The Blurb:
When so many haven’t survived, just being alive can feel like a crime.
Everyone needs to be heard: if there’s one thing Sam Williams has learned it’s that. Which is why he finds himself defending Richard Fothergill against accusations that date back decades.
But Sam’s real problems are closer to home. His nemesis, Trawden, is finally dead, but so are those he once called friends. The people he used to count on, the ones who aren’t in the ground, aren’t what they once were, either. DI Martins is on his back again, and she’s got company. And Sam’s girlfriend Claire might be recovering from her breakdown, but she’s not telling him everything.
Life would be so much easier if Sam knew the answers. Instead, all he’s got are questions.
Who is following him, and what do they want?
What did Fothergill really do to the children he taught?
And where was Claire the day Edward Trawden was killed?
Everyone has a secret to hide, but some secrets are too close to home.
The Cold Years was published by Mainsail Books on 26th November 2018. You can purchase it from Amazon UK and US.
My Review:
Oh, I'm so pleased to see Sam again! I fall a little bit more in love with him with every outing!
This is the third book in the Sam Williams series, and follows directly on from No One Will Hear (see my review here). However, if you haven't read that, don't be put off from reading this. Enough background is given for it to work fine as a standalone. And at the beginning, Joel has also provided a link to a brief synopsis of the first two books if you need a refresher. But if you plan to read all three, and you should because they are great, I strongly suggest you do so in order - Dead North (review here), No One Will Hear, then this one.
So, Sam is still down on his luck, with just one unreliable client, when he catches a new case. It's not one he's really sure he wants - to defend an elderly man against an accusation of decades old paedophilia - but he can't afford to turn it down. And once he meets Richard Fothergill he finds he believes in him. Sam is tenacious and determined and his enquiries take him down some unusual paths.
But the case isn't the main story here. Sam's girlfriend Claire is behaving oddly. They've both been through traumas recently, and are both still recovering, each in their own way. But Sam grows suspicious of Claire. What is she up to? Can he trust her?
I love the way Joel writes - he has a very easy manner, and the characters feel like old friends - the nice ones anyway! I find myself caring about them. I was pleased to see Roarke back, although he's not the same as he was. But he's so well written, as are all of the characters.
There are two different stories winding their way through the book, but it's more of a tale about trust or, rather, a lack of trust. And about secrets, and how dangerous they can be. It's intelligent, brilliantly written, with no words wasted. I loved it, and hope this isn't the last we hear about Sam Williams! Are you listening, Joel Hames?!
The Author:
Joel Hames lives in rural Lancashire, England, with his wife and two daughters, where he works hard at looking serious and pretending to be a proper novelist.
After a varied career in London which involved City law firms, a picture frame warehouse, an investment bank and a number of market stalls (he has been known to cry out "Belgian chocolates going cheap over 'ere" in his sleep), Joel relocated from the Big Smoke to be his own boss. As a result, he now writes what he wants, when he wants to (which by coincidence is when the rest of the family choose to let him).
Joel's first novel, Bankers Town, was published in 2014, and The Art of Staying Dead followed in 2015. The novellas Brexecution (written and published in the space of ten days following the UK's Brexit referendum, with half of the profits going to charity) and Victims were published in 2016 and 2017 respectively. Dead North, the first book in the Sam Williams series, was published in March of this year.
Joel's website can be found here, where you can find out more about the writer and the books, and sign up to his email newsletter. If you want to know what Joel has planned for the future, what he thinks right now, or just stalk him a little, you can find him on Facebook or Twitter.
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