Silent Evidence by Clea Koff

Silent Evidence by Clea Koff
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 6 days

Pages - 384

Publisher - Avon

Source - Review copy & bought

Blurb from Goodreads

Every body has secrets...

Jayne and Steelie founded Agency 32/1 with one purpose in using their specialist forensic skills to help police solve crimes.

When a bundle of frozen body parts fall out of a van on a Los Angeles freeway, FBI agent Scott Houston knows just where to go for an off-the-record post-mortem. But to everyone’s horror, Jayne and Steelie quickly determine the parts aren’t from one body. The body parts are from multiple bodies.

A serial killer is on the loose. Worse, Scott’s call has put Jayne and Steelie’s lives in jeopardy, as their unique skills can uncover evidence to unmask the killer. Can they find the killer, before the killer finds them?


My Review

So this is my first time reading this author Jayne and Steelie are main characters who founded Agency 32/1, specialists in Forensics and help with cold cases identifying body parts and bringing closure to loved ones. When body parts are found and appear to be from different people the girls are invited in and consult on the case. A serial killer who is very knowledgeable in what they do and showing no signs of stopping, the FBI are on the case and the killer shows no signs of stopping.

I took a wee bit to warm to this one, it was a little bit, I don't want to say chaotic but that is the closest word I can get to in that different povs but not always clear. I am the first to admit my head space isn't the best at present and if a book takes me this long when I have no interruptions I know its a me issue. I had to keep tabs, the investigation, the issues between the hierarchy in the ranks/agencies. The spark between two of the characters and some throwbacks references to their history, I felt I was maybe reading a second book not first, like had I missed some story. I think it is a bit of how it is written and my mild readers block but I did settle to it.

The baddy was well done, evil, shocking, shady and sometimes makes the hair on the back of your neck stand. I would read more of this series and think it was a good start for book one and a foundation book, 3.5/5.

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In The Blink Of An Eye by Jo Callaghan

In the Blink of An Eye by Jo Callaghan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 416

Publisher - Simon & Schuster

Source - gifted (I think)

Blurb from Goodreads

In the UK, someone is reported missing every 90 seconds.
Just gone. Vanished. In the blink of an eye.

DCS Kat Frank knows all about loss. A widowed single mother, Kat is a cop who trusts her instincts. Picked to lead a pilot programme that has her paired with AIDE (Artificially Intelligent Detective Entity) Lock, Kat's instincts come up against Lock's logic. But when the two missing person's cold cases they are reviewing suddenly become active, Lock is the only one who can help Kat when the case gets personal.

AI versus human experience.
Logic versus instinct.
With lives on the line can the pair work together before someone else becomes another statistic?

In the Blink of an Eye is a dazzling debut from an exciting new voice and asks us what we think it means to be human.



My Review

Debut novel and a pretty new fresh idea/spin on police investigation. DCS Kat Frank is just back at work after being off, she has had a lot to deal with and now windowed and mum to a teenage boy. Work is rolling out a new AIDE (Artificially Intelligent Detective Entity) - trialling an AI "detective" Locke (he is a programme that generates a learning interactive hologram that can be present or removed and interacting via a wrist strap). Locke can process and access hundred of thousands, millions even, items of information in a fraction of the time human detectives can. So what could go wrong? Well Locke may be learning as it/he goes but he interacts in real time so makes a few faux pas with the human side of interaction. Kat being so angry at the reliance upon machines makes her the perfect person to pair/pilot this system with. They are looking at cold cases which may not be quite as cold as you think, dun dun dun.

So for Locke, think a bit like Sheldon Cooper of the big bang theory, he misses certain social ques and assesses everything clinically, I mean he is a machine. However because of his uniqueness he processes and learns as he goes so that is pretty interested to read as it develops. The fact that Kat is so against/distrustful gives a great contrast especially with how Locke reacts to her compared to the team.

Missing youngsters, interviews with families, suspicion of self harm/termination is considered and the interviews with the parents of those from the cold cases is a tad emotional. I smirked a little at bits and laughed out loud at others, some of Locke's behaviour/commentary, ooft - but I also felt for those in the book and Kat as we learn more about her and her adjusting after a period off work.

The book is fresh, different, dark in areas but also laced with humour, I am absolutely looking forward to book two and seeing where the story heads next. I am hoping this is going to be a series because I think this has great potential and breathing a breath of fresh air into - book two is out this month and we absolutely will be buying it, 4/5.

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