My Review (5 stars out of 5) Recent newcomers to Shetland—an English family with an autistic son—are shocked to find the body of a young nanny hanging in their barn. As the police begin their investigation, rumours quickly spread and the dead woman is linked to several individuals, prompting yet more stories and malicious gossip.…
Category: Crime
‘Beyond Evil’ by Nathan Yates
My Review (5 stars out of 5) In Soham in 2002, two ten-year-old girls, Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, went out to go and buy some sweets, but they never came home. Among the volunteers who came forward to help in the search for the missing girls was school caretaker, Ian Huntley, who also put…
‘The Distant Echo’ by Val McDermid
My Review (5 stars out of 5) When four drunken students discover the body of a woman in an ancient Pictish cemetery, they soon find themselves suspected of her murder. With blood on their clothes, they struggle to maintain their innocence as they try to move on with their lives. When a cold-case review is…
‘The Riddle of the Sands’ by Erskine Childers
My Review (5 stars out of 5) (Audiobook) First published in 1903, The Riddle of the Sands influenced many spy stories by writers such as John Buchan, Ian Fleming and John le Carre. When civil servant Caruthers is invited on a duck-shooting holiday with his yachting enthusiast pal, Davies, he learns about his friend’s recent…
‘The Raven’s Mark’ by Christie J Newport
My Review (5 stars out of 5) (Audiobook) A brutal murder heralds the start of a cat-and-mouse game for Detective Chief Inspector Beth Fellows as she faces a case that could change her career – or bring it to a crashing end. Realising the killing could be linked to an earlier attack, gives Beth a…
‘Shatter the Bones’ by Stuart MacBride
My Review (5 stars out of 5) Aberdeen mother and daughter singing sensation Alison and Jenny McGregor make it through to the semi-finals of a TV talent show. But their growing popularity rockets when the pair are kidnapped. A ransom demand calls for money – lots of it – and if the target isn’t met,…
‘A Killing at Smugglers Cove’ by Michelle Salter
My Review (4 stars out of 5) This is book 4 in the Iris Woodmore Mysteries series and is the first I’ve read by this author. When Iris and her pals, Millicent and Percy, are in Devon for a wedding, Iris is a bit put out. It’s her father who’s about to be married and…
‘Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption’ by Stephen King
My Review (5 stars out of 5) Convicted of murdering his wife and her lover, Andy Dufresne is sent to prison where he meets up with Red: a man who can get pretty much anything into the jail. But Andy’s needs are simple – all he wants is a small rock-hammer for carving stones and…
‘Punishing the Innocent’ by Joy Mutter
My Review (5 stars out of 5) Book 3 in the Nuru and his Crows series is another dark erotic thriller. Warring family members Jenna Doyle and her stepmother, find themselves under the influence of African Nuru Malonga, when he adds them to his list of women he must punish for crimes committed by their…
‘Cold Earth’ by Ann Cleeves
My Review (5 stars out of 5) During a funeral on a rainy Shetland day, a landslide sweeps across the road and into an empty croft house. But when Inspector Jimmy Perez checks the damage, he discovers the body of a woman. As an investigation begins in a bid to learn the woman’s identity, it…
