I have to say this year has been a pretty good year for reading. I have 2 more books to read to hit my Goodreads target of 50 books. That is the most I've read in a year for a very long time. So here is what I read in November.
Perfect Silence by Helen Fields - #4 DI Callanach - 5/5
- Book 3 -
The body of a young girl is found dumped on the roadside with the silhouette of a doll carved into her skin. When a doll made of skin is found with an abandoned baby, the killer's sick plan comes to light.
To make things more complicated, the cities drug users are being branded with the letter Z carved into their faces. Are the crimes linked or are there 2 people terrorising the city.
The first chapter kicks the book off with a bang. If you aren't a fan of gruesome murders then I would skip this one. I loved that we got to know each of the victims however, it did make it way more heartbreaking when they were killed. Helen is a huge fan of keeping you guessing and I could not put this book down because I needed to know the who and the why.
The secondary plot with the drug users being sliced up definitely didn't detract from the story and was equally as heartbreaking. The fact that Ava puts her job on the line to save people who way too many people think aren't worth it was heartwarming.
Now that Ava has been promoted for a while, her a Luc have settled back into their friendship so everything between them is less awkward and tense. There is still the whole will they won't they question of if they'll ever take their friendship further. I also loved that we got to know the secondary characters more in this book.
Even though this can be read as a standalone and still make sense, I would definitely recommend reading the other 3 first. I also cannot wait for the 5th book to be released. I need more Luc & Ava in my life.
The Taken Girls by G. D Sanders* 3/5
A missing teenager reappears unharmed but pregnant. D. I Edina Ogborne is put on the case and soon finds out that this has happened twice before. The pressure is on to find the culprit and stop it happening to the newest missing girl.
I struggled with this book. The writing style wasn’t really for me. I found it long-winded and repetitive. It could have been cut down a lot to make it a more enjoyable read. I seemed to be reading for hours with not much happening and there was no suspense. I never found myself on the edge of my seat and I wasn’t eager to get back to reading. The ending was a bit lacklustre as well.
I wasn’t a massive fan of Ed and her messy personal life didn’t really add anything to the story. She was a great detective but her personality distracted from this. I wanted to get to know the rest of the team a bit more as well. The blurb also hinted about a sordid tale of corruption and deceit but it’s barely talked about in the book. I also struggled with how they came up with the suspects. They barely investigated anyone.
All in all The Taken Girls is a long-winded book with no real tension. Definitely not the best crime thriller I’ve read.
I was intrigued by this book due to the short but to the point blurb.
The flower girls are sisters, Laurel & Primrose. One is convicted of the murder of a 2-year-old and the other is given a new identity.
Unfortunately, this book didn’t quite deliver for me. It was long-winded and boring in places and it didn’t flow particularly well. I had to force myself to pick it up and finish it. The supposed twist was made pretty obvious from near the beginning. I didn’t really connect or like any of the characters and I found the ending unsatisfying.
When forensics specialist Liam is called out to a crime scene he discovers the victim is his ex-lover. Unfortunately, he has no memory of where he was at the time of her brutal murder. Liam's brother, Sean, is a homicide detective and tries to help but all evidence points to Liam. As Liam digs deeper for the truth he starts to suspect that it might actually be Sean. Will they get to the truth and will it tear the family apart?
I really enjoyed this book, it's well written and has a good pace to it which really builds towards the end. It kept me hooked and I was desperate to get to the truth. I did guess who had done it and was suspicious of another character but this didn’t detract from the tension at all and I was hooked until the end.
We occasionally got to go back to the boys past which adds the question of whether you can inherit a gene to make you do bad things. It also explains why the boys are so close and added to the story without over complicating it.
I will definitely be keeping an eye out for more of Matthew Farrell's work.
What have you been reading?
Beth...x
* I was sent these books by NetGalley & The Publishers in exchange for an honest review, however, it does not affect my views and the opinions expressed in this post are independent and my own
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