Blowback by Peter May
Publisher: Hachette UK
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

The penultimate chapter in the Enzo Files, sees Enzo enter the volatile and – now, it appears – violent world of haute cuisine.

PUY-DE-DÔME, FRANCE.

A Silenced Man.

Footprints in the snow lead to the murder scene of Marc Fraysse, France’s most celebrated chef – brutally shot before he could make the revelation of his career.

A Determined Man.

Seven years on and the mystery still raw, Enzo Macleod, forensic investigator, forays into the heated world of haute cuisine to uncover bitter feuds and a burning secret.

A Hunted Man.

The Fraysse family history is as twisted as Enzo’s own. And in his pursuit of truth, the depths of deceit threaten to consume Enzo – and that which he cherishes most.

Seven years ago, local celebrity and world-famous, Three Michelin star chef, Marc Fraysse is murdered under suspicious circumstances. Despite heavy police investigation, the case never went anywhere and was eventually left to grow cold. Now, forensic investigator Enzo Macleod is looking into the case. With the stakes higher than ever, and deeply personal, can Enzo solve this long-cold case?

A family member gave me this book and while I’ve heard of Peter May I had never previously read any of his work. I was intrigued to give him a go and – after the first few chapters hooked me easily in – delighted at this new-to-me author.

I was a little surprised that this book is set in France. While I feel the author did an amazing job with this I’d had the idea this was a UK/British based book so that took a minute to readjust in my mind. Also, I was surprised but really happy to find this is a restaurant/cooking based murder mystery. As such there is a lot of time spent on food/wine/cooking and so readers who aren’t keen with heavy detail along these lines might not feel it’s the right story for them. Personally, I found it interesting and quite easy to read – but I can understand if this isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.

Additionally, this is absolutely a slow-burn kind of murder mystery. I did not find this a fast paced or action-orientated type of mystery. While I wouldn’t quite put this down as a police procedural style of mystery – Enzo is not a police officer and so the usual procedural trappings or team environment and regular police aspect is not heavily involved in this story, this does have that sort of slower, collecting the clues/evidence type of system to it and therefore is not an espionage or action/adventure pace of book.

I loved that there were some good twists and turns to this mystery, and I greatly enjoyed Enzo’s character and all the other main characters in this story. This is a middle book in the series but I easily followed along having never read anything prior by this author and I thoroughly enjoyed the mystery and found it a gripping read. I’ll absolutely be checking out other books by this author and found it a solid mystery and read. Recommended.

Under Pressure by Robert Pobi
Publisher: Hachette UK
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

On a beautiful October evening, New York City’s iconic Guggenheim Museum is closed for a tech company’s private gala. Until an explosion rocks the night, instantly killing 702 people, including every single attendee—yet the damage to the building itself was minimal.

An explosion of that precision was no accident and, in response, the FBI mobilizes its entire team — but the sheer number of victims strains their resources. Were all 702 victims in the wrong place at the wrong time, or was there only one target and 701 unlucky bystanders? That many victim files is a staggering amount of data to sort through and Brett Kehoe, Special Agent in Charge of Manhattan, decides that he can’t do this without more computational power.

Dr. Lucas Page, astrophysicist, university professor, and former FBI agent, is uniquely gifted for the task at hand—he can visualize a crime scene as if he was a bystander and can break down any set of data at a glance. Even though Page wants nothing to do with the FBI, with his city under attack and his family at risk, he steps in to find a killer in a haystack before they strike again.

Dr. Lucas Page is enjoying life with his family. An astrophysicists and father of five adopted children, he and his wife live in a happy state of constant chaos. The events of the previous winter are only a memory, until Page’s contacts at the FBI turn up once again when a bomb goes off at a super-rich event at the Guggenheim Museum. The city once more is thrown into fear and chaos and the FBI are willing to use their every tool, including Page and his extraordinary perceptions. Can Lucas return once again both to balancing the fieldwork he used to love and the family he adores?

This is the second book in the Dr Page series and while I do feel this can be read and enjoyed by itself, I also feel there are enough tendrils linking this second book back to the first that readers who usually want to keep things in order might want to begin at the first book before cracking this one open. That said the plot is entirely contained in this story and even though there are clear links between Lucas and the various FBI characters they are quite clearly explained, and most readers shouldn’t have a problem with this or following along and greatly enjoying the ride.

I was also really relieved that Page’s wife, Erin, is a lot more in the background for this novel. While I completely understand it’s a great part of conflict in the plot to have the wife unhappy with her husband being carted off for days on end to help the government and spoil their happy family times, I do feel it gets old and repetitive after a while. It’s a realistic and logical consequence of the assistance and danger Lucas is put in, but we don’t need to hear about it over and over throughout the book. I was very pleased that this took a lot more of a back seat this time around.

I also found the plot to be really fresh and, in many ways, unique. I loved that there was quite a bit of complexity layering everything together and I strongly feel that Pobi has added a few new elements into this type of story with the very different perspective Page adds into the story. It made a lot of the story feel fresh and different to me and I admit I struggled to put the book down to get on with my regular life. I found the story as a whole was quite addictive and I just kept wanting to read more and more. I ended up having a few late nights with the “just another chapter or two” mentality and that’s always the hallmark for me of an exceptional book.

With interesting characters, a really solid plot and some new twists on the old story of “bomber blows up the city” this was a good read and one I really enjoyed.