Silent Victims by Lynda La Plante

SILENT VICTIMS is the 3rd novel in Lynda La Plante’s Prime Suspect series and features Jane Tennison as a detective in charge of her own investigation. But in a sign of the times, her male colleagues are still trying to undermine her. And despite her lack of confidence, Tennison will still do almost anything to keep moving ahead.

On Tennison’s first day heading the Vice squad, a 16 year old rent boy known as Connie is found murdered. But immediately Tennison’s superiors are trying to steer the direction of her investigation. But Tennison knowing that there is an area they want her away from is more determined than ever to find out what is really going on. Continue reading

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A Noise Downstairs by Linwood Barclay

A NOISE DOWNSTAIRS is a standalone thriller by Linwood Barclay.

Paul Davis, a college professor, sees one of his colleagues, Kenneth Hoffman, driving erratically, so he decides to follow him to make sure he is OK. When Paul finally catches up with Kenneth, he makes a terrible discovery, then Kenneth tries to kill him.

Now 8 months later, Kenneth is in prison. Paul has almost recovered physically and is seeing a psychologist, Anna White, to help him deal with his mental trauma. Paul’s wife Charlotte has been very supportive. She has encouraged him to write about his experience and bought him an antique typewriter as inspiration. Continue reading

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Take Me In by Sabine Durrant

TAKE ME IN is another tense thriller by Sabine Durrant. But like the last one I read – LIE WITH ME there are no really likeable characters in the novel.

Tessa and Marcus are a young couple with a 3 year old son Josh. Their marriage has been going through a rocky phase but they both want to make it work. Then during a family holiday in Greece, the unthinkable almost happens. They are both distracted for a few minutes and Josh nearly drowns in the ocean. He is saved by a stranger – Dave Jepsom.

Tessa and Marcus are very grateful to Dave and even though he makes them feel uncomfortable, they spend a lot of time with him during the rest of the holiday. Continue reading

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The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan

THE SEA OF MONSTERS is the 2nd book in Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series.

When Percy’s school gymnasium is attacked by monsters, Percy realises that it is time to return to the only safe place for those who are half god and half human – camp half blood. He escapes with his only friend at school that year, a giant orphan named Tyson and is aided by his friend Annabeth. It is only when they leave the mortal world that Percy discovers that Tyson is a cyclops.

But when they get to camp, Percy discovers that it is not the place of safety that he has longed for. Things have gone wrong at camp half blood. Thalia’s tree that protects the camp is dying and monsters are gaining access. Chiron has been blamed and sent away from the camp. Also, Percy is having dreams that his satyr friend Grover, who is away on a quest, is in danger. Continue reading

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Bloodline by Mark Billingham

BLOODLINE is the 8th Tom Thorne novel by Mark Billingham.

Thorne didn’t have to take this latest case, but he and his girlfriend Louise have suffered a tragedy and Thorne feels more comfortable working than facing his own life. A woman has been found murdered with a sliver of an x-ray clutched in her hand.

Pretty soon there are other similar murders all with the victims clutching part of an x-ray. Eventually Thorne and his team gather enough pieces of x-ray to determine what the x-ray is and at the same time they discover that the victims are all children of women murdered by one man. A man who died in prison a few years ago. Continue reading

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Pandora’s Boy by Lindsey Davis

PANDORA’S BOY is the 6th novel in the Flavia Albia series by Lindsey Davis. Flavia Albia is the daughter of Marcus Didius Falco and like her father is a private investigator in ancient Rome.

Albia’s new husband Tiberius is still suffering from being struck by lightning when his ex-wife brings a new case to Albia. Albia has no interest. But when Tiberius goes missing (presumably confused after being struck by lightning), Albia takes on the case to forget about her own problems.

The case is the death of 15 year old Clodia in a wealthy 56part of Rome. She died in her bed and her father accuses her mother and grandmother of giving her a love potion that killed her. Continue reading

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Little Deaths by Emma Flint

LITTLE DEATHS is a crime thriller set in 1965 and is inspired by a true story. It is Emma Flint’s debut novel.

Ruth Malone is a single mother of two children living in a working class Queens neighbourhood. She works as a cocktail waitress and does her best to provide for her two children. But she dresses to perfection and never leaves the house without her hair and make-up done and she has had several boyfriends since splitting with her husband. So when she wakes one morning to find her children missing, it doesn’t take long for Inspector Devlin to think her responsible for their disappearance. And when the children a found murdered, Ruth becomes the prime suspect to the point where the police aren’t looking for anyone else. Continue reading

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Jock Serong Profile and Books

Jock Serong is an Australian writer. He fell into being a lawyer. It sounded like a good profession and he had the marks to get into the University course. But he found it was not where he really wanted to be.

After years of practicing law, Serong started writing for magazines and started work on his first novel in addition to his legal work. But with a young family, he felt overwhelmed with everything he was doing. When QUOTA became a success, Serong decided to give up his job as a lawyer. He has less financial certainty but enjoys what he is doing. Continue reading

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Death Message by Mark Billingham

DEATH MESSAGE is the 7th novel in the Tom Thorne series by Mark Billingham and one of the best in the series that I’ve read.

Thorne is used to investigating murderers, but in this case the murderer is getting personal. Thorne is being sent pictures of the victims to his phone and he has no idea why the murderer has chosen him to receive the messages. The fact that the first two victims were part of the same gang helps Thorne and his team start to narrow down the list of possible murderers.

But the 3rd victim is not part of the gang and things are starting to get a bit closer to home. Thorne is also starting to build a relationship with the killer through phone messages, so much so that Thorne once again steps outside of proper procedure. Continue reading

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Snap by Belinda Bauer

SNAP is the latest novel by Belinda Bauer. This is a standalone novel, however, the character DCI Marvel also appeared in Bauer’s earlier novels DARKSIDE and THE SHUT EYE.

One summer day, Eileen is travelling with her 3 children in the car when the car breaks down. She leaves 11 year old Jack in charge of his sisters – Joy 6 and Merry a baby, while she walks to a phone to get help. She never returns and days later her body is discovered.

The family is devastated and after a while Jack’s father, unable to cope with his grief, leaves the house to go shopping and never returns. Now Jack really is in charge. The children don’t want to lose each other so pretend that there is a parent present and Jack supports the family by breaking into houses. They don’t attend school and no-one notices because no-one really cares. Continue reading

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