RoroblusMumReadsReviews/Rants

 4* A decent read that unfortunately didn't delve deep enough into Heron, Maggie or Dawn, so I only managed a degree of sympathy, but no engagement with any of them. I'm not sure that Dawn was a lesbian. I think she simply wasn't in love with Heron, had married him for the wrong reason, and then met and fell in love with someone more exciting, someone who shad actual conversations with her, saw her, gave her the time of day. As simple as that. I did feel for her being forced into leaving her daughter behind completely, but not as much as I could've had she been portrayed better and in more depth. We never got into her mind or heart, just some thoughts. I think it was only towards the court case that we saw the toll on her. Kind  of the same with Heron. After the supermarket incident, I kept wanting to be let into his head, find out why he'd done what he did, with which aim/s, whether the police or an ambulance were called, what Heron made of his actions after. I nee...

 4* Decent police procedural, but needs an edit, some tightening, and needs a less-rushed ending. The latter spoilt the tale, as it was too quick, convenient and easy. This is a decent tale set in the UK, which automatically earns it brownie points. In my book, pun not intended, what loses it points is the (on the spectrum?) unlikable, cheating Sophie, and tbh, I was rooting for Rachel, not her.  The tale itself is believable and well done, and the male detective is a decent guy. I'm not sure why his family drama/s got pulled into it, but neither his ex-wife nor his alkie brother added to the tale in any meaningful way, so reading about them was an irritant and detracted from the pace and feeling of danger - an editor really could've helped this decent first-time author out here.  The tale ends sort of as expected, but unrealistically so with how quick and easily the bad guy gets duped and subdued. For me, this equated to build-up but a letdown ending. Again, I think the ...

 3.5* Not as good as Andy Maslen writing solo. Sadly, the bad guys weren't believable. I think that perhaps a career in banking made me pooh-pooh a vital part of this tale as unrealistic, which spoilt it for me. Getting a Cayman bank account isn't the easiest of things, so the fact that the persons being extorted were sending £1000 a month to the Cayman Islands, wasn't believable. Yes, Santander and KYC checks made an appearance, but there's a SWIFT cut-off point, and apparently that didn't apply 🤔  Parts were good, such as Ollie and who he was pretending to be. The cheating ex, Grant, was seriously in need of growing up and parenting up. Annie? I loved her balls of steel, and how Michael persisted with his very trying stepson. Isla? A bit of a stupid girl wanting to punish her mum, it seemed, because of the divorce, but lesson learned. I'm bummed that not everyone got what they deserved here, but that actually added a tad of believability tbh. I love AM's ...

 2* Ugh, this lacks the charm and forbidden feeling of the Straight Guys books. The forced paranormal aspect to this tale doesn't work. It's introduced without introduction to this new 'world' the author's half-arsedly created, and feels faux. The supposedly alpha lead has nothing redeeming about him, and the combination of Peter-Lawyer-39yo makes him sound like Mr Boring. His arrogance isn't sexy, it's faux and boring. He's pretty unpleasant, too, and Justin has even less backbone than the normal posse of AH twinks. The storyline is just too fake to believe. Glad this was a KU title.

1* Sadly, the premise and the lack of brain cells was just TSTL for me. Were these people living under rocks? It's 2024, the age of Internet scams and, come on, if it's too good to be true, then theres something dodgy...if it looks like a duck, sounds like a duck, yadda yadda. 

 5* intro to this author with a tale that drew me in and didn't let go. Quite often when a killer or bad guy's identity is revealed in a book/film/show, it feels faux or anticlimactic, but here, though motives weren't fully revealed, it's a shocker, and incomprehensible. I think a plain, basic ugly emotion was at the core of it, but it's still horrifyingly shocking.  The subject of the book, plus how the podcasters went about things, was engrossing. It actually made me voluntarily listen to my first podcast ever, and made me appreciate the time, research and hard work that goes into them. I liked both Connor and Cristy, though the latter's voice is what's mostly heard. The supporting  characters, particularly the 2 researchers, added to the tale with how they managed to get witnesses to open up and provide clues and insight. It was also nice to see a successful Indian female in media, in a mixed-race marriage to a guy who considered her his partner, perhaps ...

 4* Good intro to this series, and it didn't matter that I'm late to the party. This is an engrossing and engaging tale, partly because of the dynamics of the brother-sister duo, partly because of the brother's telling of the tale, partly because of the storyline but mostly because there are dogs in it, dogs that save the day, literally, and that don't get hurt. It's easy to start and there's enough told that I didn't find myself wondering about the previous book. It's quite fast paced and Cory is unaffected and literal and his 'voice' is youthful and believable and carries the tale well. The storyline is sad at the start, but that's just a facilitator for the plot, which is a good one. A sad one for some of the people involved, and boy is it good that justice of a sort, the type I find satisfying when someone's gotten away with something for too long, got done. 'Al' definitely deserved what they got. But those involved in the dec...

 4* Sad at times, loving in parts, and also quite poignant and emotional. What makes this a refreshing tale for me is its believability due to its setting being plain old England. There's no faux gloss, no zooming police cars, nothing cliché or deja vu, just a murder and a some sleuthing, some decent but flawed people that felt real, and of course, a bad guy. Or perhaps, plural, though 'bad' may be a bit strong to describe some characters. It made me smile in parts and made me sad in others. What was lovely was the love that James had for his gran, despite his mum and dad thinking her a burden and a danger because she was sadly becoming senile. It hit home with me, as I suspect it will with people with parents of a certain age.  Margaret had periods of lucidity that helped her and James solve the murder, but sadly, she was in decline and wasn't in denial during these periods. It was sad to see her struggle and mix the past and present and miss her late husband so much, ...

 4* Not your average thriller, but not sure I buy it. Glad I read it, but could they really have ended up where they do? This is well written and makes you think. There's a huge moral dilemma that Cam's faced with, on top of her first day back at work following mat leave. At first I thought her husband must have been looking for a way out of a maybe-going-stale marriage with his evasiveness but omg, the hostage situation was totally out of the blue. It had me thinking of Michael Douglas in Falling Down, but then the author followed through with more twists and reveals. Parts were well done, like the message and the book at the end, but bits felt glossed over, as did the departing new love/r after Luke came back. I'm not sure I bought why Luke didn't go to the police before things came to a head, when he saw/heard what he did and 'did' what he did, but maybe human panic and frailties made him more human and provided the backbone to this tale?  I'd definitely ...

 4* Very readable despite my not understanding the Scottish terms or legal and policing systems. This is pretty well written with a female lead who's not on her first outing but I didn't have any trouble getting into the tale. There's some decent sleuthing and characters who're committed to their roles and doing the right things, plus enough back story and intrigue that grab your attention and keep you reading. I enjoyed the tale almost to the end but the ending itself was a little bit too Scooby Doo, complete with the 'if it wasn't for you pesky kids' talk from a bad guy who insisted on yadda, yadda, yadda despite a chartered plane apparently waiting for them and their 'gang'. It took away from the urgency of the ending but did tie in with what'd happened to another bad guy, so I was sort of OK with it as I was getting some answers.  Is like to read more, especially as it's set in Scotland and the lead detective likes to mountain climb. She...

 3* Drags a bit, but decent writing, if not the most exciting read. This wasn't a hit for me, despite the older lead - I've forgotten his name already - being my age, and me thinking I could relate in a way. I liked the care home and patients parts, but couldn't really see the leads rekindling their relationship. The 'non-sizeism' talk was off-putting and the mention of man breasts/boobs and cupping them was eughhh. Glad this was a KU title.

 3.5* Great writing as usual, but the policing, the plot and the ending let it down.  I love this author's writing. I learn something new almost every time I read something of hers. Unfortunately this wasn't one of her best works, though it was very readable. I liked the fact that the leads weren't aholes and weren't comparing appendage sizes or trying to score points against the other. I liked that their initial hostility burned itself off with some explanations, and that they were rekindling something that could potentially last this time round. I liked that they were pretty much equals, and mature guys, not angsty tweens.  What I didn't like was the sloppy policing. There was an envelope with the dead man's name on it, but hey, that wasn't even on-page checked. I think had it been checked, the killer's identity could've come to light, as their writing would've been on several things connected with the victim. The faux outrage over an inheritan...