St Benet's by David Blake

I'm thrilled to be closing off the blog tour for St Benet's, David Blake's follow up to Broadland, his debut crime thriller published earlier this year. But thanks to the lovely Sarah Hardy at Book on the Bright Side Publicity and Promo for inviting me on the tour and the equally lovely author for providing my review copy.

The Blurb:

THE DEBUT CRIME THRILLER SERIES OF THE YEAR!
"Wow! Even better than Broadland!" Anna Burke

A girl thrown from a church tower, a man sacrificed to Satan, and a priest murdered at the hands of the Devil.

When the body of an old man is found lying in the ruins of St Benet’s Abbey, his throat cut, a knife resting in his open hand, DI John Tanner and DC Jenny Evans are given no choice but to accept a ruling of death by misadventure.

But when the body goes missing from its tomb, after a priest is found nailed to a cross, and another impaled on a stake, everything begins to point back to the murder of a teenage girl, thrown from the top of a church tower, some forty-three years before.

Set within the mysterious beauty of the Norfolk Broads, this fast-paced British detective series is a murder mystery with a slice of humour and a touch of romance, one that will have you guessing until the very end, when the last shocking twist is finally revealed.

St. Benet's is a totally addictive gripping crime thriller, the second in a chilling series of serial killer books, ones which will rapidly convert followers of L J Ross, Faith Martin, Joy Ellis, Damien Boyd and Helen H. Durrant into David Blake devotees.

St Benet's was published by Black Oak Publishing on 26th June 2019 and you can purchase it here.


My Review:

Regular followers of this blog will know I'm a huge fan of Blake's comedy Space Police series. But crime fiction is my go to genre, so was hugely excited when David decided a change of direction was in order, and his first crime thriller, the start of a new series was published earlier this year. In Broadlands we were introduced to DI John Tanner and DC Jenny Evans.

St Benet's follows almost straight on, after just a couple of months have passed, from the end of Broadland. It would be helpful if you'd read that, but you don't need to have to enjoy this one.

Tanner has settled into his role in Norfolk Police, his boat is moored on the Broads and he's decided to make it his permanent home. Oh, and his personal life has taken a turn for the better, so life is pretty good for him.

And then a body turns up. On the altar of a ruined church. It appears that the man has either been sacrificed or sacrificed himself for something. And he's a disgraced Catholic priest. It's a mess, and opens a huge can of worms that gets Tanner into serious hot water with his new boss, and a high up member of the Catholic church.

It's great to see Tanner again. He's a great character, very likeable and relatable, and well aware he's punching well above his weight on the relationship front. I love that when he's got something in his head, he has to go with it until it reaches its conclusion. Like many of us, he doesn't always think before he speaks, and upsets a fair few people in his quest for the truth. I'm glad Jenny's still around too after they became friends in Broadland. She's young, capable and determined. I love the easy rapport between her and John, and their gentle joking with each other.

There are lots of other colourful characters, all brilliantly drawn. And the countryside around the Broads, and the churches, both complete and ruined, are beautifully, and atmospherically, described.

The story is well paced, with plenty of action and jeopardy. The story is sufficiently complex to keep the attention, and I didn't guess the outcome, which was quite shocking (the ending, not me not guessing!) and explosive. Although not included in the blurb above, elsewhere this book is described as 'cozy crime'. It's a label I disagree with, but I understand why it's there. However, the murders in the story are anything but cosy. Actually, they're some of the most gruesome I've read for a while. And the crime scenes are described quite graphically, so be prepared.

So for me, it definitely wasn't cosy. It was a complex, dark, sinister tale of hatred and twisted revenge, with some lighter moments to add relief along the way. In my opinion, this is an improvement on Broadland, and I loved every minute of it. Very much looking forward to the next instalment in the series. 


The Author:

David Blake is a full-time author living in North London. To date he has written fourteen previous books along with a collection of short stories. His fifteenth, St. Benet’s, is the follow-up to his debut crime fiction thriller, Broadland.

When not writing, David likes to spend his time mucking about in boats, often in the Norfolk Broads, where his crime fiction books are based.


Author Social Media Links:

Website: www.david-blake.com
Amazon Profile: viewAuthor.at/DavidBlake
Facebook Readers’ Group: www.facebook.com/groups/DavidBlakeAuthor
Facebook Site: www.facebook.com/DavidBlakeAuthor
Twitter: @DavidDBlake
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/author/show/15104629.David_Blake