Category Archives: Police Procedurals
Pity The Dead (Detective Solomon Gray #5) By Keith Nixon – Review
Next up on David's Book Blurg I'm reviewing Pity The Dead by Keith Nixon!
Here's the blurb..
Genre – Thriller/Police Procedural
"Don't waste your time, he's just another dead junkie."
That's what Detective Inspector Solomon Gray is told when the body of a young man is found. But Gray recognises him – an old school friend of his daughter's. His death is suspicious, but junkies are the underclass – who cares about them? Investigations are brief, the deaths ruled accidental, the people soon forgotten, and life moves on.
There's a brutal a new drug gang in town. Run by the vicious Leka Krisniqi, an Albanian who rules by fear and intimidation. Gray just can't break it. And anyone suspected of working with the police ends up dead – their drugs spiked with a powerful toxin.
An old foe calls. Sylvia – former PA to Gray's old boss and an expert in side-eye and snide remark – swallows her pride to ask for Gray's help. Her husband is missing. One morning he upped and left with just the clothes on his back and hasn't been seen since. To Gray it hardly seems important compared to a spate of murders, but there's more to it than he thinks.
Gray gets a break that just might bust Krisniqi's gang – a street dealer called E who could help. But she's afraid for her own life and that of her family. Before she can risk it, Gray must first do something for her…
Can Gray bring down the dealers before more people die?
Keith Nixon knows what his readers want and boy does he deliver!
We are back with Detective Inspector Solomon Gray.. past events are still playing heavy on his mind but there's no time to dwell.. Junkies are dying.. you could easily pass this off as expected but things just aren't right..the death rate is higher than the norm.. and where are they even getting the drugs? Wasn't the major drug stream closed down?
Thanks to some great additions to Gray's police team light starts to be shed on the issue but with junkies reluctant to help the police, the price of talking too high, the case stalls.. Sol's not one to give up easily.
As the case develops a visit from an unexpected visitor occurs that throws a spanner in the works.. Sylvia who has a history with Sol asks for his help with the disappearance of her husband.. At first Sol half heartedly looks into things..with good reason.. is a domestic right? he'll turn up… but after a bit of digging we see the bigger picture become clear.
We get twists and turns along the way and the authors normal style of sucking you in repeats past tales as you follow Sol and his team as they follow the clues to solve the mystery..utterly engrossing from start to finish.
I loved the personal development with this one. Sol has a lot of bad history behind him and we start to see current life events take precedence, is this a fresh start for Sol? I doubt it.. there's too much in his past but it seems like this could be a turning point for Sol.
Keith Nixon once again ticks all the boxes, Sol is flawed, he's real. Real life affects his work , nothing is clear cut..there's frustrations, it's messy, not everyone is nice… that's real life. It's the perfect mix of character development vs plot and I couldn't have been happier as a reader.
5/5 Stars for me.
To find out more head to Amazon or Goodreads.
This entry was posted in Book Reviews, Crime Fiction, Police Procedurals, Thriller and tagged Bloggers, Book club, Book Reviews, BookBlog, Bookish, Books, Bookworm, Crime, Keith Nixon, Police Procedural, Reading, Reading List, Reviews, Thriller on June 13, 2019 by Bairdy1985.
Blog Tour – Porcelain: Flesh of Innocents by Lee Cockburn (@lee_leecockburn)
Today I'm very glad to be the next stop on the Porcelain – Flesh of Innocents blog tour.
About Lee Cockburn
Lee Cockburn has worked for Police Scotland for sixteen years including as a police sergeant in Edinburgh for seven years and also as a public order officer. Before joining the force, she played for Scotland Women's rugby team for fifteen years, earning over eighty caps for the Scottish ladies and British Lionesses teams. She also swam competitively for twelve years, successfully representing Edinburgh at the age of fifteen in the youth Olympics in Denmark in 1984. Lee lives in Edinburgh with her civil partner Emily and their two young sons Jamie and Harry. Her first book Devil's Demise was published by Clink Street Publishing November 2014.
Follow Lee Cockburn on Twitter: https://twitter.com/lee_leecockburn
Title – Porcelain: Flesh of Innocents
Author – Lee Cockburn
Genre – Police Procedural
Publication – 21st Feb 2017
My Rating –3/5 Stars
Detective Sergeant Taylor Nicks is back and in charge of tracking down a sadistic vigilante, with a penchant for torturing paedophiles, in this unsettling crime thriller by a real-life police sergeant.
High-powered businessmen are turning up tortured around the city of Edinburgh with one specific thing in common — a sinister double life involving pedophilia. Leaving his 'victims' in a disturbing state, the individual responsible calls the police and lays bare the evidence of their targets' twisted misdemeanours to discover, along with a special memento of their own troubled past — a chilling calling card. Once again heading the investigation team is Detective Sergeant Taylor Nicks, along with her partner Detective Constable Marcus Black, who are tasked not only with tracking the perpetrator down but also dealing with the unusual scenario of having to arrest the victims for their own barbarous crimes. But with the wounded piling up the predator's thirst for revenge intensifies and soon Nicks discovers that she is no longer chasing down a sinister attacker but a deadly serial killer.
Vivid, dark and deeply unsettling Porcelain: Flesh of Innocents is the perfect next read for serious crime and police thriller fans.
I must forewarn readers that this book won't be for everybody.. it's dark and tackles such issues as child kidnapping and paedophilia.
It's an engrossing and downright scary read and as a new parent it had my pulse racing at times.
Throughout this book we learn about a brother and sister who've suffered abuse at the hand of those they should be able to trust during their childhood.
While that tale unfolds we also learn of a present day vigilante who is standing up for those who need protection..this vigilante soon gets wrapped up in an active police kidnapping case when a child goes missing!
This book does really make you think.. these are bad people who get what they deserve but at the same time we have laws and the vigilante is breaking them too.
There's a team of detectives on the case to hunt down this vigilante and for some there's a very full on complicated love relationships going on and there is a load of sex scenes. For me this is the only bit I didn't enjoy about the book. Don't get me wrong, I'm no prude and it did add to the sexual nature of the book and explores the emotional needs of sex but it took my focus away from the main plot which I was fully committed to. By the third major sex scene I ended up just flicking past the pages as I just wanted to get back to the main focus of the tale..the vigilante.. that storyline had me hooked.
Did the sex ruin the book? No..it's just not for me..It's just not what I expected to happen.
It's a dark and gritty book that really makes you think.. these things can and do go on in the world around us.. this is a subject most of us wouldn't even want to think about.
As the pressure mounts the vigilante makes a mistake and the police are closing in..I kept going back and forward between characters trying to decide the identity of the vigilante until the big reveal and I wasn't disappointed.
The ending left me wondering what's next… either more is planned or more likely left up to your imagination and I loved it.
It's a tough subject so by its nature some people may not like the book but it's definitely worth the read. I can honestly say I would have rated it 5* if the book had stayed on the case and had a little less sex..but that's my taste.. I know many of you will love the book.
A disturbingly good story..take a look
I've read the other reviews so far during the blog tour and the book is receiving a very positive response!
My thanks go to Authoright and the author for the chance to read and review their work in exchange for an honest review.
About me, I love my family more than life itself, my boys make my heart beat, I have a beautiful wife, a lovely kind supportive mum, and my late dad was a kind and remarkable man, someone you could rely on, someone who said I should write poetry, which I did do a year after his death, and unfortunately through dementia never got the chance to read my book. My wider family are also very supportive and believe in me, and listen to me when I'm letting it all out.
I have always been sporty, swimming for 12 years, training 5 hours a day when I became quite good at it, swimming in the youth Olympics when I was 15, representing Edinburgh. I then started playing rugby at 22 and represented Scotland for 15 years and the British Lionesses earning 81 caps in total. We won the first ever 5 nations tournament, we also won the European championships in 2001 and won 70% of our games always in the top 2 or three in the 6 nations, very proud to play and represent this proud nation, appearing in 3 world cups and 4 European championships. My last game I was punched in the face, breaking m cheek bone, nose and damaging my eye, very sore, but played on for 40 minutes. I still play the occasional game now and then and I am 48, 6'1" and 15 plus stone, a big strong lass and not over the hill yet.
I used to work in the Commonwealth Pool for 13 years, lifeguard/duty manager, I loved that job, very entertaining time, a really good bunch of people.
I joined the police at 32, came second in the fitness, just because my sprint wasn't good enough, I was gutted, 10.15 for my mile and a half, never to be repeated. I have been in response policing (front line) for most of my service, other than three years in the public order unit, which is helmets and shields and crashing down doors and that type of thing. I was promoted at nine years service and left the public order unit and went back to response once again and I am still there. I have been pushed and shoved around a bit, but only assaulted once when I was knocked out in my first 6 months of service, a big black eye and I didn't see who did it, so she got off with it, but did ask at court how my face was.
I was a little bit flighty when I was younger, but it wasn't an easy life for a gay woman coming out 31 years ago in 1986, 6 years after it was against the law to be gay as a male. I was assaulted at nineteen in Princes Street for being gay, I sometimes had to lie about my life to protect myself. I have always been lucky enough to have someone special in my life, and now I am married and settled. I'm very glad things here in Britain have changed for the better, and I hope it stays that way, for the sake of my family.
Writing, I never though I would ever write, it was all because of a dull book and I wanted to write one the way I'd like to read one, so I did and I am now on book three, I find it a great source of escapism and I do like to entertain people, and this is just a new outlet to do this.
I am a fun loving humorous woman, I love life and thrive on filling it with as much happiness as I can, especially with the children. One thing I don't like is unfairness, I hate bigotry, and I am a great believer in live and let live, protect those that need help, I hate a bully, and people should stand up for what is right.
I miss my dad, and I love the isle of Arran.
Purchase from Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Porcelain-Flesh-Innocents-Lee-Cockburn-ebook/dp/B01MR8004F/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1486590103&sr=1-1&keywords=porcelain+flesh+of+innocents
Purchase from Barnes & Noble – http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/porcelain-lee-cockburn/1125500067?ean=9781911525318
This entry was posted in Blog Tours, Book Reviews, Police Procedurals and tagged Bloggers, Book club, Book Lovers, Book Reviews, BookBlog, Books, Reading, Reading List, Reviews, Writing on February 26, 2017 by Bairdy1985.