Blog tour - The House by Simon Lelic

Available here from Amazon.co.uk

Londoners Jack and Syd moved into the house a year ago. It seemed like their dream home: tons of space, the perfect location, and a friendly owner who wanted a young couple to have it.

So when they made a grisly discovery in the attic, Jack and Syd chose to ignore it. That was a mistake.

Because someone has just been murdered outside their back door.

AND NOW THE POLICE ARE WATCHING THEM.

Firstly, The House is incredibly difficult to review as I'm so conscious of dropping any spoilers! But I'll try...

This book is narrated by couple, Jack and Sydney who have bought their dream house (a character in itself) after years of saving. The house initially seems perfect, but unfortunately comes with contents from the previous owner and they are left with what to do with it. Something they can ignore until Jack makes a macabre find in the loft - and there is a murder right outside their back door.

The House is an utterly creepy, complex and sinister read. The perfect choice for this time of year - but don't say I didn't warn you when you're sleeping with the lights on! Initially I was thinking, is this a crime thriller, or a ghost story? and it took a while to become clear.

It's extremely well written with he said/she said joint narration, but I did find it slightly confusing at times. Could be down to how fast I was turning the pages and my resting heart rate at the time! It does help give an insight into the couple's relationship but I was weary of an unreliable narrator which stopped me trusting entirely in each character. For me personally I find it detracts a little from the story, but it really is just my preference and don't let it put you off and it's well worth the read!

The ending was very well played and Lelic showed he really is one to watch in this genre.

ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to Annie Hollands.

Review: Last Light by CJ Lyons

Buy HERE from Amazon.co.uk

A brutally murdered family… a wronged man in prison

From bestselling author CJ Lyons comes a new, standalone Lucy Guardino series for fans of Lisa Gardner and Angela Marsons

1987: Lily Martin is horrifically murdered along with her young child in Texas.

Today: Life should be easy after leaving the FBI – but not if you're detective Lucy Guardino. Lucy has always seen herself as a normal mum who happened to have a job chasing the worst of the worst. But after a violent predator targets her family and she's injured, Lucy sacrifices her career at the Bureau.

She joins the Beacon Group, a firm that specializes in cold cases. Lucy fears she's traded the elite for shepherding a team of amateurs.

Sent to rural Texas, Guardino is to investigate a case that's already been closed with the killers behind bars for twenty-nine years.

But who really killed Lily Martin and her infant daughter? Why was an entire family targeted for annihilation? And what price will Lucy pay to expose a truth, when people will kill to keep it buried?

Last Light marks the start of a new Lucy Guardino series which stands alone from her previous novels. If you enjoy captivating suspense and intelligent storytelling, with strong and vulnerable characters and a freight-train pace, then you'll love the rush of this heart-pounding thriller.

I was gripped by the new CJ Lyons book from the harrowing prologue, harrowing though it may have been, it was excellent and left me wanting to know what was to become of the situation.

It then took me a little while to get back into the book as it flipped to the Beacon Group who were putting a new team together to deal with cold cases, hiring ex FBI agent Lucy Guardino who was medically retired. 

As things started to progress into the case of a man who confessed to murder back in the 80s who it seems may be innocent. The Beacon Group join forces with his son to uncover any evidence that may or may not lead to uncovering his innocence.

I enjoyed the pace of this story and the twists and turns of what seemed to be an extremely corrupt legal system in the small US town. The ending really was good, exciting and although I anticipated the outcome, it was still written in a compelling way.

I will definitely read more in this new series!

Many thanks to ED PR for providing an ecopy in exchange for an honest review

Review: The Missing - CL Taylor

Available HERE at Amazon.co.uk

You love your family. They make you feel safe. You trust them.

But should you…?

When fifteen-year-old Billy Wilkinson goes missing in the middle of the night, his mother, Claire, blames herself. She's not the only one. There isn't a single member of Billy's family that doesn't feel guilty. But the Wilkinson’s are so used to keeping secrets from one another that it isn't until six months later, after an appeal for information goes horribly wrong, that the truth begins to surface.

Claire is sure of two things – that Billy is still alive and that her friends and family had nothing to do with his disappearance.

A mother's instinct is never wrong. Or is it?

Sometimes those closest to us are the ones with the most to hide…

Fifteen year old Billy has been missing for six months when the book begins, the family have and are doing all they can to find him but things really are not looking great from the off. A live press appeal goes very wrong when elder brother, Jake, turns up worse for wear shining a very dim view on the family and stirring up more media rumours that always circulate when there is a missing child - it must be the family.

Which leads you to think...is it the family? Or at least someone connected? There are plenty of clues (which had me guessing at least three wrong suspects) as Claire's journey to finding the truth about how her son disappeared leads her into some very grim places, both mentally and physically. But throughout she remains firm in the fact that Billy is not dead, but is a mother's instinct always right or is she just too frightened to admit the truth?

The narration is interspersed with diary entries of a messaging site between seemingly Billy and an older person giving clues to why he disappeared - these were not a part of the story I particularly enjoyed as they were quite seedy and did not make pleasant reading - maybe crucial to the story, I'm not sure?

All in all this is not my favourite of Taylor's books (The Accident and The Lie were excellent and well worth checking out) but it is still worth a read if psychological thrillers/family dramas are your thing. 

Many thanks to the publisher for exchanging a copy for an honest review.

5* review - The Girl in the Ice by Robert Bryndza

Available from amazon.co.uk

Her eyes are wide open. Her lips parted as if to speak. Her dead body frozen in the ice…She is not the only one. 

When a young boy discovers the body of a woman beneath a thick sheet of ice in a South London park, Detective Erika Foster is called in to lead the murder investigation. 

The victim, a beautiful young socialite, appeared to have the perfect life. Yet when Erika begins to dig deeper, she starts to connect the dots between the murder and the killings of three prostitutes, all found strangled, hands bound and dumped in water around London. 

What dark secrets is the girl in the ice hiding? 

As Erika inches closer to uncovering the truth, the killer is closing in on Erika. 

The last investigation Erika led went badly wrong… resulting in the death of her husband. With her career hanging by a thread, Erika must now battle her own personal demons as well as a killer more deadly than any she’s faced before. But will she get to him before he strikes again? 

After a gripping prologue the book opens with the discovery of a body in a really gruesome manner (I knew it would be perfect from the start!) The young lad that found it was so shaken and traumatised I did want to check as I got further into the book whether he was actually all right! Please let me know that there was no lasting psychological damage, Mr. Bryndza!

DCI Erika Foster was introduced by her old colleague into Lewisham Row station, it was clear there was a tragic past -  it turned out it was an operation that went horrifically wrong in the worst way. She did not endear herself to all her colleagues, nor the victim's family who thought with the father a Labour peer they should be treated differently. Erika seemed not to fear the upper echelon like some of her superiors and seemed to command a mutual respect from many at the station for this.

Erika was determined that as the deaths mounted up the case would not be swept under the carpet and a young man take the blame for a crime he had not committed - especially when it got personal. 

This was a really exceptional book and definitely deserves all the hype surrounding it (imho unlike The Girl on The Train and Gone Girl) it was thrilling, gripping, gory and I found it seemed true to life - however, if you're a member of the justice system there may be flaws. As with all books it's about entertainment and artistic license, but what I read rang true and not ridiculously far fetched.

I loved the characters, I love any book in which the female characters do not need rescuing by a male as they're too busy applying their make-up to see the shadow of the killer approaching...and this book definitely had some kick-ass women in!

I was not expecting the killer to be who they were which always pleases, and I really enjoyed the epilogue which tied Erika's personal side up nicely. I really can not wait for the next in the DCI Foster series!

ARC provided via NetGalley in exchange for an impartial review - many thanks.