Murder By Fire by Faith Martin

December 15, 2025 By Leave a Comment


Murder By Fire by Faith Martin
Publisher: Joffe Books
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed Fern

Meet DI HILLARY GREENE, a policewoman struggling to save her career and catch criminals.

David Merchant’s body is found in a bonfire in his back garden. David was a publisher and devout Christian. Who would want to kill this seemingly very decent man?

DI Hillary Greene faces one of her most puzzling cases as she struggles to find anyone with a strong motive to kill the pious publisher.

Then, as Hillary unearths greedy business partners and an estranged son, her focus is diverted when a new team member is targeted by a vicious gang.

Hillary’s under massive pressure and will she finally crack? And if she does, where will she go from here?

DI Hillary Greene is back again. Still feeling a bit low from recent events, life is slowly returning to normal and her team is soon called out to a suspicious death right on their doorstep. An older man is found burning on a small bonfire in his back yard in an otherwise quite little village. With a new team member to train can Hillary uncover who would want him dead?

This has been a really good series and I enjoy how the author keeps it fresh but still consistent. I can appreciate how Hillary’s team is largely stable, but with enough character growth and movement for it to stay interesting and new, I’m intrigued by her newest – and youngest – member. I also enjoyed that there was plot development around most of the other secondary characters, both within Hillary’s team and her two bosses.

The murder mystery itself also was quite interesting, with enough people to investigate and the leads allowing the plot to unfurl at a decent pace I found this to be a well written and thoroughly enjoyable British police procedural style of book. Well into the series, I did find that my emotional attachment to a number of the characters was quite strong mainly because I was well aware of the history, but I must admit the plot in particular stood well and was confined to just this story. I also really do feel that readers should be able to pick this book up by itself and still thoroughly enjoy it without having any of the past escapades under their belt.

An enjoyable and well written novel, this is more of a slower paced book that still moves along well. This is not an action-orientated or fast paced book, but it allows the reader to figure things out alongside the main characters, and I enjoyed that.

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A Darkly Shining Star by MS Morris

December 11, 2025 By Leave a Comment


A Darkly Shining Star by MS Morris
Publisher: Landmark Media
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

It’s nearly Christmas in Oxford and Detective Inspector Bridget Hart is enjoying a rare day off at Oxford’s Christmas Market. A ghost tour seems like a fun way to round off the day. Until, that is, a brutal murder brings the evening to a tragic close.

Torn between work and family commitments over the festive season, Bridget soon discovers that the ghost of Christmas past is reaching out to the present with fatal consequences.

Not everyone believes in the season of goodwill to all men, and with a real-life, flesh-and-blood killer at large in Oxford, Bridget races to solve the case in time to prevent yet more murders.

With only a few days remaining until Christmas DI Bridget hart is enjoying a rare day off and spending time with her partner at the local Christmas market. They decide on a whim to enjoy the ghost tour before heading home only the group leader is stabbed to death as the group enjoys a quick drink after the tour ends. Shocked and curious who in earth could want to kill the kind and pleasant man, Bridget and her team investigate the murder, quickly finding that it’s strongly linked to a strange disappearance decades ago.

I have been enjoying this British police procedural series and found this to be a well plotted and enjoyable addition. While I am pleased the other team members have different personalities and stand well alone, I must admit some of the personal drama between Ffion and Jake was starting to drag a little for me. I was pleased that the authors seem to have wrapped it up – at least for now – but I really hope they both move on swiftly from this and some of that angst and drama really settles down.

Oddly enough I find the family drama surrounding Bridget and her family – especially that of her daughter and sister – much more palatable and even though this a drama is even more lingering than that of Bridget’s colleagues, I think I find regular family conflict – a new boyfriend, feelings of not measuring up – a lot less grating and far more relatable. I also enjoy how the regular personal conflicts make a good contrast to the police work and murder plot line.

Readers looking for a well-balanced, police procedural style of murder mystery should find this book really suits that niche.

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Miller and Kelby Major Case Squad Files A Collection of Short Stories by Maxine Flam

December 9, 2025 By Leave a Comment


Miller and Kelby Major Case Squad Files A Collection of Short Stories by Maxine Flam
Publisher: Chapeltown Books
Genre: Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Historical
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Two Detectives, One City

The time: the late 1970sThe place: Los Angeles, California

Joseph (Joe) Miller and William (Bill) Kelby are detectives with the Major Case Squad. They get the hard-to-solve cases. And they solve them the old fashioned way with grit and determination, forensics, and help from the department psychologist.

Miller and Kelby are a dedicated detective team that Los Angeles turns to when there are unsolved murders in the city. And solving murders is their speciality. They put their lives on the line every day for the citizens of Los Angeles, a city that rarely sleeps.

Intuition is an underrated skill.

This was a varied look at life before the Internet existed. Everyone from nuns to serial killers to prostitutes were included, although the emphasis was on people on the margins of society for a variety of reasons. Joe and Bill needed to rely on their training and gut feelings about cases as doing any sort of research on the victims or suspects could be tedious and might not turn up anything new about them at all. Hunches aren’t proof, of course, but it was interesting to see how these characters found themselves proven right – or sometimes maybe not so right – once they’d gathered more facts.

While genre fiction is bound to have a certain amount of repetition of themes and plot twists, I did find myself wishing that this collection had branched out a little more from what typically happens in historical mysteries. The short lengths of these tales only highlighted those moments even more. This is something I’m saying as a reader who enjoys mysteries quite a bit and really wanted to choose a higher rating.

With that being said, the way these cases tended to blur into each other did mean that I was able to spend more time exploring Joe and Bill’s personalities as well as their relationship with one another as colleagues. They shared so much in common that it was refreshing to take note of the differences that existed between them and what each officer thought of their partner.

Miller and Kelby Major Case Squad Files A Collection of Short Stories made me feel as though I’d travelled back in time fifty years or so.

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Vanished Trails by LT Ryan

December 5, 2025 By Leave a Comment


Vanished Trails by LT Ryan
Publisher: Liquid Mind Media
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Amidst Shadows and Secrets, a Deadly Hunt Begins.
Six kids walked into the woods, but only five walked out…

18-year-old Liz Turner’s vanishing act sets off a relentless storm of secrets and suspicions. Her tight-knit group of friends, on the verge of starting their college journey, becomes fractured as they grapple with the puzzling nature of her disappearance. Without a body to be found, the police investigation stalls, leaving the case enshrouded in uncertainty.

Maddie Castle, tormented by personal tragedy. In the depth of her despair, the vanishing of Daisy Miller, her boyfriend’s sister-in-law, stirs old wounds and ignites a flicker of hope. Desperate for answers and redemption, Maddie seeks alliance with Detective Ashley Harper, the relentless investigator assigned to the Liz Turner case.

But their partnership comes at a cost. Maddie, once a respected law enforcement officer, must now rely on her instincts and her loyal K9 partner, Tempest, to navigate the treacherous terrain of this perplexing enigma. Harper’s bargain is simple: unravel the threads of Liz Turner’s life in exchange for assistance in solving Daisy’s disappearance.

As they plunge deeper into the heart of darkness, Maddie and Harper find themselves entangled in a web of danger, deceit, and deadly adversaries. From the eerie depths of the Pennsylvania wilderness to the clandestine world of hidden foes, they discover that every step taken toward the truth could also lead them closer to their own demise.

PI Maddie Castle is still recovering from her previous case. Struggling with her grief and despair she’s finally ready to help her childhood friend Bentley discover what happened to his sister in law Daisy. Yet when Maddie reaches out to try and find details of that case, another vanishing falls into her lap. The parents of a recently missing teenager – presumably lost in the woods – hire Maddie and her K9, Tempest, to search for their wayward daughter. Only Maddie quickly finds that case is far more complicated, and volatile, than she expected.

I have been really enjoying this series and found this to be an interesting and well paced book. There is quite a lot of personal growth and character movement – both for Maddie and the other secondary characters directly around her. While I thoroughly enjoyed the progress on a number of the longer running story arcs I can’t help but feel that maybe readers new to this series might feel all the character growth and development might be slowing the pace of the mystery plot. I enjoyed the – long time coming – developments, but I am also heavily emotionally invested in a number of these character arcs. Readers who are fresh to this book and series, or readers more interested in the mystery, might not feel the same.

That said, I did feel the two main mysteries here – one longer running and one well encapsulated in this book – were well written and intriguing enough to hold the readers attention. While I admit this is not a highly complex, deeply plotted storyline I found it fresh and not too cliched. I also appreciated that the missing teenager was not the usual sort of “innocent missing kid” that is usually in this scenario. That definitely gave the plot a realistic and more modern feel to me and had me interested on what had actually occurred that weekend. Watching that puzzle get solved was fun and kept me turning the pages.

Readers should definitely be aware that one of the sub-plots and quite a few of the character story arcs are ongoing throughout the series, and while the main mystery plot gets very well wrapped up – the sub-plot is a longer running line and is left with quite a few important questions still hanging at the end of this book. While I found this incentive to hurry into the next in the series – I could understand if readers who hate any kind of cliff hanger might not be as thrilled by this style of book ending.  This was a good book with plenty of character movement.

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Murder In the Garden by Faith Martin

November 26, 2025 By Leave a Comment


Murder In the Garden by Faith Martin
Publisher: Joffe Books
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Fern

Edward Philpott is found bludgeoned to death with his own spade in his beautiful garden. He lived with his daughter Rachel and his two grandchildren.

Hillary’s only lead is a rival from the village flower show who used to argue with the victim about the size of their vegetables. But what dark secrets from the past and present does this village hold?

Hillary has returned to work after the slaying of her boss and is desperate to track down his murderer. His pregnant widow is even more determined to get revenge, but will she go too far?

Can Hillary cope with two complex investigations full of extreme emotions, one of which is very close to home?

DI Hillary Greene has been off on two months compassion leave after the explosive ending of her last case. She returns to work slightly changed from the person and officer she was on that last fateful day. When her team is called onto a new investigation before she’s even sat down at her desk, Hillary knows she’ll need to be in top form if she really wants to return to her job – and life – after this enormous change.

I was pleased that the ramifications of the previous book are still solidly sounding through this story. While I don’t feel readers need to have read the previous book to understand the importance of what happened in it – I do think a deeper emotional connection and better understanding will be had if readers have at least a few of the previous books under their belt and they know the connections and deep friendships between Hillary and some of the secondary characters.

I was also pleased that while the resolution of this previous case is very strongly represented, it didn’t really detract from the new murder case. I thought the author handled the two powerful plotlines quite well. I was also intrigued by how Hillary’s character is still very much the same – but she’s clearly grieving and not at her best. I’ve never felt Hillary had been written as some omnipotent or untouchable heroine – but seeing her somewhat disjointed and not in top form was very realistic and quite interesting to read. Particularly since she continued to play to her strengths and remained the appealing and gripping character she’s always been.

This book was layered and very interesting. I’m eager to continue the series.

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Murder In The Meadow by Faith Martin

November 20, 2025 By Leave a Comment


Murder In The Meadow by Faith Martin
Publisher: Joffe Books
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Wayne Sutton is found dead by a stream in a beautiful meadow. His head has been bashed in and a red paper heart left on his body. The handsome young artist had a reputation as a ladies’ man.

DI Hillary Greene discovers that many wealthy married women were buying his paintings and taking ‘private’ art lesson from him. It appears that several of them might have wanted him dead.

Hillary also has a new detective sergeant, Gemma Fordham. Seemingly efficient and pleasant, she harbours a secret agenda.

Can Hillary get to the bottom of a complex case involving jealousy, love, and cold-blooded murder?

When two schoolboys find a dead artist in a nearby meadow DI Hillary Greene and her team are called in to investigate. All too soon they have more suspects than they can handle – cal DI Greene work out what’s really going on?

I’ve been really enjoying this British police procedural series based around Oxford. Greene is a wonderfully different character, a middle-aged woman, secure in her career and with plenty of brains and intuition. I love how she’s smart and competent without being omniscient or unrepeatable. I also enjoy how the author has managed to switch things up a bit by over the last few books having two of Greenes team move on – one through a transfer due to marriage and one through promotion. This realistically and easily opened the doors for two new team members to arrive and become strong secondary characters.

With enough interpersonal intrigue to keep me turning pages, the fact the murder mystery was also well plotted and set at a good pace was just icing on the cake.

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Murder In The Mansion by Faith Martin

November 18, 2025 By Leave a Comment


Murder In The Mansion by Faith Martin
Publisher: Joffe Books
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Fern

Mattie Jones is found brutally stabbed to death in her palatial home. Hillary Greene is called in to investigate the murder of this wealthy woman. Who wanted her dead and why?

Hillary discovers that Mattie’s snobby attitude had made her many enemies. Mattie was also going through a messy divorce and had a secret lover.

Meanwhile, in a terrifying turn of events, police officers are being gunned down outside their stations. A sniper is on the loose. Who will come under attack next?

Can Hillary cope with the enemies within, a complex case, and the whole force under attack?

This is the next book in the DI Hillary Greene series. I’ve been really enjoying these books – Oxford based British police procedural mysteries. There are two main plot lines through this book – both that of a sniper shooting police officers in their HQ car parks seemingly at random, and Hillary is leading her team investigating the brutal stabbing murder of a woman in her mansion.

I found both plots moved along at a good pace, keeping me interested and eagerly turning the pages. A few of the longer-term story arcs also moved forward which I enjoyed – both with Hillary’s personal life, and the ongoing drama with Gemma, Hillary’s new DS and Barrington, her DC. I enjoyed the movement with her colleagues and am finding this a really enjoyable series.

Readers who hate cliffhanger endings should be aware they will definitely need the next book in the series on hand. While the murder plot is very neatly wrapped up there is an important event that happens right at the very end of this book that will absolutely change the scenery of the rest of the series. I, myself, needed to read the first chapter of the next book immediately upon finishing this one and I strongly expect a number of other readers might feel the same as me in this instance.

Readers who like British police procedural books, or those based in smaller towns should definitely give this a go. While it’s not necessary to have read any of the previous books–I feel this could easily be picked up by itself–I did enjoy the progress with the supporting cast and that came from knowing the history between everyone.

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The Shadow Child by A. Williams

November 14, 2025 By Leave a Comment


The Shadow Child by A. Williams
The Darkglass Chronicles, Book 1
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Historical
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

OBEDIENCE IS SURVIVAL.

BUT SHADOWS REMEMBER.

THE SHADOW CHILD is a bleak, psychological novella about a boy stripped of identity and individuality by an institution that reduces him to drills, pain, and obedience.

Told in haunting fragments, it captures the suffocating atmosphere of erasure and the fragile ember of resilience that still survives within him.

Trust is a dangerous weapon.

The horror and thriller elements of the plot were woven into each other in satisfactory ways. This was one of those cases where fear of what might happen next was often scarier than what actually occurred, and it fit the emotionless characters well while also helping to explain why they weren’t behaving like normal children, or even normal human beings in general, would under the same circumstances. Yes, there were a few brief descriptions of violence along the way, but I appreciated the fact that the lion’s share of the frights here happened in the characters’ minds instead of in their bodies.

Given that this was the beginning of a new series, I wouldn’t expect every question I had as I was reading it to be answered. Still, I did struggle with how little information was revealed about what, exactly, The House was and why they were trying to remove the identities and personalities of children through abuse, neglect, and strict, militaristic training regiments. More details would have been helpful for sure.

With that being said, I did enjoy the process of finding out that my original theory about what might be going on turned out to be possibly true. There were a few hints early on about what the program runners were hoping to accomplish that did pay off even if the majority of my questions were not answered. Knowing that I figured out that piece of the puzzle was rewarding and made me wonder what the unnamed protagonist might do in the future as a young adult.

The Shadow Child made me shudder.

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Masked Prey by John Sandford

November 13, 2025 By 1 Comment


Masked Prey by John Sandford
Publisher: G.P Putnam’s Sons
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

The daughter of a U.S. Senator is monitoring her social media presence when she finds a picture of herself on a strange blog. And there are other pictures . . . of the children of other influential Washington politicians, walking or standing outside their schools, each identified by name. Surrounding the photos are texts of vicious political rants from a motley variety of radical groups.

It’s obviously alarming–is there an unstable extremist tracking the loved ones of powerful politicians with deadly intent? But when the FBI is called in, there isn’t much the feds can do. The anonymous photographer can’t be pinned down to one location or IP address, and more importantly, at least to the paper-processing bureaucrats, no crime has actually been committed. With nowhere else to turn, influential Senators decide to call in someone who can operate outside the FBI’s constraints: Lucas Davenport.

US Marshall Lucas Davenport is called in to Washington DC when deeply hidden website shows snippets of alt-right propaganda and a number of long-range photos of Senator’s children outside their schools. With clear implications and enough data for any number of people to take drastic action, Davenport is told to find those responsible and fast. But nothing is ever simple in DC and soon Davenport finds the case spiraling out into directions he’d never previously considered.

I am a long-time fan of this series and found this to be an interesting and extremely relevant addition. Davenport is certainly middle aged – but I find in many ways his experience is a fascinating and slightly different perspective to the genre is equally gripping to read. There’s a lot to be said for the no holds barred, endless action scenes style of mystery novel, but Davenport has always been equally about brains and solving the crime and not just jumping into the car and zooming somewhere guns blazing. I feel this book has a good balance between both those perspectives and adding in the strongly political element this plotline has again deepens the plot and makes everything delightfully complicated.

I feel this book is strictly a “summer-reading” style of novel. While the plot is complicated, the characters interesting and the setting extremely modern, this is definitely an action orientated type of plotline and not a deep thriller. Readers looking for something knotty or complicated might feel this is a little light – but personally I had a lot of fun reading it and there are certainly enough threads and elements for me to feel the plot was well woven and multi faced enough to keep my interest.

Readers who have enjoyed any of the previous series should easily be able to pick this book up and thoroughly enjoy it. Better still, while there is clearly a huge history behind Davenport and his various connections, I strongly feel this book can absolutely be picked up by a new reader and still found to be highly enjoyable.

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The Bowman By Rhys Dylan

November 10, 2025 By Leave a Comment


The Bowman By Rhys Dylan
Publisher: Wyrmwood Books
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

In the wild heart of Wales, terror stalks the open moor.

In the remote and unforgiving Cambrian Mountains, two bodies are found, sparking fears that a long-buried nightmare has returned. DCI Warlow is plunged into a chilling mystery, hunting a murderer who disappeared without a trace—leaving only blood and silence behind.

As Warlow’s team battles against mounting pressure, they face a haunting question: is this the work of a twisted imitator, or has The Bowman, a ruthless killer thought to be gone forever, resurfaced?

With each dark discovery, they’re pulled deeper into a case where the land itself seems to conspire against them—and the answers may come at a deadly cost.

In remote, rural Wales two people are killed within hours of each other, each struck down by a crossbow bolt. DCI Evan Warlow and his team are called in to investigate, but the details of the case soon remind them of a similar set of killings from decades ago – has the Bowman returned?

I have been really enjoying this slightly gritter series set in Wales. I found this to be a very well written addition to the series. The team has plenty of cases behind them now, and I find they work very well together without seeming stale or repetitive. While this is very much a British police procedural style of book, I strongly enjoy the Welsh atmosphere and aspects to both the plot and characters, it keeps the story feeling fresh and interesting to me.

I thought the plot was very well contained in this book and while there are a number of secondary characters in the larger team – and plenty of both good and bad history there – I do feel that readers new to this author and series should easily be able to pick this story up and thoroughly enjoy it. This had a slightly slower pace that builds to a strong and fast ending. I’m looking forward to the next installment.

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