On My Life by Angela Clarke

On My Life by Angela Clarke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 384

Publisher - Mulholland Books UK

Source - Review copy

Blurb from Goodreads

Framed. Imprisoned. Pregnant.

Jenna thought she had the perfect life: a loving fiancé, a great job, a beautiful home. Then she finds her stepdaughter murdered; her partner missing.

And the police think she did it...

Locked up to await trial, surrounded by prisoners who'd hurt her if they knew what she's accused of, certain someone close to her has framed her, Jenna knows what she needs to do:

Clear her name
Save her baby
Find the killer

But can she do it in time?

'An angry, powerful read - one of those rare crime novels with more to deliver than routine thrills.' Mick Herron, author of London Rules



My Review

Split between then and now, we meet Jenna, accused of killing her stepdaughter and fiance, his body hasn't been found yet. Jenna is innocent but noone believes her, it is only a matter of time before the inmates find out she is a child killer. Jenna has to find a way to prove her innocence but all the evidence points to Jenna, her fiance is missing presumed dead and how can you prove anything when you are stuck in jail and your only hope is your lawyer?

Then takes up back to Jenna meeting her now fiance, now we go through her being incarcerated post the killing and the run up to her trial. Now focuses on her experiences in jail and it isn't pleasant, threats are hanging on every corner. We follow Jenna as she finds out what it is like to go from a normal life to being a child killer, what jail life entails and the knowledge of those closest have given up on you. The then chapters are how her relationship starts, her life before it is changed and a glimpse into a not so perfect relationship, all the while asking yourself where is the fiance?

The jail scenes are gripping, danger, violence, death and devastation at the power some have over others, the abuse and vulnerability these woman experience. Gripping and pulls you in pretty much from the get go, this isn't my first dance with Clarke and it won't be my last, 4/5 for me this time. This is a standalone and if you haven't read anything of hers before this is a great place to start.

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A Dark So Deadly by Stuart MacBride

A Dark So Deadly by Stuart MacBride
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - dipped in and out over 3 days

Pages - 608

Publisher - HarperCollins

Blurb from Goodreads

Welcome to the Misfit Mob…

It’s where Police Scotland dumps the officers it can’t get rid of, but wants to: the outcasts, the troublemakers, the compromised. Officers like DC Callum MacGregor, lumbered with all the boring go-nowhere cases. So when an ancient mummy turns up at the Oldcastle tip, it’s his job to find out which museum it’s been stolen from.

But then Callum uncovers links between his ancient corpse and three missing young men, and life starts to get a lot more interesting. O Division’s Major Investigation Teams already have more cases than they can cope with, so, against everyone’s better judgement, the Misfit Mob are just going to have to manage this one on their own.

No one expects them to succeed, but right now they’re the only thing standing between the killer’s victims and a slow, lingering death. The question is, can they prove everyone wrong before he strikes again?


My Review

A cop no one trusts, they think he took a bribe. A cop moved to the team for violence and two with health issues, they are the "Misfit Mob". DC Callum MacGregor is our main character, distrust is rife among his colleagues, rumored to have taken a bribe. Callum just wants a decent crack of the whip, when they get called to a dumped mummified corpse the team think this is another dead beat case. It slowly transpires there is a killer on the loose and the Misfit Mob must come together to solve it whilst trying to survive the force politics as well as their own person issues.

Oooooh I do hope this is the start of a new series and not just a one off standalone. The characters are flawed and very human in some of their questionable choices and damaged personalities. Poor Callum must be one of the most unlucky humans in the world! A sad childhood story, colleagues that don't trust him, a baby on the way and just when you think things can't get worse for him another strike of bad luck hits. As he struggles to juggle personal blows amidst a case that throws curve ball after curve ball you can't help but be drawn into the dark world MacBride has created.

We glimpse snippets of the killers world, the team interaction, the domestic side of DC MacGregor as well as the integration of the teams newest officer. If you have read MacBride before you can expect his usual humor and swearing from his Scottish characters. It is well paced and ties up earlier memories of MacGregors which initially I found a wee bit out of sync with the previous chapter however as the stories progresses it all takes shape perfectly. With twists and turns, swearing, violence, murder and mayhem this newest offering has all of MacBrides trademark writing but with fresh new characters and a chilling killer. 4/5 for me this time, thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins for providing me with a review copy. A Dark So Deadly is out now to buy in hardback and e book.

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