To Catch A Rabbit by Helen Cadbury

To Catch A Rabbit by Helen Cadbury
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Publisher - Allison & Busby

Pages - 350 pages

Blurb from Goodreads

A dead woman is slumped against the door of a grubby trailer. She's on Sean Denton's patch, but who is she, how did she get there, and why doesn't CID want to investigate? As Doncaster's youngest PCSO, Denton takes the case into his own hands, but he's way out of his depth.

People are reported missing and Denton must work backwards, before anyone else falls prey to South Yorkshire's murky underworld of migrants and the sex trade.


My review

Introducing Sean Denton, PCSO (Police Community Support Officer), who finds the body of a young woman on his patch. When no one seems to take much notice Sean finds he can't just walk away or leave well along and does some investigating for himself. Along with that there is are people going missing and before long Sean finds himself in deeper than he could have imagined.

So, I had to message the author because PCSO seems to get very involved in the case and in Scotland, our specials or support officers wouldn't get close to or as involved as he seems to. Things are a bit different in the roles where this is set however, for the most part, Denton pushes boundaries and pokes his nose in where it most definitely isn't wanted. He is an eager and honest young man who is pulled toward the truth of what happened to this dead young girl. This sees him putting himself in danger and going over and above the call of duty.

The tale goes between Denton and the investigation and Bonfire night where the story focuses on Phil Holyroyd, a chap who as the story goes on you realize the relevance to this jump in the story. It takes a wee bit of getting used to as you wonder why it is going to this bloke but his part becomes apparently relatively quick into it. Karen Friedman is another main character within the book, introduced to her working and family life before her and Denton's paths cross when Karen has to report a missing person.

The story lines are interwoven, quite smartly executed. There are a few key players and more issues than you can imagine. Marital infidelity, police procedures and investigations, murder, drugs, abuse and human trafficking are just some of the issues covered in this busy wee book. A strong start to the series and a very well done debut novel. Definitely will be reading more by this author, certainly worth keeping an eye out for, 4/5 for me this time.

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Review - Long Way Home by Eva Dolan

Long Way Home by Eva Dolan
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Time take to read - 3 days

Publisher - Vintage

Pages - 400

Blurb from Goodreads

A man is burnt alive in a shed.





No witnesses, no fingerprints - only a positive ID of the victim as an immigrant with a long list of enemies.





Detectives Zigic and Ferreira are called in from the Hate Crimes Unit to track the killer, and are met with silence in a Fenland community ruled by slum racketeers, people-trafficking gangs and fear.





Tensions rise.


The clock is ticking.


But nobody wants to talk.


My Review

Detective Zigic is our main character, along with Detective Ferreira, both work in the Hate Crimes Unit and have a killer to catch. The victim has been set on fire, there are no witnesses and no finger prints. Once they identify the victim as an immigrant, they find people are reluctant to talk and the more digging the detectives do the more corruption they uncover.

I really found this book hard to get into, although the prologue gives a gripping start to the story, an unnamed individual is being hunted by men with guns and then we go to four days before the incident at the beginning of the book. A body is found, locked in a shed and burned to death, Zigic and Ferreira investigate and soon the book uncovers human trafficking, abuse, racism, slum racketeers and danger for the detectives as this kind of business is big bucks and the law won't get in the way.

Despite having a good start and drawing you in, I felt it focused on far too many mundane things, certain police procedures and a lot of it was drawn on and at parts boring. However, other parts are really engaging and even brutal in how little disregard there is for human life. The end came around quite suddenly and was ok but for me, it was just a bit too little too late. That said, I am in the minority, it seems most people who read this loved it, I just didn't warm to any of the characters, well none of the main ones anyway. 2/5 for me this time, thanks to Dead Good books for sending me a copy, I would maybe try this author again but on another series, this just wasn't for me.

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