's a proper tale, investigations, good cops for the most, and a strong female lead. In fact, make that strong females, full stop.  There's a decent but gruesome and rather horrifying tale here, that'll make me never look at pigs the same way again. These aren't of the pink, cute, furry variety, rather literal cannibals and omnivores.  We do get introduced to the bad guy straight away, a la new-MO of JD Robb style, and I felt that his 'revenge is a dish best served cold' attitu...

 What did I just read? A supposed police procedural with cut corners, conclusions and unprofessional characters. This is a disappointing read, with stereotyping of a Scouser in the Liverpudlian DI, Gerry, and of Wesley, a DI with roots in the Caribbean. Of course, George calls people 'love' and makes inappropriate comments. Of course Wesley has experienced racism, but there's no evidence or clarification given.  I tried to ignore the above, but the jumping-to-conclusions/not investigating thoroughly before announcing things to potential bereaved persons/the unprofessional actions of both Wesley and George/the frankly boring  characters in this book, made me think I'd wasted my time. The only interesting version were the words of the old clergyman, about the necromancer (rumoured). On top, the characters were forgettable and why oh why use the same first character for so many names? We had: Gerry the DI, George the racist, misogynistic old guy, Greg and Ginevra.  Kyli...

 4* Had twists I didn't see coming. Not a likeable story or female character, but still an engrossing read. This is my first tale by this author, and I found it well written and engrossing, though I was clueless about what it'd entail. The mention of bruising on Aiden's face and the 'mugging' that wasn't reported had me thinking 'Aha, domestic abuse role reversal' but in reality, it was so much worse. At least he showed backbone and a sense of morality, although far, far beyond a reasonable timeframe to process his trauma, making him semi complicit, but he got there in the end, tragically, trying to make amends. The author did well with Aiden's lack of on-page time to sow thoughts of cold feet and/or mystery, so the reveals - there are several - when they came, were unpalatable, if not brutally shocking. The author relied on money talking, greed and henchmen-type employees to make things sadly believable.  As to Maggie/Margaret herself? I don't t...

 4* Modern-day, small town USA at its worse, makes for an excellent tale. This is my first book by this author, which is told from the POV of the local police chief, Samuel. It's an excellent story with excellent detective work that brings the explanations alive and makes you believe that this very well could happen in small-town USA with the way US laws on abortion have changed. Tbh, some characters, including the family of a so-called (Baptist) minister, show the country at its worst, believably so, and at the same time, certain parishioners who're true Christians, show it at its best. I think I take so much for granted with the life and employment freedoms in the UK that it's always a shocker to read how little freedom and protections there are in the supposed land of the free. And I liked that the author spoke up about SCOTUS and how, sadly, it's gotten to where it is today, the awful effects of MAGA infiltrating the uneducated masses, and the hypocrisy of the so-ca...

 4.5* Strong females, weak men, lies and obfuscation make for a decent read. This book didn't feel female-dominant but boy, did the females show the males up. I struggled to believe that weak (as accused by Erin, the PI) Lewis was a detective. He had no instincts, no balls, no courage and he only had a very late Eureka! moment, actually 2 of them, just shortly before the end. Erin, Amma, June and Vicky were strong, passionate, supportive females, in total contrast. And goodness, even bitchy Olivia came through. I thought that the author did well not to make this a total take on Stephen Lawrence's murder, though there were similarities. Thankfully institutional racism didn't rear its head, though male chauvinism and arrogance did, as well as shades of Sarah Everard being more than hinted at. And contempt for policing pretty much was the underlying message of the tale, though reform was mentioned, too. Erin was surprisingly astute and managed to get the tiniest details from p...

  4* Decent tale, not tons of detective work, but solid and interesting. Being new to the series, I felt that there was enough to clue me in about the characters that I wasn't lost. Nor was I bogged down in TMI. Quite a bit of the tale included stuff that all working mums in charge of childcare go through, especially ones just returning to work, but there seemed to be quite a bit of it. It didn't really feel like her kids were at the forefront of Louise's mind, and she didn't sound like a natural parent. She wasn't neglectful but without the babysitter, husband and grandparents, there's no way she could do this job as it needs to be. It was kind of an eye-rolling moment when talk of promotion was 'sold' as the hours being easier and more convenient. Hmm.  The storyline itself was decent, without too many TSTL moments, and with someone who'd seemed innocuous actually one of the fanatic cult members. That was a shocker, as was the reveal of 2 identitie...

  4* This author never fails to disappoint. An autobuy, after just 2 books. This is a well-written and twisty tale that has you wondering what's up with the person we're first introduced to, Chloe, who's a bit of a loner, perhaps a bit wary of the law for unknown reasons, but at the same time, a decent person who looks out for her housebound mother, and who loves her ugly little dog. She may be nosy and when she witnesses a murder, doesn't step up as you'd expect a witness or a decent person to, but there's something decent about her, and in the end, life turns in her favour. In a very sweet and unexpected way that ended the tale perfectly for the until-then, misfit that she was. The husband and wife characters aren't ones I could root for. Each was capable of doing awful things, as gets shown, and not all was as it seemed. The tale took me down different routes at different times, unexpectedly, and I didn't 'see' the collaboration between Chloe ...

 5* Goodness, an unexpected, low-key-in-a-British-way thriller that works beautifully for the lack of faux gloss and believability. I didn't see the outcome of this book coming at all. There's a lot happening, involving an abusive ex; drink driving that ironically might just have saved a life; a new boyfriend who seems as wholesome as he looks...; babirs; a relationship repaired, and one broken; and a lot of corruption and stuff that'll get you jail time if you succumb to temptation. Or maybe threats. Or, bribery.  It's really well written and very believable, with Abi working at stacking shelves on the night shift at her local Sainsbury's, without unnecessary faux drama, just drama of the cold, calculated type, that's chilling and scary for how insidious it becomes, whilst Abi wonders if she's losing the plot, but can't tell others for fear of endangering them. It's an almost perfect read, but a few things got left out at the end, perhaps because th...

 3* Decent if unexciting intro to this author. This is well written but for a tale set in Ireland, it lacked everything authentically Irish. There were no accents, no Gaelic words, not even a single Gaelic name, and not a single Irish dish, despite the tale being set in a boutique Irish hotel.  As to the tale itself, it wasn't hard to figure out who Mia/June was. The violence in this, both in terms of the murder and from a person of authority, didn't gel with 2024 Anywhere. I couldn't really empathise with the characters, and at times, felt like Liz with her fillers and Malcolm with his delusions of it'll-happen-one-day grandeur, were, pun unintentional, just filler. Still, it was readable if not very palatable. ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Storm Publishing, for my reading pleasure.

 4* Good storyline, but what a toerag!! Can't name who I mean, but not sure I felt sorry for them 😐  Book 9 in this series can be read as a standalone although there's the aftermath of Sophie's attack in the previous book that is still apparent, with her boss, boyfriend and parents trying to help her get back to full physical fitness, although her mental health will no doubt be something else altogether. It's not a huge part of the tale but if you've not read the previous one, you might have questions.  The storyline seems simple but the secrets of suburbia, and of a young boy, are quite shocking in quiet rural Britain. Did I see the culprit before the ending? It depends on who you class as the culprit/s, but the answer is No and No. Not at all.  The reveals were well paced, and events were low-key shocking, with a really good finale. I think one person got what was coming to them, but the other, emotionally troubled or not, didn't quite, at least not in my boo...

  4.5* This series is addictive, but why oh why isn't Carve-Up getting his comeuppance right now? Who's protecting him and why?  It's best to read this series in order to fully understand Kat's relationships with her father and with her boss, both of whom happen to be corrupt and each other's croney. These are horribly unhealthy relationships, and why at least the 'professional' one isn't at a disciplinary stage, beggars belief. Yes, there's a tiny scene where Kat's boss gets shown up but bigger, blunter, deeper, longer, nastier and more all should have happened in my book, no pun intended!! The last book ended on a bit of a bombshell that becomes the uncomfortable aspect of this tale, but tbh, it was overly bigged up and questions should have been asked by Kat. To not do so allowed Carve-Up to have the upper hand, and her father could and should have done more to help. Or perhaps maybe just not lie. Getting to the crux of the issue was protracte...

  4* Solid tale, solid detective work, with a few eye-rolling bits, but a good read. This is a first for me - a female detective in a wheelchair. It's book 3 in a series, with enough hints and clueing-in that I wasn't lost despite not having read the others. It's a well-written, plausible tale with at the very start a host of seemingly non-linked events and characters that take a sinister turn, but there's also rather obvious points for cops and SOCOs to have considered, that they didn't, leading to a few eyerolls, and praise for a young male cop that I liked seeing from an older, more experienced cop. Most of the cops had each other's back but there was a divisive one who seemed to get people's backs up, and she seemed parachuted in without us getting the full reasons as to why. By the end of the tale she'd mellowed a tad, or seemed a little less self-important, but I couldn't really see her presence as necessary. Maybe it's to introduce a plot ...

 4* Decent police procedural with twists, believably 'shades of grey' characters, and what feels like a family healing together. This is an interesting tale of a soon-to-be-sacked - probably - detective who returns to her home town when a body is discovered in a cave in the family property. She and her sisters, one a former junkie and juvenile drinker now turned funeral director, and the other for whom the less nice things of life don't really exist (other than growing up without a mother), end up coming together to conceal secrets long buried, pardon the pun, and to try and keep the investigating cop - her teen boyfriend - from looking at their family too closely. This is a shades-of-grey sort of book, where no one's out-and-out bad, but aren't entirely open and honest about the past.  Add in a family that yields power locally, side characters who've been easily led, missing memories, a character with dementia, the discovery of more bodies - more shades here - ...

  3* Lacked chemistry and heat, but had 2 decent leads. This is well written, and a tale about two guys who have distant history, with Des having outed Orion, ruining his sports career, which as a result had Des vowing never to write again. Ish. And then Des is tasked with finding the reclusive Orion to try and tie him into a deal of sorts. Whilst it's well written and with good rainbow representation, and decent people who look out for each other, the storyline about getting snowed in in a cabin, combined with the lack of chemistry and heat made this a slog to get through. I couldn't see the leads together or believe in them, sadly. ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Montlake for my reading pleasure. 

 4.75* Brilliant intro to this author, that's made me buy the previous 2 books in this series. Brilliant storyline, plus bonus arc storyline that's surely got to conclude in book 4, right?  I have to say that I'm impressed with Joffe books and their murder mysteries set in the UK. I've read several recently but I think this series has the slight edge, because of what drives DI Hardcastle.  She's on a mission to prove that a hanging isn't a hanging, but murder, and then there's another, with several good red herrings, several people who're credible suspects, including a protective mother, and lies being told to protect identities, and/or perhaps more. Everything dovetails incredibly well, and I didn't see the triple - yes, triple - twist at the end, that had me half in horror and half in understanding, with a dash of admiration, too. Yes, murder is a crime, but could it be justified, if the perpetrator of a previous crime deserves it? An eye for an ey...

 5* Couldn't step away from this, despite the unheathiness of the dynamics. So, the blurb drew me in to what turned out to be a really good read, full of characters who could've been the murderer, and goodness, did the author do well with the tasty tidbits she dished out. I had my eye on one suspect in the end, but wow, that final bit in the epilogue? Didn't see that coming. I mean, it was kind of serendipitous/fortuitous but it wasn't out-and-out manslaughter, because, well, the 'murder weapon'. But, yeah, wow, though in hindsight, not all was well with that relationship.  Harriet was pretty awful, and had she lived, I think she'd have ended up lonely and far more damaged than she was. This was a good whodunit tale that had little side bits to it that had me feeling that maybe Harriet deserved what happened for all that she'd done to people, including those she genuinely loved. Well, as much as someone like her could love. ARC courtesy of NetGalley and ...

 4* Clever and twisted thriller, with a huge cast if potential culprits, suspects, bad guys and cops, that dovetail pretty well. Loses 1* because of the too low-key ending. This book has a lot going on - a cop turned bad guy/a cop who's going undercover in a women's prison/ the cop's fiance/ female prisoners/ a female BAME prison governor who may be not just corrupt but actively using her position to aid drugs import and distribution/a prison guard who's rotten through and through, but possibly in a privileged position/two teenage females, one of whom goes missing/drugs gangs in the north of the UK, to list most but not all. On top, there's a storyline that seemingly starts with the disappearance of one of the young girls but not everything is as it seems, and what you get is a nicely dovetailed story that for the most works really well, with reveal after reveal coming towards the last 10%, and an ending that ties up most if what's featured. It's the ending ...

 5* Excellent British thriller, believable and threatening. Though this is book 10 in a series, I had no trouble getting into the tale. There's enough about the detective's past to clue new readers in and to make the ending believable.  The tale reads like a completely believable police procedural with solid policing and detecting, with real life intruding, not unrealistically. I liked that all the potential arcs and characters all made similar low-key appearances so that the ending was a proper WTF?? moment that I hadn't a clue about. There were bad guys and shades of grey, and there was a character who's learned a painful lesson, but that lesson coupled with their rescue and the aftermath, will hopefully bring rapprochement and healing to a relationship that's suffered through emotional pain and loss. The bad guys are and do the sort of stuff that locals know occurs/exist, and how do you eradicate them when they've got a stronghold? Not sure you do, not entire...

 4* Decent outing for Slater and his new sidekick, that was easy to follow, despite my not having read all the Slater & Norman tales.  I'm not sure what happened to Norm, but there's a hint that he's recovering from a medical condition or episode, and perhaps that's what leads to the start of Norm's Welsh Mystery series. But, I wasn't lost in this new tale, though I did cringe at how un-PC Slater was with Watson, especially in 2024. There was enough to make female-me uncomfortable with some of the sexist teasing and the sexist praise he gave her, and the uncomfortable innuendo from some of the things he said, but they did clear the air and things settled down. But, seriously the guy needs a couple of DEI courses and to learn appropriate language to use with both subordinates and females. How he's not been pulled up for his sexism...!? Still, the tale and the mystery are decent, although with some little inconsistencies that really should have elicited mo...

 3.5* Enjoyed that this was believable and set in the UK. A teensy bit obvious because if the heavy-handedness of some name dropping, but a decent read, still. I think UK-set books that that believability feel that glossier books in US settings lack. This felt real, down to earth and emotional. I didn't feel like I really got to know Gem all that well, as the tale flashed through too many events, people and time frames, but I got enough of a picture that it was clear she'd never given up on Sarah-Jane. Unfortunately, the authors were a bit too heavy-handed with some of the names dropped, in their emphasis of certain side characters that I began to suspect that people who were being nice, being supportive to her face, were actually the perpetrators of her daughter's abduction. If I just mentioned 3 names here, it'd give the game away, so yeah, no. Still, it was a good read and a decent intro to the authors. ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for my reading p...

  3.5* Decent intro, but I'm used to stronger female leads, so this disappointed a tad.  This was a decent intro to this author, but I was frustrated by the female lead bending to her boss's and the FBI's emotional blackmail and belittling of her. She'd had overcome so much, had done so much to change her life for the better and make a meaningful difference, so to see her at their mercy wasn't great. I wished she'd stood up for herself more. What I did like is that she didn't let her dad make her cower. Yes, she had to play his game a little but it felt like she had the upper hand, especially where the tale paused - it felt like a pause, not the end, with the open-endedness. Hopefully it won't be long before the next one out, because this was worth a read, especially woth the potential for Margot to get stronger and stand her ground, and be recognised for her own merits, not her usefulness where her psychopath father is concerned.  ARC courtesy of NetGal...

 With friends like these, who needs enemies? This started off well enough, but had a fair bit of slut shaming of one of the characters, which I found off-putting. Yes, she drank too much, had a kid whose father hadn't ever been on the scene, but these people judging her were meant to be her friends. Except none of these people liked and trusted each other, and weren't honest with each other. The reveals came thick and fast and I wondered how the main character hadn't clocked about the identity of her friend's kid's father, when it literally was staring her in the face. Selective blindness because of what she'd manipulated her life to be? Wishing she hadn't wished for what she wanted, because she got it and it wasn't real, and it wasn't honest? Probably. Not one character had anything to redeem them. Even one of the kids had inherited a parent's underhandedness. I wish I hasn't read it, as the final reveal was unconscionable. 

  4* Not what it seems, with good dovetailing of past and present to create a good, slightly uneasy, creepy mystery. As an introduction to this author, this was a decent choice. Admittedly I was in a bit of a book drought and went by the blurb, not expecting anything too deep or taxing, but got a good tale that had intrigue and mystery, with events and characters from the past and present coming together seamlessly. Characters, unfortunately, didn't make a huge impact on me - I think the mention of the DI's son's illness, coupled with his stroppy, selfish attitude distracted me, and made me wonder why he was in the tale (there's a good insertion, as I later found), and made me view her as a detached, not-really-present mother. Not having read the previous books, I wasn't sure why she was living in a rundown caravan and without a proper job. I'm not sure that i saw her as entirely believable. But, the tale itself, with the creepy house with history and hiding pla...

There's something about books set in the UK that makes them more satisfying than US-set ones, and though at times dialogue is a bit stilted and situations a little 'suspend disbelief', and the cops are lots unprofessional and un-PC, there's enough in the series to make me want to read all. Sadly, only book 1 is free in Prime Reading, but thankfully this boxset was 99p. I can't see any more boxsets, but would buy for sure. There's a lack of cliche, of faux American gloss to these books, but that's what makes them believable and readable. The mysteries have bite, depth and some proper sleuthing takes place. The characters are flawed, professionally, and I can't see how this can be the case in 2024, but you have to go with the flow. They do grow on you, especially Norman Norman, so good his parents named him twice. 

5* Great leads, decent storyline, decent red herrings, and more of Bree and Mercy to come. I love these authors individually, so it was a no-brainer that this book would be an autobuy. It starts with the disappearance of a teenager, but there's so much more than meets Mercy's eagle eye, leading to a flight into Bree's jurisdiction, and at first, a slightly uneven COLLABORATION, with Mercy having the upper hand. What follows is a tense and fast-paced tale with a killer who's got a hidden advantage - I truly didn't suspect his identity. The red herrings were decent, and we got just enough of Bree and Mercy's other halves making remote appearances to not distract from the tale. I liked how slight mistrust turned into a solid professional collaboration, that ended on the verge of a solid friendship. There's an afterword from the authors saying that more collabs between these 2 leads are being discussed - YES, PLEASE!!