Freefall by Jessica Barry

Description from Goodreads:


"Surviving the plane crash is only the beginning for Allison.

The life that she’s built for herself – her perfect fiancé, their world of luxury – has disappeared in the blink of an eye. Now she must run, not only to escape the dark secrets in her past, but to outwit the man who is stalking her every move.

On the other side of the country, Allison’s mother is desperate for news of her daughter, who is missing, presumed dead. Maggie refuses to accept that she could have lost her only child and sets out to discover the truth.

Mother and daughter must fight – for survival and to find their way through a dark web of lies and back to one another, before it’s too late…

Heart-stopping and addictive, FREEFALL is a stunning thriller that explores the deep and complex bond between mothers and daughters."

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This book is a pretty successful debut and follows the struggles for both Allison, who miraculously survived a plane crash, and her mum Maggie, who, along with everyone else, thinks she didn't.  Told from both the perspectives of Allison and Maggie, covering the past and the present, the story is not only of survival but one of the sometimes difficult relationship between a mother and her daughter.

Written at good pace, I raced through this book helped by short chapters.  I admit it wasn't the most unpredictable of endings however, the drip-drip of suspense and gradual revealing of secrets makes this a compelling read.

The two main characters of Allison and Maggie are very well developed with Maggie being a particular favourite of mine.  The story captures both of their strengths and weaknesses extremely well together with their determination and resilience.

There are a few flaws with the plot that have been mentioned in other reviews but although these were a little annoying, they didn't detract too much from my overall enjoyment of this book.

Overall, I would recommend this to people who enjoy an easy and quick mystery that doesn't tax the brain too much.

Thank you to Random House UK, Vintage Publishing via NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest review.

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A Beautiful Corpse (Harper McClain #2) by Christi Daugherty

Description from Goodreads:

"It’s a thin line between love and murder…

A murder that shocks a city…
Shots ring out on one of Savannah's most famous streets. A beautiful law student lies dead.

A case full of secrets and lies…
Three men close to the victim are questioned. All of them claim to love her. All of them say they are innocent of her murder.

An investigation that could prove deadly…
As crime reporter Harper McClain unravels a tangled story of obsession and jealousy, the killer focuses on her. He's already killed one woman. Will he kill another?"

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This is book two in the series but I haven't read the first and, to be honest, I don't think it mattered that much however, there is likely to be additional background to the main characters which I have missed out on and which will likely add to this story but I feel this can easily be read as a standalone.

Harper is a great lead female character; strong, courageous and feisty but with a vulnerability that makes her more convincing but all the characters are well developed and believable ... even the cat, Zuzu!

The main story line of the murder and subsequent investigation is great but the side-stories are equally as good and with the writing flowing with ease, this makes this an enjoyable and addictive read that I devoured in just over a day.

Definitely recommended reading for you readers out there who love a strong, female character, a great mystery, engaging investigation and some scenes of peril.

I am very much looking forward to the next instalment and hope that Ms Daugherty is locked away somewhere feverishly writing!

Thank you to HarperCollins UK, Harperfiction via NetGalley for my copy in return for my honest and unbiased opinion.

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A Nearly Normal Family by M.T. Edvardsson

Description from Goodreads:

"A Nearly Normal Family is the stunning psychological thriller from M. T. Edvardsson and asks what would you do if your child was suspected of murder, how far would you go to protect them? Do you want to know the truth? If you loved A. J. Finn’s The Woman in the Window or J. P. Delaney’s The Girl Before, you will love this.

Every murder case starts with a suspect.
What if the suspect is your daughter?
Would you believe her, or the evidence against her?

The Father
Believes his daughter has been framed.

The Mother
Believes she is hiding something.

The Daughter
Believes they have no idea what she’s truly capable of . . .

There are three sides to the story.
And the truth will shatter this family to pieces."

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I don't read a lot of legal/courtroom stories and even less so-called Scandi-Noir type books but, for some reason, the blurb caught me and drew me in and, overall, I was pretty satisfied with "A Nearly Normal Family".

The book centres around a seemingly perfect family (they are anything but!) and is separated into three sections each told from the perspective of a family member following the arrest of the daughter for the murder of a man; each of these sections provided insight into each of the characters and a different take on the situation they find themselves in.  What it also did was make this a slow burner with the tension mounting gradually towards the great ending which I found very satisfying.

I did have a couple of problems with this book though; one being that I couldn't connect with any of the main characters and struggled to empathise with any of them, the other being that I think there were times when things seem to have got lost in translation which made the story not flow quite as well as I was expecting.

Overall though a pretty good read and definitely worth the time I invested in reading it.

Thanks go to the good people of Pan Macmillan via NetGalley for my copy in return for an unbiased review.

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Hold Your Tongue (DI Eve Hunter #1) by Deborah Masson

Blurb taken from Goodreads:


"A brutal murder.

A young woman’s body is discovered with horrifying injuries, a recent newspaper cutting pinned to her clothing.

A detective with everything to prove.

This is her only chance to redeem herself.

A serial killer with nothing to lose.

He’s waited years, and his reign of terror has only just begun . . .

Introducing DI Eve Hunter, HOLD YOUR TONGUE is your new obsession."

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This is what I call a slow burner and a very creditable debut from this new British author.  It did take me a while to get into it and to get used to the writing style but once I did, I was hooked.

DI Eve Hunter is returning to work under a cloud after being injured in the line of duty which saw her colleague paralysed.  She walks into the gruesome murder of a young woman and so begins the hunt for a brutal killer by her and her team and so begins this dark, gruesome and gritty police procedural set in the Scottish city of Aberdeen.

Mainly written from Eve's perspective interspersed with sections from members of her team and those of the killer, this gave insight from all the important characters in this book.  The characters are well developed and believable with the relationships between Eve and the wider team excellently portrayed however, and this is my main criticism of this book, it took an awfully long time to get to the bottom of what happened with Eve and her colleague; you get snippets of the story here and there but, for me, this ended up annoying me slightly as I just wanted to know!  In my humble opinion, this should have been explained close to the beginning of the book (maybe in a prologue?) so that the actions and reactions of Eve and her fellow officers would have been better understood.

I must applaud the author for keeping the identity of the killer well hidden amongst several red herrings; I changed my mind about who the person was a couple of times and was still caught out when the reveal happened ... excellent twist.

Overall, although I did find the first half of the book a little slow, the second made up for it and I am very much looking forward to what I hope are more outings for DI Hunter and her team.

My thanks go to Random House UK, Transworld Publishers via NetGalley for an advance copy in return for an honest and unbiased review.

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Cold Granite (Logan McRae #1) by Stuart MacBride

Blurb taken from Goodreads:

"Stuart MacBride’s Number One bestselling crime series opens with this award-winning debut. DS Logan McRae and the police in Aberdeen hunt a child killer who stalks the frozen streets.

Winter in Aberdeen: murder, mayhem and terrible weather…

It’s DS Logan McRae’s first day back on the job after a year off on the sick, and it couldn’t get much worse. Three-year-old David Reid’s body is discovered in a ditch: strangled, mutilated and a long time dead. And he’s only the first. There’s a serial killer stalking the Granite City and the local media are baying for blood.

Soon the dead are piling up in the morgue almost as fast as the snow on the streets, and Logan knows time is running out. More children are going missing. More are going to die. And if Logan isn’t careful, he could end up joining them."

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Well, what can I say?  What a book this is ... there aren't enough superlatives to say how much I enjoyed it ... just brilliant and a must-read for any fans of crime novels.  This is the first in the Logan McRae series but I have read subsequent stories before this one and can confirm that it made no difference to my enjoyment of this book.

Now, I must warn you that this book deals with the disturbing and upsetting subject of child murders with the additional sub-plot of the murder of a gangster and there are graphic descriptions of the crime scenes so if you are of a nervous disposition or easily offended, I would probably steer clear of this particular one. 

The characters are strong, well developed, interesting and believable with authentic dialogue throughout and despite the dark subject matter, there are many moments of humour which made me chuckle on several occasions which helped to lighten things a little.  The setting of Aberdeen in the winter is perfect and creates further atmosphere.  The pace is non-stop with twists, turns and red-herrings throughout which certainly kept me on my toes and guessing until near the end.

Don't let this series pass you by ... highly recommended.

I have to thank HarperCollins UK via NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest review.

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