The Dog Sitter Detective's Christmas Tail - Antony Johnston

It's almost Christmas, and actress and amateur sleuth Gwinny Tuffel is still pondering what to buy DCI Birch (retired) and whether she could adopt a new furry friend.

But sorting through her late father's papers leads her into his mysterious past, pointing to an enigmatic 'liaison' now living in a Somerset commune populated by a group of retired spies.

When Gwinny and Birch are unexpectedly snowed in at the remote farmhouse, they find that any skeletons in her father's closet have been joined by a body in the attic.

Surrounded by people for whom keeping secrets is second nature, along with an energetic Cocker Spaniel, Gwinny and Birch are embroiled in a murder case once again.

Will they uncover the culprit and escape in time for Christmas?

 

What did I think?

The Dog Sitter Detective's Christmas Tail is the fourth book in the Dog Sitter Detective series but you can certainly read it as a standalone.  I only discovered the series at book three, The Dog Sitter Detective Plays Dead, but I loved catching up with Gwinny and Birch again. 

Gwinny and Birch head off on an intriguing trip when Gwinny discovers a mysterious old folder among her late father's effects.  It turns out to be a very interesting discovery indeed as the trail leads Gwinny and Birch into the world of spies, secrets and espionage.

Oh my goodness, I absolutely loved this book and raced through it as quickly as the snow fell on the remote farmhouse where Gwinny was delving into her father's surprising past.  The snow falls thick and fast so Gwinny and Birch get snowed in and the story turns into a fantastic locked room mystery when a body is found in the morning and not a flake of snow has been disturbed.  

The characters are so wonderfully drawn that they virtually pop out of the page.  I could both visualise and hear them in my head as the riveting story unfolded.  There are so many secrets and mysteries in the book that I raced through it and read it a lot quicker than I expected.  It's perhaps not as festive as you might expect from the cover, but it's more realistic and authentic and doesn't need twinkly lights and sparkly tinsel.

Impossible to predict and difficult to put down, The Dog Sitter Detective's Christmas Tail is a riveting and intriguing locked room mystery that will delight fans of cosy crime.  A very highly recommended read.

I received a gifted hardback from Allison & Busby and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

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BLOG TOUR: The Lobbyist - Lionel Zetter

Parliamentary lobbyist Damian Beaufort is a professional manipulator – clever, charming, ruthless – but when Labour wins power his Tory-heavy agency spirals towards bankruptcy. And the rest of his life looks like going the same way.

Salvation comes not from booze or sex – despite his best efforts – but a far less likely quarter: the UK’s Secret Intelligence Service.  It also comes at a cost.

Beaufort finds himself entangled in a lethal web of conflicts: an internecine turf war between MI5 and MI6; underhand Westminster manoeuvrings; Eurocrats bent on reversing Brexit; and, seemingly pulling all the strings, the sinister head of Russia’s FSB.

Soon the lobbyist-turned-spy isn’t just fighting to save his agency, his reputation and his country. He’s fighting for his life, and he’s fighting for revenge. 

First-time author Lionel Zetter brings dazzling insider knowledge to bear in this fast-moving contemporary thriller with a totally unexpected denouement in the Chamber of the House of Commons.

 

What did I think?

Wow!  What a cracking political thriller!  I actually couldn't be less interested in politics so I didn't expect to enjoy a book filled with politicians so much.  I really couldn't put The Lobbyist down.

The strapline says it all really: 'He may be a bastard. But he's our bastard.'  Damian Beaufort doesn't know who his father is so he is literally a bastard.  He's a bastard by name and a bastard by nature which makes him a successful and much sought after lobbyist.  When the Tories lose the election, Beaufort has no intention of going down with the ship but it's not as simple as just switching sides.

The disturbing prologue is set in Russia and, although it wasn't difficult to see how it related to the rest of the story, it's a great hook.  With the Russians involved, there's espionage and assassinations to add an extra layer of entertainment and suspense to the already gripping storyline.

Fast-paced, compelling and intriguing, The Lobbyist is a fantastic debut novel from Lionel Zetter.  With an intoxicating mixture of politics, espionage and danger, The Lobbyist is just crying out to be made into a TV series so I wouldn't be surprised to see it on our screens in the future.  Very highly recommended.

I received a gifted paperback to read and review for the Love Books Tours virtual book tour and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

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BLOG TOUR: The Trap - Ava Glass

How far would you go to catch a killer?

This is the question UK agent Emma Makepeace must ask herself when she is sent to Edinburgh for the upcoming global G7 Summit.

The Russians are in town and Emma and her team know a high-profile assassination is being planned.

But who is their target?

There is only one way to find out. Emma must set a trap using herself as bait.

As the most powerful leaders in the world arrive and the city becomes gridlocked, Emma knows the clock is ticking.

 

What did I think?

I was so excited to read the new Alias Emma novel and I was not disappointed.  I just couldn't read it fast enough and the super-fast pacing left me breathless.  They don't call Ava Glass the Queen of Spy Fiction for no reason.

Although The Trap is book three in the series, you can read it as a standalone but you will definitely want to read the earlier books, if you haven't done so already.  Emma Makepeace has a new undercover assignment.  This time it's based in Edinburgh as intelligence discover an assassination plot planned for the G7 Summit.

It's a race against the clock to discover their identity and stop the assassin so Emma teams up with local law enforcement officer Kate Mackenzie.  I loved the connection Emma and Kate have so I don't think it's the last us readers have heard of Kate Mackenzie (yay!).

Blisteringly fast paced, sharp and addictive, it's impossible to put The Trap down once you pick it up.  Ava Glass is firmly cemented in place as one of my favourite authors and I highly recommend this book.

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

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BLOG TOUR: Dead Ground (Washington Poe #4) - M.W. Craven

 

Detective Sergeant Washington Poe is in court, fighting eviction from his beloved and isolated croft, when he is summoned to a backstreet brothel in Carlisle where a man has been beaten to death with a baseball bat. Poe is confused - he hunts serial killers and this appears to be a straightforward murder-by-pimp - but his attendance was requested personally, by the kind of people who prefer to remain in the shadows.

As Poe and the socially awkward programmer Tilly Bradshaw delve deeper into the case, they are faced with seemingly unanswerable questions: despite being heavily vetted for a high-profile job, why does nothing in the victim's background check out? Why was a small ornament left at the murder scene - and why did someone on the investigation team steal it? And what is the connection to a flawlessly executed bank heist three years earlier, a heist where nothing was taken . . .

What did I think?

Brilliant!  What more can I say?  M.W. Craven has done it again: Dead Ground is another outstanding Poe and Bradshaw page-turner that had me gripped from start to finish.  It feels like Mike Craven has upped the ante with his fourth novel in this brilliant series by adding intricate layers of cleverness and complexity to the plot that really gave my old grey matter a good workout.

You could definitely read Dead Ground as a standalone as it's a mighty fine mystery thriller in its own right, however, it's the development of the characters throughout the series that sets it head and shoulders above other books in the genre.  Opening with a very unusual historical crime that seems to have a link with a present day murder the investigating agency calls upon Poe and Bradshaw to assist them.  Working with another agency has its challenges as information is not as free flowing as Poe would like, so it's just as well that Tilly has her own way of finding things out.

Reading the Washington Poe books in order shows the stunning character development that has taken place over the course of the series.  Poe's fiercely loyal relationship with Tilly Bradshaw is so protective that it's almost fatherly.  Tilly is so honest and naive that she is often the target of jokers and the way that Poe seems to have a sixth sense about such things taking place is awesome.  Tilly is lucky to have Poe on her side and vice versa as Tilly is an invaluable asset in solving crimes.  The pair usually work alongside DI Stephanie Flynn but Flynn is on maternity leave so the terrific trio are a dynamic duo in this instalment.

I loved the personal story involving Poe's home that had me fist pumping the air when he gets his day in court but like real life, it doesn't quite go to plan and he is forced to swap his court case for a murder case.  The murder mystery part of the book is simply outstanding and I had no idea what direction it was going in, surprising me at every twist and turn.  It's another standing ovation from me when I finished the book and realised just how clever it actually was.

Dead Ground is an exceptional novel; it's fast-paced, gripping and unputdownable (especially with little cliffhangers at the end of each chapter ensuring that you read 'just one more' chapter until there are none left).  With twists and turns that left me dizzy, M.W. Craven proves that he is the Master of Misdirection in this impossible to predict and action-packed novel.  So very highly recommended - both this novel and the whole series.

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

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Over Your Shoulder - CJ Carver

Loving someone doesn't mean trusting them...

You love them both, but can you trust them?

Twelve years ago, Nick’s brother, Rob, drowned.  His body was never found.  When Nick met Susie at his brother’s funeral, he thought it was destiny.

But when Rob suddenly re-appears, Nick is forced to examine everything he once knew. Why do the police want to talk to Rob? And what is he running away from?

Nick wants to find his brother but if he does, he risks losing the woman he loves. Because Susie has her own secrets, and as the truth emerges, Nick finds it is those closest to us we should fear the most…

What did I think?

Wow that was a good read.  I have a few CJ Carver books in my TBR and they have just shot up the queue based on this outstanding thriller.  I do love books filled with secrets and I don't think any more could have been crammed into this book and I realised towards the end that I was reading in a perpetual state of wide eyed shock and surprise.

Nick is a great central character; he's family oriented and extremely likeable but I felt like he was in the middle of a merry-go-round with his world spinning before his eyes.  It must have been quite a shock to see his brother, Rob, on TV, especially when Rob had been missing presumed dead for twelve years.  It was actually at Rob's funeral where Nick originally met Susie, the woman he went on to marry.  Uh-oh, I've watched enough spy dramas to suspect an orchestrated meeting, but what would Susie have to gain from marrying Nick?  Susie didn't give me any reason to suspect her, although we find out she has her own secrets, but my brain was in complete overdrive that I even had her painted as a Russian spy at one point.

So many questions buzzed around my head in relation to Rob.  He didn't just disappear, he faked his own death.  What or who is he running away from?  It definitely felt like the danger levels were ramped up to maximum when Rob stuck his head above the parapet.  I couldn't read fast enough to unearth all of the secrets; the majority of which managed to surprise me.  One little surprise was spoiled slightly though, so hopefully it will be corrected in the final print version; Nick and a passenger are driving in one car with his brother in the car behind but Nick refers to his band of merry men as being 'four of us'.  For a split second I thought I'd missed something but I'm a numbers queen so I immediately suspected a stowaway.  I didn't guess who it was though so part of the surprise did work.

Over Your Shoulder is a superb story; it's gripping right from the start and doesn't loosen its hold one bit until the final page is turned.  Chock full of shocks and surprises, it's a fast-paced gripper of a thriller.

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

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