Three men are discovered dead in a cellar after dying of dehydration. Three more men have gone missing and DS Jason Smith is back from sick leave to crack the case. But can he find the killer before anyone else dies…?
The Cellar is the 26th book in the Smith crime thriller series. There are mentions of events and outcomes from previous books and this series is just soooooo good that I would advise reading them all!
Jason Smith is waiting to be allowed back to work from sick leave. His colleagues can’t wait for his official return and he jumps at the chance to get back into action slightly early. The case is quite grisly as three men died of thirst after being locked in a cellar whilst another man resorted to cannibalism before succumbing to death as well.
We then witness others being tricked into another cellar and this really ramps up the tension as we know the intended outcome and anticipate the desperation. Once again the style of writing is dialogue led and this makes the pace super fast. Chapters are short and the plot drives on with twists and turns.
As usual, I was swept up into Smith’s world as he struggles to catch a killer and prevent more deaths. I felt the fear and dread of the victims as they realise the danger they face. The book is set at the start of Covid so I liked the context which added authenticity. The conclusion and outcome of the book are directly associated with a previous book so again I will say ‘read the whole series!’
The Cellar is a tense, dramatic and gripping police procedural and crime thriller.
The Cellar (A DS Jason Smith Thriller Book 26)
From bestselling author: Stewart Giles comes another brilliant addition to the Detective Jason Smith series.
Something nasty is happening in York.
When the bodies of three men are discovered in the cellar of a house it soon becomes clear that their deaths were not peaceful.
Detective Jason Smith is itching to get back to work after a case that almost killed him and he soon realises he’s dealing with something he’s never come across before.
With a global pandemic looming, nobody in the city is paying much attention to the homeless people who are mysteriously vanishing from the streets.
But Smith senses there is something more to this.
Something else is happening here, and he’s not wrong.
A horror, far worse than he imagined is happening in a dark place somewhere in his city and Smith is going to have to face his deepest fears to stop it.
Stewart Giles – Author Bio
After reading English at 3 Universities and graduating from none of them, I set off travelling around the world with my wife, Ann, finally settling in South Africa, where we still live.
In 2014 Ann dropped a rather large speaker on my head and I came up with the idea for a detective series. DS Jason Smith was born. Smith, the first in the series was finished a few months later.
3 years and 8 DS Smith books later, Joffe Books wondered if I would be interested in working with them. As a self-published author, I agreed. However, we decided on a new series – the DC Harriet Taylor: Cornwall series.
The Beekeeper was published and soon hit the number one spot in Australia. The second in the series, The Perfect Murder did just as well.
I continued to self-publish the Smith series and Unworthy hit the shelves in 2018 with amazing results. I therefore made the decision to self-publish The Backpacker which is book 3 in the Detective Harriet Taylor series which was published in July 2018.
After The Backpacker I had an idea for a totally new start to a series – a collaboration between the Smith and Harriet thrillers and The Enigma was born. It brought together the broody, enigmatic Jason Smith and the more level-headed Harriet Taylor.
The Miranda trilogy is something totally different. A psychological thriller trilogy. It is a real departure from anything else I’ve written before.
The Detective Jason Smith series continues to grow. I also have another series featuring an Irish detective who relocated to Guernsey, the Detective Liam O’Reilly series. There are also 3 stand alone novels.
Delilah is trying to avoid bankruptcy and is hoping that her dating agency will start to make a profit. Instead, her clients start dying… Samson is persona non grata when he returns to the village to set up a private decteive agency. Can he rebuild relationships and make amends and will he catch a killer?
Date With Death is the first book in a cosy crime series set in Yorkshire.
Samson left under a cloud and hasn’t been back despite some significant events in the village. Locals aren’t willing to forgive him but Delilah has no choice as she needs his rent money! I enjoyed the premise of the book and the way the characters behave as they have to accept change and let go of the past. There is a subtle vulnerability to the two main characters that makes them easy to like.
The murders are not graphically described and the mystery is well maintained. There are plenty of suspects and even Delilah finds herself under suspicion due to her link with the victims. The tone of writing has a light touch and there are elements of humour which counterbalanced some of the big emotions experienced by the main characters. I thought that the audio narration matched the style of the book well.
Date With Death is an enjoyable cosy murder mystery.
Book blurb
Meet two sleuths from a sleepy Yorkshire village as they investigate murders and discover the secrets behind the twitching curtains. Date with Death is the first cosy crime novel in Julia Chapman’s Dales Detective series, perfect for fans of Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club and M.C. Beaton.
Samson O’Brien has been dismissed from the police force, and returns to his hometown of Bruncliffe in the Yorkshire Dales to set up the Dales Detective Agency. However, the villagers aren’t that welcoming to a man they see as trouble.
Delilah Metcalfe is struggling to keep her business, the Dales Dating Agency, afloat as well as trying to control her wayward Weimaraner dog, Tolpuddle, when Samson’s first case – a supposed suicide – takes an unexpected turn, and a trail of deaths lead back to the door of Delilah’s agency.
With suspicion hanging over someone they both care for, the two feuding neighbours soon realize that they need to work together to solve the mystery of the dating deaths. But working together is easier said than done . . .
Full of wit, warmth and characters you’ll care about, continue the murder mystery series with Date with Malice.
The latest cold case for Katie Scott and her partner McGaven is the disappearance of a young woman and her dog. Abigail’s car was found but there were no clues and the case was abandoned. Now Katie and Gav take on the investigation but it puts their own lives in danger…
The First Girl is the 11th book in the Katie Scott series. The parts of the plot surrounding Chad’s disappearance continue directly from the previous book Her Dying Kiss.
A cold case of a missing woman and dog. A saved suicide. Chad’s disappearance. There is a lot going on for Katie in this book! She is ably assisted by her partner Gav and her K9 dog Cisco but they all face danger as a result of their investigations. Katie begins to feel unsafe at home and someone is determined to keep the past hidden by using a gun to silence the detectives.
On the personal side of the plot, Katie is still bereft after the disappearance of her fiance Chad. He is still missing but finally there is news although this brings more heartache. Meanwhile she and Gav prevent a suicide in the opening chapters and it is someone he knows, leading to a personal interest in her wellbeing as well as a different angle to their investigations.
The prologue describes an event in the past and then I was trying to figure out how it relates to developments in the present day. The plot threads interweave and I enjoyed watching how the cases progressed. There are plenty of action scenes and moments of drama as the plot unfolds. I always feel a little guilty that I worry more about Cisco than other characters!
The First GIrl is a tense, dramatic and action-packed detective thriller.
Book Description:
The cold night breeze slams the barn door shut with a sickening crash. The girl curled in the corner wakes with a start. Her gold butterfly necklace catches the pale moonlight as she clutches it tight, thinking of her family. Will she ever escape? Or is his the last face she’ll ever see?
Detective Katie Scott stares in horror at what she and her service dog Cisco have discovered: seven shallow graves, the bodies of young women each wrapped carefully in a blanket and buried in makeshift coffins. Miles of abandoned farmland stretch out from the treeline behind her. Has Katie uncovered the horrifying graveyard of a monster who has been stealing Pine Valley’s daughters for years?
Katie quickly identifies one of the victims as Abigail Andrews, a beautiful young woman who disappeared fifteen years ago. Katie is heartbroken that she’ll have to tell Abigail’s mother her darling girl is gone.
When Katie is ambushed working late at the scene, fired upon by an unknown assailant, she knows she must be close to finding the killer. But the shooter vanishes into thin air. And when a new young woman is taken, dark haired and dark eyed like the others, Katie realizes her time is running out. Can she stay alive long enough to track down this twisted murderer before another young life is stolen too soon?
An absolutely jaw-dropping crime thriller for fans of Lisa Regan, Rachel Caine and Melinda Leigh. You’ll be up all night glued to the pages with this totally pulse-pounding read from USA Today and Amazon bestseller Jennifer Chase!
Author Bio:
Jennifer Chase is a multi award-winning and best-selling crime fiction author, as well as a consulting criminologist. Jennifer holds a bachelor degree in police forensics and a master’s degree in criminology & criminal justice. These academic pursuits developed out of her curiosity about the criminal mind as well as from her own experience with a violent psychopath, providing Jennifer with deep personal investment in every story she tells.
Fiona, Sue and Daisy are running a charity stall at the dog show and are shocked when a woman dies of a heart attack. But the next day the police arrive to inform them that the death was in fact murder. Among the hustle and bustle of the fair, did the women spot a killer?
Death at the Dog Show is the third book to feature the three main female protagonists. I have previously read and reviewed the first book The Charity Shop Detective Agency (but sadly somehow missed the second 🙁 )
Fiona, Sue and Daisy are keen to act as sleuths again so are straight on the case as soon as the death is revealed to be a murder. The dead woman was a former winner at Crufts but was she killed to prevent her winning the local show? The amateur detectives instantly have one suspect but no idea on his identity so are trying to track him down.
I loved the gentle humour of the characters and narrative style. My favourite line was when Sue says that the vet performed C3PO instad of CPR! The book falls firmly into the cosy crime genre as there are no graphic scenes and the tone of the book is quite light. The mystery was well sustained over the course of the book and I enjoyed the adventure as the trio tracked down clues.
Death at the Dog Show is an intriguing murder mystery with three wonderful lead characters.
DEATH AT THE DOG SHOW (Charity Shop Detective Agency #4) by Peter Boland
A brand-new cozy mystery from a bestselling author!
PUT THE KETTLE ON AND DISCOVER AN UTTERLY CHARMING MURDER MYSTERY SET IN A SLEEPY ENGLISH SEASIDE TOWN.
Dog-lovers, please note none of our furry friends die in this book.
It’s the day of the Christchurch Dog Show. The whole town is aquiver with excitement. The ladies of the Charity Shop Detective Agency are hoping to make lots of new furry friends.
After a very dramatic Best Biscuit Catcher competition, Fiona, Sue and Daisy, from the Dogs Need Nice Homes charity shop, come across a shocking scene.
The dog show’s vet is performing CPR on a woman. The ladies rush over, but it’s too late.
Back at the shop, the ladies are shocked to learn that the poor woman was murdered. Someone injected Sylvia Steadman with something very nasty indeed.
Then our silver sleuths uncover that Sylvia was the owner of ex-Crufts-winner Charlie. She must have had lots of very jealous competitors . . .
There’s barely time for elevenses. The charity shop detectives must roll up their sleeves — they have a killer to catch.
Fans of The Thursday Murder Club, Janice Hallett, Simon Brett, Ian Moore and Sarah Yarwood-Lovett will adore this exciting new talent in cozy crime.
THE CHARITY SHOP DETECTIVES
Level-headed Fiona has found a quiet sanctuary volunteering at the local charity shop, Dogs Need Nice Homes. A charity shop that raises money for dogs in need of nice homes. And she’s found firm friendship with the strong-willed Partial Sue (she’s ever so partial to a cup of tea) and the kindly and surprisingly tech-savvy Daisy. Together, these ladies, with Simon Le Bon, Fiona’s scruffy-haired terrier cross, investigate murders as the Charity Shop Detective Agency.
THE SETTING
The lovely coastal town of Southbourne is, on paper, little more than a small suburb hemmed in by Bournemouth to the west and Christchurch to the north. But it’s home to the prettiest avenues lined with gorgeous Georgian homes which lead to a grass-topped cliff standing guard over a sweeping bay of blond sand, soft as Demerara sugar. Some say it’s also home to the best charity shops in the country. The ladies of the Charity Shop Detective Agency maintain that Dogs Need Nice Homes — though musty and more than a little cramped — is certainly number one. Well, they definitely solve the most crimes at least!
ALSO BY PETER BOLAND THE CHARITY SHOP DETECTIVE AGENCY MYSTERIES
Book 1: THE CHARITY SHOP DETECTIVE AGENCY
Book 2: THE BEACH HUT MURDERS
Book 3: DEATH AT THE DOG SHOW
PETER BOLAND
After studying to be an architect, Pete realised he wasn’t very good at it. He liked designing buildings, he just couldn’t make them stand up — a big handicap in an industry that’s partial to keeping things upright. So he became an advertising copywriter, the highlight of which was creating an ad featuring Raymond Briggs’ The Snowman. He then tried his hand at writing his own stories and quickly realised there’s no magic formula. You just have to put one word in front of the other (and keep doing that for about six months). It also helps if you can resist the lure of surfing and drinking beer in a garden chair.
Lady Eleanor Swift is involved in the planning of a community celebration for King George V’s birthday. But the plans go awry when the chair of the committee is found strangled to death by bunting…
Murder by Invitation is the 15th book in the Lady Swift series of cosy historical murder mysteries. Each book has a standalone case but the personal relationships have developed over the course of the preceding books.
Eleanor and her wonderful butler Clifford are working hard on a village event when they receive news that Mr Prestwick-Peterson has been killed. Along with Ellie’s new fiance Chief Inspector Hugh Seldon, the trio begin to investigate the death. Fans of the series will be delighted by the village’s excitement at their engagement and this provides light relief from the topic of murder.
As usual in this series, there are plenty of suspects and motives for Eleanor and Clifford to expose and unpick. She throws herself into situations while he provides the steadying support. I enjoyed being back at Henley Hall with the other staff as well, and seeing Eleanor and Clifford’s relationships with the other villagers.
There is little detail about the body or any violence, as you would expect from the genre of cosy murder mystery. I liked the historical aspects to the book and the atmosphere of village life that is created.
Murder by Invitation is an enjoyable addition to this entertaining series.
Book Description:
Lady Swift has been cordially invited to a huge royal celebration in Little Buckford to toast the King’s birthday… but wait, is that a body in the village hall?
Lady Eleanor Swift and her loyal butler Clifford are busy lending a hand with preparations for the big day. The grand dining room at Henley Hall is overflowing with home-sewn flags, paint and royal rosettes. Even Gladstone the bulldog and his new friend Tomkins the ginger cat are invited!
But just days before the event Mr Prestwick-Peterson, the chairman of the celebrations committee, is found dead in the village hall: strangled with handmade red, white and royal blue bunting.
With the village hall in total disarray and a key part of the decorations missing, Eleanor wonders if someone dastardly is sabotaging the King’s birthday celebrations?Teaming up with her handsome beau Detective Hugh Seldon to question the local butcher, baker, and pub landlord it becomes clear that the meddlesome busybody Mr Prestwick-Peterson was not universally liked in charming Little Buckford. Indeed, the only mystery is why he wasn’t murdered before…
Searching Mr Prestwick-Peterson’s pristinely organised rooms, Eleanor is surprised to find a faded photograph of a beautiful young woman hidden within the pages of a novel. Could this be the key to untangling this very village murder? And can Eleanor catch the killer before the party is over for her, too?
A totally charming, unputdownable Golden Age murder mystery with characters readers will adore. Perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, T.E. Kinsey and Lee Strauss.
Author Bio:
Verity Bright is the pseudonym for a husband-and-wife writing partnership that has spanned a quarter of a century. Starting out writing high-end travel articles and books, they published everything from self-improvement to humour, before embarking on their first historical mystery. They are the authors of the fabulous Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery series, set in the 1920s.
Three men are discovered dead in a cellar after dying of dehydration. Three more men have gone missing and DS Jason Smith is back from sick leave to crack the case. But can he find the killer before anyone else dies…?
