Turn a Blind Eye by Vicky Newham.

Turn a Blind Eye is a police procedural set in the Tower Hamlets district of London. This is a debut novel and features DI Maya Rahman, who was born in Bangladesh. A school headmaster is murdered and Maya is on the hunt to find the killer.

I found this novel different to most police procedural crime thrillers. Although it is Maya’s day job to catch the killer, most of this story is focused on the politics of school governance. It will appeal to readers of the Guardian newspaper but I found the droning on about diversity and minority ethnic groups rather dull. I think Vicky overplayed the race card in her novel. Exploring at great length her mother’s use of the regional language of Sylheti quickly became a bore.

The characterization of Maya is good but the focus of the story gets confused when a number of chapters are from the point of view of the teacher who found the dead headmaster. This interrupts the flow of the story and reduced my enjoyment of this book.

The plot was okay but somewhat unrealistic. It was regular “lets point the finger at every character” as they all could have a motive. The police investigation was routine with no surprises. There was the usual obsession with computers, mobile devices and social media.

I think Turn a Blind Eye is an okay, 3 star read. It has a social message but is not an entertaining or thrilling read. It was like spending the day at the Labour Party conference, although Jeremy Corbyn tells a far better tale than Vicky Newham. For lovers of regular crime fiction, Turn a Blind Eye is a disappointment. I feel that Vicky has exaggerated the differences between people of different ethnic backgrounds living in London and that irritated me as her story went on. But it does give you something to ponder, rather than the hunt for the killer.

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

Bring Me Back by B.A. Paris.

12 years ago Finn and Layla stop in a picnic area in France. Finn goes to the toilet block but when he returns to their car, Layla has disappeared. Bring Me Back is a psychological thriller.

I found this book very engaging. It had my head buzzing from the very start. B.A. Paris tells a great story that gets the reader really involved. You don’t just sit back and enjoy the tale because she puts these little lines of text into her script that make you wonder and question what is going on. There are many lies told within this story and you are forced to consider the many omissions made by Finn.

I liked the format of this book. Most of the chapters were from Finn’s point of view but the odd chapter was from Layla’s side. Each chapter was clearly labelled, some from Finn 12 years ago, some from Finn in current time and a few from Layla to rack the tension further up the torture scale.

The current day tension that Finn is exposed to is extreme. You can feel the psychological pressure he is under. Although he tells a number of lies and uses a lot of omissions to cover his tracks, I did feel a strong empathy for Finn. He was suffering from the stress brought into his relationship with Ellen and I had my head buzzing trying to work out the truth about Layla and her disappearance. I liked how this story forced me to think about why Layla disappeared, was she still alive, could it be this or that.

Although Finn is not married, he is sharing a home and in an adult relationship with Ellen. I liked how B,A. Paris explored the dynamics of adults living together - as though they were married - how they relate to each other and use personal space. I liked how love was explored in the context of comparing past partners to a current partner. I liked how the embarrassing question of “do you fancy my sister, if yes then more or less than me?” was handled. I liked how the issue of partner suitability from a man’s point of view was explored. This is not a romantic thought but how men actually think.

I liked the plot of Bring Me Back and the thinking behind it. I liked how the characters all had their part to play in this story. I liked how each of the characters could be the bad guy behind the Russian Dolls, the emails and the psychological warfare. I got a lot from this book and think it would make a great television series.

I found the writing of this book to be very high quality and it gave me just what I wanted from my reading experience. Bring Me Back is a psychological thriller that is at the top of it’s league and it gets the top score of 5 stars from me. Just for the record, I do NOT fancy my wife’s sister!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher St. Martin’s Press for giving me a copy of this book on the understanding that I provide an honest review.

The Broken by Casey Kelleher.

Nancy Byrne is just 20 years old when her father Jimmy Byrne is murdered. He was a leading light in the London criminal underworld and now Nancy steps up to the plate to continue the family business involving drugs and sex.

The Broken is a gritty tale of criminal life with a large portion of violence woven into the story. This story is told from many points of view but each character has a dodgy moral code.

I did not like any of the characters in this book. They all had a dodgy side to them, were happy to be involved with illegal activity and also to take the law into their own hands.

I did not like how very early on in this novel you were told who murdered Jimmy Byrne. So the story revolved about how Nancy dealt with the family business after her father’s death.

The violence was extreme and the treatment of Reece was very graphic indeed. I can very easily imagine the pain he went through and the poor quality of life the assault put him into.

I did not think the plot was great but more of a “bad day at the office” scenario. I found the whole story quite miserable and there seemed no hope for any of the characters as they continued to be nasty to each other.

I was really looking forward to reading The Broken because I have read Casey’s earlier novel The Promise, which I thought was brilliant and got the top score of 5 stars from me. However I was disappointed with The Broken and did not think it was a thrilling or thought provoking read. I took nothing away from this novel and had it been a television series, I would have given up within the first episode, like I have with The Split, starring Nicola Walker. I thought The Broken was a POOR 2 star read and if Casey continues with Nancy Byrne into another novel, count me out.

There was a very small bit of gay sex which was okay but Casey really fails with her tiny bit of hetrosexual sex. It was so short and brief that it will not even raise your pulse, never mind those muscles further down. I can’t see why Casey bothered to write the scene as it was such a throwaway paragraph…

It all happened so quickly, so passionately. Seconds later, they were merely two bodies writhing as one. Entwined together. Jack could feel Nancy’s nails digging into his back, tearing down his skin as she moved beneath him. An arch of her back, and then a long, trembling shudder. Jack came then too, before collapsing on top of her.

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

Cold Heart (Detective Kate Matthews Book 3) by Stephen Edger.

Follow Detective Kate Matthews around Southampton as she investigates the disappearance of 15 year old Daisy.

Although this is the 3rd novel in the series, it can be read as a standalone and I was not put at a disadvantage. Cold Heart is a regular British police procedural crime thriller. The investigation into the disappearance of Daisy and some body parts that are found, all follow standard procedures. The team of police officers have regular meetings in the incident room, which bring no surprises. You can easily guess what will happen next. The whole story revolves around regular police work and becomes a little bit of a drag. I started to get a little monday morning feeling as another meeting was starting in the incident room. One officer would be told to get a search warrant, enter a house and bring back every computer, mobile and tablet. Another officer would be told to walk somewhere, spot any CCTV cameras, find the owner and demand the footage. Other routine tasks would be given to other officers, leaving the reader with an unexciting read.

The characterization of Detective Kate Matthews and her fellow police officers was average. The private lives of the police were included but those parts were of standard soap opera quality. The was no special chemistry binding the police team together.

The plot developed slowly with no dramatic twists and turns. When I got to the end of Cold Heart I felt rather robbed, purely because the bad guy’s actions appeared to be unrealistic. I feel the plot lacked realism and the investigation broke no new ground in activity or specialist police skills. I found Detective Kate Matthews bringing her daughter onto the side lines of this story a frustrating nuisance in the same way as when adults are talking and a child interrupts or screams.

I consider Cold Heart to be a run-of-the-mill police procedural. It was an okay, 3 star read that gave my daily reading fix but there was nothing special about it. If there becomes a 4th Detective Kate Matthews novel, I shall not be bothering because there are so many other authors who give the reader a lot more content, pleasure and unique scenarios.

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

Finding Gobi by Dion Leonard.

This is a true story of an ultramarathon runner who comes across a small stray dog whilst running across the Gobi Desert in China.

I loved this story and the way it was told. I liked the format of this book, how it is a first person narrative and that it starts off letting you know whatever you read, there will be a happy ending. You are let into Dion’s private life and history very gently as his story unfolds. He has made his past and thoughts very public, you really get to know the man by the end of the book. There are no boring bits in this story and it is not about making the author look big.

You do not need to be a fan of running to enjoy this book. This is all about human nature and how we relate to dogs. This book is very well written in an adult and intelligent way. Dion fully explains the relationship that develops between a man and a dog. He has done a wonderful job at putting this into words.

I got tremendous pleasure from reading this book. I understand what Dion was going through. I loved how he put everything into perspective. He managed to put over exactly how you can feel when you are befriended by a small dog. I have a cross-breed Pug X Shih Tzu so relating to Gobi, a small stray Terrier was very, very easy for me.

Finding Gobi is a remarkable book on both dog and human levels. It was simply a joy to read and gets the top score of 5 stars from me.

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

The Lying Kind (Detective Rachel Prince Book 1) by Alison James.

Follow Detective Rachel Prince as she searches for a missing 6 year old girl in Surrey. This is a regular British crime thriller, full of police procedure and the lives of the police officers involved.

I found The Lying Kind to be a GOOD read with strong characterization of the main investigating police officers and the girl’s parents. I liked all the extra bits thrown into this story concerning the private lives of the police officers. I liked the contrast between Detective Rachel Prince’s healthy eating and Detective Sergeant Mark Brickall’s love of junk food. In every scene he would devour more tasty convenience food. They also enjoyed a lovely banter together.

I liked how this story unfolded and how the police had difficulty verifying the information they had gathered. Some leads led to dead ends, others needed following up. It was nice how many of the characters could get the wrong end of the stick. There were plenty of secrets and lies in this story keeping the reader on their toes.

The plot was not wonderful but sadly reflected true cases from the past. There was not a wonderful twist or any specialist investigative skills employed. There was nothing outstanding about this book but it was a steady story. Overall I found The Lying Kind to be a bread and butter, GOOD 4 star read that featured enough drama to keep me entertained.

For all the gritty realism of this story, having been married for over 26 years, I found one little anecdote rather silly and difficult to believe. Detective Rachel Prince is searching the home of the missing 6 year old girl and goes into the mother’s bedroom.

...This too was extremely tidy, the frilly cream duvet and pillows neatly arranged, the bedside tables bare of clutter, and dresses and tops ordered by descending length in the wardrobe, shoes arranged by heel height below them…

Yeah, right, not in my home Alison or in any of my wife’s friends homes either!

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

Creep by R.M. Greenaway.

This is the third B.C. Blues crime novel featuring career cops Cal Dion and David Leith. It can be read as a standalone.

Creep is an odd mix of a novel. There is regular police procedurals and strong characterization of Cal Dion and David Leith. But we do not have a simple murder, as there are some accidents plus supernatural elements surrounding Halloween. Putting all these factors into this story, made it rather a muddle.

I did like the workplace humour and found it spot on, making me chuckle often. This humour is very similar to and of the same high quality as Collateral, a four-part British television drama serial, written and created by David Hare, and directed by S. J. Clarkson. It first broadcast on BBC Two on February 12, 2018.

I really enjoyed her two previous novels Cold Girl and Undertow, voting them both the top scores of 5 stars. However, I found Creep to be very disappointing with the plot. I thought the references to Halloween were childish. There was nothing outstanding about the bad guy, the nature of the offences or the detective skills of Cal Dion and David Leith. This novel is still an okay, 3 star read because it was brightened up by two wonderful and charismatic women, Farah Jordan and Jackie Randall.

There was a kind of surprise in the acknowledgements at the end of this book. It then made sense of why I feel like I do about this novel. I feel that Creep has weakened her brand and that she would have been better off releasing this book under another name and replacing Cal Dion and David Leith with new names.

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