Sleep Tight by Caroline Mitchell.

WOW! This novel gets off to a stonking start…

The doctor gave a satisfied nod as he lifted the stethoscope from the woman’s bare chest. ‘Ah, the heart of a lion. We’ll soon have you cleaned up. But now...a little music to ease the passage.’ He did not expect a response because he was talking to himself. It had been that way ever since people could no longer bear to be in his presence.

… Then you, the reader follow Detective Ruby Preston as she leads her team in East London to catch a serial killer.

I found Sleep Tight to be a very, very good book. I liked the way Caroline told her story. It was great how you got both sides of the tale, the police and the bad guy. The plot was quite involved and I liked how doubt was thrown at all the characters, hint, hint and hint making you wonder who might also be involved. The actions of the bad guy were very, very creepy and were very engaging.

It was a pleasure to read this novel and it gave me the same enjoyment I got from Line of Duty, a popular TV series centered around corruption within the British police service. There was lots of action and tension as Ruby raced to get the bad guy.

I had loved Caroline’s previous novel Witness and I found Sleep Tight to be just as good. Both these books get the top score of 5 stars from me. The crime thriller market is quite crowded but Caroline is a the top of the league.

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

Wish Me Home by Kay Bratt.

A stray dog attaches himself to Cara, a homeless 29 year old woman. This is the tale of their journey within America to find a forever home.

I was attracted to this book by it’s cover. There is something about the bond that holds between a dog and their owner. Although the blurb for this novel describes it as contemporary women’s fiction, I feel that this will also appeal to male dog owners too. I think that this story would be a good holiday read as when you are away from your home, you have only the basics around and are temporarily homeless too.

Wish Me Home covers a lot of issues. Homelessness, foster care, the kindness of strangers, dog welfare and the dynamics of a family. I liked how this story was told and I very quickly developed an empathy for Cara. I thought it was good how Cara’s situation focused highly on what is really important in life and how the stray dog became dependent on her, giving all his trust and love.

Wish Me Home was a very pleasant read. The pace was comfortable and there were loads of feel good moments. I liked all the dog parts of this story and the romance was gentle too. No harm came to any animal and there was no gritty sex to read through. It was a nice cosy warm read that makes readers who have both a dog and a home feel really good about themselves.

Okay, the generosity of strangers was rather unrealistic but don’t let that put you off this story. I found Wish Me Home to be a GOOD holiday type read and it does have a happy ending. This book gave me that nice passing through feeling, as though I had met Cara on holiday for 14 days but we would never meet again. A book that leaves such a nice resonance behind gets 4 stars from me.

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

Last Breath by Robert Bryndza.

This is the fourth Detective Erika Foster crime thriller but it can be read as a stand-alone. This novel is a regular British police drama and centers around the problems of dating someone for the very first time.

I enjoyed reading this book and liked how it covered the current problems faced by users of social media. It was both entertaining and informative how bad guys can use Facebook etc to gain the trust of their targets.

I liked the detail involved in this story, how the bad guy was covering their tracks and that you also got their point of view on their chosen targets. I thought the police investigation was realistic and I liked how there were hitches in finding the bad guy.

The plot was clever and made the criminal detection hard work for the team involved. I liked the pace of this novel and how the story developed. The feel of the story was similar to how users view their activity on Facebook with the reader thinking they are in the loop.

Characterization was very good among ALL the characters, the police, the victims, family and friends plus the bad guy. This is quality writing and I liked it as much as Robert’s last novel Dark Water. What more can I say, except that Last Breath gets the top score of 5 stars from me.

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