Recommended Reads Blog
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Traitors
Traitors
Alex Shaw
Move over boys, Sophie Racine has got this!What a thrilling ride!
Alex Shaw built his reputation with Aiden Snow, a former SAS trooper, now a school teacher in Ukraine, called back into action to do the sort of things Her Majesty’s Government needs to be done, shall we say, ‘discreetly’ (although it’s fair to say Snow’s methods are anything but). Fans of that immensely popular series will be delighted that Snow plays a large and important part in this latest thriller, but make no mistake, this is Sophie Racine’s story.
Traitors introduces us to Sophie, an undercover assassin for the DGSE – the French secret service. The daughter of a former French Foreign Legion officer, she is formidable and ruthless.
Sent by the French government to war-torn Ukraine, her mission is to assassinate a Russian spy whose betrayal of the French secret service caused the deaths of countless operatives. At the same time, Aiden Snow has been tasked by British Intelligence to rescue a UK citizen caught up in the conflict.
Snow and Racine’s missions collide in the rebel-held Donetsk region of Ukraine and they must join forces – something that loner Racine in particular finds challenging.As readers familiar with Shaw’s previous work have come to expect, the action is relentless and thrilling, with enough military detail to keep Tom Clancy nerds happy (I am one), but not so much that those unmoved by descriptions of big boys’ toys will find their eyes glazing over.
The author has lived extensively in the Ukraine and overseas, and that’s where he stands apart from others in the genre. Intimately familiar with the country and its people, he turns his gaze towards the complex political situation in Donetsk, where a war largely ignored and forgotten by the West still rages. This is no political polemic, but Shaw demonstrates his compassion for a civilian population ravaged by years of endless – and frankly pointless – conflict.Looking to the future, this is a brilliant first entry in what is sure to be a great series. With Aiden Snow already well-established, Shaw is able to sketch him out in broad brushstrokes for those unfamiliar with him, and then direct much of the character-building at Sophie Racine and her DGSE counterparts. The choice of a female protagonist might be dismissed as gimmicky – and in the hands of many writers could be – but that isn’t the case here. Racine is a fully-formed character, no different to the countless male spies and assassins that have entertained readers for years. There are no lingering descriptions of her appearance, beyond that necessary to paint a picture in the reader’s mind, and she isn’t some big-bosomed femme fatale fighting hand-to-hand in high heels and revealing cocktail dresses that could never conceal her Glock. Occasionally, Sophie uses the fact that she is a woman as another tool in her arsenal – she does after all operate in a patriarchal society – yet it’s never heavy handed. Ultimately, she is a professional, amongst the very best in her field, who also happens to be a woman. Her backstory is interesting and complex, revealed in careful snippets at the appropriate time, and hints at much more to come.
All-in-all, a highly recommended read.
The book is released in eBook on the 23rd July, and will be available as paperback and audio September 30th.
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Unbound Ties
Unbound Ties
Liz Mistry
Liz and I will be taking part in a live online panel with Roz Watkins and Jane Bettany as part of National Crime Readers Month at 19:30h BST Tuesday 15th June.
“Crafting a Compelling Copper”.
For a FREE ticket, follow this eventbrite link.
There will be a 30{f8c98ef12cf2ba93483891293470eeca6af5810773d3e565a74d66de152ae678} discount code on featured books for all attendees.
I look forward to seeing you there!Unbound Ties is the seventh novel in Liz Mistry’s DI Gus McGuire series.
This is my first foray into Gus McGuire’s world, but it won’t be my last.
The story centres around the ritualistic murder of pregnant women. This is bad enough, but McGuire soon finds that the killings are linked to his own mother’s troubled childhood in the foster care system.
McGuire is a fantastic character. Driven and dedicated, he chafes at being side-lined from the main investigation, especially when the case means so much to him personally.
Picking up an ongoing series so far into it can be difficult sometimes, but Mistry finds the correct balance between hints at key events in previous books and not giving too much away. It left this reader keen to read more about McGuire and his team’s prior adventures.
McGuire is surrounded by a rich cast of supporting characters. From the flatulent Crime Scene Manager Hissing Sid and eccentric forensic psychologist Carlton to his loyal team of officers, Alice, Compo and Taffy, all are vividly and uniquely portrayed. I enjoyed the banter and repartee between these series regulars, and again, Mistry makes new readers want to go back to earlier books in the series to learn more about them.
The ritualistic murders are brilliantly plotted and the skilful shifting of perspective between McGuire, the killer and other characters draws the reader into the narrative without ever being distracting.
Mistry sets her books in Bradford, a place she knows intimately, and her characters reflect the vibrant and multicultural nature of the city.
Unlike many authors, Mistry hasn’t shied away from referencing Covid19, but it is done skilfully with a light touch. References to restrictions, and the impact they have on day-to-day policing are mentioned, but they simply add authenticity and fix the book’s place in time, without impacting the story or jarring the reader. Those for whom reading is an escape from reality can safely pick-up this book without fear of the real world intruding.
This is a cleverly plotted story, with a well-crafted protagonist and fiendish villain. I thoroughly recommend it.
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Dark Memories
Dark Memories
Liz Mistry
Liz and I will be taking part in a live online panel with Roz Watkins and Jane Bettany as part of National Crime Readers Month at 19:30h BST Tuesday 15th June.
“Crafting a Compelling Copper”.
For a FREE ticket, follow this eventbrite link.
There will be a 30{f8c98ef12cf2ba93483891293470eeca6af5810773d3e565a74d66de152ae678} discount code on featured books for all attendees.
I look forward to seeing you there!Dark Memories is the third in Liz Mistry’s DS Nikki Parekh series, and the title is perfect.
This is a book about memory; about a past that has haunted Nikki Parekh and her family for decades. In her afterword, Mistry says that she had wanted to write this book since starting the series, but waiting until the third book was a genius decision. I haven’t read the previous entries, but when I picked this up, I felt right at home. There is a rich cast of supporting characters, all with their own history – hinted at but not spoiled for those of us who haven’t read those stories – and Parekh is a complex, layered character. By penning two books before this, Mistry has been able to craft a world that she knows intimately, with players that she – and the reader – really care about; including readers that are new to the series and have no prior emotional investment. That’s a remarkable achievement.The story starts with the discovery of a homeless person in Bradford, the Yorkshire town that Mistry sets all of her books in. The case is seemingly routine and progress frustratingly slow, until a newspaper clipping sent to Nikki Parekh makes her wonder if she has a personal connection to the case. A second murder appears unrelated – except for the arrival of another note. By the time the third body is discovered, her link to the murders becomes undeniable – this one is in the house across the street from where she spent her traumatic childhood.
Mistry’s treatment of Parekh is brutal and uncompromising in this book, and she deals sensitively with some very upsetting issues. But there are also glimmers of light. Parekh’s love for her family is at the centre of the novel, and at work, the unflinching loyalty of her partner DC Sajid Malik and their easy banter counterbalance the darkness.I really enjoyed this, and it is definitely a #RecommendedRead.
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Cut To The Bone
Cut To The Bone
Roz Watkins
Roz and I will be taking part in a live online panel with Jane Bettany and Liz Mistry as part of National Crime Readers Month at 19:30h BST Tuesday 15th June.
“Crafting a Compelling Copper”.
For a FREE ticket, follow this eventbrite link.
There will be a 30{f8c98ef12cf2ba93483891293470eeca6af5810773d3e565a74d66de152ae678} discount code on featured books for all attendees.
I look forward to seeing you there!Cut to the Bone is the third in Roz Watkin’s DI Meg Dalton series and I wish I had met her sooner.
The story concerns the disappearance of a young women from a pig abattoir. Taking place over a scorching summer, and set in the Peak District, there is so much I enjoyed about this book.
First of all the central mystery. It is a real, meaty investigation (pardon the pun). There are several viable suspects from the outset, all of whom have their own dark secrets. As the book unfolds, we learn how their lives intertwined, decades before the disappearance of the victim.
All of Watkins books are set in fictionalised versions of places that the author is familiar with. If you visit her website, she lists the real-life town that she bases each book on, something I’ve never seen before. This gives the book a really strong sense of place, and so the history and legends that she invents for the town, which are integral to the story, are anchored to the real location and feel more authentic.
The themes in the book are disturbing, and Watkins is unafraid to push the boundaries, but it’s deftly handled and suitable for all but the most squeamish. The final reveal, when it comes is original and unexpected, but all the clues were there.
But my favourite thing about this book is DI Meg Dalton herself. Aside from occasional forays into the past, the narration is mostly first person from the perspective of Meg. A strong, accomplished detective, she is nevertheless self-critical and her inner monologue is brilliantly witty, and her unspoken thoughts are sometimes gloriously inappropriate. I found myself laughing some times, and feeling slightly guilty at other times, as Meg had naughty thoughts that I might share, but would also never say out loud.
Watkins has built a world around Meg, populated by interesting characters that each share a relationship with her. Having not read any of the earlier books in the series, I look forward to going back and getting to know them before the next instalment.
This is a very enjoyable #RecommendedRead.
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In Cold Blood
In Cold Blood
Jane Bettany
Jane and I will be taking part in a live online panel with Roz Watkins and Liz Mistry as part of National Crime Readers Month at 19:30h BST Tuesday 15th June.
“Crafting a Compelling Copper”.
For a FREE ticket, follow this eventbrite link.
There will be a 30{f8c98ef12cf2ba93483891293470eeca6af5810773d3e565a74d66de152ae678} discount code on featured books for all attendees.
I look forward to seeing you there!Today’s #RecommendedRead is the first entry in Jane Bettany’s new DI Isabel Blood series.
A brother and sister renovating an old house stumble across skeletal remains buried in the garden. For DI Isabel Blood, the discovery transports her to her own past – for the house is the one in which she spent the first years of her childhood. Furthermore, the bones have been buried in the ground for decades – could she finally have an answer to the mystery of what happened to her father, whose disappearance has haunted her for forty years?
Jane Bettany’s new protagonist is refreshingly original for the genre. Middle-aged, male detectives are popular in crime fiction, but as is the case in so many fields of entertainment, we rarely see women of this age portrayed (Ann Cleaves’ Vera notwithstanding). The road to publication for In Cold Blood was an interesting one. Bettany was already an accomplished short story writer, and creative writing tutor. This, her debut novel, was the winning entry in a unique competition held by HQ Digital and Gransnet – the criteria being a novel written by a woman over forty, writing a female character the same age.
Isabel Blood is fifty-five years old, with a teenage daughter. We see her juggling being a parent with her work, whilst coping with the emotional fallout from the discovery of the body. The book is set in Derbyshire, and has a strong sense of place.
The story itself is tightly plotted and a real headscratcher. The first in a series, it introduces us to Isabel and a host of other, well-crafted supporting characters that are sure to become series regulars. As the investigation progresses, it twists and turns. There are deeply satisfying revelations and reversals and the two stories, the professional and the personal, are equally important and expertly intertwined. The unfolding mystery is imaginative and original, and Bettany deals with difficult issues sensitively and compassionately.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Time constraints meant it took me several days to read it, and I found myself really looking forward to picking it up again.
This is a very promising start to a series that I am certain to follow.
Highly recommended.
