Presumed Dead by Shirley Wells

I received this book from the Author as part of the First Reads promotion on the Goodreads website.

Having developed a taste for crime mysteries lately I was very happy to hear that I would be receiving a copy of this book to read and review. It's the second in the Dylan Scott Mysteries, the first being  'Dead Silent' which I have yet to read but this was not a problem in picking up the story and characters involved in it.

Dylan Scott has problems. Dismissed in disgrace from the police force for assaulting a suspect, he has no job, his wife has thrown him out and-worse luck-his mother has moved in. So when Holly Champion begs him to investigate the disappearance of her mother thirteen years ago, he can't say no, even though it means taking up residence in the dreary Lancashire town of Dawson's Clough for the duration.

Although the local police still believe Anita Champion took off for a better life, Dylan's inquiries turn up plenty of potential suspects: the drug-dealing, muscle-bound bouncer at the club where Anita was last seen; the missing woman's four girlfriends, out for revenge; the local landowner with rumored mob connections-the list goes on. But no one is telling Dylan all they know-and he soon finds that one sleepy Northern town can keep a lot of secrets.

So when I read that I thought it sounded interesting and I was curious about which track the author would take as there aren't really that many reasons for someone to go missing like this are there?

The storyline switches between Dylan's efforts to reunite with his estranged wife Beverley while spending time with his son and away from his mother and his time involved in trying to discover Anita Champion's last movements and what may have happened to her. We follow his movements up and down the country and even a visit abroad or two. Each location described well and full of characters that are easy to read about and a few that become favourites as you read more about them, both who they are and, for some, why they are the way they are now.

We learn more and more about Anita's lifestyle and although the ending was a cliche, it wasn't one I saw coming, I totally missed a very subtle hint about what had happened to Anita which made the reading of this book very enjoyable as it wasn't at all obvious what had happened.

There's a great flow to the writing and it's a great read which I thoroughly enjoyed, now I guess I should go find myself a copy of 'Dead Silent' to read as well!

Hit or Missus by Gayle Carline

I received this book from the Author as part of the First Reads promotion on the Goodreads website.

When I applied to read this book, I didn't realise that it was the second in the series of Peri Minneopa Mysteries but I have to say that my not having read the first volume didn't affect anything on reading this one. The writing style is very descriptive and although there may be more behind the scenes that I wasn't aware of having not read the first book, I didn't feel that I had missed much, if anything.

The information that lead me to choose to request this book was:

Private Investigator Peri Minneopa is hired to investigate a wealthy, possibly cheating wife, but the wife's girlfriends have other ideas. After all, a friend will help you move - a good friend will help you move a body.

That's quite a worm to bait a hook with really isn't it and I'm happy to say that the book didn't disappoint in any way. The story is well thought out and the characters are well written and mostly very likable.

The plot twists and turns around the day-to-day living of Peri and her long term boyfriend Skip. Skip is a Detective with the local police department, and the relationship is very serious for them both although they don't live together, they just stay over with each other whilst still maintaining their own space.

When Peri is approached to tail the trophy wife of a local business magnate it would appear like a normal routine case, but that's where the trouble begins. At first it could appear like some bad luck but when looked at deeper a conspiracy appears which steamrollers through Peri's life and that's not her only problem. She's not only trying to figure out who's trying to kill her but also if she's imagining one of Skip's colleagues has begun to take more than a little interest in him, some women just wont accept a man is taken unless he has a ring through his nose .... and even that doesn't stop all of them!

As we follow this roller coaster to it's conclusion we're introduced to many other people around the two main characters, all of which are well rounded characters who add their own bit to the story to make it a very enjoyable read. The story itself has a natural flow to it, it doesn't rush to the end like some books do, it takes it's time and builds up in layers until you can almost see the answer and when it's revealed it's as if you almost expected it but not quite so it was still a little surprising which is a great way to end a book.

Darkhouse by Karina Halle

I received this book from the Author as part of the First Reads promotion on the Goodreads website.

When I read the description of this book, I just had to apply to read it and luckily I got picked, here's what was dangling on the hook that snared my interest so much:

There’s always been some­thing a bit off about Perry Palomino. Though she’s been deal­ing with a quarter-life cri­sis and post-college syn­drome like any other twen­tysome­thing, she’s still not what you would call “ordi­nary.” For one thing, there’s her past which she likes to pre­tend never hap­pened, and then there’s the fact that she sees ghosts. Luck­ily for her, that all comes in handy when she stum­bles across Dex Foray, an eccen­tric pro­ducer for an upcom­ing web­cast on ghost hunters. Even though the show’s bud­get is non-existent and Dex him­self is a mad­den­ing enigma, Perry is instantly drawn into a world that both threat­ens her life and seduces her with a sense of impor­tance. Her uncle’s haunted light­house pro­vides the per­fect cat­a­lyst and back­drop for a hor­rific mys­tery that unrav­els the threads of Perry’s frag­ile san­ity and causes her to fall for a man, who, like the most dan­ger­ous of ghosts, may not be all that he seems.

I have to say right off that as keen as I was to read this book, once I started I found it a bit hard going, it was almost like trying to wade through treacle to get into it BUT after the first couple of chapters I found it got easier as I got used to the style of writing and was caught up by the plot. 

I didn't find Darkhouse particularly frightening but there were moments when I just had to keep reading to find out what happened next and to make sure that everyone was OK! The interaction between Perry and her family gave more understanding to the choices that we're told she's made in the past and why she's doing what she does through the book. She's easily likable as are her Sister and Cousins, even Uncle Al has his moment to star when he tells her the history of his lighthouse.

As a first book I'd say this sets up the interaction between the major characters very well, at the end you are left wanting more, to know what happens not just in the work between them but also in their personal life. That Perry is attracted to Dex is painfully obvious to all but his feelings towards her seem confused to me and I cant wait to discover what they really are and how that relationship will develop. Also I really hope to find out more about 'Creepy Clown Lady'. Who she is, what she is even and what she knows about our two protagonists. 

I cant wait to get my hands on Red Fox and see what happens next!