RoroblusMumReadsReviews/Rants

 4* Frankly, I'm shocked that Sophie has mellowed, become a bit more PC and polite towards her subordinates. Book 1 made me turn away in shock, disbelief and disgust. Maybe Sophie's had a dressing down or two between book 1 and this one. I wouldn't know as I've not read the others, but tbh, once I started reading and recognised her name, I dug out my previous review and my heart dropped. But, I was pleasantly surprised that there was a tale worth reading, although, goodness, at times I couldn't keep track of what the detectives seemed to deduce from very little. And, is it a prerequisite now that there has to be a token lesbian cop in UK cop tales? Nothing wrong with it, and tbh, it's pretty accurate, but why hint/drop something if you don't grab the bit and in with it? And what's with the sisters-not-really-supporting-sisters thing between Sophie and Lydia?  The tale is convoluted. With respect, some of the things needed weeding out for clarity. I'm...

A 5* follow-up to the 4* first book in the series, although Knox's shying away from anything personal frustrated me. Again. I finished this book between dinner, doing a night shift, getting a bit of shut eye, even setting aside the latest adventures of Robert Langdon for it. Why? Mostly because it's a British-set book without anything faux or sensationalist, and because I'd connect to it more than RL's symbolism modus operandi. But, I digress. The writing is as strong as in the first book, and Knox remains someone I wanted to sit down and have a 'pull your head out of your arse before you lose Lucy' chat with. I mean, even his dog, the lovely Dylan, spent more time with her than he did. That Lucy didn't give ultimatums didn't feel true at times - until the last 2 pages of the book. I wondered why she bothered with him, tbh. There's more to her than meets the eye, and she may well be the one who brings Knox back to life. But, guy, wake up before it...

4* Sad, with a coldblooded, psychopath of a killer.

3* Loved the ghost in the cottage, who kind of stole the show. This is one of those Xmas-with-my-ex stories with a funny twist, one that stole the show, tbh. I liked the mum who lived by 'it's never too early to drink at Xmas', the female lead's dad, and best of all the ghost in the cottage, John. Unfortunately the leads themselves were unremarkable and I couldn't engage with either. Still, this is a lite, fun read in the run up to Xmas. ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Penguin Random House UK for my reading pleasure.

4.5* Great intro to this series, with enough back-story given that I wasn't lost. This tale combines some sweet elements - an older woman with a younger former-PC as an investigating duo; older and younger characters interacting organically, sharing knowledge old and new; the presence of social media that very organically leads to the cosy mystery investigation; people with secrets; characters with the potential to be the killer due to events past, and a couple of extremely unpleasant men who get their  comeuppance. It was pretty well done, although there was too much emphasis on how much of a ditherer the Gus character was, and hints of a reformed Ray, the teen who'd broken, or at least bruised, Ally's young heart. She didn't seem to 'like' one above the other, and tbh, I found their many mentions and repetition of Gus's character flaw tiresome in the end. This also made him come across as Mr Boring, unfortunately.  The mystery was nicely done, sad when rev...

4* Gripping and novel - I knew nothing about urbexing before this book. This seems to be book 3 in a series matching Connie, a librarian-and-urban-explorer with Lew, a cop. I had no trouble getting into it despite not having read any of the previous novels. I'm already checking out the previous 2, as there were hints of...illegal/intriguing actions by more than one cop, and the dynamic between the protags is about to get more interesting. The tale ends with a literal bang that results in something very sad, but it was done organically. What I found hard was that neither of the affected parties showed any emotion over such a devastating loss.  But, back to the main part of the tale: Connie and a fellow urbexer find a body, which she reveals to Lew. Things get darker and intriguing when secrets begin to out and one after another, ex-urbexers begin to meet their end. The tale was well done, with a believable baddie and a crazy supporting baddie. Sadly the latter met their end without ...

5* Excellent, but flipping brutal.  Reading my only previous book by this aithor, in this series, it felt like one aimed at a male readership when I read the blurb, but goodness, was it easy to get into without any infodump or mansplaining. Therefore, when I saw this new one, I jumped at the chance to grab it.  It's brutal. It starts brutally and Jon has a really tough time with the very little info there is to go on - thank goodness for the mantra drilled into him during his training that gives him the first, throwaway clue. The  it begins to get physical. That he came through what was basically torture, confirmed to the people torturing him, who weren't necessarily bad guys, that he'd training. It blew his cover that was pretty much already blown, beyond any doubt. I was surprised he wasn't extracted at that point.  Jon is dogged, patient, a patriot. The baddie also felt that they were a patriot, and the author made them realistically, if sadly, believable, based o...

4.5* Good, but with so much detail you do have to roll your eyes a little. Is this the last of DI Sheridan Holler? This feels like it's the longest DI SH tale, and with events that unfold, something devastating is put to bed, RIP, and I did wonder if this could be the end of the series. But, it seems as if Anna is finding her backbone and pursuing an agenda that could come right in the next book, or could be disastrous. I absolutely hate Steve, and I hope he gets what he deserves, so something disastrous might not actually be disastrous. The killer in this is cold, cool under pressure, a real piece of work and always a step ahead of the cops, it seems. Their planning is slick amd believable. The cops figuring out his schedule is believable and that they make leaps and jumps from there works well, because computer-brain SH makes the connection. There's some nice humour with the team, and the bets are still on to find Hill's real name - there probably will be another book, if...

4.5* Romantic, sweet and sad, with a touch of not-needed Bollywood'ism in parts (where the former MIL was concerned). This book is pretty much just what the blurb reveals, and it's imbued with love, with caring, with hope from Joe - who's Tilly's husband, not the fiancé that the synopsis mentions - that Tilly can slowly rediscover her love of reading, bringing her back to life. I'm glad that Joe's illness and passing didn't feature on-page, and that the book focused on true love never dying, and someone still being able to love another when the time is right, and when the right person comes along. I liked that Tilly honoured Joe's wishes for her, went off and had adventures, made new friends, found her niche in life and even repaired things with her former MIL, who sounded like a typical rude American used to getting her own way. A teensy bit Karen, possibly a Trumper too (the latter's on me, as I couldn't stomach her rudeness and two-faced-ness)...

3.5* Couldn't warm to the leads, nor really suspend disbelief quite enough to buy the premise of the tale. So, in order to believe this tale, you have to suspend disbelief in a big way. I'd been thinking 'cryogenics!!' but it was both simpler and yet far more complicated. Once that was out of the way, there were niggles, still, but I wanted to see if it was a love story and what would happen. I'd have liked to know what Wilf told his partner at the end of the tale, as that was a potential for cheating if he didn't confess.  I'm not sure I liked the leads, though I understood Josh's fears. We never know if they were unfounded or not, but the author redeemed him in the ending, which I didn't see coming, and which, SPOILER..... ... involves cheating. Not sure that worked for me, because both leads moved on really quickly after their split, despite their Big Love and Rachel had her own agenda, with Lawrence simply a means to an end, it felt. And the guy ...

4* This series is inevitably predictable in ways, but it's all in the details. So, this book is lite on the Eve-posse. It takes place over 3 nights/4 days, so there's no time for the likes of Charles, Dennis, Louise, Jake, and more to feature, although it's finally the housewarming (thank goodness the damned thing's finished and they've all moved in), so there's a glimpse of Mavis and No2, Bella, Leonardo, and of course Mira, Reo, Nadine, Dickhead, Morris, Sunmerset and Harvo play their parts later on. There's a morally and financially corrupt bad guy who clearly has Mommy issues (we get to see those when he manipulates her), and then some, making for an ending worthy of Bette Davis herself. That was a twist I hadn't seen coming, but boy was it satisfying.  The sleuthing, the obstacles, and Harvo's skills and part made this one of the more unusual Eve Dallas tales. I did abandon the series around book 47, in the days where it had gotten too same-same...

4* Mismatched cop duo, with a not-likeable female with lots of prejudices - a great quality in a DI, not!! - and a good storyline. This tale drags quite a bit. I'm not sure I can review without Spoilers, so apologies in advance. We start off in the past on a school trip, followed by an accident and the drowning of all kids and adults, bar Joe. Who, now aged 28 and a cop, sees, communicates with, and can touch dead people. He's having to keep this a secret from his superiors or he'll have to undergo various assessments and may be deemed unfit for his role. The dead kids he sees are past and present, with all bar Sammi, his BFF and love interest at the time - Joe is bi, calls himself queer - not ageing. Sammi is his eyes, ears and early warning system. But they never address their past or present relationship.  The tale starts with a break-in, then a horrible crime, and things in the village escalate, with unsavoury secrets coming to light. It's hard to know who Joe can t...