Review: REDEMPTION POINT, Candice Fox

• this edition published in Bantam 2018
• ISBN 978-0-14378-188-2
• 410 pages
• Author website

Synopsis (Author website)

When former police detective Ted Conkaffey was wrongly accused of abducting 13-year-old Claire Bingley, he hoped the Queensland rainforest town of Crimson Lake would be a good place to disappear. But nowhere is safe from Claire’s devastated father.

Dale Bingley has a brutal revenge plan all worked out – and if Ted doesn’t help find the real abductor, he’ll be its first casualty.

Meanwhile, in a dark roadside hovel called the Barking Frog Inn, the bodies of two young bartenders lie on the beer-sodden floor. It’s Detective Inspector Pip Sweeney’s first homicide investigation – complicated by the arrival of private detective Amanda Pharrell to ‘assist’ on the case. Amanda’s conviction for murder a decade ago has left her with some odd behavioural traits, top-to-toe tatts – and a keen eye for killers . . .

For Ted and Amanda, the hunt for the truth will draw them into a violent dance with evil. Redemption is certainly on the cards – but it may well cost them their lives . . .

My take

This is a sequel to the earlier book CRIMSON LAKE when Ted Conkaffey and Amanda Pharrell first joined in partnership, so I would really recommend reading the two books in order.

Ted is still determined to track down the man who abducted Claire Bingley and so caused Ted's dismissal from the police force, his marriage break up, and his estrangement from his small daughter.  But media interest in Ted's story is still high and he is approached to appear on an Australia -wide television show, ostensibly to give his side of the story. A podcast is keeping Justice for Ted alive as its central theme.

Ted and Amanda are asked to work with local police and the inexperienced DI Sweeney to work out who murdered the bartenders at the Barking Frog Inn.

There are several "voices" telling the story in this novel - Ted's, Amanda's, Pip Sweeney's, and a diary which has been begun as a therapy journal. The identity of the writer does not become obvious until the novel is well underway.

My rating: 4.7

I've also read
5.0, HADES 
4.3, EDEN
4.6, CRIMSON LAKE

Review: Inspector Morse: BBC Radio Drama Collection - audio book

Narrated by: John Shrapnel, Robert Glenister

Length: 4 hrs and 38 mins

Radio/TV Program

Release date: 03-01-18

Language: English

Publisher: BBC Digital Audio 

source: Audible.com 

Synopsis (Audible)

Three BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisations starring John Shrapnel as Morse and Robert Glenister as Lewis, plus a bonus reading by Colin Dexter of one of his short stories.

In Last Seen Wearing, Inspector Morse is reluctant to take over an old missing person case from a dead colleague. But two years, three months and two days after teenager Valerie Taylor's disappearance, somebody decides to supply some surprising new evidence....

In The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn, Inspector Morse tackles the murder of an exam invigilator. The newly appointed member of the Oxford foreign exam syndicate was deaf, and he wasn't from the insular world of the Oxford colleges. Now he is dead.

After he's rushed into hospital, Inspector Morse becomes intrigued by an old crime in The Wench Is Dead. Could the wrong men have been hanged for the murder of Joanna Franks?

Plus Colin Dexter reads his own short story, 'The Double Crossing', in which it is a good first day for a certain detective named Lewis.
Gripping, suspenseful and entertaining, these BBC dramatisations were adapted by Guy Meredith from the original Inspector Morse novels by Colin Dexter.

My take

Just the thing for shortish journeys - each play takes about 80 minutes. Getting used to John Shrapnel playing Morse instead of John Thaw takes a bit of time as does Robert Glenister playing Lewis.

I initially found the sound a bit patchy but it worked ok once I realised I had to have volume right up so I caught what was happening with minor scenes and some of the minor characters.

The quality of Dexter's writing and characterisations  comes through well, even those these are obviously abridged versions of the original novels.

I had in fact read most of the Dexter novels before beginning this blog.

Recommended.

My rating: 4.3

I've also read the following by Colin Dexter

Review: THE GUILTY WIFE, Elle Croft

• this edition published by Orion Books 2018
• ISBN 978-1-4091-7541-4
• 309 pages
• source: my local library

Synopsis (Good Reads)

WIFE. MISTRESS. MURDERER.

If you were being framed for murder, how far would you go to clear your name?

I'm not guilty of murder.

Bethany Reston is happily married. But she's also having an affair with a famous client.

And no one can ever know.

But that doesn't make me innocent.

When Bethany's lover is brutally murdered, she has to hide her grief from everyone.

But someone knows her secret. And then one day the threats begin.

With an ever-growing pile of evidence pointing to her as the murderer, the only way she can protect her secrets is to prove her innocence. And that means tracking down a killer.

An incredibly taut, tense game of cat and mouse - with a twist you'll never see coming.

My Take

The blurb is certainly right when it says there is a twist in the end that most readers will never see coming. After her lover is murdered someone is certainly determined to prove Bethany is guilty - but, you constantly ask yourself, who would hate her that much? They leave notes, hack into her FaceBook account, publish incriminating pictures.

The tension builds very effectively. The police are blindsided by the so-called evidence, and in the long run Bethany is really a very poor judge of character.

My Rating: 4.4

About the author
Elle Croft was born in South Africa, grew up in Australia and moved to the UK in 2010 after travelling around the world with her husband. She works as a freelance social media specialist and also blogs about travel, food and life in London. The Guilty Wife is her debut novel.

What I read in June 2018

Pick of the Month June 2018

Another good month: a couple of disappointments but an excellent read at the end of the month with Michael Robotham's new book which was my Pick of the Month.

• 4.7, TIME IS A KILLER, Michel Bussi
• 4.6, THE SIXTH WINDOW, Rachel Abbott 
• 4.3, THE PUNISHMENT SHE DESERVES, Elizabeth George
• 4.4, LET ME LIE, Clare Mackintosh
• 4.4, THE LIAR IN THE LIBRARY, Simon Brett
• 4.6, SLEEPING IN THE GROUND, Peter Robinson
• 4.5, THE SEVEN SISTERS, Lucinda Riley - not crime fiction
• 2.2, AGATHA CHRISTIE'S TRUE CRIME INSPIRATIONS, Mike Holgate
• 4.4, THE WITNESS, Nora Roberts
• 5.0, THE OTHER WIFE, Michael Robotham

See what others have chosen this month.

Review: THE OTHER WIFE, Michael Robotham

• format: Kindle (Amazon)
• published June 26 2018
• File Size: 642 KB
• Print Length: 400 pages
• Publisher: Sphere (June 26, 2018)
• Publication Date: June 26, 2018
• Sold by: Hachette Book Group
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0791HFG73
• #9 in Joe O'Loughlin series
• author website

Synopsis (author website)

Childhood sweethearts William and Mary have been married for sixty years. William is a celebrated surgeon, Mary a devoted wife. Both have a strong sense of right and wrong.

This is what their son, Joe O'Loughlin, has always believed. But when Joe is summoned to the hospital with news that his father has been brutally attacked, his world is turned upside down. Who is the strange woman crying at William's bedside, covered in his blood - a friend, a mistress, a fantasist or a killer?

Against the advice of the police, Joe launches his own investigation. As he learns more, he discovers sides to his father he never knew - and is forcibly reminded that the truth comes at a price.

A mesmerising psychological thriller from one of the greatest crime writers of today, Michael Robotham, the international bestselling author of THE SECRETS SHE KEEPS.

My Take

Joe O'Loughlin has always found his father a bit "distanced" but never imagined that there was a side to his life that Joe did not know about. What a shock!

Once Joe calms down a bit he begins to understand that there are lots of things about his father that he has either ignored or simply not understood at the time. He begins his investigation with the help of his old friend Vincent Ruiz.

As always, I am very reluctant to reveal more elements of the plot. In fact the blurb tells you all you need to know.

While this is #9 in the Joe O'Loughlin books it can be read, I think, as a stand-alone, but it will send you scurrying back into the series for more.

Well done Michael. I love it!

My rating: 5.0

I've also read
BOMBPROOF
SHATTER #3
SHATTER (audio)
BLEED FOR ME #4
5.0, THE WRECKAGE #5
4.8, SAY YOU'RE SORRY #6
5.0, WATCHING YOU #7
4.8, IF I TELL YOU... I'LL HAVE TO KILL YOU (edit)
5.0, LIFE OR DEATH Shortlisted for the 2015 CWA Gold Dagger
4.8, CLOSE YOUR EYES
5.0, THE SECRETS SHE KEEPS
5.0, THE SUSPECT #1 (audio)
4.8, LOST #2 (audio) 

Review: THE WITNESS, Nora Roberts

• this edition published by G.P. Putnam's Sons 2012
• ISBN 978-0-399-15912-1
• 488 pages
• source: my local library
• author website

Synopsis (author website)



Daughter of a cold, controlling mother and an anonymous donor, studious, obedient Elizabeth Fitch finally let loose one night, drinking too much at a nightclub and allowing a strange man’s seductive Russian accent to lure her to a house on Lake Shore Drive.

Twelve years later, the woman now known as Abigail Lowery lives alone on the outskirts of a small town in the Ozarks. A freelance security systems designer, her own protection is supplemented by a fierce dog and an assortment of firearms. She keeps to herself, saying little, revealing nothing. Unfortunately, that seems to be the quickest way to get attention in a tiny southern town.

The mystery of Abigail Lowery and her sharp mind, secretive nature and unromantic viewpoint intrigues local police chief Brooks Gleason, on both a personal and professional level. And while he suspects that Abigail needs protection from something, Gleason is accustomed to two-bit troublemakers, not the powerful and dangerous men who are about to have him in their sights.

And Abigail Lowery, who has built a life based on security and self-control, is at risk of losing both.

My Take

I do remember reading books by Nora Roberts years ago but I have not reviewed any in the life of this blog (the last 10 years). I was surprised that I have not recorded any in her other name (J.D. Robb) either.

THE WITNESS is a stand-alone about Elizabeth Fitch, a teenager with an eidetic memory, cultivated by her mother to bypass her teenage years, and fast tracked to become a brilliant surgeon. Elizabeth is just beginning to respond to the urges of teenage rebellion and a night out at a local nightclub ends in her witnessing the death of both her friend and a man they have newly met. The police put her into witness protection and then follows a further two deaths and Elizabeth goes on the run.

When she surfaces twelve years later she comes to the attention of the local police chief and she still retains vivid memories of those earlier experiences.

Highly intelligent, Elizabeth would probably be classified these days as being in the autistic spectrum, much of her outlook on life being generated by lack of experience and understandable fears.

A very readable book.

My rating: 4.4

Pick of the Month: June 2018

Crime Fiction Pick of the Month 2018

Many crime fiction bloggers write a summary post at the end of each month listing what they've read, and some, like me, even go as far as naming their pick of the month.

This meme is an attempt to aggregate those summary posts.
It is an invitation to you to write your own summary post for June 2018, identify your crime fiction best read of the month, and add your post's URL to the Mr Linky below.
If Mr Linky does not appear for you, leave the URL in a comment and I will add it myself.

You can list all the books you've read in the past month on your post, even if some of them are not crime fiction, but I'd like you to nominate your crime fiction pick of the month.

That will be what you will list in Mr Linky too -
e.g.
ROSEANNA, Maj Sjowall & Per Wahloo - MiP (or Kerrie)

You are welcome to use the image on your post and it would be great if you could link your post back to this post on MYSTERIES in PARADISE.

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