These are books sourced from either my local library on Hoopla or Kindle Freebies.
Cold Killing was a title I saw on a blog and found on Hoopla so I picked it up. This was a kind of a spin on the tortured detective in that DI Sean Corrigan had a horrific childhood, however he managed to overcome it and is not the trainwreck cop that we so often see with severe drug/alcohol/violence issues. He is married and just uses his experiences and insights into the deviant mind to solve cases. In this first outing in the series, he is tracking a serial killer even when others don’t really see the connections.
This was well written and plotted. A dark psychological thriller with a strongly developed character in Sean Corrigan at the head of it. I would read another in this series.
Where the Truth Lies is also the first in a new series, the DI Ridpath series. In the series opener, DI Ridpath is returning to duty from fighting a serious bout of cancer. The issue is that even though he is a good officer, they don’t really want him back since he collapsed on duty. In an attempt to shuffle him out they place him in the Coroner’s office. He is responsible now for performing the investigations for the coroner. This was really interesting to see the difference between what the concerns are from a coroner’s perspective and from the police perspective in investigating death. I found this a great read even though it was a little gruesome, with some torture scenes. I will definitely read another.
Crime in the Choir is the first book in the series but the second one of these I’ve read. I believe that I read one as a book club read, but I’m not absolutely certain. The book surrounds a boy’s choir school and the discovery of two bodies during a dig. The bodies are found to be of students who disappeared twenty years ago. As the investigation proceeds, this develops as a solid police procedural, but it is also quite scary with a nicely drawn sense of menace about the setting . I was drawn in to the plight of Nat and Julian and definitely felt the need for urgency pushing me to turn the pages. Good read!
Carrot Cake Murder is book 10 in Joanne Fluke’s long running Hannah Swenson series. I love the characters and the town. They just feel like friends. I will say I stopped reading the series for a little bit because the love triangle felt a little mean to me, but I understand from people who are up to date on it that it resolved so I am now continuing. This book did not disappoint for what I expect from the series. Hannah stumbles, literally, on the body of a man who had recently returned to town. She investigates, as do her love interests. As always there is lovely food to eat and bake. All ends well in Lake Eden!
The Dentist is this month’s read over at the Kindle English Mystery Book Club. This was also a free Kindle book, at least when I purchased it. A man’s body is found. Initially, the thought it is that it will be difficult to solve as it seems to be “homeless on homeless” crime. But some things do not seem to add up, expensive dental work, special contacts, etc. Eventually, as the investigation unfolds connections are made to the past and there seem to be many paths to take to find out who the killer was and why they killed.
Much is made here of the detective, DS George Cross, as he is on the autism spectrum and has many traits that are discussed sometimes negatively and are key to his crime solving during the novel. There are so many detective novels with the detective exhibiting autism traits that I am not entirely sure how I feel about it. I have read many from The Curious Incident… a while ago, to just last week Some Choose Darkness . I’ve enjoyed the writing and the plots. I just wonder at times how autistic individuals feel about this plethora of fiction depicting them all as these crime solving savants. Anyway food for thought:
The Angry Grey Cat Reads 