RoroblusMumReadsReviews/Rants

2* Nearly 3* until the end, but then what Kate almost 'allowed' to happen to a loved one who protected her with his life, spoilt the book. This has half-decent writing, but the writing was abundantly on the wall for 2 reasons - Cornwall and its ties with smuggling, and a certain someone made just a little too prominent. But, not on the wall, pun intentional, for 3 journalists with plenty of experience... I don't think this is a spoilerish review because so many books have featured Cornwall's long history of smuggling, locals who clam up about it, and who don't like tourists. This has a bit of all three, which was so evident reading through the lines, and because one person was just a little too in focus, a little too friendly, a little too always there, and because blabbing in front of said person carries a cliché often seen, though perhaps here, their gender wasn't typical. The sole red herring of this book was a little too scarlet, not red, which gave this per...

4* What would we do for our kids, and still be able to live with ourselves? This is my first book by this author, and it's a very well-done one. The twists in this tape have a sinister edge, and had I been Jess, I'm sure I'd have been as pulled as her. I'm glad her honesty, latent as it'd been for too long, came to the fore and that she did the right thing.  Issy? Not a nice 17/18yo, more her father's daughter than her mother's. And ugh, that her dad was prepared to pay and lie to make everything go away, was less about love and more about control as getting his own way, like his daughter likes to.  It's a tale that ends with justice being done, and actually feels quite real. Some women are plain manipulative bitches and boy, so some learn how young. I'm glad the innocents in this tale weren't as damaged as they could've been. The author did well with her red flags and red herrings, but ugh, that ending. I think my heart would've broken a...

This has Scooby Doo and the Mystery Machine vibes, with a couple of good, non-didactic lessons. This is my first read at 55yo of the BCI (Breakfast Club Investigators) series. It has a decent tale that reminded me of good old Scooby Doo mysteries, and with enough in the way of red herrings, though it still made me suspect that a certain someone mentioned twice might be part of the mystery. But, I was wrong, indirectly, even when certain missing things were not quite casually enough mentioned, making a certainperson stand out. It did also make me wonder if there might be truth in the supposed ghost's history that was revealed, like in the Buffy The Vampire Slayer episode where the ghosts of a teacher and student haunt the library. It's nicely written, and though Marcus is a tad bigged-up, of course 😉, but the other kids get credit too. There's life lessons from Marcus's mum, and having 'encountered' them both IRL, I can actually picture her giving him these less...

1* How Graham Masterton has fallen. This novel insults cop procedurals - it's utterly, utterly flawed. Review contains major spoilers. I've not read a GM book for at least 30 years. I wish I hadn't picked this one up. In hindsight, this book being on NG - no disrespect to NG intended - should have set alarm bells ringing. I mean, why would one of the current longest established authors in the world need a NG release? The amount of Irish-speak in this is off-putting, simply because I had to keep pausing and trying to figure out what on earth the expressions meant. It's about 85% Irish-speak, which as a British reader, I'm not fluent in. A lot of what was said, I was only able to guess at.  Book 12 in this series doesn’t need an info dump, as it's pretty much repeated that Katie Maguire is on suspension for killing 2 guys in a previous case. Yes, it's Irish policing, therefore different to British policing, and she's allowed to keep her weapon - presumably...

3.5* Even though it's book 3 in a series, I had no trouble getting into it. This isn't a bad cosy mystery but I did find Colin a tad toxic in some of what he thought and said, though he also had insight to think about some of his past actions and behaviours. Unfortunately, he also came across as a bit unprofessional and not in depth enough for a cop - from what I've gleaned from TV, films and other crime novels.  I think his low-key male toxicity/patronising manner was made all the more evident by how Georgina reacted to his apologies. She was as capable and successful as he was, and i think she was experienced enough not to overstep or compromise anything but nope, he still had to say stuff. He was boring, sadly, so it made me eye-roll over how many times he was compared to Mr Darcy - did the author mean Colin Firth, maybe, as the character has been played by several actors, but possibly with Colin Firth being the most noticeable?  It was readable and I'd certainly lik...

3.5* Getting tired and formulaic, again. Felt misandric and a bit lazy in the final chapters. I think the bad guy's a Republican male, pun unintentional.  JD Robb can write, no doubt about it, but this series - that I abandoned about 7 years ago, only to pick up again last year out of book boredom - feels tired and as if there's a tickbox exercise to name-drop as many 'regulars' as possible, even though they don't appear in the tale. Sadly, I'm reminded with this one why I left the series behind, despite a half-decent read. There's a reliance on formula and (here, inorganic) feelgood personal connections, not so much a murder-mystery with clues and excellent investigating.  Charlotte Mira appeared only to tell Eve that she was doing a good profiling job herself, but at least she had a small organic part in the tale. Maybe that's Dr Mira exiting future tales, after all, she really didn't do much profiling, but there was time for floral tea, of course....

 3* Clumsy over-emphasis on 2-3 red herring-type characters and an incompetent cop who doesn't even think to compare numbers, makes this pretty transparent. And Anna's motives require considerable suspension of disbelief. This is my first book by this author, and it's well written and readable. But, there's quite a lot of waffle meant to detract, I think, from a barely believable plot, especially given the events that become apparent, started by the same perpetrator in the previous book. I mean, how could the dad be so naive to take things at remote value? How could Anna have lived through her previous trauma at an age where she'd not fully forget it or be unaffected by it and still...?  The ending was rushed and again something was taken at remote value, not dotted and ticked/crossed to death, pun intentional, and ugh, it sounds like there could be potential for book 3, but if so, for me, that doesn't bear reading because this family would officially be classed...

 4* Not what I was expecting, but despite this, it was an engrossing tale of someone who'd - I think, at the start - wanted the best for her unborn child, but whose plans were flawed. And actions moreso.  Hmm. Was Amy a user? A manipulator? A sociopath? A psychopath? Someone whose brain got it wrong and then couldn't figure a way out? Did she have post-natal depression? Even pre-natal depression? All of the former, maybe? It was hard to tell, as we get glimpses of one of the people she'd 'wronged' very late in the tale, and even after her 'reveal' that got her what she deserved, she then felt the need to make Ramona complicit by telling her more, making the tale end on a cliff hanger. And said person hadn't deserved what happened to them, but Amy was utterly cold and calculating in the whitewashed version of the 'truth' but right at the end, that veered into something far more unpleasant and shocking. But she didn't seem remorseful, and she d...

4* Another good read in this series, which works fine as a standalone, I think - I've read books 2 and 3, and there's enough history alluded to that a new reader wouldn't be lost. So, the 3rd book in this series continues in the same vein as its predecessor, with Detective Margot Phalen at the beck and call of her serial killer father and the FBI, as the latter try and locate/record/cold case his killings. In between, she uses her instincts - as the bothered-by-her-conscience daughter of a serial killer, and as a kick butt cop - to track down the killer of a 70-something Chinese grandmother who's been brutally murdered in a home invasion. Beware, it's gruesome and graphic and sad, and the killer is shockingly depraved. I can't say more or I'd spoil this part of a very decent tale.  Secrets are revealed to both Margot and her father, and we learn about his sociopathy from an early age and the start of his killing spree. If only teachers had been more attuned ...