Innocent Guilt by Remi Kone

Innocent Guilt by Remi Kone
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - in and out over 5 days

Pages - 424

Publisher - Quercus

Source - Review copy

Blurb from Goodreads

'A startling new crime writing talent!' Peter James
'Impossible to put down' Patricia Cornwell

Victim or murderer . . .
Can she discover the truth?

On a misty autumn afternoon, a woman covered in blood clutching a baseball bat walks silently into a London police station. The two officers assigned to her case are DI Leah Hutch and DS Benjamin Randle.

But the woman refuses to speak. She is not injured and the blood on the bat is not hers. What has she done? Is she the victim or the perpetrator? As Leah and Randle start their inquiry, a man is found battered to death in a nearby park. Journalist Odie Reid receives a tip off and is determined to solve the case first, trying to link this death to the woman held in custody.

Leah and Odie have history and very quickly their cat and mouse game becomes personal, leading them both to the very darkest corners of their pasts.


My Review

Opening chapter with Leah, clearly just having suffered a loss when she heads to work, she is a copper, a DI to be precise. As she gets to work, the station, a woman appears, covered in blood, clearly in shock, holding a bloody baseball bat. When she is checked over, she is uninjured so whose blood is it and where are they because it is A LOT of blood. We then get a chapter with a victim and then we meet Odie, a journalist who is enemy to Leah, why? They used to be work together, now in different careers they still have a very strained relationship. Odie is like a bloodhound, she gets a sniff of a story and nothing will get in her way.

The book is pretty good, the blood covered self presenting to the police station was a great pull, the damaged female detective dealing with a recent loss and with that of course comes family drama/trauma. Then the very tense "relationship" between Leah and Odie although to be fair Leah is very closed off to everyone and you get her back story, slowly unravelled so you do understand a bit better why she is the way she is. I really liked her partner, DS Randle, he is so understanding, patient and a real nice all rounder.

It is a busy book, the victims, the investigation, Odie investigating, Odie's family dynamics, Leah as the officer, Leah's personal life and following the aftermath of her loved ones death the opens another vein of story. A good start to a series, this is a debut from what I can see, so if it goes onto a series I will absolutely read more. Be interesting to see what else is in store for these guys and where the writer goes next, 4/5.

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PRR - Low Pressure by Sandra Brown

Low Pressure by Sandra Brown
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time Taken to Read - 2 days

Publisher - Hodder & Stoughton

Blurb from the back cover

BELLAMY PRICE WAS ONLY TWELVE YEARS OLD WHEN HER OLDER SISTER SUSAN WAS KILLED ON A STORMY MEMORIAL DAY.

Bellamy's fear of storms is a legacy of the tornado that destroyed the crime scene as well as her memory of one vital fact that still eludes her.....

Now, eighteen years later, Bellamy has written a novel based on Susan's murder. It's her first book, and it's an instant sensation. But because the novel is based on the most traumatic event of her life, she's published it under a pseudonym to protect herself and her family.

But when a sleazy reporter for a tabloid newspaper discovers that the book is based on a real crime, Bellamy's identity - and dark family secrets - are exposed. Suddenly, she finds herself embroiled in a personal conflict at the mercy of her sister's killer, who for almost two decades has got away with murder...and will stop at nothing to keep it that way.

My Review

Bellamy Lyston Price is from a rich influential family, in order to rid herself of her demons, stemming from her sister's murder eighteen years ago she writes the account under a pseudo name as a novel. A tabloid journalist uncovers the story is fact and who the real author is. What follows is a chain reaction that threatens not only Bellamy but her family and all it stands for.

The book is, I thought, a wee page turner. It starts with Bellamy being discovered as the author and the first contact from someone not happy with her book. It then draws out the story of how she came to receive the contact and what she was doing up until that point. As well as unwanted gifts/threats the book also prompts contact from an old figure from Bellamy's past that she and her family would rather forget, his presence evokes a few unwelcome responses and tensions are running high. Soon Bellamy has more than feelings and threats to deal with when her life is at risk and the one person she doesn't want to spend time with might be her only hope.

There are a fair few characters in this book however they are carved out well and I had no problem following who was who and what was happening. Practically from the beginning you know who the bad guy is and the main issue is will he capture and kill Bellamy and was the right person convicted for her sisters murder. Right up until the end you have quite a few suspects of who the actual killer could be and more than one person isn't happy with Bellamys digging to free the locked memory of the day her sister was murdered.

The story, I felt, was definitely a thriller although it is laced with the romantic tanglement of her past with Dent, her sisters ex boyfriend/her past crush and one time suspect of her sister's murder. The family hate him, he has a huge chip on his shoulder, lots of attitude and a definite chemistry with Bellamy. The book has murder, lies, sex (there are a few scenes so if your easily offended you can skip over them or just pass on this book), deception and family secrets, to name but a few of the issues covered in this story. I have read Sandra Brown before and would read her again, this story had bits were the story pulled on for a bit but overall it was a really good read, 4 out of 5 for me this time. Thanks to Hodder & Stoughton for providing me with a copy in return for an honest review.

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ARC - Lethal by Sandra Brown

Lethal by Sandra Brown

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Time Taken To Read - 1 day

Blurb From Goodreads

When her four year old daughter informs her a sick man is in their yard, Honor Gillette rushes out to help him. But that "sick" man turns out to be Lee Coburn, the man accused of murdering seven people the night before. Dangerous, desperate, and armed, he promises Honor that she and her daughter won't be hurt as long as she does everything he asks. She has no choice but to accept him at his word.

But Honor soon discovers that even those close to her can't be trusted. Coburn claims that her beloved late husband possessed something extremely valuable that places Honor and her daughter in grave danger. Coburn is there to retrieve it -- at any cost. From FBI offices in Washington, D.C., to a rundown shrimp boat in coastal Louisiana, Coburn and Honor run for their lives from the very people sworn to protect them, and unravel a web of corruption and depravity that threatens not only them, but the fabric of our society.

My Review

Well this book kicks off really fast. A few pages in and the action starts, Emily spots a sick man in her garden and tells her mum, Honor rushes out to aid him and there stops the world as she knows it. What follows is a whirlwind of murder, suspicion, lies, deceit, this book has it all. Coburn, Honour and Emily go on "an adventure" to find out the truth and stay alive.

I really liked this story, you are drawn in from the beginning and immediately get hooked into the story (well I did). I worked out fairly quickly who I thought the bad guy was however was still like OMG when it was revealed. I don't normally like young children in these kind of books but Emily worked so well and added a lot to the story and characters despite not being a huge character.

I liked more about the book than I didn't however apart from the bad guy and my feelings on that (I won't go into it as it would spoil the story for you but after you read it you will know what I mean), I had issue with the ending. I did like it and the author has done her job in that she has definitely left me wanting more but I would have just liked a bit more, just a wee bit more.

I hadn't read Sandra Brown in a few years and this has re sparked my interest so will bump her other book(s) up my tbr. Action packed and has ticked a box from every criteria so 4/5 for me. This book is out to buy from the 26th April 2012, publisher Hodder and available for £6.99.

Thank you so much to Hodder and Emma Knight for giving me the chance to read and review this and reintroducing me to Sandra Brown.

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