BLOG TOUR: Private Investigations (Lara Arden Crime Series Book 2) - Rob Gittins

A young girl is in a coma after a tragic road accident. Another young girl has washed up on a remote beach, her identity unknown. An old man is murdered and hastily buried in a makeshift grave. A tormented pastor is unable to erase old misdeeds.

Different souls, but with one common link – the past.

Detective Inspector Lara Arden has her own demons to deal with. But as she investigates this raft of seemingly disparate crimes, she begins to suspect there’s a further common link at work here – her own past.

When all roads lead back to a former children’s home called Kenwood – and a macabre half-size windmill sited in its grounds – suspicion hardens into conviction.

Lara always believed that Kenwood had to be destroyed. Its old stories haunted it too strongly, like spirits yet to find their voice.

But do the tendrils of its past cling to everyone associated with it, too?

And do they need to be destroyed as well?

 

What did I think?

Wow! I really enjoyed this fantastic book.  Private Investigations is the second book in the Lara Arden crime series but you can read it as a standalone as it has its own contained storyline.  I was introduced to DI Lara Arden in the first book of the series, I'm Not There, and I absolutely loved it, so I was looking forward to virtually visiting the Isle of Wight once again.

The bodies are mounting up for DI Lara Arden and her team and Lara thinks she sees a link, one that is very personal to her.  This is where it is beneficial to have read the first book in the series, but enough of the story is recounted for anyone who hasn't read it.

As well as the gripping storyline of the former children's home and anyone with links to it, I was completely hooked by the intriguing story of Amy Waite who was involved in a hit and run and left in a coma.  Amy has a special link with her brother Aaron and my heart totally went out to Aaron as he felt the severing of that link so severely.  The big question is what or who was Amy running away from?

There are so many layers of intrigue in this story that keep the pages turning so rapidly it's a wonder I didn't end up with a million paper cuts.  Even though it's only the second book in a series, the characters of Lara and her team are so wonderfully developed that I feel as if I know them well.  They all have their own demons to contend with whilst fighting crime on the Isle of Wight.

Incredibly intriguing, blisteringly fast-paced and completely unpredictable, Private Investigations is a stunning crime thriller that had me on the edge of my seat from start to finish.  I absolutely loved it and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.

I received an ARC to read and review for the blog tour and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

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BLOG TOUR: I'm Not There - Rob Gittins

Two sisters abandoned

It was a treat, she said. An adventure. A train journey to the mainland. Six-year-old Lara Arden and her older sister Georgia happily fill in their colouring books as their mum pops to the buffet in search of crisps. She never returns. Two little girls abandoned. Alone.

Present day 

Twenty years later, and Lara is now a detective inspector on her native Isle of Wight, still searching for answers to her mother's disappearance.

A call comes in. A small child, a boy, has been left abandoned on a train. Like Lara, he has no relatives to look after him. It feels as if history is being repeated - but surely this is a coincidence?

A series of murders

Before Lara can focus on the boy's plight, she's faced with a series of murders. They feature different victims in very different circumstances, but they all have one thing in common: they all leave children - alone - behind.

So who is targeting Lara? What do these abandoned souls have in common? And how does this connect to the mystery of Lara's missing mother? 

What did I think?

This book is massively intriguing.  It got its hooks into me from the start with the mysterious disappearance of Lara's mother twenty years earlier and now a similar case in the present day.  

Not only are there two intriguing missing persons, but there is also a series of brutal murders that are leaving children orphaned.  It all seems to link back to Lara who is now a police detective and she has a race against time to stop the killer before someone she knows becomes the next victim.

There are some amazing characters in this book and they are so very well developed that they virtually leap out from the page.  I loved Lara but I also really liked Lara's colleague Jordan; his personal life is falling apart but he still manages to keep a close eye on his family.  I'm Not There is the first book in a new series set on the Isle of Wight, so I do hope to catch up with these characters again in the future.

The writing is flawless; it's vivid, descriptive and very easy to imagine the scenes in your head.  I really couldn't tell which direction the story was going in as there are so many different threads weaving through the novel, but they all get tied up perfectly at the end.  

Unpredictable and gripping, I'm Not There is a hugely enjoyable police procedural with an intriguing mystery at its heart.  You can't go wrong with a Hobeck Books novel and I'm Not There is no exception.  Recommended.

I received an ARC to read and review for the blog tour and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

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Dead Rock Stars - Guy Mankowski

‘The first page of my sister’s diary was a picture of Frances Farmer, facing a drawing of Ophelia. My sister’s psychic accomplices were all tragic figures…’

Emma Imrie was a Plath-obsessed, self-taught teenage musician dreaming of fame, from a remote village on the Isle of Wight. She found it too, briefly becoming a star of the nineties Camden music scene. But then she died in mysterious circumstances.

In the aftermath of Emma’s death, her younger brother, Jeff, is forced by their parents to stay at the opulent home of childhood friends on the island.

During a wild summer of beach parties and music, Jeff faces up to the challenges that come with young love, youthful ambition and unresolved grief. His sister's prodigious advice from beyond the grave becomes the only weapon he has against an indifferent world.

As well as the only place where the answers he craves might exist…

What did I think?

Dead Rock Stars is something quite different from what I would usually read and that's what makes it so unique and completely brilliant.  Through the voice of Emma Imrie, Guy Mankowski transports the reader from banal family life in the Isle of Wight to the drug-fuelled music scene in Camden, leaving us unsure as to which one actually did the most damage.  Emma releases her pain through her music and her band has just been discovered when her life is tragically cut short.

Jeff has been sheltered from the truth about his sister's death but he can't make sense of losing her at such a young age.  When Jeff finds Emma's diary he finds a way to be closer to her and also to find out what really happened in the lead up to her death.  Why didn't he just ask his parents, you ask?  Well that's because this is one messed up dysfunctional family and they'd probably lie to him without giving it a second thought.

Reading Emma's diary felt terribly voyeuristic; there was so much pain and brutal honesty contained in it that I felt guilty for reading it, yet simultaneously couldn't tear my eyes away from the page as I approached the inevitable conclusion.  Through the sheer talent of Guy Mankowski's writing, Emma's voice is so clear and distinct from that of Jeff that it really feels as if her diary is real.  

I loved the character of Jeff; I wanted to wrap him up in cotton wool as it seemed like he was growing up too fast but sometimes protecting someone is doing them more harm than good.  When left to his own devices, Jeff reminded me of a polaroid photograph as I saw him develop before my eyes.  He just needed to know the truth in order to move on and I think that's a valuable lesson to be learned.

Brutally honest and devastatingly moving, Dead Rock Stars is an emotional and highly original read.  I feel like I have had a glimpse behind the music industry's shiny golden curtain and found a sheer drop into darkness, depravity and despair.  An outstanding read and highly recommended.    

 

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

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BLOG TOUR: The Evidence Against You - Gillian McAllister

Izzy's father is finally released from prison, seventeen years after he was convicted of murder.

Izzy wants nothing to do with him. But then her father writes her a letter, begging her to believe he's innocent.

Against her better judgement, Izzy is tempted to believe him. But how can she?

Because the woman they say he killed was Izzy's mother . . .

What did I think?

Gillian McAllister is one of those authors where you know you're guaranteed a great read when you pick up their book and The Evidence Against You, Gillian McAllister's fourth novel, is no exception.  Being first published in 2017, I still think of Gillian McAllister as a new author but, with four cracking thrillers under her belt already, she certainly seems to have caught the writing bug, which is excellent news for us readers.

I really loved the character of Izzy; she is filled with so much emotion that all of her feelings spill out of every page.  Her family was snatched away from her in an instant when her father was imprisoned for killing her mother.  Izzy has taken over the running of her mother's restaurant, Alexandra's, mainly as a way to keep her mother's memory alive as Izzy's love is for ballet not food.  So when Izzy's father, Gabe, is released from prison he knows exactly where to find her.

Izzy's feelings for her father are so mixed.  Naturally, she is confused, as she was quite a daddy's girl when she was younger (weren't we all), but all of the evidence points to the fact that her father killed her mother, Alex.  When Gabe gets the chance to speak to Izzy, you can feel her defences crumbling as he adds the crucial ingredient of doubt; but the other man in her life, her husband Nick, is a police analyst and he keeps reminding Izzy that her father was convicted so he must be guilty.  Right?

I experienced a see saw of emotions whilst reading The Evidence Against You as the evidence and facts all point to Gabe's guilt but he continues to profess his innocence, as do all convicted criminals.  So who do you believe?  I loved the flashbacks to the time around Alex's death, with viewpoints from both Gabe and Izzy.  It's really interesting to see both sides of a story and to see how easily you can jump to conclusions from hearing just part of a conversation.

I know without a doubt that Gillian McAllister will be at the top of the charts with everything that she writes but as much as I enjoyed The Evidence Against You, something didn't quite give it the full five star experience for me.  I didn't really connect with the characters, although they are expertly fully formed, and the story interested, but didn't fully grip me.  I guess it might depend on whether you believe Gabe's version of events or not, as to whether you'll get that jaw dropping moment at the end.

The Evidence Against You reminded me of one of those adventure books you may have read when you were younger, where you can choose your own path in the story.  Whether you are on Gabe's side or not will determine your experience of The Evidence Against You; either way you're in for a mighty fine story written by one of the finest young authors around at the moment.  Keep an eye on this author; Gillian McAllister is setting out for world domination, so make sure you read all of her books right now!

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

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