The Taken by Alice Clark-Platts.

Follow Detective Inspector Erica Martin as she investigates a murder in Durham of a celebrated preacher, Tristan Snow.

Although this is the second DI Erica Martin novel, it can be read as a stand-alone. There is an awful lot of content in this novel and gives the reader plenty to think about. It is not a regular police crime thriller but one that explores religion, loyalty and the whole meaning of family. I liked the plot and all the characters were likely suspects in the murder of Tristan Snow.

I liked the way the story developed including the journal written by Tristan's wife, Sera. This is not a forensic science heavy police thriller but one where the police have to listen very carefully to what people are saying. There is plenty of drama too with many shocks along the way. Each of these actions are later fully explained and everything has a knock on effect, including the pork chop!

The story was basically set in Durham, a county I lived in for the first 10 years of my life. It also features trips to nearby Peterlee and across the country to Blackpool. The local detail is very good and adds greater depth to this novel.

I found The Taken to be a GOOD read and I liked how you had suspicions about all the characters. It was great that after the murder other incidents took place, so it was not just a simple murder investigation. It was for me an engaging and entertaining read that gets 4 stars from me. I am now looking forward to hopefully the 3rd DI Erica Martin novel.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Penguin UK for giving me a copy of this book on the understanding that I provide an honest review.

Blood Lines by Angela Marsons.

Follow Detective Kim Stone in the 5th book of the series as she is on the hunt for a single stab wound killer.

This book can be read as a stand-alone and I have not read any other book by Angela. It is set in the West Midlands and is a mix of Police procedurals and a psychological thriller.

Although many of my friends on Goodreads really enjoyed this book, I found it rather run of the mill. Nothing really hit me about this book, I thought the plot was average and the psychological elements rather far fetched. I did not gain an empathy for the police officers and found the characterisation slim. I did not find Blood Lines to be an entertaining or gripping read.

I found this book quite ordinary and even the dialogue between the characters did not brighten it up. The odd bits of workplace humour were shallow and only raised a small smile, for example…

She found her colleague and friend outside, staring down in amazement. ‘You bought a patio set?’

‘It’s hardly that,’ she said. ‘It’s a bistro table with two chairs. If they’d sold it with just the one chair I’d have bought that,’ she said honestly.

‘But it’s garden furniture,’ he said, putting the drinks down. She looked at the table and chairs aghast.

‘Damn it, they never told me that in the shop,’ she said, sarcastically.

… Blood Lines for me was just a 3 star okay read. I would not recommend this book although it did fill the time. I know Angela has lots of fans who love her books but sorry, I will not become one of them. There was just one point in the story that made me gasp but the rest was just a plodding police story.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Bookouture for giving me a copy of this book on the understanding that I provide an honest review.

Bertie’s Gift by Hannah Coates.

Follow Bertie the beagle in his various quests with other dogs, a pair of cats and pet owners. Oh and this is also a book about Christmas!

I found Bertie’s Gift to be a warm, cosy read. The whole story is told from Bertie’s point of view. But Bertie doesn’t go “Woof! Woolf!” because his vocabulary is very good indeed. This is not a children’s book and is told in an adult way. I liked the focus on Bertie and all those doggy things that are so important to him. His relationships with pet owners is fully explored and it is nice to hear the human with dog relationship explained from the dog’s point of view.

I enjoyed reading Bertie’s Gift and I think that all readers will develop a tremendous empathy for Bertie. I liked how Bertie described his breed and what makes beagles different from other dogs. It brought it all back to me as I once walked a friend’s beagle for just one afternoon and that was 45 years ago!

The story is entertaining but the plot has no surprises. There is no dark mystery, no odd quirky characters and no building suspense. The whole storyline is rather predictable although told in a very loving and warm way. Bertie’s Gift is a very soft read with nothing challenging, disturbing or surprising. It is light reading that is told in a very articulate way. This book does not bite the reader’s imagination but it does smooth your emotions giving you an all over warm, contented feeling. Bertie’s Gift is a GOOD read that I believe succeeds in what it sets out to do and so gets 4 stars from me. Oh and yes, there is a happy although blindingly obvious ending that was foreseen relatively early on. There is no animal cruelty or steamy sex in this book and it is not a tear jerker, just a regular feel good story.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Hodder & Stoughton for giving me a copy of this book on the understanding that I provide an honest review.

Defender by G X Todd.

Pilgrim meets Lacey in this post apocalyptic thriller where some people can hear a voice in their head.

This novel is a little odd as we all kind of talk to ourselves in our heads. So here we have two central characters, Pilgrim and Lacey plus a “contributor” called Voice. So the format of this novel can be rather frustrating.

I found Defender to be a SLOW novel with nothing much happening. It took ages to discover what had happened 7 years ago. Then Pilgrim and Lacey go on a journey with little planning and everything they encounter appears to be unknown. It was a case of the blind, leading the blind. This goes against the reader learning about a story as it unfolds.

As a reader I felt all at sea and lost, in a bad way, as this story bumbled along. I could not fathom what was going on and did not engage with Pilgrim or Lacey. I found the plot very lacking indeed. I thought the whole book was a dull and depressing read.

This novel was not an entertaining read for me. Nothing really sparked my interest. G X Todd went to great depths in describing the scenes but I found the detailed scene setting rather tiresome. The dialogue between characters was basic and the story lacked humour.

Defender was a big disappointment for me and when I got to the poor ending, I thought why did I bother? It is nice to be rewarded by reading a novel but Defender simply bored me. I did not enjoy reading this book, I think it is a POOR read and only gets 2 stars from me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Headline for giving me a copy of this book on the understanding that I provide an honest review.