The Crime Review

Series: Odense Series

Book Number: 1

Read this book for: thriller, gritty detective story, British crime, Nordic noir, damaged detective, personal detective story

Quick Review: A combination of noir and thriller, this has the soul of a great detective story.

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British detective Simon Weller escapes the fallout from the recent suicide of his Danish wife, Vibeke and heads out to her home city of Odense. But once there he is paired up with a local detective, Jonas, who is also about to hit rock bottom in his home life and they must overcome their differences and personal problems to try and catch one of the worst serial killers Odense has seen in many years. The case takes them back into past decades as history starts catching up with some of the local inhabitants.

When Simon realises that his wife’s suicide may not be all it seems and her name appears in the case, his integrity within the case is compromised, how far will he go to find out the truth of Vibeke’s past and hide it from his already troubled police partner?

Back home in London Simon’s family are struggling with their own web of lies and deceit and the family is falling apart.

With one family hiding a dark secret, the whole case is just about to reach breaking point.

Continue reading “REVIEW: A Presence of Absence by Sara Surgey and Emma Vestrheim (Odense Series #1)” →

Author of DEADLY GAME and WICKED GAME, the second and first novels in his Robert Finlay series, Matt Johnson graciously took the time to answer some questions about his writing process and inspiration for this fantastic series. Read on for his fantastic answers!  Continue reading “Q&A: Matt Johnson about DEADLY GAME” →

Series: Robert Finlay

Book Number: 2

Read this book for: thriller, military and spy thriller, terrorist plots, bombing plots, detectives in trouble, now-it’s-personal story, trust no one

Quick Review: A twisting and multi-layered thriller that will keep surprising you throughout; definitely a great second novel in this series!

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Reeling from the attempts on his life and that of his family, Police Inspector Robert Finlay returns to work to discover that any hope of a peaceful existence has been dashed. Assigned to investigate the Eastern European sex-slave industry just as a key witness is murdered. Finlay, along with his new partner Nina Brasov, finds himself facing a ruthless criminal gang, determined to keep control of the traffic of people into the UK. On the home front, Finlay’s efforts to protect his wife and child may have been in vain, as an MI5 protection officer uncovers a covert secret service operation that threatens them all…

Continue reading “REVIEW: DEADLY GAME by Matt Johnson (Robert Finlay #2)” →

Series: Caselli & Torre

Book Number: 1

Read this book for: thriller, conspiracy and intrigue, damaged detectives, mental health issues, kidnappings, now it’s personal, second-guessing and betrayals

Quick Review: An emotional and complex thriller that delves into increasingly dark territory, and won’t let you go until you finish.

***

When a woman is beheaded in a park outside Rome and her six-year-old son goes missing, the police unit assigned to the case arrests the woman’s husband and awaits his confession. But the city’s Chief of Major Crimes has his doubts and assigns two of Italy’s top analytical minds to the case: Deputy Captain Colomba Caselli, a fierce, warrior-like detective still reeling from a horrific mass killing she survived, and Dante Torre, a man who spent his childhood trapped inside a concrete silo. Fed through the gloved hand of a masked kidnapper who called himself “the Father,” Dante emerged from his ordeal with crippling claustrophobia but, also, with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. All evidence suggests that the Father is back at work and active after being dormant for decades. But when Colomba and Dante begin following the ever-more-bizarre trail of clues, they quickly grasp that whatever is going on is darker than they ever imagined. And tell-tale signs suggest that the Father is looking forward to a reunion with Dante.

Continue reading “REVIEW: Kill The Father by Sandrone Dazieri (Caselli & Torre #1)” →

Series: Robert Finlay

Book Number: 1

Read this book for: thriller, military and spy thriller, terrorist plots, bombing plots, detectives in trouble, now-it’s-personal story

Quick Review: Written by a man who has actually been in the job, this well-thought-out and interesting page-turner is a worthy thriller to pick up.

***

2001 – Robert Finlay, an aging police officer, is looking forward to his transfer back to uniform policing in London from the Royalty Protection Squad, which will allow him to spend more time with his new family. But his traumatic and carefully concealed past threatens to ruin this new life when a policeman is killed by a bomb blast and a second is gunned down in his own driveway. Both had been former army colleagues from Finlay’s SAS regiment. Finlay realizes his own life is in danger, and ends up in multi-agency cat-and-mouse game to protect himself – and his family – from the dangers returning from his past. Continue reading “REVIEW: Wicked Game by Matt Johnson (Robert Finlay #1)” →