Dead End: Book review

Book blurb

When the seventh Earl of Lowesdale is found hanging from the rafters at Wasdale Hall, everyone assumes the aging, hard-partying aristocrat had finally had enough of chasing the glory of his youth. But when the coroner finds signs of foul play, DI Kelly Porter is swept into a luxurious world where secrets and lies dominate.

At the same time, two young hikers go missing and it’s up to Kelly to lead the search. But digging deeper reveals ties to two other unsolved disappearances and Kelly and her team find themselves in a race against time.

Now, as all roads of both investigations and Kelly’s own family secrets lead to Wasdale Hall it becomes more important than ever for Kelly to discover the devious truths hidden behind the walls of the Lake District’s most exclusive estate…

Don’t miss this gripping crime thriller featuring an unforgettable detective. Perfect for fans of Angela Marsons, Patricia Gibney and Robert Bryndza.

My review

This is the third book in a series, but the first one that I read. It’s also does well as a standalone. A dark mysterious atmospheric  thriller. Set in and around the Lake District the writer draws you in with her delft descriptions of both people and place. An old man is found hanged, discovered by his grandson. Is he the one? But what about the two missing hikers? Kept me hooked from page one. 

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Death on the River: Book review

Book blurb

When a body is pulled from the dank and dangerous fens on the outskirts of town, everybody assumes it was a tragic accident. But Detective Tara Thorpe, newly joined and determined to prove herself, suspects there’s more to the story.

Tara is desperate to investigate further, but her supervisor Patrick Wilkins has other ideas. He would rather die than let this ambitious upstart show him up – even if it means some digging in Tara’s secret past to keep her under his thumb. After all, it’s not like he can report her – everyone knows that his boss Detective Garstin Blake and Tara have a history…
When another body is found, it becomes clear that there’s a killer on the loose. Could the murders be linked to the secrets that Tara has been keeping from her team… and can she solve the case before another innocent dies?
Available here 

My review

It’s books like this that made me pick up crime fiction after a hiatus of ten years, ten barren years in the wilderness when all I could read was romance. Don’t get me wrong. There’s nothing wrong with romance but I was brought up on crime (fictional as opposed to a life of). My mother introduced me to dear old Agatha when I was in my teens and I started on a thirty year blast of any and every crime fiction book I could lay my hands on. My husband despaired of this woman he’d married. And then I had kids and my view changed. I still have trouble reading certain types of crime fiction but this…

Tara appears in Chase’s first book for Bookouture but, in my view Murder on the Marshes is the aperitif, this the fancy main course. I can’t wait to see what she serves up next.

In Death on the River Tara has progressed from journalism to cop and the triangle between her, Blake and Wilkins is superbly handled. Add in a wayward wife and stray girlfriend and the tension in police central is high and that’s before the body count starts to rise. There’s so much to love about this book. The characterisations are spot on. People you both want to like and others you enjoy hating and that’s only the cops. Add in a superb tale with hatred at its heart, a tragic tale and  you have  a mouth-watering, Michelin 5 star read.