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.

The Sins of the Father (The Clifton Chronicles, #2) by Jeffrey Archer.

Follow Harry Clifton and his friends and family from 1939 to 1945. Although this is the second book in The Clifton Chronicles series, it can be read as a standalone.

I liked how Jeffrey used the same format for this book as he did in the first. Each character had chapters written from their point of view, so you as the reader get the whole story, as opposed to the characters who only get a snip.

I liked how Jeffrey gently gave you the backstory, so that if you had not read the first book, you were not left in the dark. Also if it had been awhile since you had read the first book, then your memory will be refreshed, which gives added value to the story.

I liked The Sins of the Father more than the first book. I thought the plot was far better and I liked that Harry and his contemporaries were now adults rather than teenagers.

I liked how the book progressed and I was unsure how the story would unfold. I found this novel to be a pleasant read. Character development was very good, regardless whether the person was a good or bad guy.

I found The Sins of the Father to be a comfortable read. Although it was set in times well before I was born, it had dilemmas etc that are still relevant today. This book kept me entertained and I am pleased that I purchased a copy. I thought the writing was of good quality and it captured mood, very well indeed. This novel was not outstanding but nevertheless it was a GOOD read and accordingly gets 4 stars from me.

The Sins of the Father was published in 2012 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.

Only Time Will Tell (The Clifton Chronicles, #1) by Jeffrey Archer.

Let’s go back in time for this family drama set mostly in Bristol from 1919 to 1940. The central character is Harry Clifton, hence the title and not to be confused with the district in Bristol of the same name. Harry Clifton was born in 1920 and this book tells of his young life until he was 20.

I found Only Time Will Tell to be an okay read. It brought back many memories of Bristol, as I had lived there for 20 years. I liked the many mentions of places and roads that I remember. Even my old school of Merrywood was featured and as we lived in the district of Bedminster, Harry’s home in Stillhouse Lane really rang a bell with me. A quick check on streetmap.co.uk brought it all back to life!

The structure of Only Time Will Tell is very different from other novels. It starts with a prelude from the point of view of Maisie Clifton, Harry’s mother. Then you have Harry’s tale from 1920 to 1933, followed by chapters featuring other characters who are involved in Harry’s life. There are further updates from Harry and the other characters until Harry’s section finishes in 1940.

I liked how the other characters filled into the story all the bits that Harry was blissfully unaware of. This way the story built up depth and all those little bits fitted together to give the reader a complete tale. Lots of characters told porkies along the way and I was on my guard from early on that what they said could not be taken as gospel.

I found this novel a comfortable read. It was not spectacular but plodded along in a pleasant way. It was easy reading and told in a nice mature way. Nothing shined about this novel but it was convenient as my daily read and his writing is quality. So this quality writing without a WOW! Factor is an okay 3 star read for me.

Only Time Will Tell was published in 2011 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.

A Matter of Honour by Jeffrey Archer.

Adam Scott has been left an unopened envelope in his father’s will. Should he open it or let sleeping dogs lie? Well, if Adam had not opened the envelope, Jeffrey would not have been able to write this novel. So Adam opens this mysterious envelope and has to deal with the consequences!

This novel was written over 30 years ago and I have not read a novel by Jeffrey Archer before. The author had a long political career with the Conservative Party and has been imprisoned for perjury and perverting the course of justice. But as this book was featured as a Kindle Daily Deal for just £1.09p - I thought I would turn a blind eye to his history, grab a copy and read his book with an open mind.

I was very surprised by A Matter of Honour. It is set in 1966 and is a thriller involving fakes, lies and secrets. Modern thrillers contain a lot of detail about email, the internet and mobile phones. But over 50 years ago things were very different! No email, no internet and telephones were connected by copper cables, were not cordless and people used public call boxes by inserting coins in the booth. But people still told lies and bad guys still had to be tackled.

Although this novel was set over 50 years ago, it is still easy to relate to - easy for me as I had used pounds, shillings and pence in my childhood! So in my mind I thought about the time I was a child when I wondered what the adults were doing and what the fuss was all about.

I liked the style of how Jeffrey Archer told his story and for the written word, sounded like Ian Hislop on the BBC television comedy panel show, Have I Got News For You. The character development of Adam Scott was spot on and you could imagine his accent to be similar to Ian Hislop.

I liked the plot of A Matter of Honour and how you developed suspicions of all the characters. The pace was good and the story was engaging. I liked how all the little details sparked in your head making you think, “this is relevant”.

I found this book to be a joy to read, as I was transported back in time and into another world. For all the modern technology we have today, I can imagine these things still going on because of the way people are underneath. I was fully entertained by the depth of this story.

I liked the way Jeffrey Archer wrote this novel and how the characters told lies so easily, making me chuckle because of his own imprisonment for telling porkies. I thought his writing was very clear and the story easy to understand.

A Matter of Honour was a pleasant surprise for me and very different from my usual current day crime thrillers. I enjoyed it as my daily read and the quality of this novel gets the top score of 5 stars from me. I suggest readers forget the time period this novel is set in and just enjoy this story for what it is.

A Matter of Honour was published in 1986 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.

The Body in the Marsh by Nick Louth.

Follow Detective Chief Inspector Craig Gillard as he is on the case to find a missing woman. This is a regular British police procedural crime thriller.

I found The Body in the Marsh to be an okay read. It was a little frustrating for me in parts as it wandered around with the time frame, going back to when DCI Craig Gillard and the missing woman were both teenagers. This story was not just told from the detective’s point of view but included writings by the missing woman before her disappearance, that were not available to the police. More frustration came from the police very conveniently just stumbling across evidence and leads by accident rather than solid police investigation.

The characterization of DCI Craig Gillard and the other officers was okay but this is not a character driven novel. The plot was disappointing and appeared rather shallow until I got about 90% through when all the little details started clicking together and I began to think it was quite clever.

I thought the entertainment value of this book was second rate, like a B movie. All the detail and progression is there but this novel does not shine. There are small little titbits of humour dotted through the story but are not of the depth of stand-up comedy. The best social observation jibe was when DCI Craig Gillard went into a pub and ordered a beer.

When I got to the end of this book, I cast my mind back to form an opinion. The tale had come a fair way and included a secondary plot and storyline. I found the police procedurals to be good and I loved the inclusion of real life crimes and events. The detail of the plot was subtle and then I asked myself the question of realism. Had the missing woman needed to take the actions she did? This lead me to my conclusion that The Body in the Marsh was an okay, 3 star read that did not shine but was readable and was useful when my tachograph recordings showed “period of availability”.

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