Raven Black: Ann Cleeves

Raven Black by Ann Cleeves. Book 1 in the Shetland series.

I’ve been meaning to read this for ages and wanted to read the book before watching the highly acclaimed television adaptation. DI Jimmy Perez is the laidback romantic detective spurred into action when a young woman is found dead in a remote corner of the even more remote Shetland Islands. A strange loner (Magnus Tait) is the obvious suspect and comes under the accusing eyes of the locals after a child vanished years before near his house. The fact that the recent incident also took place over the road from his cottage leaves him out on a limb and guilty before he’s even been arrested.

Tait is further hampered as he has learning difficulties and communication issues. The supporting cast are brilliantly portrayed and the landscape comes alive with each chapter. It’s a great story, beautifully written and superbly paced. It’s definitely a series I’ll be sticking with to learn more of the enigmatic Perez and the fascinating setting.

Next up is Star of Africa by Scott Mariani, the 13th book of the Ben Hope series.

http://www.anncleeves.com/

@AnnCleeves

The Frozen Contract: Bill Rogers

The Frozen Contract by Bill Rogers. Book 7 in the DCI Caton series.

The DCI Caton books are a strange lot. Bill Rogers writes good, gripping and well thought out tales, however the proof reading on the series leaves a lot to be desired! This book stated it was the 7th edition, the preceding six editions must have been shocking…

The grammar is atrocious, characters are transposed and words are frequently missed out or added on a scatter gun basis. The most jarring is the muddling of the characters as a football agent and a National Crime Agency agent are swapped for larger portions of their comparatively small roles in the book. Names of characters are included without capital letters, sentences end with a full stop and a comma and speech marks begin descriptive sentences. If you read this Bill, send me a copy of your next book prior to publication and I’ll give it the once over for free. I really like the books, but whoever is proofreading it isn’t up to the job.

Anyway, the story.

The Tom Caton tales return to Manchester after being in Bolton and the USA in the previous two books. A Premier League footballer is found frozen to death in a cryotherapy unit on the stadium forecourt. Gordon Holmes, Joanne Stuart and the team reassemble after being thrown to the corners of Greater Manchester Police jurisdiction to follow the trail. Political and football corruption intertwine with sinister characters from previous books to give a fast paced enjoyable thriller.

Caton’s personal life is developing and you get to feel you are learning more about him and his character with each novel. Again, you could read this as a stand-alone novel, but I’d recommend starting at the beginning with The Cleansing.

I’m from Manchester so always like books set in the area. The Caton series are enjoyable reads and if you can bear the jarring errors I think you’ll enjoy them too. The next in the series is Backwash. It’s on my list despite my grammar police siren flashing throughout this but next is a new author to me, Ann Cleeves’ Raven Black, the first in the Shetland series, now a highly acclaimed drama on the BBC.

Click here to see Bill Rogers’ website including a contact email address. It hasn’t been updated for some time though.

The Infirmary: LJ Ross

The Infirmary by LJ Ross. Book 11* in the DCI Ryan series.

* Let’s get the asterisk out of the way firstly, as I think it’s quite an important footnote…

This is the eleventh book in publication order, but the story takes place before the first book, Holy Island. I’d heartily recommend reading this first if you are new to the series as if read in publication order you’ll know the outcome of this story.

Now, that could be a major downside of this book but I enjoyed it as much as any of the others, if not more. Yes, the ultimate cliff hanger is somewhat lessened but I was absolutely hooked and even read it on a weekend morning to finish it, something I never do. My reading is (usually) strictly on the bus to and from work, on holiday or in bed before sleep.

A brutal killer is wreaking havoc on the streets of Newcastle and the city is in lock down. When the killer starts to escalate the spree and taunts the police, Ryan and the team take over in tragic circumstances.

It really is a great book. Perversely I wish I was new to the series and could experience the tale without knowing the ending although as I’ve said it takes nothing away from a brilliantly suspenseful thriller. It’s a little more gruesome than the rest of the series however not at all compared to some of the genre I’ve previously read. Given the subject of the book it’s very skilfully written to evoke the fear of the characters and their thought processes.

The countdown begins to the release of book 12, The Moor on the 27th of April now. I can’t wait.

https://www.ljrossauthor.com/

@LJRoss_author

Longstone: LJ Ross

Longstone by LJ Ross. Book 10 in the DCI Ryan series.

The tenth book in the DCI Ryan series sees the team back on familiar territory after their Italian odyssey.

The book begins with a scene setter in 1995. My Kindle always starts at chapter one, so make sure you skip back if yours is the same or you’ll be wondering what’s going on.

Two brothers love the same woman, one is an adrenaline junkie, the other steady and dependable. It’s not set to last…


An obsessive university professor has been searching for a Viking longship for years much to the amusement of his colleagues. After the years of ridicule and seemingly wasted hours searching the sea Iain Tucker returns to the pub in jubilant mood buying drinks for the crowd and being barely containing his excitement. The next morning his usual routine seems to have gone to pot until a chilling discovery centres the focus of the police onto the sleepy town.

Set in the town of Seahouses the tale involves deep sea diving, vikings, island recluses and of course murder! It’s the by now familiar tale of the team working together to solve the puzzle placed before them and the book draws you in,making you hungry for the next chapter. The book is centred on the Cockle Inn and if it was a real place I’d love a pint or two there. My fiance and I both read the DCI Ryan books and will be visiting the area in the not too distant future. Hopefully it’s based on a real pub where we can sample the beer and take in the atmosphere.

It’s a real page turner and like the rest of the series is wonderfully written with the author’s passion for the area shining through. I can’t recommend the series highly enough, and this is a great addition. I’m halfway through book 11 and have pre-ordered number 12 already. To order the book click here, but make sure you’ve caught up with the series. They do stand alone to a certain extent, but the character development and previous stories add to the tale immeasurably.

https://www.ljrossauthor.com/
@LJRoss_author

Welcome to my blog.

I’ll review books as I read them and look back to some of my favourite books of the past.

To give you a taster and stop you wasting your time I’ll list some of the authors I’ve liked past and present and what you can expect to see in the future. Once the blog is up and running, please leave comments to give recommendations, criticisms or your own reviews. All input is welcome!

Links to official Twitter accounts and websites will be included if available.

LJ Ross

Louise Ross is the author of the hugely popular DCI Ryan series set in and around the North East of England and follows Ryan and his colleagues on a series of thrilling tales involving murder, corruption and gangsters.

The cast of characters includes Ryan’s sidekick Detective Sergeant Frank Phillips and the rest of the team, Detective Inspector Denise MacKenzie, Detective Constable Jack Lowerson and trainee detective Melanie Yates.

A cast of supporting characters pop up throughout the series including Dr Anna Taylor (a local historian), Chief Superintendent Gregson, Pinter (the pathologist), Tom Faulkner the crime scene investigator and Chief Constable Sandra Morrison.

The series began with Holy Island and saw Ryan and the team embroiled in a series of murders after he went to the island to seek refuge from the turmoil of his life.

I’ve since read all the sequels and am currently reading the prequel, The Infirmary and will review it in full once I’ve finished. I’m not the quickest reader, so please check my blog semi-regularly and if you like what you read click the links and help me fund my reading habit!

Other authors on my reading list include Scott Mariani, Bill Rogers and Damien Boyd. I’ll review the books as I finish them and I hope you’ll enjoy my recommendations.

Kev.