Desecration (London Crime #1) by J.F. Penn.

 Follow Detective Sergeant Jamie Brooke as she helps solve a murder in London. This is not your average murder but one with a sinister background.

I have not read a book from Joanna for over 5 years now. What a delight it was for me to read another of her books. Once again Joanna mixes her extensive research with her extensive vocabulary to give the reader a very detailed and descriptive story. The plot behind Desecration is very good yet creepy as you wonder what can take place in research laboratories.

I found Desecration to be an excellent thriller, very gritty and quite gory in places. I really liked the emotional depth that was displayed when people have to deal with end-of-life choices and timescales. Joanna’s writing is so powerful that it brought a tear to my eye when I read that the time was right for one character. The words used really grasped the feelings in the same way as when a vet puts an animal down.

There are lighter parts to this story, like an exploration of various forms of body art and modification plus the joys of Tango dancing.

I think Desecration is an OUTSTANDING read that gets the top score of 5 stars from me.

Desecration was written in 2013 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.

Only the Innocent (DCI Tom Douglas #1) by Rachel Abbott.

Extremely wealthy Sir Hugo Fletcher is found murdered in his posh London home. Can DCI Tom Douglas catch the killer and bring them to justice in the first book in this series?

This is the first Rachel Abbott book that I have read and I thought I would give it a go as she is popular with many of my friends on Goodreads.

Only the Innocent is not a standard British police procedural novel. I did not like the format of this book. The reader knows far more about what is going on than any police officer working on the case. Most of the novel is centred around Laura Fletcher, the victim’s wife. Annoyingly she reveals selected parts of her back story through letters she wrote but never sent to her ex-sister-in-law, Imogen.

There are lots of nagging hints that things in Hugo’s life are simply not right. These doubts are drip-fed to the reader as this story rolls on. I found it irritating how the characters were extremely wealthy, throwing money everywhere without question and their snobbery was outstanding. They thought they were above everyone else and felt their wealth gave them the right to behave however they chose.

Slowly the many secrets surrounding Sir Hugo Fletcher were revealed with the reader always knowing more than the police. I found the plot okay with the surprises coming at the end.

I did not like any of the characters in this novel and found them all arrogant and pushy. Also the blatant eavesdropping annoyed me and the characters appeared so unfair.

Only the Innocent is an OKAY 3 star read with nothing to recommend about it to other readers. There were no golden nuggets to enjoy and the dialogue between characters lacked wit and humour. The best quote I can provide also illustrates the class of people involved and shows why I did not develop any empathy for Sir Hugo etc…

On one occasion, we were just passing a vaporetto stop as a boat pulled in. ‘Oh look, Hugo - can we just hop on this for half an hour, just to see where it takes us?’ ‘Laura, it’s a bus!’ he said. ‘Really, darling, I’m not in the habit of getting on buses, even if they do float and they are in the most beautiful city in the world. If you must take to the water, we’ll hire a launch and you can have a ride after lunch whilst I read the papers. How does that sound?’

Only the Innocent was written in 2011 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.

The Moscow Affair: A Nicole Graves Mystery book 6 by Nancy Boyarsky.

Nicole Graves, a Private Investigator based in Los Angeles is getting a little bored and fed up being stuck in her office while other staff are out in the field. Nicole is suddenly given the chance to get out of her office on an unusual assignment of simply observing and reporting on passengers aboard a luxury cruise ship in Moscow. Nicole is delighted to be offered this easy spotters job - a kind of busman’s holiday - a refreshing break playing the role of a tourist. What could possibly go wrong? Surely this is money for old rope?

I enjoyed reading this 6th novel in the Nicola Graves mysteries. Like the other books in this series, I feel this book can be read as a stand-alone. I liked how the dynamics of Nicole continued, it felt like catching up with an old friend. The author’s voice is consistent through her books and it is easy to believe that Nicole is actually Nancy, the author. There is a very easy flow to this book and although it is not written in the first person, it feels as though Nicole is sitting across the room for you, telling you about her exciting holiday cruise along the river Volga in Russia.

There is plenty of action in this story, it is not a sleepy river cruise but a tale of conspiracy and danger. By coincidence, whilst I was reading this book, I also watched a film called The Courier, - thinking that the role played by Olga Kurylenko - was similar to Nicole, a very strong, full action female with an army of talents to save the day.

I think the plot of The Moscow Affair was okay, nothing special - like the plot in her 4th novel, The Ransom. I found this book easy to roll along with, like watching a good television presenter. “And later in the programme I’ll be talking to....” making this a cosy armchair read. There is even a little romance towards the end with an old friend.

I do not think The Moscow Affair is as good as the other novels in this series like The Swap - book 1, The Bequest - book 2 or The Entitled - book 5 - but I found The Moscow Affair to be an OKAY read that gets 3 stars from me.

Thanks to the author for giving me an ARC on the understanding that I would publish a review.

The Moscow Affair was written in 2021 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.