A serial rapist is on the loose in Liverpool. DC Cassie Rowan is working undercover to flush out the culprit. But then a body is found: can he be stopped Before He Kills Again? Two men both receiving therapy: has one of them got a secret they aren’t sharing with Dr Palmer?
The main character Cassie Rowan is young and tenacious. She has had personal tragedy and is raising her younger brother. Cassie is prepared to bend the rules to keep evil off the streets but this puts her at odds with her superior officers.There is animosity between her and her colleagues as she feels they let her down when she had the rapist literally in her grasp. Further, she comes to the conclusion that one officer may be using his position for personal financial gain.
The other main protagonist is Alan Palmer, a therapist coping with the breakdown of his marriage as well as a professional issue which is not revealed to the reader until at least two thirds into the book. He is also a likeable character and is obviously devastated by his impending divorce.
To be honest, it took me a while to get into this book. There was plenty of action but I found it a little muddled to begin with, however by a quarter of the way through I was hooked! We see the perspective of abducted women which draws us in to their situation and makes us anxious for the police to save them.
As I have a masters in psychology, I enjoyed the consideration of the motives and psychological history of the murderer. There is not much forensic detail about the body but there is some violence. The torture of the victims is unpleasant to read because it feels very realistic. Cassie and Alan’s emotional responses to the events in the book are also very natural which endears them to the reader.
Before He Kills Again is a great introduction as the first in a new series and I definitely want to follow more of Cassie’s career.
BEFORE HE KILLS AGAIN (Detective Cassie Rowan #1) by Margaret Murphy
A serial predator on the prowl in Liverpool. Seven victims so far. And he’s already got his next victim.
The police can’t catch him. He leaves no trace of himself, and no one has been able to provide a reliable description of him.
Detective Cassie Rowan is working undercover and on his trail. But now he has Cassie in his sights.
DISCOVER A BRAND-NEW SERIES FROM ONE OF THE MOST THRILLING WRITERS OF CRIME FICTION!
This brand-new, unputdownable crime thriller series from Murder Squad founder Margaret Murphy is one of the must-reads of 2020!
MEET DETECTIVE CASSIE ROWAN
DC CASSIE ROWAN is a young policewoman who has been the main carer for her little brother NEIL since their parents died. She has to balance this role with her demanding job. She is working undercover on the streets of Liverpool trying to find the ‘Furman’, a man who has been brutally assaulting sex workers. Cassie blames herself and another detective, Wicks, for not catching him sooner. Forensic scientist Dr Ian Chan is on her side, but her boss Detective Chief Inspector Pat Warman thinks she is uncooperative and needs to work as part of a team.
ALSO BY MARGARET MURPHY
CLARA PASCAL SERIES
Book 1: DARKNESS FALLS
Book 2: WEAVING SHADOWS
DETECTIVE JEFF RICKMAN SERIES
Book 1: SEE HER BURN
Book 2: SEE HER DIE*
MARGARET MURPHY
Margaret Murphy writes internationally acclaimed psychological thrillers. She is a past Chair of the Crime Writers Association (CWA), founder of Murder Squad, and a former RLF Writing Fellow and Reading Round Lector. She’s been a country park ranger, biology teacher, dyslexia specialist and Visiting Professor in creative writing. A Short Story Dagger and CWA Red Herring award winner, she has also been shortlisted for the ‘First Blood’ critics award and CWA Dagger in the Library.
1942, Paris. Clarisse is an American photographer living secretly in France under Nazi occupation. She wants to document the horrors she witnesses but she also wants to leave her toxic husband. Both aims are dangerous…
The Secret Photograph is a dual timeline historical novel set in the 1940s and 1980s.
Clarisse is distraught at the terrible sights of children rounded up and separated from their families, violence against Jews, and the terror on the streets of her beloved Paris. She is living under a false identity so is in constant fear of being discovered with forged papers. A chance encounter with the flamboyant ‘peacock’ Louis shows her that she may be able to put her photography skills to good use for the resistance.
I really liked Clarisse’s character. She is passionate and determined about her photography but is being smothered by the tyranny of her husband and the Nazi occupiers. Her false identity means that she is in danger but her humanity means she cannot stand by when she sees the oppression in the streets. Her skill at photography gives her a unique platform for spreading knowledge and awareness of the Nazi atrocities whilst placing her in even greater danger.
The author has researched the experiences of Paris under occupation and the historical and geographical setting bring the characters to life. Clarisse’s first meeting with Louis is really special and I loved his subversion of the enforced wearing of the yellow star. I hadn’t heard of the Zazou subculture before so I enjoyed the inclusion and sympathetic depiction in this book.
The Secret Photograph is an emotional and inspiring historical novel.
Book Description:
Nazi-occupied Paris, 1942. Clarisse clutches her camera as hundreds of police swarm the streets. Through her lens she spots a terrified brown-eyed little girl being carried screaming into a truck, her yellow star hanging crooked from her threadbare coat. Clarisse rushes forward to help, but the truck pulls away…
With a fake name written on the papers in her pocket, American photographer Clarisse Alarie knows the dangers of Paris better than most. Haunted by the sight of children being dragged away and carrying a photograph of the brown-eyed little girl everywhere she goes, Clarisse is desperate to make a difference. Meeting handsome resistance fighter Louis is her chance…
Louis introduces Clarisse to Café Capoulade and his underground network of brave men and women fighting tirelessly to end the occupation. Soon, Clarisse is risking her life every day. Taking photographs of the terror that has overcome the beautiful city, Clarisse follows members of the Gestapo and hides in plain sight in order to gather evidence of their terrible crimes.
But Clarisse soon learns of the over-crowded cattle cars leaving Paris carrying even the smallest children, bound for an unspeakably terrible place… Is she already too late to rescue the little girl with the brown eyes? And when Louis himself is arrested, will Clarisse risk everything the network has worked so hard for to save them both?
Set around true historical events that shook the world, The Secret Photograph is a sweeping and utterly gripping wartime tale of courage and resilience in the face of unimaginable terror. Fans of The Alice Network, The Nightingale and Soraya M. Lane will be totally hooked.
Author Bio:
Siobhan Curham is an award-winning author, ghost writer, editor and writing coach. She has also written for many newspapers, magazines and websites, including The Guardian, Breathe magazine, Cosmopolitan, Writers’ Forum, DatingAdvice.com, and Spirit & Destiny. Siobhan has been a guest on various radio and TV shows, including Woman’s Hour, BBC News, GMTV and BBC Breakfast. And she has spoken at businesses, schools, universities and literary festivals around the world, including the BBC, Hay Festival, Cheltenham Festival, Bath Festival, Ilkley Festival, London Book Fair and Sharjah Reading Festival.
My book club reviewed this the month before I joined so I decided to play catch up!
Kya Clark is abandoned by all those she loves. Her mother and siblings leave first then her father and friends. She leads a solitary life and is known derogatively as ‘the marsh girl’. Then, in 1969, she becomes the main suspect in a murder case and faces the death penalty…
Where the Crawdads Sing is a dual timeline novel set in America in the 1950s and 1960s as Kya grows from a girl to a woman, and then the murder investigation and trial in 1969 and 1970.
How much pain and despair can Kya cope with? I felt deeply for Kya during all parts of the book. She has been abandoned and betrayed by those she loves for her entire life. However, there are moments of hope and happiness to lighten the tone and soften the plot developments.
The descriptions are long and melodious. To be honest, I wasn’t convinced by the use of the word lagoon so many times in the opening chapter though! The voices put on by the narrator for different characters made me a little uncomfortable as they seemed to be stereotypical/caricatures of the Deep South accent which jarred slightly.
I felt a little disappointed by the ending a it did not live up to my expectations based on the earlier character arcs. I was convinced I had worked out the solution to the murder mystery and liked how I had thought the characters had finally rallied round Kya in her darkest hours. Unfortunately, the ending wasn’t what I expected so I was left saddened.
Where the Crawdads Sing is a beautifully written and emotional novel about love and loss.
Book blurb
For years, rumors of the “Marsh Girl” haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet fishing village. Kya Clark is barefoot and wild; unfit for polite society. So in late 1969, when the popular Chase Andrews is found dead, locals immediately suspect her.
But Kya is not what they say. A born naturalist with just one day of school, she takes life’s lessons from the land, learning the real ways of the world from the dishonest signals of fireflies. But while she has the skills to live in solitude forever, the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. Drawn to two young men from town, who are each intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new and startling world—until the unthinkable happens.
In Where the Crawdads Sing, Owens juxtaposes an exquisite ode to the natural world against a profound coming of age story and haunting mystery. Thought-provoking, wise, and deeply moving, Owens’s debut novel reminds us that we are forever shaped by the child within us, while also subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps.
The story asks how isolation influences the behavior of a young woman, who like all of us, has the genetic propensity to belong to a group. The clues to the mystery are brushed into the lush habitat and natural histories of its wild creatures.
Jade Collins is on death row awaiting execution. CIA agent Mark Brand offers her a chance to escape in exchange for using her deadly skills to take out a drugs boss. Can the pair trust each other when their lives depend on it…?
The Woman From Death Row is a tense spy and crime thriller set in America.
Jade killed an abusive man and is utterly unrepentant. She has killed before and the victims always deserved it. She faces her execution with the same cool detachment but is offered a deal. The CIA want her to kill for them and they will fake her death and set her free. Jade accepts the deal but not everything goes smoothly.
The book is written from Jade and Mark’s perspectives. I really liked both main characters as they are complex, brave and determined. However, neither of them is entirely trustworthy yet they need to rely on each other in order to survive. Both of them have suffered which creates an emotional link between them and the reader as we want them to overcome their pain and succeed in their mission.
The plot twists are fast and furious and it was difficult to know whether Mark or Jade could be trusted or where the plot was heading. I don’t want to give big spoilers but there is plenty of double dealing and massive danger to both main characters. Some of the medical detail is a little grisly but I found it fascinating. This looks to be the first book in a new series and I would definitely want to follow Jade’s story.
The Woman From Death Row is an entertaining, fast paced and tense thriller.
Jade Collins grew up on the seedy side of Los Angeles, but her tenacious nature pushes her to strive for a better life. After attending college and earning her medical degree, she feels good about where her life is going. But, bad things happen to good people, and Jade finds herself on death row after killing a man who had been abusing one of her patients.
Just three years after his marriage, Dr. Mark Brand’s wife passes away and his life is sent into a downward spiral. Depression steals everything from him—his medical license, his livelihood and his will to go on. Only a reunion with a powerful man he once knew gives Mark the strength to pick himself up again. He has a new job and a new life, but he is paying a steep price for his second chance. Nothing in life is free and this powerful man has plans for Mark.
Mark is sent to San Quentin to meet Jade and offers to get her off death row if she agrees to team up with him in a dangerous assignment. With no other choice, Jade agrees but aims to get out of the game at the first opportunity. Mark wants out too, but he’s sold his soul to the man who rescued him, and his only option is to follow orders and get the job done.
As danger mounts, Mark is pitted against the man who saved him and he’s forced to rely on Jade, a woman he hardly knows and doesn’t fully trust. The situation is made worse by the feelings he’s developing for her.
Will the opportunist destroy Mark’s life once more?
Will this game put Jade back on death row?
About the author
Peter Hogenkamp is a practicing physician, public speaker and author of medical fiction and thrillers living in Rutland, Vermont. Peter’s writing credits include The Intern (TouchPoint Press, April 2020); The Vatican Conspiracy book and audiobook (Bookouture/HachetteUK, October 2020), The Vatican Secret (Bookouture/HachetteUK, April 2021), The Vatican Secret audiobook (Saga Egmont, March 2022) and Cospirazione Vaticano (Newton Compton Editori 7/2021.) The Woman from Death Row, book one of the new Jade Stryker thriller series, will be published Spring 2023 by Tirgearr Publishing. Peter can be found on his Author Website, as well as his personal blog, Peter Hogenkamp Writes, where he writes about most anything. He is the creator, producer and host of Your Health Matters, a health information program, which airs on cable television and streams on YouTube. Peter was a finalist for the prestigious 2019 Killer Nashville Claymore Award as well as the 2020 Vermont Writer’s Prize. He tweets—against the wishes of his wife, four children and feisty Cairn Terrier, Hermione—on Twitter. He can be reached at his FaceBook Page and at peterhogenkampbooks@gmail.com.
Lady Beatrice’s sleuthing skills are required again when a family friend receives dead animals alongside threatening notes to cancel their high profile wedding. The situation escalates when the personal chef is found dead too…
For Richer, For Deader is the second book to feature Lady Beatrice. I have previously reviewed the first book Spruced Up For Murder.
It was lovely to be reuinted with Lady Beatrice and her business partner Perry Juke. They are in the process of refurbishing a property for a family friend in the lead up to a big society wedding. But someone wants to stop the wedding from going ahead and leaves dead animals with threatening notes. Bea’s nemesis DCI Fitzwilliam is called upon to rule out any threat to the Royal Family and they clash horns once more.
The first human murder (after at least 4 deceased animals) happens about a quarter of the way through. The victim is the personal chef of the groom’s family. I was surprised and intrigued as I expected the death to be someone from the family. This spurred my interest as I tried to work out the motive and culprit along with Bea and Perry.
The writing style is warm and easy to read. I was once again immersed in the fictional royals’ lives and the murder investigation. There were plenty of suspects and clues for me to follow alongside the sleuthing pair. The antagonism between Bea and Fitzwilliam contrasts wonderfully with her friendship with Perry.
For Richer, For Deader is a warm and enjoyable cosy murder mystery. I love this series and can’t wait for the next book next month!
For Richer, For Deader
Is the Wedding Between Sir Hewitt Willoughby-Franklin’s Step-Daughter and Billionaire’s Son Off?
Rumours are that the recent death of Kelley Lindsell (29), the personal chef of tycoon Rudy (68) and Sheri Trotman (65) at Sir Hewitt’s Fawstead Manor country estate in Fenshire, has spooked Sybil Bransgrove (36) so badly she’s considering cancelling her nuptials.
Meanwhile the bride and her mother, Lady Grace (61), are being supported by family friend Lady Beatrice (36), the Countess of Rossex, who, alongside her business partner Perry Juke, is currently managing the project to refurbish the Manor House and Lodge on the estate.
Not again! Now that Lady Grace has asked Lady Beatrice to liaise with the police during the investigation into Kelley’s death, she’ll have to cooperate with boorish Detective Chief Inspector Richard Fitzwilliam whether she likes it or not. Her only relief will be solving the murder with the help of her friends Perry and Simon and her dog Daisy to get rid of him faster. But with so many wedding party guests staying on-site, any one of them could be the killer. Can they find out who it is before Sybil calls off the wedding…
Hello. I’m Helen Golden. I write British contemporary cozy whodunnits with a hint of humour. I live in small village in Lincolnshire in the UK with my husband, my step-daughter, her two cats, our two dogs, sometimes my step-son, and our tortoise.
After my recent job came to a natural end I had the opportunity to follow my dreams and start writing. It’s very early in my life as an author, but so far I’m loving it.
It’s crazy busy at our house, so when I’m writing I retreat to our caravan (an impulsive lockdown purchase) which is mostly parked on our drive. When I really need total peace and quiet, I take it to a lovely site about 15 minutes away and hide there until my family runs out of food or clean clothes
