WEB OF LIES

Web Of Lies by Sally Rigby
Book 1 in the Detective Sebastian Clifford series
Narrated by Jonathan Keeble
Genre: crime fiction
Format: ebook & audiobook

About Web Of Lies:

A trail of secrets. A dangerous discovery. A deadly turn.

Police officer Sebastian Clifford never planned on becoming a private investigator. But when a scandal leads to the disbandment of his London based special squad, he finds himself out of a job. That is, until his cousin calls on him to investigate her husband’s high-profile death, and prove that it wasn’t a suicide.

Clifford’s reluctant to get involved, but the more he digs, the more evidence he finds. With his ability to remember everything he's ever seen, he's the perfect person to untangle the layers of deceit.

He meets Detective Constable Bird, an underutilised detective at Market Harborough’s police force, who refuses to give him access to the records he’s requested unless he allows her to help with the investigation. Clifford isn't thrilled. The last time he worked as part of a team it ended his career.

But with time running out, Clifford is out of options. Together they must wade through the web of lies in the hope that they’ll find the truth before it kills them.

Source: Info in the "About Web Of Lies" was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57483844-web-of-lies on 27/06/2023.

Buy Link(s):

 

My Thoughts:

This is my first Sally Rigby read and I would read her again.

I am an urban fantasy geek, so, not really a crime fiction fan. However, having said that, I do cross over to the dark side from time to time. Like now. Plotlessness is endemic in urban fantasy. So, a little plot already impresses me. This book's plot impresses me. Another thing... the names of the police staff in Market Harborough police force sounded like, dog names... Huh!...

Seb is an ex-copper. However, by the name of the series "Detective Sebastian Clifford", I take it that he'll be re-instated to his former rank in the police force at some point in the series... (?) ...

This is my first Jonathan Keeble audiobook listen and I like the way he reads! I also like that he gave Freddie Evans, the pub manager, a Welsh accent!

Quantitative Evaluation:

Story telling quality = 4.5
Character development = 4.5
Story itself = 4.5
Writing Style = 4.5
Ending = 4
World building = 4.5
Cover art = 4
Pace = (9 hrs and 17 mins listening time)
Plot = 4
Narration = 5

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 cherries

Books In The Detective Sebastian Clifford Series:

 

Meet The Author

About Sally Rigby:

Sally Rigby was born in Northampton, UK. After leaving university she worked in magazines and radio, before finally embarking on a career lecturing in both further and higher education. Sally has always had the travel bug and after living in Manchester and London moved overseas. From 2001 she has lived with her family in New Zealand (apart from five years in Australia), which she considers to be the most beautiful place in the world.

Sally is the author of the acclaimed Cavendish and Walker series, and the more recent Detective Sebastian Clifford series. In collaboration with another author, she also writes psychological thrillers for Boldwood Books.

Sally has always loved crime fiction books, films and TV programmes. She has a particular fascination with the psychology of serial killers.

www.sallyrigby.com | twitter | facebook | amazon | goodreads

The Narrator

About Jonathan Keeble:

Jonathan Keeble is an award-winning actor who combines his audio work with a busy theatre and TV career. Much in demand, his voice work ranges from the voice of God in the Sistine Chapel to the Angel of Death in the film Hellboy 2, with all stops in between. He has featured in over 700 radio plays for the BBC, appearing in everything from Shakespeare to Sherlock Holmes and Dr Who; he also played the evil Owen in The Archers. He has recorded over 400 audiobooks, for which he has won multiple awards.

voicebank | imdb | goodreads

FTC Disclosure:
The ebook and audiobook were bought with private funds.
No money received for this review.

THE TAKEN ONES

The Taken Ones by Jess Lourey
Book 1 in the Steinbeck and Reed series
Narrated by Carly Robins
Genre: crime fiction
Format: ebook & audiobook

About The Taken Ones:

Two girls vanished. A woman buried alive. Between two crimes — decades of secrets yet to be unearthed in a pulse-pounding novel by the Edgar Award–nominated author of Unspeakable Things.

Summer 1980: With no fear of a local superstition, three girls go into a Minnesota wood. Only one comes out. Dead silent. Memory gone. No trace of her friends. The mystery of the Taken Ones captures the nation.

Summer 2022: Cold case detective Van Reed and forensic scientist Harry Steinbeck are assigned a disturbing homicide — a woman buried alive, clutching a heart charm necklace belonging to one of the vanished girls. Van follows her gut. Harry trusts in facts. Their common ground is the need to catch a killer before he kills again. They have something else in common: each has ties to the original case in ways they’re reluctant to share.

As Van and Harry connect the crimes of the past and the present, Van struggles with memories of her own nightmarish childhood — and the fear that uncovering the truth of the Taken Ones will lead her down a path from which she, too, may never return.

Source: Info in the "About The Taken Ones" was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62726715-the-taken-ones on 07/10/2023.

Buy Link(s):

 

My Thoughts:

The story is not just crime fiction. It has an element of the paranormal in it. Van's instincts are so bang on that it borders on the supernatural.

I love the premise of this book! Paranormal hunches that are always correct! Catching the bad guys! Wonderful! What is not so wonderful is the way the author makes the heroine so masochistically subservient, it is royally pissing me off!

I think the author wrote it so that the readers would hate Detective Dave Comstock. And I do! Specially when he did not shake Van's hand and said "you never belonged". No decent human being does that!! But, that's the key word: "decent" human being, isn't it?...

I got so annoyed with Comstock that I stopped reading this book and picked up another. Then when I forgot my annoyance, I picked this book up again. So, no, this book was not a fast-paced read for me.

Police outright harassing other officers of the law? Like, what century are these people living in?! I thought that was what the Bureau of Internal Affairs are for!...

I am also not very agreeable with vigilante justice. Not in fiction books anyway. So, I am in a dilemma here...

And what's up with Van taking out garbage bags to the chute?...

At the start of the book, Van was kind of a weak character. She lets people run rough shod over her. She takes her frustrations out on her poor subordinates. Then at the end, she all of a sudden speaks out to Comstock? That character inconsistency there brought the character development down a notch.

This is my first Carly Robins audiobook and I would listen to her again.

Now we have to wait a year for the next Steinbeck and Reed book to come out!

Quantitative Evaluation:

Story telling quality = 3.5
Character development = 3
Story itself = 3
Writing Style = 3
Ending = 4
World building = 4
Cover art = 4.5
Pace = (10 hrs and 31 mins listening time)
Plot = 3
Narration = 5

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 cherries

Books In The Steinbeck and Reed Series:

 

Meet The Author

About Jess Lourey:

Jess Lourey writes about secrets.

She's the Amazon Charts bestselling, Edgar-nominated, ITW Thriller, Anthony, and Minnesota Book Award-winning author of young adult, magical realism, crime fiction, nonfiction, and children's books. She's a retired professor of writing and sociology, a recipient of The Loft's Excellence in Teaching fellowship, and a TEDx presenter (check out her TEDx Talk to discover the surprising inspiration behind MAY DAY, her first published novel).

She lives in Minneapolis with a rotating batch of foster kittens (and occasional foster puppies, but man are those goobers a lot of work). Drop by jessicalourey.com to find out more.

jessicalourey.com | twitter | facebook | pinterest | instagram | tiktok | amazon | goodreads

The Narrator

About Carly Robins:

Carly Robins is an actress and voice-over artist. She can be heard on commercials, video games, and promos. Carly comes to narration with a passion for performance along with the capability to span several genres, from romance to children's literature and thrillers.

www.carlyrobins.com | twitter | facebook | instagram | tiktok | linkedin | goodreads

FTC Disclosure:
The ebook and audiobook were bought with private funds.
No money received for this review.

THE LORD OF STARIEL

The Lord Of Stariel by A.J. Lancaster
Book 1 in the Stariel series
Narrated by Finty Williams
Genre: victorian fantasy / steampunk
Format: ebook & audiobook

About The Lord Of Stariel:

The Lord of Stariel is dead. Long live the Lord of Stariel. Whoever that is.

Everyone knows who the magical estate will choose for its next ruler. Or do they?

Will it be the lord’s eldest son, who he despised?

His favourite nephew, with the strongest magical land-sense?

His scandalous daughter, who ran away from home years ago to study illusion?

Hetta knows it won’t be her, and she’s glad of it. Returning home for her father’s funeral, all Hetta has to do is survive the family drama and avoid entanglements with irritatingly attractive local men until the Choosing. Then she can leave.

But whoever Stariel chooses will have bigger problems than eccentric relatives to deal with. Winged, beautifully deadly problems. For the first time in centuries, the fae are returning to the Mortal Realm, and only the Lord of Stariel can keep the estate safe.

Source: Info in the "About The Lord Of Stariel" was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41838393-the-lord-of-starie on 25/11/2023.

Buy Link(s):

 

Hetta

My Thoughts:

The premise of a sentient land is very appealing to my fantasy geek self, thus this book got read!

This is my first A.J. Lancaster read and this author sure knows how to weave a story!

I've read a lot of fantasy books. Epic fantasies. Urban fantasy. Paranormal thrillers. And most of them have little to no plots. Especially the urban fantasy genre. However, this book not only have a plot, it is actually twisty enough to rival a crime fiction! Now, how is that for plot building in this genre!

I was impressed!

This is my first Finty Williams audiobook. She has the same deep voice as Lorelei King. I prefer softer voices like that of Therese Plummer. However, one cannot deny the fact that Finty has talent. Does not read with a singsong. And gives the lines just enough inflection to bring the story to life!

Quantitative Evaluation:

Story telling quality = 4.5
Character development = 4.5
Story itself = 4.5
Writing Style = 4.5
Ending = 5
World building = 5
Cover art = 4
Pace = (10 hrs and 46 mins listening time)
Plot = 4.5
Narration = 5

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 cherries

Books In The Stariel Series:

 

Meet The Author

About A.J. Lancaster:

Growing up in rural New Zealand, AJ Lancaster escaped chores by hiding up trees reading books. AJ wrote in the same way as breathing — constantly and without thinking much of it — so it took many years and accumulating a pile of manuscripts to connect this activity to ‘being a writer’. Along the way, AJ collected a degree in science, worked in environmental planning, and became an editor.

Now ensconced in a house with two cats and a wide variety of houseplants, AJ writes and indie publishes romantic, whimsical fantasy books. The Lord of Stariel is the first novel in the now-complete Stariel Quartet.

In 2021, AJ Lancaster received the Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best New Talent, New Zealand’s preeminent awards for science fiction, fantasy, and horror.

ajlancaster.com | twitter | facebook | instagram | amazon | goodreads

The Narrator

About Finty Williams:

Finty Williams was born in London in 1972, the daughter of actors Judi Dench and Michael Williams. She trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama and has appeared in many British films and theatre productions. She is the lead voice for the animated children's series Angelina Ballerina, and has narrated a number of audiobooks.

twitter | instagram | imdb | wikipedia | goodreads

FTC Disclosure:
The ebook and audiobook were bought with private funds.
No money received for this review.