ARC - Dead Gone by Luca Veste

Dead Gone by Luca Veste
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - on and off for 2 weeks

Publisher - AVON

Blurb from Goodreads

DI David Murphy and DC Laura Rossi investigate the murder of a student at the City of Liverpool University. Attached to her is a letter from her killer, which details a famous unethical psychological experiment performed on the victim, resulting in her death. Convinced at first that the murderer is someone close and known to the victim, Murphy dismisses the letter as a bid to throw them off the scent…until more bodies are found, each with their own letter attached.

On the other side of the city, Rob Barker, an admin worker at the university, is dealing with his own loss. His partner has been missing for almost a year, with suspicion from all around her firmly pointed at him.

As the two seemingly unconnected events collide, it becomes apparent Murphy is chasing a killer unlike any he’s faced before.

One who kills to discover more about life..


My Review

A serial killer is loose in Liverpool, using innocent people to conduct horrific experiments on and leaving letters to taunt the police. DI David Murphy and his sidekick DC Laura Rossi are on the case trying to work out the killers motivation and victim selection process. The clock is ticking before another body shows up and another innocent person is snatched, the public wants answers, the press is relentless and the pressure is on the police.

For a debut novel it does quite well to grab and pull you in. Rob Barker is a main feature in this tale, his partner went missing and for a while he was a suspect. Almost a year has passed and he knows she is still around, with the murders being linked to his university the police are soon interested in speaking to him again. The story flips from the detectives, to Rob Barker, to the killer and back to one of the victims that we follow from the beginning. I think that is one of my complaints about the story, the chapters are well labeled so you know who it is talking but it jumps around a bit much for me.

The attacks are quite brutal and the pace goes along fairly quickly to keep the reader interested. DI Murphy has a shadow hanging over him that is referred to during the story but the reader doesn't find out until later what the chat is with that. I also felt it speeded up toward the end with the conclusion although it did have a few surprises along the way. Overall, I quite enjoyed it and would rate it as a 3/5. Thanks so much to AVON publishers for providing me with this ARC, you can buy this title yourself from all good retailers from 16th January, 2014.

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December's giveaway is open

I was hoping to giveaway a Christmas themed book for December but it hasn't worked out due to time constrictions amidst a few others reasons. So there is a £5 Amazon voucher instead that you can hopefully buy a Christmas read with, or whatever you wish.

I normally run competitions to the end of the month so there should be a few January sales on when the competition has ended. All you need is a valid email address and if you wish to increase your chances, use the additional entries on the raffle copter form below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway This competition is open to all, good luck and thank you for entering and the continued support. All the normal rules apply unless stated otherwise and as always thank you for stopping by.

PRR - Everyone Lies by A.D. Garrett

Everyone Lies by A. D. Garrett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - dipped in and out over 7 days

Publisher - Constable & Robinson (C & R Crime)

Blurb from the back cover

DI Kate Simms is on the fast track to nowhere. Five years ago she helped a colleague when she shouldn't have. She's been clawing her way back from a demotion ever since. Professor Nick Fennimore is a failed genetics student, successful gambler, betting agent, crime scene officer, chemistry graduate, toxicology specialist and one-time scientific advisor to the National Crime Faculty. He is the best there is, but ever since his wife and daughter disappeared he's been hiding away in Scotland, working as a forensics lecturer.

In Manchester, drug addicts are turning up dead and Simms' superior is only too pleased to hand the problem to her. Then a celebrity dies and the media gets interested. Another overdose victim shows up, but this time the woman has been systematically beaten and all identifying features removed. The evidence doesn't add up; Simms' superiors seem to be obstructing her investigation; and the one person she can't afford to associate with is the one man who can help: Fennimore.


My Review


Professor Nick Fennimore has a previous and tainted relationship with our main character DI Kate Simms. Kate needs help with an investigation where people on the force are just waiting for her to fail. Nick has a soft spot for Kate, forensic science is his thing and access to equipment to help with the case, together the two of them work together to try and crack the case. Despite things seeming to solve themselves, Kate can't help but dig deeper putting herself and her associates in danger.

This is a great wee debut novel, it starts fairly quick with a good introduction to the main characters. Despite being the first book, the two have a previous relationship one that came under scrutiny from the police. This is linked back to and referred to at points throughout the book although not explained in full, I am hoping the next book will be a kick back to this.

The book looks at the underbelly of crime, prostitution, drugs, violence, murder and relationships set in Manchester. It is engaging, gritty and had life not got in the way I could have got through this in a day. I would have liked to have gotten the full back story on what happened with Nick, Kate and the circumstances surrounding their previous relationship and what happened 4 years ago. There are snippets of information which was a little irritating as you want to know but I think the authors have done well in building the suspense.

There are a few twists in the book and quite a bit of interesting information to be learned about forensics dotted throughout which I quite enjoyed. Overall a really good introductory book, I would certainly follow this series and would recommend it to any crime lovers. Thanks to the publisher for sending me a review copy in exchange for an honest review and introducing me to a new author, 4/5 for me this time.

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