Tastes Like Fear (DI Marnie Rome) Book Review

DI Marnie Rome is fast becoming one of my favourite detective character in crime fiction. I have read both Someone Else’s Skin and No Other Darkness and I have to say, Tastes Like Fear is one of Hilary’s best! The novel opens in the foreground of Battersea Power Station, an iconic London setting. A young girl in a distressed state has caused a fatal car crash and has disappeared from the scene.

Hilary’s descriptive technique is first class and something she particularly excels at in her writing, she writes: “She wasn’t making a sound, not a sound, but her whole face was screaming,” and here “St Thomas’s smelt the same as always, a squeaky top layer of clean with sour base notes of bodies.”

Hilary explores a whole new level of darkness in the antagonist of her novel, a character called Harm who has been collecting girls off the street, girls who are homeless and have nowhere else to go. He houses them, feeds them and keeps the warm but there is something sinister about Harm and you certainly do not want him to turn his back.

You will not be disappointed with this book; Hilary’s writing grabs you from the first page and will certainly leave you wanting more.

Publisher: Headline 

Print Length: 416 pages

Publication date: 7th April 2016

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tastes-Like-Fear-D-I-Marnie/dp/1472236831/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1466077880&sr=1-1&keywords=Tastes+Like+Fear

Play Dead Book Review

Another brilliant read in the addictive Kim Stone series by Angela Marson's.

In Play Dead, Kim and her team are sent on research purposes to a body farm in Westerley where a team of scientists are harvesting dead bodies for scientific research. On Kim's arrival a body of a young woman is discovered on the site, a body that isn't part of the research. An investigation is launched to find a new, unique serial killer. A few days after the discovery of the young woman, a fresh victim is found on the site, but this young girl is still alive. Finally armed with a witness the investigation steps up a pace. Are these women being targeted for a specific purpose, is there a link between them?

What I really liked in Play Dead is that we see a different side to the reporter, Tracey Frost. Marson's explores her background in this latest installment and a very different character emerges to the one you thought you know.

Play Dead is another gripping page turner and the final scenes as the book drew to a close had me on the edge of my seat. Marson's always leaves you with a satisfying end. Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for the early review copy.

Publisher: Bookouture

Print Length: 390 pages 

Publication Date: 14th May 2016

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Play-Dead-gripping-serial-thriller/dp/1786810085/ref=cm_cr-mr-title

While My Eyes Were Closed Book Review

This is the first book I have read by Linda Green and I certainly hope she writes more books like this. I was immediately hooked from the opening paragraph of her book which describes the loss of a child. You can feel the physical emotion the mother feels particularly here: The invisible umbilical cord between you snaps. You scramble in every direction. Pulling and pulling on your end of that cord.

In the novel, Lisa Dale is playing hide and seek with her daughter, Ella whilst they are at the park. Ella is due to start school on Monday and is very excited although she isn't quite aware that she won't be able to come home every afternoon and go to the park. Lisa shuts her eyes for a few seconds as she counts whilst Ella hides. When she opens them again, Ella is gone. She has vanished without trace. In an unusual approach, we are introduced to Ella's kidnapper quite quickly. This didn't deter me from reading on though, if anything it kept me hooked as I was left wondering what they were going to do with Ella, would they hurt her?

Linda Green has created an emotional, powerful story in While My Eyes Were Closed, I was even left feeling sympathetic for Ella's kidnapper even though they have caused her parents so much pain. The novel is easy to read and Linda Green doesn't waste too much time on description. I thoroughly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good psychological thriller.

Publisher: Quercus

Print length: 416 pages

Publication date: 5th May 2016

The Widow Book Review

Publisher: Bantam Press

Publication date: 14th January 2016

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Widow-Fiona-Barton/dp/0593076214/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1464786590&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Widow

If you enjoyed The Girl on the Train then you will definitely enjoy this brilliant debut novel by Fiona Barton.

Jean Taylor's life is turned upside down when her husband Glen is arrested on suspicion of being involved in the abduction of a two year old girl named Bella. Jean is certain of her husband’s innocence, but are her instincts correct? Can she really be sure what he was doing that day? Will the police ever get to the bottom of what really happened?

On the first page of the novel, Glen Taylor is already dead. Jean is being pestered by reporters demanding her side of the story. Succumbing to the pressure, she agrees to speak to reporter, Kate Waters who takes her to a luxury hotel, pampers her then sits her down to say what really happened. Kate is an interesting character who is at the top of her game in her profession. It is shocking how she gains entry to Jean’s home and Kate’s true colours emerge in her determination to get, potentially, the story of her career. A journalist herself, Barton has a clear insight into the world of reporters and journalism and the interview scenes are very well written and believable. Fiona explores a different side of the police and journalist relationship. In many crime novels and TV shows we see police constantly making grumblings about the press but in Burton’s writing we see an interesting relationship between Kate Waters and Detective Inspector Bob Sparks who is investigating Bella’s disappearance.

What I liked about the story is how Fiona cleverly weaves together the timelines in the novel and how she explores the different narrators in the novel. We are instantly drawn to Jean, whose character’s voice is told in the first person. There is an air of mystery about her which makes the reader keen to continue the story and find out more about Burton’s protagonist.

The ending of this book is one of those endings that will stay with me for a very long time. A stunning debut novel, Fiona Barton is certainly one to watch.