Review: DO NOT DISTURB, Freida McFadden

• 
  This edition read as a large print book
  
• Published 2021, large print 2025, Poisoned Pen Press
• ISBN-13: 978-1-4205-2785-8
• 363 pages  

Synopsis (publisher)

Quinn Alexander has committed an unthinkable crime.

To avoid spending her life in prison, Quinn makes a run for it. She leaves behind her home, her job, and her family. She grabs her passport and heads for the northern border before the police can discover what she’s done.

But when an unexpected snowstorm forces her off the road, Quinn must take refuge at the broken-down, isolated Baxter Motel. The handsome and kindly owner, Nick Baxter, is only too happy to offer her a cheap room for the night.

Unfortunately, the Baxter Motel isn’t the quiet, safe haven it seemed to be. The motel has a dark and disturbing past. And in the dilapidated house across the way, the silhouette of Nick's ailing wife is always at the window. Always watching.

In the morning, Quinn must leave the motel. She'll pack up her belongings and get back on the road to freedom.

But first, she must survive the night.

DO NOT DISTURB is a Hitchcock-style psychological thriller that will keep you tearing through the pages until you reach the shocking conclusion!

My Take

This novel is fast paced, with deceptive characters and plot twists that activate without much warning, including an unexpected twist at the end. A quick read for most.

I know that this is an author that I will look for in the future. She already has 20 stand-alone novels and 8 others.  

This edition has a set of Reader's Group questions at the end to consider. 

My rating: 4.5

I've also read

4.5, THE TENANT   

Review: LAST ONE OUT, Jane Harper

• 
   Read as an e-book on my Kindle (Amazon_au) 
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0FDQ5LNDS
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Macmillan Australia, Publication date ‏ : ‎ 14 October 2025
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 372 pages
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1761774676

Synopsis (Amazon_au)  

He had been here, that was clear from the marks in the dust. And he had been alone.

In a dying town, Ro Crowley waits for her son on the evening of his 21st birthday.

But Sam never comes home. His footprints in the dust of three abandoned houses offer the only clue to his final movements. One set in. One set out.

Five long years later, Ro returns to Carralon Ridge for the annual memorial of Sam's disappearance. The skeletal community is now an echo of itself, having fractured under the pressure of the coal mine operating on its outskirts.

But Ro still wants answers. Only a few people remain. If the truth is to be found in that town, does it lie among them? 

My Take

A very different story from an accomplished author. A slower read than previous novels but the puzzles are there to be solved. The description of the dying town is well done.

Sam Crowley disappeared on his 21st birthday in the dying rural town of Carralon Ridge, with no clues about what happened to him. His disappearance closely followed an unexpected suicide but were the two connected?

The resolution is a surprise. 

My rating: 4.8 

I've also read

• 4.7, THE DRY- Falk #1
  
• 5.0, FORCE OF NATURE- Falk #2
  
• 5.0, THE LOST MAN 
• 4.8, THE SURVIVORS
• 4.8, EXILES- Falk #3 
• 5.0, THE LOST MAN
• 5.0, THE DRY 

Review: HUNTED, Abir Mukherjee

• 
  This edition read as an e-book on Kindle (Amazon.com.au)
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0CCKTMN5G
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Vintage Digital, 2204
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 468 pages
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1529926514  
• ** WINNER OF THE CRIME & THRILLER BOOK OF THE YEAR AT THE BRITISH BOOK AWARDS 2025 **
• * WINNER OF THE THEAKSTON OLD PECULIAR CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR 2025**
• A TIMES THRILLER OF THE YEAR 

Synopsis  

The clock is ticking. Who will find them first?

The epic and thrilling story of two parents thrown together to stop their children from committing an unthinkable crime.

A missing daughter. Suspected of plotting a terror attack in the US.

A father arrested. Police storm Heathrow Airport to bring him in for questioning about his daughter.

A terrifying connection. In Florida, a mother discovers a link between her son and the missing girl, fearing they have been radicalised.

Hunted. On the run from the authorities, the two parents are thrown together to find their children before the FBI does and more lives are lost.

My Take

The author's first stand alone novel, a political thriller with global themes where young people take revenge, carry bombs into public places, are seduced into taking violent action.

Two parents travel the world to try to rescue their children.

Breathtaking. 

My rating: 4.6 

I've also read

• 4.4, A RISING MAN
•  4.5, A NECESSARY EVIL 

Review: WINTER DEAD, Lynne McEwan

• 
  This edition read as an e-book on Libby, provided by my local library
  
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Canelo Crime, Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 6, 2025
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1835980699
• Book 6 of 6 ‏ : ‎ Detective Shona Oliver  

Synopsis (publisher)

How do you solve a murder when you don't have the body?

A blood-soaked hammer is discovered in a lorryload of wood delivered to a local pub. DI Shona Oliver appears to have a murder weapon, but where is the victim?

Then a call comes in that local forest ranger and ex-soldier John MacFarlane isn't answering his phone. There's no sign of MacFarlane at his cottage, and the only clue the team have to go on is a bloody trail in the snow which ends abruptly and leads to nowhere. A manhunt begins.

It seems something from MacFarlance's past may have caught up with him. But what exactly is unclear. And Shona has her own past to contend with when someone from long ago makes an unexpected reappearance. Can she keep her head in the game? 

My Take

I've gone against my usual principles and have plucked this novel from the end of a series. The plot is provoking. A blood stained hammer seems to indicate there may be a body somewhere. A missing ranger is identified. And then a popular poet goes missing and Shona needs to organise a search for him too. 

Resources are stretched with the arrival of a huge coastal storm, a hang glider crashes against a cliff, and the personal problems intervene. Well constructed and involving. 

My rating: 4.6

About the author

Glasgow-born Lynne McEwan is a former newspaper photographer turned crime author. She’s covered stories including the Fall of the Berlin Wall and the first Gulf War in addition to many high profile murder cases. Her DI Shona Oliver series is set on the beautiful Solway Firth which forms the border between Scotland and England, and where Shona is also a lifeboat volunteer. Lynne is an alumni of the University of East Anglia's Creative Writing programme with an MA (Crime Fiction). She splits her time between Lincoln and Scotland. 

Review: DRUID'S MOOR, Rhys Dylan

• 
  This edition read as an e-book on my Kindle (Amazon)
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0FGCQQHCK
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Wyrmwood Books, Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 4, 2025
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 322 pages
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1915185525
• Book 18 of 20 ‏ : ‎ DCI Evan Warlow Crime Thriller

Synopsis (Amazon) 

On the moor, not all the beasts walk on four legs.

On a windswept moor, a child emerges from the mist with a story no one wants to believe. The farmer who finds her assumes she’s simply lost. But when she utters a chilling phrase—“We went to see the old ones”—he realises something is terribly wrong.

As Detective Evan Warlow battles his own demons, he and the team are pulled into a case of ritualistic secrets, long-buried crimes, and the whispers of something darker lurking in the mist.

In the empty heart of Wales, legends are harmless. It’s the people you need to fear.

My Take

This book brings to a close a number of themes and stories that have been bubbling along for a swathe of titles in this series. In addition Evan Warlow is reminded very strongly of his own humanity.

A very satisfying read but you really need to have been reading the series to appreciate the structure.

Having said that, I have realised, looking at the list of what I've read, that I have missed a couple.

Book 16: One Less Snake
Book 17: A Word With The Dead: 

My rating: 4.5

I've also read

4.6, THE ENGINE HOUSE - #1

4.5, CAUTION: DEATH AT WORK -#2

4.6, ICE COLD MALICE - #3

4.5, SUFFER THE DEAD - #4

4.6, GRAVELY CONCERNED - #5 

4.5, A MARK OF IMPERFECTION - #6

4.5, BURNT ECHO - #7 

4.6, A BODY OF WATER - #8

4.5, LINES OF INQUIRY - #9 

4.5, NO ONE NEAR - #10 

4.6, THE LIGHT REMAINS - #11

4.6, A MATTER OF EVIDENCE - #12

4.5, THE LAST THROW - #13 

4.6, DRAGON'S BREATH - #14

4.6, THE BOWMAN - #15

Review: LAST SEEN WEARING, Colin Dexter

• 
  This edition read as an e-book on my Kindle (Amazon)
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0FG3X5NH8
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Pan, Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 21, 2009
• Originally published 1976
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 309 pages
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0330468527
• Book 2 of 13 ‏ : ‎ Inspector Morse  

Synopsis (Amazon) 

Last Seen Wearing is the second Inspector Morse novel in Colin Dexter's Oxford-set detective series.

Why now? Why Friday 12th September – two years, three months and two days after Valerie Taylor had left home to return to afternoon school?
He frowned. ‘Something’s turned up, I suppose.’
Strange nodded. ‘Yes.’

After leaving her home in Oxford to return to school in London, seventeen-year-old Valerie Taylor completely vanished. Despite the efforts of the police and Chief Inspector Ainley, the trail went cold and she was never found.

Two years on, Ainley is dead, and Inspector Morse is handed the case. But now, someone has decided to supply some surprising new evidence . . . 

My Take

This title, the second in the Morse series, was first published 50 years ago. I have read it before, and have read it again for my U3A Crime Reading Group.

Morse is given the case of the disappearance of Valerie Taylor after the death in a road accident of the original investigator. After over 2 years since Valerie left home Morse is convinced she is dead. Lewis is less convinced. They haven't worked together very often so they are still learning about each other. 

Morse comes up with a number of theories about what has happened and then Lewis goes down with the flu. 

An intriguing investigation 

My rating: 4.5

I've also read

• 4.5, LAST BUS TO WOODSTOCK - #1
• 4.3, INSPECTOR MORSE: BBB Radio Collection
• 4.5, THE SECRET OF ANNEXE THREE - #7
• 4.6, THE WENCH IS DEAD -#8
• 4.3, SERVICE OF ALL THE DEAD - #4
• 4.4, LAST SEEN WEARING - #2
• 4.6, THE RIDDLE OF THE THIRD MILE - #6
• 4.6, THE JEWEL THAT WAS OURS - #9
• 4.8. THE WAY THROUGH THE WOODS - #10
• 4.7, THE DAUGHTERS OF CAIN - #11,
• 4.7, DEATH IS NOW MY NEIGHBOUR - #12
• 5.0, THE REMORSEFUL DAY, Colin Dexter  - #13

 

Review: BLOOD PACT, Fiona McIntosh

• 
  This edition read as an e-book on Libby provided by my local library
  
• Published: 2 December 2025, Penguin Australia
• ISBN: 9781761343612
• Pages: 384
• #6 Jack Hawkesworth series  

Synopsis (Publisher)
Detective Superintendent Jack Hawksworth is seconded by counter-terrorism to investigate a spate of domestic events. First it was needles in strawberries, then tampering with lipstick samplers and baby formula. But when toxic mushrooms enter the market system and a death occurs, a wave of terror is set to sweep the country. Breaking news of a possible serial killer only heightens the alarm.

There are no leads, no DNA, no witnesses, no CCTV footage. Jack and his team must work on instinct to figure out why someone would want to harm innocent victims, each of them curiously linked to a single blood transfusion.

When a hospital bomb threat erupts, it is up to the team to prevent the inevitable bloodshed. The clock is ticking, and no one is safe from the possibility of a tragedy on a catastrophic scale.

My Take

A quality offering from a local (Adelaide) author which moves at a fast pace and is filled with believable scenarios and well drawn characters. I regret that I haven't read all in this series and should remedy that some time.

There are plenty of red herrings as Jack's team attempts to identify the person behind the domestic terrorist events, and then a real surprise as the perpetrator is identified and we move into the culmination.

My rating: 4.6

I've also read

• BYE BYE BABY
• 4.4, FOUL PLAY, Fiona McIntosh