Happy New Year! I hope 2019 brings you good health, happiness, success and plenty of great books!
Due to the festive season and a holiday break, this first Good Reads post for 2019 covers my standout crime reads for December and January, so I have a bit to bring you here.
Disclaimer:
Being a crime fiction addict and lover of series books, expect lots of my reading to fall into these categories. You can also expect to only hear about the books I have enjoyed – but as I have honed my selections to my tastes over the years, I am rarely disappointed, and I get that reading enjoyment is subjective anyway. I love to jump over to Goodreads and share the books I’ve enjoyed with the reading community, and this led me to posting my standouts in a “Good Reads” column each month.
The Search (DC Ian Bradshaw #3) Howard Linskey – 5 stars
The Search is another suspenseful and compelling read in the DC Bradshaw (or Bradshaw, Carney and Norton) series. Investigative journalists Helen Norton and Tom Carney are working alongside DS Ian Bradshaw in a last-gasp effort to solve the disappearance of Susan Verity, a case dating back to 1976. As the journalists focus on other angles, Bradshaw is tasked with meeting the incarcerated serial killer believed to have murdered Susan and doing what everyone else has failed – obtaining his admission to her murder and getting to the truth of her whereabouts, along with where his other victims are buried. These characters have become old friends now that I’m three books into the series. As Tom juggles this case with the search for another missing woman, and he and Helen mistrust the wrong person and take missteps in their personal lives, I care. Same for Bradshaw as he is submerged into the sick and manipulative killer’s game, unwilling to accept defeat, desperate for closure for the families and those living under the cloud of Susan’s alleged murder. Highly recommend The Search, but I suggest you start with book one to get the most from the character development over the series.
No One Can Hear You (standalone) Nikki Crutchley– 4.5 stars
In No One Can Hear You school teacher Zoe Haywood returns to Crawton, a small town in north island New Zealand, after the sudden death of her estranged mother Lillian, who is believed to have taken her own life as a consequence of her struggle with dementia. Zoe falls back into the quasi-family of Pam, Alex and Jeff, and reconnects with a number of other friends, including Faith Marsden, who did a runner from town sixteen years ago. But nothing is as it seems. Lillian left a trail of hidden notes. Some to get her through day-to-day life in the fog of her illness. But others raise Zoe’s concern for two young women who have recently disappeared from Crawton. The truth of Faith’s past adds urgency to finding them, and Zoe and Faith forge on regardless of personal danger. The trail leads to a cesspit of money, drugs, abduction and murder. These are dangerous people, with connected friends and allies, who don’t take kindly to Zoe and Faith’s interference. No One Can Hear You is a believable and well-told story centred around real-life themes. Sadly, these things do happen and the victims often fit the picture Crutchley draws. Most often women and girls who are troubled loners, unlikely to be greatly missed by anyone, easily dismissed as runaways or transients. There are a number of female characters to get to know in No One Can Hear You and the multiple points of view, changes in time and access to backstory can be a little confusing at first, but persevere because this story is worth it.
The Chosen Ones (DC Ian Bradshaw #4) Howard Linskey – 4 stars
The Chosen Ones was my fourth foray into a series starring DS Bradshaw, and journalists Tom Carney and Helen Norton – another missing person investigation blending past and present events. Eva Dunbar has disappeared, held captive in a metal box, no idea who her abductor is or what their intentions are, with no way out. Bradshaw is handballed this tricky case, with little resources, aside from his two friends, investigative journalists Carney and Norton who are again put on the police payroll. Short on leads, sensing they are even shorter on time to find Eva and the kidnapper once another woman’s body is discovered, this story builds to a terrific dramatic climax. I have thoroughly enjoyed each instalment in this series and hope there is more to come. I felt a little distanced from the characters this time, possibly because their character arc didn’t progress much and due to a number of chunks of backstory designed to catch up new readers on the characters and past stories. In all, my verdict on The Chosen Ones: a tense, cleverly plotted, atmospheric read.
The Wife Between Us (standalone) Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen – 4 stars
The Wife Between Us kept me hooked even when I had no real clue where it was going and without frustration of its slow build with little action per se in the early parts of this story. Seeming to be about a jealous woman determined to stop her younger replacement from marrying her ex-husband, this book delivered twist after twist right up to the final page. An intriguing and enjoyable psychological thriller where no one and nothing is quite what it seems. Recommend this one.
The One Who Got Away (standalone) Caroline Overington – 3.5 stars
The One Who Got Away is touted as “an unsettling psychological thriller for fans of Girl on a Train and Gone Girl“. Having thoroughly enjoyed both those titles as books and movies, it looked right up my alley. Unfortunately, I found the parallels to Gone Girl made the first half or so of this novel feel somewhat unoriginal. On the plus side, it’s an easy, light read good for a holiday or the commute. Starts with an envied but unlikeable, pretty, wealthy couple (albeit the wife is from the wrong side of the tracks) whose marriage is in trouble due to his affairs and dodgy business dealings. Toss in unreliable narrators, the wife going missing during a last-ditch trip to save their marriage, and the husband being accused of her murder, then secrets revealed through her journal, him under the hot lights and scrutiny of an extended interview by a renowned TV journalist…you see the similarities to Gone Girl (even though this is like a sanitised version of GG in terms of swearing, violence and sex scenes) and feel you know where this is going to end. Thankfully though, it picked up from there, went off on a more original track and had a little twist at the finish. Nice lively style and quite enjoyable overall, I must note again that being a fan of Gone Girl influenced (reduced) my enjoyment level.
The Darkest Secret (standalone) Alex Marwood – 4 stars
If you love to hate the central characters in a psych thriller, The Darkest Secret could be for you. It opens with a general email seeking help in finding the writer’s goddaughter, three-year-old Coco who went missing from Bournemouth over the bank holiday weekend just gone, then it moves to witness statements. But for the most part, it shifts between then and now (15 years later) narrative, unravelling the story of a group of self-centred, narcissistic, immoral rich people: Coco’s family and their intimates. I didn’t connect into this story for a long while, but thanks to Mila (Coco’s older half-sister) I clung on, and then I felt a sudden shift in the last quarter or so of the novel because—finally!—there were a couple of characters I could care about and a need to know just what had happened to Coco. The twists and ending are somewhat signposted but getting to the bottom of the story made it a quite enjoyable read.
The Trap (standalone) Melanie Raabe – 5 stars
Wow. I loved the beginning of The Trap and the perfect final note at the finish. The psychology and characterisation. The twists. The descriptions the author drew, at times bleak, beautiful, hopeless, hopeful. My empathy for Linda Conrads surpassed any moments that jarred. I made this book last as long as possible. It might not be for everyone, but it was a standout for me. The blurb starts: “In this twisted debut thriller, a reclusive author sets the perfect trap for her sister’s murderer – but is he really the killer?” That’s all you need to know. Highly recommend!
Looking forward to more great crime books next month. Happy reading!
