Thursday 18 October 2018

Death on the River by Clare Chase #BlogBlitz

I loved the first book in this series, Murder in the Marshes, and was really keen to read this, the follow up. Huge thanks to the author and Noelle Holten at Bookoutre for inviting me to take part, and for providing my review copy.


The Blurb:

Meet Tara Thorpe – she’s Cambridge Police’s newest recruit… but her dark past is never far behind her. Perfect for fans of Faith Martin, LJ Ross and Joy Ellis.

When a body is pulled from the dank and dangerous fens on the outskirts of town, everybody assumes it was a tragic accident. But Detective Tara Thorpe, newly joined and determined to prove herself, suspects there’s more to the story.

Tara is desperate to investigate further, but her supervisor  Patrick Wilkins has other ideas. He would rather die than let this ambitious upstart show him up – even if it means some digging in Tara’s secret past to keep her under his thumb. After all, it’s not like he can report her – everyone knows that his boss Detective Garstin Blake and Tara have a history…

When another body is found, it becomes clear that there’s a killer on the loose. Could the murders be linked to the secrets that Tara has been keeping from her team… and can she solve the case before another innocent dies?

An unputdownable page-turner that will keep you hooked until the very last page!



Death on the River is published by Bookoutre and was released yesterday. You can buy it from Amazon.

My Review:

Death on the River follows on from the first Tara Thorpe book, Murder on the Marshes, but takes place four years later and Tara is now a police officer.

Tara is contacted by the sister of the late author Ralph Cairncross who believes there was foul play involved in her brother's death, which has been ruled as accidental. But it seems there is no evidence to support her claim. Cairncross  had some strange ideas about life and death, but had a small band of very loyal young supporters.

Against her better judgement, Tara agrees to investigate further. It was great to see that she has lost none of the tenacity we saw when she was a journalist. She has a feeling when something isn't right, and pursues it until she finds out  the truth. This means she frequently butts heads with her immediate supervisor Wilkins, who is just waiting for her to fail. He is a thoroughly horrible character and I know that because he's so well written. As are all the characters, actually. They are a colourful bunch, but the standout for me is Philippa - I could hear the bitterness in her voice!

Although this is a follow on novel, it works brilliantly as a standalone. The case is completely new anyway, and Tara's history with Blake is explained. and although his personal situation has got more complicated, he sometimes struggles to be completely rational with Tara. I was pleased to see there was still a wee frisson there.

It's beautifully written, with the often foreboding countryside playing an active part in the story. The plot is satisfyingly complex and interesting, the pace is maintained and I certainly didn't see the ending coming. Oh, and I'm a teeny bit in love with Kemp!

I have absolutely no hesitation in recommending this.

The Author:


Clare Chase writes mysteries set in her home city of Cambridge and is fascinated by the location’s contrasts and contradictions. She’s worked in diverse settings – from the 800-year-old University to one of the local prisons – and lived everywhere from the house of a Lord to a slug-infested flat. The terrace she now occupies presents a good happy medium.

As well as writing, Clare loves family time, art and architecture, cooking, and of course, reading other people’s books. She lives with her husband and teenage children, and currently works at the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Clare’s debut novel, You Think You Know Me, was shortlisted for the Novelicious Undiscovered Award 2012, and an EPIC award in 2015. It was also chosen as a debut of the month by Lovereading.

You can find Clare's website and blog at www.clarechase.com


2 comments:

  1. Thanks so much again for this lovely review, Suze! I'm absolutely delighted to know that you enjoyed Death on the River!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Clare! It was an absolute pleasure to take part in the blog blitz and I'm already looking forward to the next Tara book. x

      Delete

Finding Sophie by Imran Mahmood

I'm delighted to share my review of Finding Sophie by Imran Mahmood today for my stop on the blog tour. Many thanks to Tracy Fenton at C...