RoroblusMumReadsReviews/Rants

3* Not this author's best book - it lacks credibility - but something to read. I had to suspend disbelief quite a bit with this one - there were scenarios happening that made for a messy intro and tbh, some of it felt a bit too obviously red-herring like, especially with one character's first name never being mentioned.  They grated because of their strings-attached stance but also didn't seem to be on-page enough to really matter. And the bits about Laura's relationship with her mother went nowhere, too. It just felt a bit too convoluted. Laura seemed too with it to be taken in as she was by a certain character. I mean, she saw through her colleague's machinations within 2 suspicious bookings... I didn't get her trying to force her sister into a confession, it felt like. To what end? Was she a suspect? Why? She'd barely been part of the book so far. This book felt like it needed weeding out. The various neighbours' stories just muddied the waters and fe...

5* Utterly engrossing, and without the faux-gloss of Big City tales. Well narrated; with plausible characters, main and peripheral; a sad underlying reveal; and justice done for one, leaving me a little sad for the person in prison at the end.  I got an email from the publisher offering me this book, and having read one by this author before, I simply said yes and dove in blurb unread. Which was the best possible way to have read it.  It's done in the unidentified voice of the person who's lured all the others to the café to get to a trith in their shared past and deliver their long-held-back justice. It's impossible to tell if they're male or female, as all the persons that've been identified as present could be the one holding the gun. Which ends up going off, fatally, at the start of the tale. And going off once more at the end.  Their nearest and dearest are brought in to try and shed light on a possible connection between them. The cops are a bit slow to respon...

3.5* Parts were good, but the killer was not at all believable. The case should've been solved a lot earlier with simple investigating. This is a mixed book, with Pope having issues with relating to the people in her life (job plus past trauma), with what seemed initially to be a serial killer (pretty decently done in the first instance), with red herrings that segued pretty well, but then came the killer. Whose story should've been debunked quickly and efficiently with the aid of social media, which probably around 85% of the world, at least, pour chapter and verse of their lives onto. How, why, didn't the police immediately go there? They belatedly sussed all wasn't well but by them the killer had morphed into a Scooby Doo-baddie caricature, with loud proclamations and telegraphing their next steps, that Pope didn't cotton onto. The ending didn't make me want to read more, as it wasn't punchy enough. Stuff got hinted at, as did Pope's emotional thawing...

4* Good storyline, but I'm not feeling/seeing/believing the Nicole-Max romance.  This author's books are a must-buy. Even without the romance that I like in my novels, this was a very readable, believable book in what's still effectively the Mercy Kilpatrick universe.  The tale starts off slow but accelerates quickly with the discovery of bodies, connection to militias and with various law enforcement agencies coming together. There's Max - Noelle's love interest - paired up with Mercy, then there's Truman's lot, plus Noelle and Evan. I don't profess to understand much about the US's law enforcement agencies' jurisdictions but it wasn't that clear that all were needed, although it's always nice getting a Mercy fix. Her prepper past brought insight to the bad guys, although it also brought back the trauma of her time undercover with preppers/militia.  Noelle didn't have an awful lot to do in the tale, although it's nice that she...

3* Had decent bones but the danger, whether elemental or human, never felt real. There's a few things going on in this tale, none of which gets explored in enough detail. I mean, we get told that Abby and Jax are exes who divorced after their 4yo died, and are taking a make-or-break break, but there's nothing about their married life, there's nothing about their daughter and there's pretty much nothing about why they're together now. Then you have Rachel and her partner who thinks they're in a serious relationship but Rachel's the rolling-stone type and has chickened out of the conversation. Her father's apparently got a problem that she's a lesbian, yet that doesn't feature at all when he makes an impromptu visit. There's a bad guy plotting his revenge but he doesn't feel dangerous. Hmm, too many elements and nothing executed to the best of its ability. The tale's blurb promised a lot but the book failed to deliver an exciting or dee...

3.5* Atmospheric, engrossing but also quite irritating in how things are obfuscated, particularly where the father is concerned. This is my first read by this author, which I grabbed because of the excellent blurb. I'm not sure the female lead's cop instincts are very good, as she never really felt like she was on enough of an alert, despite the discovery of her dead brother, sightings of someone in the trees, and the mystery of her potential niece or sister. She allowed herself to get into a situation she needed rescuing from - just like in the opening scene where she's caught mountaineering/climbing - and puts others at risk.  The mystery of who/what her father was, began to get irritating with only flashbacks in her POV. I think the author deliberately obfuscated things to bring about the ending - another irritation - and it got tiresome after a while. I didn't like the kids' brainwashing, although all became understandable right at the very end. And talking of s...

 4* Elea is a maverick by British policing standards, but boy, does she get the job done efficiently. For me, what helped this book's storyline are the Norwegian names, which I didn't google and which gave me a whodathunk moment when the ending came. That aspect of concealment/obfuscation was done pretty well, and the final reveal right at the very end, once the baddie/s were gone, felt believable.  The tale goes back and forth into Elea's life and job, and between Lincoln and Porvoo, without losing me or my interest. The darker aspects were more unpleasant than horrifying - a lot of stuff happened off-page - and sadly, Porvoo kind of permitted them to happen, with its location, population and climate.  Elea was literally a woman and a cop on a mission. It wasn't clear where one ended and the other started in the 2025 part of the story, but it was very obvious which took precedence in the past. I liked this aspect of her 'policing', putting the pressure on when ...

4* Great intro to this series - despite this being the umpteenth book, I wasn't lost.  Okay, so this book starts with a bang, continues at a decent pace, put the willies in me over the AI, Janet, and made me smile over the kick-butt strong female characters, even the one who acts like a stereotypical power-drunk MAGA clone. She's annoying, yes, but seemingly she knew what she wanted, went and got it, and now her M.O. is smoke and mirrors. I liked, too, the little nod to the Biden presidency. What I didn't like was the doesn't-respect-boundaries Marino character. I googled and apparently he attempted to rape Kay Scarpetta several books back, so how is he such a prominent character in a position of authority? Only in the USA, right? That's mind boggling and again, makes me grateful for all the UK is doing by trying to weed out people of his ilk from various authorities.  The tale was interesting mainly because of the AI content, both Janet's and the baddie's. ...

5*, despite a puzzling and misleading -deliberately so? - title.  This is a book I've been waiting for with huge impatience since the last Kat Ballantyne tale ended. It opens with a banger and ends with one, too, although I'm not sure how the latter ties in with what comes next. There's the vaguest connection with Kat's dad, who came across as half-decent due to banger#1, then seemed to have reverted to his underhand dealings again just before banger#2. The storyline itself is non-stop, calling out sportswashing; the death of the journalist Kashoggi; the Saudi involvement in the latter and how it's all been brushed under the carpet, because of money, money, money. And corruption. And greed. And 'the bigger picture'. Kudos to Andy Maslen and Thomas and Mercer for going there.  The storyline was decent. The suspects were plentiful. The infighting of the various parts of the UK's security services/police/Met was entertaining, although I also wanted to smack...

5* I thought this would have a lot of a shrinking female lead, but wow, there were a bunch of kick butt women in this!! Thank goodness this isn't a Mills and Boon type of romsusp where the feisty but ultimately needy female lead goes all soft and mushy. Despite a brief moment where Naomi has an understandable moment of 'what if I...', she was the strong and silent female lead type. As were most the women in this tale, each in their organic role.  Burke wasn't an uptight alpha male, didn't posture or parade or spout stuff just for the sake of it, but he got his head out of his butt - with a little help from a woman - and got to work. Of course, it helped that he was built, loaded, an ex-forces type, but he had no toxic masculinity, it seemed. Nor did the other males in the tale. Everett, Naomi's son, had to be given the plain hard truth before he got his head out of his butt, but he got a pass due to his age.  The tale was very well done, with the reason Naomi go...

4* Policing at its finest, but also most selfish where Caren's child is concerned.  OK, so this book follows on immediately from book 1, with the reveal about Caren's late husband getting worse. I can't recall if there was mention in book 1 or this one, if she loved him, but she didn't seem too upset/broken/enraged at the discovery about the full extent of his indiscretion. I'd have been baying for blood! Even her lawyer didn't seem especially quick to action. But, there's going to be some nasty fallout if what she's being told is the truth. That aside, there's a case to be investigated and that, and the storyline, are done well. But, Caren is a selfish daughter and absent mother, and takes advantage of her parents to be able to do her job. It feels like something is going to have to give at some point. It resonates with the Max Manning Kane and Granger tales in this respect, and there, somethings's definitely about to give. I'd still read mo...

4.99* Well written, well plotted, with the biggest baddie a shock and a betrayal.  This is pretty fast moving, with a tale that felt all too true and believable in 2025 - Anywhere, not only UK. If Fentanyl really is the threat it's made out to be, it's freaking scary that it could be on our shores this easily (not done the research, 2025 is directly enough).  The cop side of the tale works well, with a bunch of competent cops, even if the lead character - I've already forgotten his name - is kind of faceless. I recall his alopecia, that he came near to drowning and has issues with open water, has a kid with an ex, but he didn't stand out like a lead does, although that kind of made for a better tale for me, as I concentrated on the latter, solely. Yes, there's cop politics, and something that's been in the UK press about past police operations reared its head, again done so well, I couldn't figure out if I was seeing a baddie, a good guy turned shades of bad...

3*  Kind of felt slightly defrauded by the reveals towards the end. Not sure there's the integrity that I like in my reads with this lead.  This is well-written and held my interest until almost the very end. But I'm pretty certain that Kelly should have recused himself from the case, and I'm also pretty sure that the in-charge cop should've spoken up. So, for me, the tale had a big stumbling block. And how was his...vice... kept a secret? And why not tell the truth about his marriage? I could only think that it was a good thing this was a cold-case tale, or it'd have been irretrievably flawed.  There's just too much dishonesty in this tale, and the reveals lost their WOW factor over the sense of irritation I felt reading them.  ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for my reading pleasure. 

 2.5* Sadly, quite tedious with all the sniping and bitching, and it's ageist. Needs editing. Based on this offering, although I quite like cosy mysteries, the elements mentioned in the title were very off-putting. Edna was a vain whinger and Marjorie was supercilious and had umpteen conversations in her head. The two men were the better characters. I found the book ageist in its moans about getting old; about one of the older men having a lite version of his head being turned by a middle-aged female; about mansplaining how the older characters used their phones and embraced technology  - sadly, not at all believable based on my IRL experience of trying to help my mum with Mobile Phone 101. There was too much telling and not enough showing. None if the characters were interesting enough, and tbh, Marjorie and Edna were turn-offs who both spoilt the tale. ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Storm Publishing for my reading pleasure. 

4* When a book has me crying, it's a sign of a good one. I'm not a fan of NS, so this wasn't sure how his (gleaned from reviews) romantic style would mesh with MNS's paranormal-themed stuff. The answer is, pretty well, actually. I knew going in that there wouldn't be a HEA unless Tate died/was killed/killed himself, and yes, the ending hurt, making me cry. But, it was the ending that Tate and Wren needed: for him to learn to live and embrace life, and for her to find peace in the afterlife. I was happy to suspend disbelief and not need everything dotted and crossed, because the tale was romantic in its tragedy. Comeuppance was gotten, satisfyingly so in the case of one killer, and the other perhaps would end up suffering more because they lived.  The tale deals with mental health, big time, as Tate has suffered for a long time, but it's done without preaching, with 'therapy' from both his late sister Sylvia, and Wren. The 'gift' that Tate inherit...

3.5* Gah, with that teaser of an ending, I'm impatient for book 3 in this series. This is another good sortie for this duo, although the Joffe editing team should've had a much-needed heavier hand with editing, as there's a tad too much page-time and emphasis on one character that within 3 pages or so had me sussing the killer's identity. I was expecting another 5* take from Max Manning, but sadly the lack of editing let the tale down a tad. As for the character's machinations - I'm a bit on the fence with them. Are people really born that evil? Sociopaths without conscience and without it being discovered? I did sort of believe the arc but at the same time, with respect to the author, this has been done before, so it feels a little 'lifted', as there's no USP to the character, i.e. he didn't feel authentic/organic.  Still, there was decent scene setting, a rapprochement of sorts with the female lead's family, that could make life as a workin...