Perfect Kill - Helen Fields

He had never heard himself scream before. It was terrifying.

Alone, trapped in the darkness and with no way out, Bart Campbell knows that his chances of being found alive are slim.

Drugged and kidnapped, the realisation soon dawns that he’s been locked inside a shipping container far from his Edinburgh home. But what Bart doesn’t yet know is that he’s now heading for France where his unspeakable fate is already sealed…

DCI Ava Turner and DI Luc Callanach are working on separate cases that soon collide as it becomes clear that the men and women being shipped to France are being traded for women trafficked into Scotland.

With so many lives at stake, they face an impossible task – but there’s no option of failure when Bart and so many others will soon be dead…

Perfect Kill is the sixth installment in the Callanach & Turner series, and one that I was very much looking forward to. Luc Callanach, half-French & half-Scotland with model good looks and a tarnished reputation, and Ava Turner, Scottish to the bone, privately educated, and loyal to a fault, are the dream team in the Edinburgh police force. They work incredibly well together, and their strengths complement each other to the point where if you're a criminal in their neck of the woods? Look out because they will find you...

The dynamic this time around is different though. Luc is back in his beloved France working on secondment with Interpol, whilst Ava remains in Scotland, working on what seem to be very different cases. At the end of the last book their 'will they won't they' situation was still very much in play. It's obvious to all, including themselves, that there is something between them but whether there will ever be a time for them to act on it remains to be seen. Ava is trying hard to put emotional distance between them, even sleeping with someone else, but when hit by some very hard news about her oldest and closest friend, it's Luc she turns to.

Perfect Kill is quite possibly the perfect crime novel. Illegal organ harvesting, human trafficking, inhumane 'races', kidnap, and prostitution, all of these are written with minute detail, and Helen Field doesn't hold back with the quite often graphic descriptions of these crimes. The research into these storylines shows clearly in Ms. Field's writing, and this combined with knowing that these are all things happening in the world today is what makes Perfect Kill a compelling and addictive read. 

Perfect Kill may be the sixth book in the series, but it works well on its own, and you don't need to have read the other books in the series. However, if you don't start with Perfect Remains and work your way through the rest you are missing out on some great writing, wonderful character development, and one of the best investigative teams I've read for a long time! More Callanach & Turner please, Helen Fields!

                                              

Perfect Kill (Callanach & Turner #6) - Helen Fields

ISBN - 9780008275242

Publisher - Avon

Release Date - February 6th, 2020

Find - Goodreads | Book Depository | Kindle UK

Come Back For Me - Heidi Perks

A shocking discovery. An island wrapped in secrets. You can bury the body but the truth will always surface...

A tiny island community is stunned by the discovery of a long-buried body.

For Stella Harvey, the news is doubly shocking. The body has been found in the garden of her childhood home - the home her family fled without explanation twenty-five years ago.

Now, questioning her past and desperate to unearth the truth, Stella returns to the isolated island. But she quickly finds that the community she left isn’t as welcoming as she remembers – and that people in it will go to any length to protect their secrets. One thing rings true…You can’t bury the truth forever.

Now You See Her was one of my favorite reads last year so I was very much looking forward to Come Back For Me. The synopsis sounded amazing, a remote island and a gloriously happy childhood don't sound like the things of nightmares but who knows what happens behind closed doors.

Stella, aged eleven, has had an idyllic childhood on the small island of Evergreen, but suddenly she and her older siblings, Danny and Bonnie, are being dragged away from the only home Stella has ever known in the middle of the night. At the age of eleven, the only thing Stella is worried about is whether she'll see her best friend Jill again and how unfair it is that they have to leave.

Fast forward twenty-five years and Evergreen Island is on the news. A body has been found. Not only that but where it's been found is on the perimeter of Stella's beloved childhood home, The Quay House. Leaving the island has fractured her family, her mother has died, her father is remarried and suffering from dementia, her sister is a mother and an alcoholic, and her brother Danny disappeared not long after they moved to the mainland. What Stella wants to know though is who is the body, and just why did they leave in the middle of a storm all those years ago.

Stella, now a family counsellor, makes the rash decision to return to the island to see if she can find out more about the body and maybe discover the truth behind their abrupt departure from their former home. Bonnie thinks this is quite possibly the worst idea Stella has ever had but it's not long before she is proved right. Somebody doesn't want Stella back on the island and it could be anybody. Her mother's best friend, the older lady who Stella's mother treated as a mother figure herself - Annie, Freya - the journalist who grew up on the island, Iona - Bonnie's best friend that last summer, anybody on the island!

Come Back For Me is told from two different points in time, 1993 and the present. We get to see Stella's family while they still were all together, and the present where we slowly uncover everything that has happened. Threatening notes start arriving and Stella genuinely becomes terrified that someone wants to kill her. It would appear that somebody will go to any lengths to keep the past very much in the past and that if there's a scapegoat to take the blame for the body, that will suit their purposes.

The tension of Come Back For Me starts on the first page and grips you all the way through to the very end. Some may find the pacing too slow and that it takes too long to get to the heart of the mystery but this is what I loved about the story. I was hooked all the way through though, I started reading at about 11pm and didn't put the book down until well after sunrise. It's incredibly atmospheric and almost Gothic in tone, the isolated island setting certainly added to this feeling as did the weather and the gloominess of the situation. I started trying to guess what had happened and who the body was but was left reeling by all of the revelations. I've never been so wrong about why something happened!

Come Back For Me is a superb follow-up to Now You See Me and Heidi's writing has proved yet again that she's one to watch. It's wonderfully written and has one of the most compelling and unique storyline's I've read this year. I can't wait to see what's next as Come Back For Me is going to be hard to beat!

Huge thanks to Rachel Kennedy & Century for a copy of the book, in exchange for an unbiased review. If you would like to read Come Back For Me it's out in hardback today and also available as an eBook. Find my review on Amazon here as well!

Come Back For Me - Heidi Perks

Publisher - Century

Release date: eBook - June 1st, Hardback, July 11th, 2019

Find - Goodreads | Book Depository | Kindle UK

About The Author

Heidi Perks lives by the sea in Bournemouth with her husband and two children.
Heidi graduated from Bournemouth University with a BA (Hons) in Retail Management, and then enjoyed a career in Marketing before leaving in 2012 to focus on both bringing up her family and writing.
Heidi successfully applied for a place on the inaugural Curtis Brown Creative online Novel Writing Course and after that dedicated her time to completing her first novel, Beneath The Surface.
She has a huge interest in what makes people tick and loves to write about family relationships, especially where some of the characters are slightly dysfunctional. 
Her second novel, Now You See Her was published by Century, part of the Penguin Random House group in 2018 and became a Sunday Times Bestseller and Richard and Judy book club pick. 
Her third novel Come Back For Me is out July 2019 and she is now writing her fourth to be released in 2020. Follow Heidi on Twitter here!

A Good Girl's Guide To Murder - Holly Jackson

The case is closed. Five years ago, schoolgirl Andie Bell was murdered by Sal Singh. The police know he did it. Everyone in town knows he did it.

But having grown up in the same small town that was consumed by the murder, Pippa Fitz-Amobi isn't so sure. When she chooses the case as the topic for her final year project, she starts to uncover secrets that someone in town desperately wants to stay hidden. And if the real killer is still out there, how far will they go to keep Pip from the truth?

Oh. My. Goodness. Everybody knows how much I like my YA thrillers and I've read a lot of them over the past couple of years as they've gained in popularity but A Good Girl's Guide To Murder (GGG from here on out!) is one of the best. It's also a debut which makes its 'grab you by the throat and don't let go'-ness even more astounding! I've been incredibly lucky with my reading recently in that everything I've picked up has been good and I've read it in one go. GGG was no exception, I picked it up at about 9pm and finished it at 1.30am - that's how good it is! I literally could not put it down.

I was desperate to know who did it, was it really Salil 'Sal' Singh, the boyfriend? He confessed by text message shortly before killing himself so everyone has accepted that as the universal truth, if in doubt it's the boyfriend. Pippa Fitz-Amobi isn't convinced though so chooses this as her EPQ (Extended Project Qualification - equivalent to half an A Level) and sets about trying to discover what really happened to Andie Bell. Is it just me or does everyone immediately think of Erasure or Oasis when reading the name Andie Bell? Nope? Just me then...

Going against her advisor's warning not to contact the families involved Pip contacts Ravi Singh, Sal's younger brother, who is only too happy to help Pip with her investigation when he discovers that she thinks Sal might be innocent. Pip's best friend's sister was best friends with Sal so Pip feels invested in finding the truth if only to help Sal's family but there's definitely more to this case than meets the eye. Pip and Ravi are soon totally immersed in chasing down leads, interviewing people, and generally sticking their noses into places where they really shouldn't. Pip starts to receive threats by text message telling her to drop the investigation but of course, she's not going to. It's only when tragedy strikes that she stops what she's doing to try and keep her family and friends safe.

GGG is a rollercoaster of a thriller and I tell you now, there's no point trying to guess who did it if Sal didn't. There's misdirection on every page and you're never quite sure who's telling the truth and who's not. Pip starts to doubt everything and everybody, especially as her investigation starts leading her down a dangerous path. The story switches between third person and Pip's coursework documenting her finds. There are EPQ forms, maps, drawings, and interviews with people Pip thinks know the truth, all of which add to the page-turning power of GGG and make it an even more compulsive read. It has the perfect amount of moments that will make you gasp and at times you will want to yell at Pip for putting herself in danger, it will make you laugh out loud, and it will make you cry - well, it made me cry anyway...

If you're a fan of Serial, Veronica Mars and YA thrillers then A Good Girl's Guide to Murder is well worth investing your time in. My only doubt about it is, if GGG is this good as a debut then how on earth is Holly Jackson going to improve in her next novel?

A Good Girl's Guide To Murder - Holly Jackson

ISBN - 9781405293181

Publisher - Electric Monkey

Release date - May 2nd, 2019

Source - bought in bookshop

Find - Goodreads | Book Depository | Hive UK

Blog Tour Extract: Your Guilty Secret - Rebecca Thornton

You know Lara King. 

The top billing of the showbiz pages, you've seen her every morning; over your breakfast, on your commute to work. You know everything about her; you've dissected her life. 

Her perfect relationship with film-star Matthew Raine. Her beautiful six-year-old daughter Ava. 

And so when a terrible incident shatters the family's carefully constructed facade, a media frenzy ensues. 

What happens when the perfect woman begins to unravel? When her whole life is really just a lie? One she will do anything she can to stop you from finding out?

This story is . . .

YOUR GUILTY SECRET. 

Your Guilty Secret - Rebecca Thornton

ISBN - 9781785760754

Publisher - Bonnier Zaffre

Find - Goodreads | Book Depository | Kindle UK |

Extract 

August 26th, 2018

1530hrs

What would you do if your child disappeared into thin air? I mean, what would you really do?

You might pound the pavements screaming their name, breath sour with fear. Air escapes you.

And when you get home, escorted by the police, you might fall into the arms of your husband or wife or a member of your family. Slamming your fists into their chests, your knees drop ping to the ground. Pleading. With who, you don't really know. And then with a renewed vigour and a sense of hope, you'd go out again. Back to where your child disappeared. You'd watch as the police knocked on surrounding doors and took witness notes and because you were there, in the action, you might feel you were doing something. Anything.

You might consider me for a minute when I tell you that my child has disappeared, yet despite the world's gaze on me, I have absolutely no control over where I look for her. I cannot open the front door to our home in The Hidden Hills. I cannot press the pattern of small, shiny gold buttons that remotely open the huge iron gates, with the hand-carved wooden sign on it. Los Palisades. I cannot use my thumbprint to access the extra security we had installed.

If I could, I might for a moment sweep my gaze across the lawns for any sign of her - my eye line darting in and around the uniformly cut grass, the luscious, rare rose blooms spilling down from the clean lines of our house - even though we were miles from where she disappeared. I'd still glance over to the pool - as I always did. A habit I'd been unable to relinquish from before she'd learned to swim. The clench of my stomach just until I reassured myself, two or three times over, that there was no small body, face down in the softly lapping turquoise water.

I would then race down our cobbled drive, lined with newly buffed cars. I'd curse the palm trees forcing me to weave my way around their silvery trunks. I'd ignore the burn of my lungs. The way my legs would barely be able to hold me up. I'd run, purely because I'd be incapable of driving. Or perhaps it would kick start my senses afresh. And I'd try and think back to where it had all started, my throat swollen with the catch of my breath.

I'd try and revisit that moment we'd left the house, water bottles under our arms. Me, in workout gear despite having no intention to exercise. Her in a navy sundress embroidered rabbits across the collar. Silver Superga trainers. Her face tilted up to mine, scrunched up against the sun.

“Treat day, she'd said. Can you believe it? Just you and me.'

I'd think about this as I tried to remember, left or right? Which way had I manoeuvred the car?

Had I thought about the paps as I normally did when we left the house? Had I planned my whole route along the back streets, where they might not be lurking, eyes scanning for my number plate? The way their lenses followed me, like snipers. Or had I just driven aimlessly, enjoying the day panning out ahead of us, with nothing to do. No one to see. Just me and my daughter. But I can't remember the ins and outs of my thoughts from this morning. If I had known what was going to happen, I'd have taken more care to engage with my inner monologue. To remember the way I'd felt a little impatient as Ava had kicked at the tyres of our car before she'd climbed into the back seat. The slight twist of her front tooth as it pushed its way through her gums. I'd have looked carefully at the way her body was formed. The soft roundness of her stomach. The fine, blonde hairs travel ling down her tanned arms.

But of course, I never thought that today would end up like this. I do, at other times. Think the worst. Catastrophise. But there was something so perfect about the way today had been panning out. Just me and her. A special treat. Ice cream. It was the first day in a long while I'd felt able to breathe.

That in itself should have been the first sign of things to come.

It was Detective Mcgraw who sat me down in the police station and told me that he was driving me straight home and that I had to stay indoors. Those green eyes of his, continuously locked onto one focal point a fraction above my right shoulder. White face, a fine tracing of freckles smudged across his top lip.

'I need to be out there though. Looking for her. She's my daughter. Please. There must be a way?'

'I know. And I'm sorry. We can't risk hampering the investigation. Thousands of people are out there, looking. And so we need you to stay inside your house.'

I knew he was right. That it was for the best. You see, I wanted you to be looking for her, without distraction. Surely I had learned by now – stay out of view in times of trouble. After all, a

wrongly placed smile, a casual lift of my eyebrow could set you off, and that's not what I need right now. I'm getting ahead of myself. I suppose I should tell you the things that happened less than six hours earlier. Just after we had pulled out of our drive, sun beating down through the windscreen.

I'll tell you as much as I can remember. The same details I told Detective Mcgraw in my oak-panelled study after he'd told me they'd taken my computer and mobile phone. We'd sat, me at my desk with my leather in-trays and stationery drawers all in straight lines in front of me. He was opposite me, in an ergonomic swivel chair that kept twisting from underneath him.

'I'd planned a special day out, I told him. "Just us. It's such... It was such a beautiful day, the words spill out my mouth.

'Any reason for the outing? An occasion, perhaps?'

'Yes. It was my way of saying thank you. For the way Ava behaved for the announcement. Did you see it?'

'I read about it.'

'She had been so good, I continued. 'So I told her that I'd take her out.'

And then what? We've pieced together as much as we can of your journey, mapping the CCTV footage. You hadn't pinned any of your locations on your public social media accounts. Any private ones we need to know about?'

'No.' ‘OK. If you could tell me what happened this morning, then?'

“At nine forty-five this morning we drove to Laurel Canyon. To go for a walk. On the way there, Ava grew tired. She lay down."

Bitter Edge - Rachel Lynch

DI Kelly Porter is back, but so is an old foe and this time he won’t back down...

When a teenage girl flings herself off a cliff in pursuit of a gruesome death, DI Kelly Porter is left asking why. Ruled a suicide, there’s no official reason for Kelly to chase answers, but as several of her team’s cases converge on the girl’s school, a new, darker story emerges. One which will bring Kelly face-to-face with an old foe determined to take back what is rightfully his – no matter the cost.

Mired in her pursuit of justice for the growing list of victims, Kelly finds security in Johnny, her family and the father she has only just discovered. But just as she draws close to unearthing the dark truth at the heart of her investigation, a single moment on a cold winter’s night shatters the notion that anything in Kelly’s world can ever truly be safe.

Rachel Lynch is slowly working her way up my list of favorite authors. This is the 4th book in the Kelly Porter series, the 4th one I've read, and the 4th one I've reviewed! I'll link to the others either during or after my review.

Once again, several seemingly separate strands are woven together, forming one fantastically written story. Bitter Edge opens with Kelly living in her new home, her relationship with Johnny from Mountain rescue progressing well (even with the addition of his teenage daughter), her sister has taken a back seat despite all her issues, and Kelly's mother is desperately ill but doing her best to hide it. Certain revelations were made at the end of the last book, Dead End, which Kelly is still unsure how to deal with. As it involves someone she works with she's finding it harder than usual to keep her personal and work relationships separate.

The story starts with a teenage runner committing suicide, Kelly is not convinced and wants it to be murder but the postmortem conclusively proves it was suicide. There's also a situation with a teacher at the dead girl's former school, another missing pupil whose friends may or may not be more involved than they're willing to admit to, and the unwelcome reappearance of a character from a previous story.

As always, the spectre of the Lakes is always hanging over everything and everyone, it may be a delightful place in summer and a fabulous place to visit, but it has its dark side as Kelly and her team know all too well. The fact that it's Christmas and it's snowing adds to the urgency to find the missing girl, time is really running short and it's up to the team at Eden House to solve the all the strands of this once simple case. Thanks to DI Porter's tenacity she doesn't give up on the fact there were also two other suicides at the Derwent Academy and pushes hard to uncover just exactly is going on with the teenagers involved in the case of missing Faith, the connection to the teacher currently suspended and under investigation for child pornography, the kidnapping of a toddler, and the return of a very unpleasant chap who everyone thought had disappeared for good.

Bitter Edge makes excellent use of the very current cyber-bullying of young people and the pressure to conform thanks to sites like Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook. It's more hard-hitting than the previous books but no less readable. In fact, it was harder to put down than my previous favorite in the series, Deep End, and I was absorbed from start to finish. I had no clue how things tied together until an extremely large hint was dropped and from then on it was so easy to see how it worked. Well done to Rachel for writing another fabulous page-turner and I'm now sitting here (im)patiently waiting for the next installment!!!

Previous books in the series -

Dark Game
Deep Fear
Dead End

Bitter Edge (DI Kelly Porter #4) - Rachel Lynch

Publisher - Canelo 

Release date - February 25th, 2019

Find - Goodreads | Amazon UK 

About The Author

Rachel Lynch grew up in Cumbria and the lakes and fells are never far away from her. London pulled her away to teach History and marry an Army Officer, whom she followed around the globe for thirteen years. A change of career after children led to personal training and sports therapy, but writing was always the overwhelming force driving the future. The human capacity for compassion as well as its descent into the brutal and murky world of crime are fundamental to her work.

Find Rachel on Twitter