The Crossing by Matt Brolly

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This is a straight-forward police procedural set in the coastal town of Weston-Super-Mare. DI Louise Blackwell has been transferred following the shooting of an unarmed man during a police raid. After a dead woman is found on the beach, Louise gets her first chance to take charge of an investigation in her new posting. Still trying to figure out her team and her boss, her life is complicated by anonymous text messages that she believes are coming from her former partner who seems to want her thoroughly discredited.

It took me a while to get into this book, and I originally put it down about a third of the way through. After a break, I picked it back up and got hooked by the story. In short, I enjoyed the last two-thirds of the book more than the beginning. I’m willing to give DI Blackwell another go when she reappears in book 2.

Thanks to Amazon Publishing and NetGalley for access to a digital ARC.



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The K Team

The K Team by David Rosenfelt

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I admit that I was drawn to this book because of the cover and my recent infatuation with K-9 mysteries (Paula Munier’s Mercy Carr, Margaret Mizushima’s Timber Creek series, Susan Furlong’s Bone Gap Travelers series). While Simon Garfunkel, the shepherd on the cover, is a key part of the K Team, this book isn’t really about the dog. This book is a spin-off of Rosenfelt’s Andy Carpenter series and focuses on a small group of private investigators that includes Andy’s wife Laurie, a retired cop, and Corey Douglas and his dog Simon, also retired cops.

Corey is the main narrator of the book (which occasionally switches over to a third person narrator when it’s necessary to give the reader additional information) that begins when the K Team is hired to figure out who’s blackmailing a judge. A far-ranging conspiracy is investigated and the story provides enough twists and turns to keep you guessing. Good read with engaging characters.

I received a digital ARC via NetGalley.

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A Body in the Bookshop

A Body in the Bookshop by Helen Cox

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This is the second book in the Kitt Hartley series, but it works as a stand-alone (I haven’t read the first book, but I had little difficulty in picking up the threads of the characters). I found Kitt’s friend, Evie, to be the more compelling character which is good as the book is centered on her. Evie has been left physically scarred after the events in the prior story, and spends time re-considering who she actually is. She is outraged to hear that DS Charlotte Banks has been suspended on charges of police brutality and she makes it her mission to set things right. Some interesting twists and turns and an enjoyable read. I hope that Evie continues to grow and perhaps she can take center stage in future books as well.

I received a digital ARC via NetGalley.



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