Recommended Reads Blog
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The Binding Room
The Binding Room
(DI Anjelica Henley 2)
Nadine Matheson
Last year, I finally got around to reading Nadine Matheson’s debut police procedural, The Jigsaw Man. The book received a lot of buzz and I could see why. A fantastic hook, a really compelling central protagonist, and a well-rounded supporting cast of characters, made this a cracking read. For some reason, I didn’t actually review it (I think I may have been in the depths of GCSE marking at the time), but I’m giving it a belated shout out and a recommendation that you read it before you start The Binding Room.That’s not to say you can’t pick up the second book in the series first, but you’ll get more out of it if you are already familiar with this world.In this instalment, DI Anjelica Henley is still reeling from the fallout from the Jigsaw Man case, but is thrown back into the fray when the Serial Crimes Unit are called to the murder of a local pastor found stabbed to death in the church he runs. As they investigate the scene, they discover a hidden torture room with another victim bound to the bed.
The discovery of a second body, also tied down, leads to the realisation that there is a serial killer out there. Yet there are no obvious links between the two.
Matheson is not afraid of visiting some very dark places, examining evil from all angles. She is also unafraid of addressing uncomfortable and controversial subjects. In this book, we see the dark side of fringe churches; supposedly Christian organisations that seem more geared towards encouraging the congregation to worship and enrich the pastor than to actually spread the word of God.
The book is an excellent police procedural, but at its heart it is a thumping good read. I formed my own theories about what had really happened fairly early on, but had my mind changed several times and when everything was finally revealed, discovered that Matheson had successfully hoodwinked me.
I heartily recommend this book, and look forward to the third in the series, The Kill List, available to preorder for later this year.
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Elevator Pitch
Elevator Pitch
Linwood Barclay
I really like Linwood Barclay. I’ve previously reviewed his thriller, Look Both Ways, and this is another story that cuts to the heart of modern societal worries.
Is there anything so banal and ubiquitous as an elevator? We rarely think about them; they are simply essential infrastructure that allow us to live a vertical existence. Unless they are out of order, or overcrowded, they are simply in the background, unnoticed and unremarked upon. Yet without them, we would be limited to living, working and playing in buildings just a few stories high.
Manhattan is defined by the skyscraper. New Yorkers spend much of their lives dozens of stories above the ground.
But with 70,000-odd elevators, every so often there will be an accident. Usually a maintenance worker falling down an open shaft. Occasionally, something goes wrong and a passenger is hurt or killed.
So when a lift fails on a Monday morning, sending a car with four passengers plunging to their death, it’s a tragedy, but these things happen.
Tuesday, in what appears to be an unrelated coincidence, there is another gruesome accident.
When it happens again on Wednesday, authorities realise that perhaps these aren’t unrelated accidents and a city that only really exists because of elevators is thrown into chaos.
All the Linwood Barclay ingredients are here. Strong, well-developed characters, a sense of impending doom, twists, turns and a splash of dry humour. The pacing is spot on, the very definition of a ‘page-turner’. And the final, action-packed denouement is worthy of any multi-million-dollar blockbuster movie.
I heartily recommend this novel for fans of Linwood Barclay and thrillers that make you question the very things that you have taken for granted.
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Blood Orange
Blood Orange
Harriet Tyce
Today’s #RecommendedRead is a book that has been out for some years, Harriet Tyce’s brilliant debut novel Blood Orange. I missed this when it first came out, but my mother passed it on to me recently, and I was very impressed.
The central crime in this book concerns a woman accused of murdering her husband, after being found with his blood-soaked body. That in itself is a satisfying tale, but this is a primarily a character-driven book about toxic relationships and obsession.
Told from the first person perspective, it centres on Alison, a barrister with a loving family, whose career appears to be going from strength to strength.
But all is not as it seems.
She’s embroiled in a torrid affair, and her binge-drinking is threatening to destroy everything that she loves.
I read this book quickly over a few days and found myself sucked in immediately. Alison is in turns a sympathetic character and someone you just want to shout at. Much of the narrative, especially in the last half, unfolds with a grim inevitability, but you still want to continue reading – and without giving away spoilers, there are enough twists and turns to keep you guessing.
The author, Harriet Tyce, was a practising barrister and so provides an insight into the daily routine of the ‘glamorous’ side of law – spoiler, it really isn’t glamorous! The public perception, bolstered by the media and popular TV series, is that barristers are the peacocks of the legal profession. They are the ones that stand in court in a wig and gown, representing clients to the crown court. They swan in after the solicitors have done all the real work, and simply present to the court. Yet that isn’t how it really works, and this novel lays that bare.
I strongly recommend this, and will be looking out for more of Harriet Tyce’s work.
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The Devil You Know
The Devil You Know
(DS Max Craigie 5)
Neil Lancaster
It’s that time again! Another outing for Neil Lancaster’s brilliant Max Craigie.
Regular readers of this blog will know how excited I am when an advance copy of the latest in the series arrives unexpectedly on my door mat. Time to finish whatever I’m reading and go straight to this special treat.
Yet again, Lancaster has knocked it out of the park, over the main road and into somebody’s back garden!
For those unfamiliar with the set-up, Max Cragie is a former soldier and former Metropolitan Police Officer now working for Police Scotland’s ‘Policing Standards Reassurance Team’ – an innocuously-named unit specialising in rooting out corruption within the force.
As always, you can read the book as a standalone, but I’d suggest it’s worth starting at the beginning of the series with Dead Man’s Grave, The Blood Tide, The Night Watch and Blood Runs Cold. The characters (good and bad!) evolve over the series, which adds to the fun.
The usual gang are back: Max and his partner Janie Calder, the foul-mouthed DI Fraser, technical whizz Barney and their analyst Norma and as always, they all get their chance to shine. The story, which starts with the disappearance of a young woman some years before, brings back characters who have featured in previous books. I’m reluctant to give too much plot away, suffice to say that this time Craigie teams up with an old foe in an investigation with tendrils leading to the very heart of the establishment, at the same time seeking justice for an innocent young woman.
Again, Lancaster’s own policing expertise, especially in covert operations, gives the book a feeling of authenticity, and his regular cast, which he now writes with warmth and familiarity, provide humour where needed.
As always, I stress that I only include books that I have genuinely enjoyed, and this one is definitely a recommended read.
Enjoy!
The Devil You Know is out in March 2024 from HQ.
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Favourite Reads 2023
Favourite Reads Of 2023
Well folks, it’s coming towards the end of 2023, so it’s time for Shepherd’s round up of people’s favourite reads for 2023.You can read my list here, and see why I chose them.They have also polled a total of 884 authors and super readers to see what they liked, the results are
Enjoy!.
Have a browse and see if you agree or if there are any that you like the look of!
Note: these were books READ this year, not necessarily published this year, so there are some old classics on the list.
