Deadly Illusions by Robert Brown.

Follow Cael Adler, a private detective who is helping police around London following the discovery of a body at Epping Forest.

I found Deadly Illusions to be a fast paced crime thriller. Robert’s writing style is crisp and clear. He writes in lovely short chapters which are great to fit into our busy lifestyles. He manages to weave the tedious entertainment medium of magic into this story. He paints a very vivid picture in the reader’s mind of what can go wrong with magic tricks and the trust the assistants put in the magician.

Characterization of Cael is very good and his personality shines with how he interacts with with everyone around him. Everyone he meets is sharp and focused. There are no slow, dreary bits in this novel.

The plot of Deadly Illusions is rather good. I liked the ending, which was magical in it’s own little way!

I found Deadly Illusions to be an entertaining read. It was very easy to read and engage with. Cael was very good at investigating this case, everything just slotted together very easily. Each interview gave Cael a positive lead which put him onto his next interview which also gave a positive lead. I read a lot of crime thrillers and most have people of interest who may become serious suspects until they are discounted later in the novel. These other books have many red herrings and false leads. Deadly Illusions however was more like detecting by numbers! But I did like the plot and I enjoyed reading this novel. I found Deadly Illusions to be a GOOD read that gets 4 stars from me.

Deadly Illusions was written in 2017 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.

Selling A Lie by Tebogo Witness Motshubele.

John lives in Johannesburg and he is a con artist. This is his story about tricking people into believing what lies he is telling them. John is a salesman and he will say anything to close the deal.

I found Selling A Lie to be an okay read. It is written in very short paragraphs and comes across as quite bitty. Each chapter is made up of snappy little bits strung together and your overall impression is of someone speaking English as a second language.

It is difficult to have any empathy for John as he is unashamedly a criminal with no morals. Having a poor start in life is no excuse and all John is interested in is making fast money for himself.

But as entertainment you should think of Selling A Lie in the same way as I enjoyed the 8 series of Hustle on BBC television. On TV the con artists had a long con practised against one or more marks. In this novel John does similar things which makes for very interesting reading as his tricks are explained.

Character development is not great but the detail of his scams is an education. This novel rightly highlights the pitfalls of the internet and mobile communications. It fully explores the issues around identity and trust. All the businesses and websites that you trust and use are called into question. It alerts you to footprints and visibility. Seeing society from the criminals point of view is quite revealing. For example, when people stroll along a street wearing a hoodie, you get the impression they may be dodgy and you remember them passing. However the same guy without a hoodie can pass you by unnoticed.

I found the gist of Selling A Lie to be a good story but it was let down by the quality of writing. It lacked editing, humour and sharpness. But it passed my quality threshold because of the detail of the scams involved and the educational value of this book as a whole. It also makes you wonder why there are so many SIM cards for sale and why people may be buying them! Selling A Lie gets 3 stars from me and I would not be surprised if it become a screenplay for a one-off television drama.

Selling A Lie was written in 2017 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.

Murder Game (Detective Ruby Preston #3) by Caroline Mitchell.

Follow Detective Sergeant Ruby Preston around London as she tries to catch a killer before they kill again. Although this is the 3rd novel in the series, it can so easily be read as a standalone.

I have read the 2nd Ruby Preston novel called Sleep Tight and Murder Game is the same high quality writing and storytelling. I love how you get both sides of the story, Ruby Preston with her team of detectives plus chapters from the bad guy/killer.

The plot of Murder Game is very good. I like how you get the full story and not just the gritty crime detection bits. I like how each character’s lifestyle is fully explored. I like how Caroline gently guides you through the technical bits of Police work, so that the average reader fully understands what is going on and why.

Ruby Preston is at a loss with the identity of the killer and the story points the reader this way and that. I found Murder Game a very entertaining read. I finished this book and I thought WOW! All the little details of the story made my head buzz. Yes, it all added up and just illustrates how easily a civilised society can harbour some very dangerous people. The feeling I got from the end of this novel gave me such a rush. I can find nothing wrong with this book and once again Caroline gets the top score of 5 stars from me. Murder Game was simply a pleasure to read even though readers who are married will glance at their ring finger quite often!

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