Tag: murder

Fiction/Science Fiction · Mystery/Crime · Suspense · Thriller/Horror

Body Double – Tess Gerritsen

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591907| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Dr Maura Isles stared at the corpse in the car, at the face illuminated by Rizzoli’s flashlight beam.

It’s me. That woman is me…

Maura Isles deals with death. As a pathologist in downtown Boston, she has seen more than her share of corpses. But never before has the body on the medical examiner’s table been her own.

There can be no denying the evidence though. The dead woman is her mirror image right down to the most intimate physical details. Even more chilling is the discovery that they share the same birth date and blood type.

Then a DNA test confirms that Maura’s mysterious double is indeed her twin sister, and suddenly an already bizarre murder investigation becomes a disturbing excursion into a past full of dark and deadly secrets.

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My thoughts:

“Filled with secrets and mystery that is unraveling into a believable and realistic plot, but without all that gory stuff that is so popular.”

This series is only getting better and better. I threw myself over this one right after I finished the third book and now I feel the need to throw myself over the fifth book to. That is how good this series has turned out for me. This is just another fantastic continuation in the “lives” of Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles and I’m in love. And wow what a plot. Filled with secrets and mystery that is unraveling into a believable and realistic plot, but without all that gory stuff that is so popular.

The story line is not at all like the ones in the TV series and it was perfect. You get to know new things about the characters that has been changed when writing the TV series and that made me even more attached. We also get to follow Isles the most of the time and even though I’m not as huge fan of the book Isles as I am for the TV Isles i enjoyed it immensely.

It is a real page turner. The ending took me by total surprise, fitting but not what I would have wanted. It only fueled my need for more and not surprisingly, I threw myself over the fifth book to. Damns this is good.

 

 

Mystery/Crime · Suspense · Thriller/Horror

The Sinner – Tess Gerritsen

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32257| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Not even the icy temperatures of a typical New England winter can match the bone-chilling scene of carnage discovered at the chapel of Our Lady of Divine Light. Within the cloistered convent lie two nuns–one dead, one critically injured–victims of an unspeakably savage attacker. The brutal crime appears to be without motive, but medical examiner Maura Isles’s autopsy of the dead woman yields a shocking surprise: Twenty-year-old Sister Camille gave birth before she was murdered. Then another body is found, mutilated beyond recognition. Together, Isles and homicide detective Jane Rizzoli uncover an ancient horror that connects these terrible slaughters. As long-buried secrets come to light, Maura Isles finds herself drawn inexorably toward the heart of an investigation that strikes close to home–and toward a dawning revelation about the killer’s identity too shattering to consider.

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My thoughts:

“I can’t believe it took me as long as it did to fall for the series, but I finally did.”

What a great book. This was so good. Best one so far in the series. And now that I’m finally starting to not compare the books to the TV series, I enjoy it even more. I couldn’t wait with the fourth book so I threw myself over that one just seconds after I was finished. That is how good this was. That is how invested I’m starting to be in the “lives” of Isles, Rizzoli and all the other characters.

Crime and mystery is always a genre I feel at home with. It was the first type of books I loved in my early teenage years, long before I found romantic suspense and I love when authors can bring in something “new” in a genre where it is pretty much the same in different colors every time. And I love this series. It is down to earth with no excessive, over the top, murder cases. It feels realistic, believable and captivating with all that secrets unraveling. And all that personal life, Oh it is just so well balanced together and beautifully done. I can’t believe it took me as long as it did to fall for the series, but I finally did.

Contemporary · Mystery/Crime · Romance · Suspense

Dirty laundry – Liliana Hart

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36303602

| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: A new novel in the New York Times bestselling series: Coroner JJ Graves and her husband Sheriff Jack Lawson are back on the job when the body of an elderly woman is found in Bloody Mary.

Rosalyn McGowen is everyone’s favorite great-grandmother. She always has baked treats in her bag, she smells of roses, and she takes in stray cats. No one knows who could hurt a sweet old lady. But Rosalyn isn’t exactly as she seems. Every Thursday at noon Rosalyn secretly posts The Bloody Mary Tattler on social media, and it has everyone in town both captivated and horrified.

When Rosalyn’s secret is discovered along with her body, it’s not easy for JJ to determine her death as a homicide. But it’s not long before they discover the list of suspects is endless and Rosalyn didn’t exactly take all of her secrets to the grave.

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My thoughts:

“There relationship is so well written, it feels natural and realistic and it is easy to connect with.”

Another brilliant J.J Graves story from Liliana Hart. I read book 4.5 in the series several years ago and then I quite forgot about the series while waiting for book five. It was nice to pick up the thread again. I really like Harts writing where you get this warm, fuzzy feeling and even though the book about murder, death and human eating cats, there is also an aura of a feel good book at the same time. Mostly because I love JJ and Jack. Their relationship is so well written, it feels natural and realistic and it is easy to connect with. This time the book also has the feel of a mix between “desperate housewives” and “Midsomer Murders”. Such a fun story and plot to follow.

The conclusion in the end was however somewhat rushed and rich in details. It was a little hard to keep up with it to understand who the killer was and the why’s. It also ended on a major cliffhanger and we still haven’t received the whole truth around JJ’s dead parents. There is just so many loose threads floats around and it is time to knot some of them and be done with it. It is time to reveal those secrets.

Mystery/Crime · Non-fiction/Biography

Monster – Micael Dahlén

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16055994.jpg| MY RATING: ♥|

My thoughts:In Monster, written by the Swedish professor Micael Dahlén, you meet five of the world’s most famous murderers. Micael has interviewed and investigated their fascination about murder, blood and horror.

I was expecting a more fact based book with the mere details of the horrors these killers has committed. More focus on the interviews and Micaels thoughts around it. But it is in reality much more philosophical than I think a true crime, nonfiction book should be. I wanted facts as we know it, based on evidence and knowledge. Maybe some theories but not chapter after chapter about murder and its effect on the normal mind, society and theoretical thoughts about it all.

It is mostly my fault really. I did not read the synopsis carefully enough. If I did I should have realized that even though it goes under the true crime banner, it is also a lot more philosophical about the world we live in. A world about blood and death, money, love and celebrity.

I cannot find that this book has been translated to English yet. And if it ever will be, I do think you will find other books out there more rewarding than this one. It was a nice break from all the other books I read lately and short enough to start again from my reading slum. So points for that.

Mystery/Crime · Thriller/Horror

The murder bag – Tony Parsons

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18332155| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Twenty years ago seven rich, privileged students became friends at their exclusive private school, Potter’s Field. Now they have started dying in the most violent way imaginable.

Detective Max Wolfe has recently arrived in the Homicide division of London’s West End Central, 27 Savile Row.

Soon he is following the bloody trail from the backstreets and bright lights of the city, to the darkest corners of the internet and all the way to the corridors of power.

As the bodies pile up, Max finds the killer’s reach getting closer to everything – and everyone – he loves.

Soon he is fighting not only for justice, but for his own life …

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My thoughts: Never read anything by Parsons before and I’m pleasantly surprised. I like the book, unfortunately I didn’t love it. Probably because of the slightly diluted plot and the typical English settings. And I don’t mean typical in a good way. This book has a somewhat tame and watered topic, which I have read over and over again before. Why do you have to have that slanted balance of power in crime thrillers, specially English crime? I’m getting tired of it and quite frankly, is the genre done? Is there nothing more to write about? I feel English crime books are a complete genre by itself since they often are the same specially with the work relationships in the police house. Still I do love English Crime.

This gritty thriller is about a rebel cop (Max Wolfe) who’s only goal in his job, is to do the right thing and find out the truth. Perhaps even save a couple of lives along the way. He is following the questions and evidence no matter where it will lead and even if his bosses are against it or try to stop him. Wolfe is a great character to follow. He is a rebel yes, but he is not that typical kick ass cop you often read about. He feels more human, can get hurt as easily as anyone else, struggles with stuff and I love how real he feels. He is a single dad with a daughter and a dog. This little family is the center of the book and makes it warm and real in the chill of the crimes.

The plot was interesting and the mystery wasn’t that predictable. I do want to try the next book in the series. Book two actually have a higher rating on GoodReads and the first book so I’m kind of curios.

Contemporary · Mystery/Crime · Romance · Suspense · Thriller/Horror

Known – Kendra Elliot

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25596593| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: After a brutal snowstorm in the Cascade Mountains, Chris Jacobs discovers two things he never expected to see: the charred shell of a cabin, and Gianna Trask and her sixteen-year-old daughter huddled in an SUV, having barely escaped from their burning vacation rental.

Still scarred from a childhood ordeal, Chris knows there’s something sinister about the scene—it’s the stench of burned flesh.

Forced to wait out the blizzard in their rescuer’s retreat, medical examiner Gianna Trask wonders if her hidden past has finally caught up with her. When a body is found in the destroyed cabin’s ashes and a forest ranger is brutally murdered, both Gianna and Chris must confront their secrets if they want to escape the violent threat lurking outside.

In the fifth book in the Bone Secrets series, Kendra Elliot leads readers on a dangerous, twisting journey of two lives forever changed by a fiery snowstorm in the mountains.

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My thoughts: Out of the five books in this series, this one is certainly the weakest. Off course I’m happy for Chris, since he is the character who have suffered the most and certainly deserves a HEA. We met Chris for the first time in the third book “Buried” which is also my favorite in the series. Known however, I found predictable, with halfhearted twists and somewhat stupid plot. I like medical thrillers but this is nothing like that. It is more or less some bad stuff happening to good people and together with the police, they are waiting it out until the bad guy does something wrong and messes the whole thing up. Somewhat dull, gray and fleeting. No real depth. A meek try on a heavy, hard to predict, mystery.

There is no real suspense either and it is pretty boring actually. I think it is my connection to Chris that made me actually read the whole thing and in the end find it “okay” but not so much more. And the bad guy in the book was so stupid and embarrassing that I’m surprised Elliot let it go on for as long as she did in the book. There was not ONE smart decision buy either crook or author through out these 348 pages. Just saying.

This was for now the last book in the Bone secrets series and I don’t know if Elliot is going to publish more. If so, I will probably read them to. The series as a whole is really good and I don’t want to let this bad apple destroy a potential fantastic follow up.

Mystery/Crime · Romance · Suspense

The Island – Heather Graham

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450619.jpg| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: On a weekend vacation Beth Anderson is unnerved when a stroll on the beach reveals what appears to be a skull. As a stranger approaches, Beth panics and covers the evidence. But when she later returns to the beach, the skull is gone.

Determined to find solid evidence to bring to the police, Beth digs deeper into the mystery of the skull and everywhere she goes, Keith Henson, the stranger from the beach, seems to appear. He claims to be keeping an eye on her safety, but Beth senses other motives. Then a body washes ashore, and Beth begins to think she needs more help than she bargained for. Because investigating is a dangerous game, and someone wants to stop Beth from playing. ”

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My thoughts: If one can get past the fact that the suspense plot is predictable and the characters are morons, it is an okay, light read. Nothing overly exciting but a good, fluffy book who got the job done. I wanted something like it and i’m happy that I did get just that. Even though I can’t call it a literary wonder-work.

I do like mystery/suspense romances and the idea of the book was good and believable. There is some strong parts and in the beginning I did really like Beth and disliked Amber. But later on in the book I really started to dislike Beth and like Amber instead. Then I did really hate/love the character Amanda and she surprised me through out the book. I had not expected it but I did predict the ending. And I did miss some more depth between Beth and Keith. There was certainly a lot more to build on in my opinion and the last 10% pages was boring and nothing new.

I like the book as one of those fussy, easy time passers with light plots and characters. Do not often find them great but they get the work done. Which is keeping my mind occupied, be interesting enough to feed me another book in the line of many and keep me company when i need it. Sometimes my brain just need something easy and predictable. Something warm and easy to connect to.

Mystery/Crime · Romance · Suspense

You Belong To Me – Karen Rose

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8697191.jpg| GOODREADS | AMAZON | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ |

Goodreads synopsis: A killer is branding his victims with numbers. How many will he kill before he’s stopped? YOU BELONG TO ME is a fantastic thriller from bestselling author Karen Rose, and the first novel in her Baltimore series.

When forensic pathologist Lucy Trask stumbles across a mutilated body by the chess tables in her local Baltimore park, its face so badly damaged it is unrecognizable, her sole concern is that it might be her old school teacher Mr Pugh.

When the corpse is identified, Lucy is shocked to discover that the victim is actually another man from her past. Who killed him and why his skin is burnt with the number ‘1’ is unclear but it’s evident that someone is demanding Lucy’s attention.

The discovery of a second branded body raises worrying questions: how many more lives may be at risk before the killer’s final message is revealed? And can Lucy solve the killer’s gruesome puzzle before their thirst for revenge is complete?

My thoughts:Great book. Great characters, great story, great suspense and great, hot romance. Just a great book. Karen Rose has done a great job with the mystery and suspense so it is not until the end you really get to know whats going on. I love to sit through a book and guess how it all hangs together and when an author proves me wrong in the end, i have won big. And Karen Rose really did it in this book.

The book is part of an series. It is nr 12 in Romantic suspense but number 1 in the Baltimore series. I definitely want to read more by Rose. Her writing is great and I cant believe that i never stumble over her books earlier. It was actually one of my Goodreads friends who read it and thats how I discovered her books.

There is one negative thing with the book tho and that is that it are a little to many people and it’s sometimes hard to keep track on who is who and from where. But other than that it’s an great book. And you get the best from two worlds. Super romantic exciting and murder, crime suspense. Just up my alley.