The Dinner Lady Detectives by Hannah Hendy

 

🌟🌟 Planned publication date - 18-November-2021 🌟🌟

Description from Goodreads:

"Margery and Clementine are enjoying a peaceful middle-age together in the small, idyllic town of Dewstow, and eagerly awaiting retirement from their work on the front line serving meals to the students at Summerview secondary school.

Their calm life is shattered when their kitchen manager is found dead in the school’s walk-in freezer. The police are adamant that it’s an open-and-shut case of accidental death. Margery and Clementine are convinced there’s something far more nefarious going on, and they take it upon themselves to investigate.

As they inch closer to the truth, it becomes clear that someone will stop at nothing to keep the pair quiet. Will the perpetrator get their just-desserts before their time runs out?"

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This is, in my humble opinion, a very successful debut and definitely a series that I am looking forward to keeping up with.  It is described as "a delightful, quintessentially British cosy mystery" and that's exactly what you get.

Margery and Clementine are dinner ladies, or to give them their official title 'Education Centre Nourishment Consultants' (really? is that what they're called now?!?!?!), and they are an absolute blast.  Their relationship absolutely shines through from start to finish, it's beautiful and very authentic feeling.  

Margery and Clementine smell a rat when one of their colleagues is found dead in the walk-in freezer of the school kitchen and so begins their unorthodox investigation into her death which results in all manner of escapades.  There are some very funny moments (the suspended school ceiling being a particular highlight for me 🤣🤣) amongst a great and engaging plot with excellent characters throughout.

I raced through this book desperate to find out what happened and how it was all going to come together and I wasn't disappointed in the slightest and I am pleased to read on the publisher website that they have acquired the rights to a three-book deal.  I think someone needs to snap this up and make a television series - I can so see Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders as Margery and Clem, in fact, that's who I was seeing in my head as I was reading it!  

Highly recommended for those of you who want a break from all the doom, gloom and violence in many crime fiction books and who don't mind a bit of dark humour.

Thank you so much Canelo and NetGalley for my advance copy in return for an honest, unbiased and unedited review.

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Nowhere To Run (DC Constance Fairchild #3) by James Oswald

 

🌟🌟 Planned publication date:  11-November-2021 🌟🌟

Description from the publisher:

"On compassionate leave following the death of her mother, Detective Constable Constance Fairchild thought renting a cottage near Aberystwyth, Wales would get her far enough from London to finally relax. But trouble always seems to find Con, and it’s not long before she is cooling off in a police station cell after defending herself from two would-be rapists.

In custody she meets a young Ukrainian woman, Lila, who confides in Con that she’s been forced by her manipulative boyfriend into prostitution and running drugs. Fearing for her life, she has run away from him, only to end up in the cells.

Con offers to help, but when her cottage is ransacked, and Lila subsequently disappears, she realises she’s stumbled into very dangerous company.  International drug smugglers and ruthless people traffickers – those who will stop at nothing to protect their secrets. Out here at the end of the line, will Con find that there’s nowhere left to run?"

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This is the third instalment in the Constance Fairchild series and yet another that doesn't disappoint.  You don't have to have read any of the other 2 books but I would suggest you do because it gives insight into Constance's story and you won't regret it.  Nowhere to Run provides some of the back story and history but it can only touch upon it otherwise it would be a tome!

I think I can safely say that I'm a fan of James Oswald's work and I particularly like his character DC Constance Fairchild, otherwise known as Con.  She is one tough cookie and this is shown in all its glory here.

It starts off pretty sedately with Con recuperating in an isolated cottage in Wales but, as is the case with Con, trouble seems to find her regardless of whether she is in the centre of London or in the middle of nowhere!  Here she is getting embroiled in a smuggling operation on the Welsh coastline - you just know from the very beginning that things aren't going to go well for Con but little do we know just how bad.

Once again, Mr Oswald creates fantastic characters even ones of the four legged variety; I absolutely loved Gelert the deerhound who embodies the phrase "[wo]man's best friend" and I guarantee you will want a Gelert in your life albeit without the flatulence!

With action from the start, numerous scenes of peril and suspense all wrapped up perfectly in a plot which mixes contemporary themes with Welsh folklore and a touch of the unexplained, this is a book that I have no hesitation in recommending.

Thank you Headline and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest, unbiased and unedited review.

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Other books by James Oswald I have read and reviewed:

No Time To Cry (DC Constance Fairchild #1)

Nothing to Hide (DC Constance Fairchild #2)

Cold as the Grave (Inspector McLean #9)

Bury Them Deep (Inspector McLean #10)

What Will Burn (Inspector McLean #11)

The Silent Suspect (Paige Northwood #3) by Nell Pattison

 

Description from Goodreads:

"A FIRE. A MURDER. A SILENT SUSPECT…

On a quiet street, one house is burning to the ground…

By the time sign language interpreter Paige Northwood arrives, flames have engulfed her client’s home. Though Lukas is safe, his wife is still inside. But she was dead before the fire started…

Lukas signs to Paige that he knows who killed his wife. But then he goes silent – even when the police charge him with murder.

Is he guilty, or afraid? Only Paige can help him now…"

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I have read the two previous books in this series and whilst they were good, I wasn't able to be overly enthusiastic.  Unfortunately, this is the same.

The story starts well but quickly becomes tedious and I found myself skimming large sections which is never a good sign.  The characters are not particularly likeable and I found Paige became increasingly annoying and don't even get me started on the so-called Social Worker who I found to be unprofessional and not like any Social Worker I have ever met.

I couldn't connect with the characters or the story at all, I didn't feel any tension or thrills and the final reveal was disappointing and, for me, predictable.  The only saving grace is the insight into the deaf community and the difficulties and barriers they face every day.

This book wasn't for me and I'm really sorry to say that I won't be reading more in this series but plenty of others have enjoyed it so give it a go if it sounds like your type of book.

I would like to thank Avon Books and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest, unbiased and unedited review.

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Other books by this author I have read and reviewed:

The Silent House (Paige Northwood #1)

Silent Night (Paige Northwood #2)

Kill Again (Claire Waters #2) by Neal Baer; Jonathan Greene

 

Description from Goodreads:

"Haunted by a brutal childhood, Dr. Claire Waters finds solace in helping other survivors of abuse. Her favorite patient, Rosa Sanchez, is finally getting her life together after being victimized for years. So it's a shock when Rosa is handcuffed and led away by a man Claire assumes is law enforcement. But as she soon realizes, Rosa has been abducted.

Stunned, Claire turns to her friend Nick Lawler, a homicide detective in the NYPD. Relegated to desk work because of his failing eyesight, Nick will have to risk his career to find Rosa—and track down a deranged criminal who reduces his victims to nothing but bones. A brilliant gamesman obsessed with order and perfection, scrawling words and phrases across the walls of his basement apartment, the killer has been preparing for this moment all of his life—when every letter is in place, every piece is in play—and the object of his obsession, Dr. Claire Waters, is in the game. Win, lose, or die..."

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I have had this book on my to-be-read pile for years and I don't know why I waited so long to read it because I was gripped from the start.  I haven't read the first in the series but this didn't cause a problem at all and certainly didn't detract from my reading experience.

I love the two main characters, Claire and Nick.  They are interesting, flawed and totally believable.  The pace is great and it's one of those books where you say "just one more chapter!" and before you know it, it's way past your bed time.  The plot was gripping and I didn't guess who the killer was until the end when everything came together and finished satisfactorily for me.

It's a shame there haven't been any more books in this series - well none that I can find - because I would definitely read them however, I would recommend this to anyone who loves a good serial killer thriller and my thanks to Kensington Books and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest, unbiased and unedited review. 

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The Captive by Deborah O'Connor

 

Description from Goodreads:

"Hannah knows the cage intimately. Small, the size of a shopping mall parking space. A bed, a basin, a table and chair. A hatch and metal drawer through which to exchange food and other items.

Then there's him. Always there on the edges of her vision, no matter how hard she tries to block him out.

Every day, the same thoughts run through Hannah's mind:

What if he speaks to me?

What if he hurts me?

What if he gets out?"

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With its unique and interesting plot, this is a book that I really enjoyed.

I haven't read anything by this author before but the blurb reeled me in.  I can't even imagine the horror of having to look after a person who has been convicted of a crime against you.  You have to look after that person in your own home - would I be able to do that?  This book certainly makes you think about it but this is the reality for the main character in this book, Hannah.

Her husband was murdered and Jem has been found guilty; he is now housed in a cell in her kitchen and Hannah is having to face this man every day whilst trying to come to terms with her loss and grief.  Hannah is desperate to keep the memories of her husband alive but as she discovers more, he doesn't appear to be the man she knew and loved and when Jem professes his innocence - well he would wouldn't he - more doubts creep in and Hannah finds herself in a very difficult position.

Written from the perspectives of Hannah and Jem, this is a story that just keeps giving.  There are some great twists and you never really know what's going to happen until the end.

This is an author I will definitely look out for in the future and my thanks go to Bonnier Books UK and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest, unbiased and unedited review.

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