The Second Girl by David Swinson

Frank Marr used to be a great cop, but his drug habit got in the way and made him dirty. Now he is one of the best Private Investigators in Washington DC. Liked by most of the cops he used to work with - they don't know about his secret drug habit, they only know he was a great cop and friend who retired early from the force - and feared by criminals.

While breaking into a drug house to steal drugs, Frank rescues a captive teenage girl and becomes an instant hero. His police friends are clapping him on the back, and now Frank has been hired to find a second missing teenage girl by her distraught family.

I really liked Frank, although I felt I shouldn't like him at all. His drug habit, his violence towards those of the criminal fraternity who cross his path, all make me feel that I shouldn't like him, but despite all that Frank Marr is a decent guy, scarred by an unhappy childhood, and with a weakness he doesn't seem to want to do anything about fixing, deep down he is a gentle, caring guy.

The Second Girl is a fantastic crime thriller. Different, and with a deeply flawed protagonist, I loved this book and could not put it down. At times the drug use can be distracting and the mind boggles as to how Frank can function as he does. I found myself fearing for his future, and hoping that author David Swinson gives us more of Frank Marr in a second, and even though i know i'm being greedy, a third book! Because I don't want to leave Frank here, I want his story to go on, I need to know that he will be ok, but I can't see how his destructive way of life will not catch up with him soon, as really it should.

If you like your detectives flawed, and your crime gritty, this is the book for you. I can't wait to read more by David Swinson. I hope he will give us more Frank Marr, but whatever his next book is about, I will be at the top of the queue come publication day!

My thanks to Mulholland books for providing me with a free pb copy of this wonderful book via bookbridgr.com

Audio Book Review: Lady Justice Takes A. C.R.A.P. by Robert Thornhill

 Walter Williams is a 65 year old retired real estate agent, who may be tired of real estate, but he's not ready to sit in his rocking chair just yet. Unbelievably Walt decides to start a second career as a police officer and against all the odds he succeeds.

As a police officer Walt has loads of adventures, he goes under cover in a strip club, catches a murderer etc. There is lots of humor in this 'cozy' tale, the humor being of the 'men's locker room' type, with lots of references to male and female body parts, love making in old age, you get the picture. Much of it is witty, but a whole lot of it I just found crude. Maybe it's because I was listening to this book on audio, I don't know. There were lots of enjoyable moments, smiley moments and laugh out loud moments too, but much of it was also not to my taste and those moments over shadowed what otherwise would have been an enjoyable witty tale. Aside from my particular taste in humor, I thought the writing was excellent, the characters interesting.

As I said, I listened to this book on audio, and the narrator George Kuch, was a treat. He really captured the character of Walt for me and made him come alive in my mind. He was fabulous.

"I was provided this audio book at no charge by the author in exchange for an unbiased review via AudiobookBoom dot com".

 

Interview with Steven Amsterdam

Check out my interview with author Steven Amsterdam on nudge-book.com
Steven is the author of The Easy Way Out, and this his latest novel is about
assisted suicide, a very controversial subject.

http://nudge-book.com/blog/2016/11/amr-steven-amsterdam-and-teresa-ohalloran-in-our-author-meets-reviewer-series/

All thanks go to nudge-book.com for facillitating this interview.

Audio Book Review: A Campy Christmas by Karen Musser Nortman

After an unexpected change of plan, Frannie and Larry Shoemaker join the Ferraros on a camping trip for the Christmas holiday. Unfortunately they all get caught up in a snowstorm and find themselves stranded, with no electricity and no phone coverage. How are they going to get out of this difficult situation? And just who made those footprints in the snow?

This was a charming novella and I listened to the audio edition. I believe it is also available in print form and e-book. It is #6 in the Frannie Shoemaker Campground Mysteries Series, and the first one I have read.

This is a wonderful way to while away an afternoon. What could be better than curled up by the fire with a cup of coffee, and listen to the Shoemakers and Ferraros struggle through a snowstorm! I really enjoyed myself, and will certainly check out the rest of the series. I was a little disappointed that there was no real mystery here, and certainly no body count, and I believe it was tamer than the other books in the series. Perhaps because this was a Christmas story it was a tad mild in the mystery stakes.

This audio version was narrated by Michelle Babb, and she did an excellent job of bringing the book alive for me.

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

Her Darkest Nightmare by Brenda Novak

Dr Evelyn Talbot was held captive by her psychopathic boyfriend Jasper, when she was sixteen. He raped and tortured her for three days. He also did the same to her three best friends, the only difference - Evelyn lived to tell her horrific story, her three friends didn't. Jasper was never caught, and Evelyn went on to study psychiatry and became among the top in her field.

Evelyn went on to establish Hanover House, a mental health facility for psychopaths, the first of its kind. Here at Hanover House, buried in the heart of Alaska, Evelyn hopes to study a prison full of psychopaths, to discover what makes them tick, why they do the terrible things they do, and how to stop them. But then a woman is found horribly mutilated and the hunt for a murderer is on.

The first half of this book was slow for me. There was a lot of romance, and racy love scenes which are not what I look for in a book. Evelyn annoyed me because she was so beautiful, every man good or bad wanted to take her to bed. The state trooper was impossibly handsome, and all the women drooled over him. Once I managed to get past this though, and the more the plot deepened and the excitement built, I really began to enjoy this book, and really tried to figure out who the murderer was, and believe me, there are a lot of red herrings here.

I loved the setting. Alaska in the middle of a bitter winter. Where the roads are impassable unless you drive a snowplough, and where there is only one law officer, despite a prison full of psychopaths just outside the town. This all added to a really creepy atmosphere.

At the beginning of every chapter we are presented with a quote from a real, true life serial killer, in which they explained or attempted to explain, how they felt, why they did what they did, essentially, what makes them tick. I really didn't like those quotes, and I wish they had been left out. Why should they be given a platform to tell us how or why they did what they did and how it made them feel. I don't want to know. I found their words deeply disturbing.

On the whole this was a good book. It came at things from a different angle to the usual thriller. This is the first in a series with Dr Evelyn Talbot at the helm. Before this book there is an e-novella, Hanover House and it might be a good idea to read it first if you can. I hadn't realized this and wondered why the characters would hint back to previous events the summer before which had obviously been covered in the novella, and I would have liked to have read it first.

Thank you to the publisher Headline via bookbridgr for my paperback copy of this book.

Audio Book Review: Silent Night, Deadly Night by Richard L. Mabry MD (Narrated by Meghan Kelly)

I don't listen to audio books very often, and after listening to Silent Night, Deadly Night by Richard Mabry MD, i'm converted!

A woman's body has been found buried in the snow. Did Ina Bell Patrick die of natural causes or was she murdered? The victim had no immediate family, so her niece Laura and two nephews Robert and Zac stand to inherit. Meanwhile the police soon realize they are looking for a killer. A killer who may not have stopped at Ina Bell, but may now be trying to eliminate those who stand to gain most from her death.

I loved this novella. This was my first time to read one of Richard Mabry MD's thrillers, and I will definitely be reading more from now on. His descriptions particularly of medical matters were really interesting, and helped to bring plenty of tension and suspense to the story. Just when I thought I knew the killer, something happened that caused me to rethink my suspicions!

As I listened to this novella on audio, I found the narrator Meghan Kelly to be excellent at articulating the story and projecting just the right atmosphere, really bringing the characters alive for me.

I would like to thank the author Richard Mabry MD for my audio copy of this book via Audiobook-Boom and Audible.com.

The Girl in the Ice by Robert Bryndza

The body of a beautiful young socialite has been found beneath the ice in a South London park by a young man following the sound of a ringing iPhone. DCI Erika Foster has been called in to head the murder investigation after the body has been identified as that of Andrea Douglas-Brown whose father is thee Sir Simon Douglas-Brown, millionaire business man and member of the House of Lords.

Erika believes Andrea had many secrets, and it is those secrets that will hold the key to her murder, but she finds her investigation into Andrea's private life is a no-go area as far as her superiors and Andrea's father are concerned. However, Erika is not one to allow convention or internal police politics to hold her back, and she soon finds herself suspended from duty and removed from the investigation, just as she is beginning to get somewhere. Erika believes the person responsible for Andrea's murder has killed before and they should now be hunting a vicious and dangerous serial killer. The question is, will Erika be his next victim?

This was a brilliant book. I was gripped from start to finish and even found myself resenting those moments where I had to do mundane things like sleep, when I really wanted to read this book!

In Erika Foster, Robert Bryndza has found the perfect protagonist. Feisty, spirited, and troubled Erika will do whatever it takes to fight evil and bring the guilty to justice. I just loved her, and her police colleagues.

I came to this book late, but i'm really delighted about that because it means I will soon be reading books two and three in the series and which I already have waiting for me on my Kindle. 'The Night Stalker' and 'Dark Water', so i'm a lucky girl! And if they are half as good as 'The Girl in the Ice', I am in my element.

Many thanks to the publishers Bookouture for this arc, via NetGalley.