Today it's a pleasure to take part in the BlogTour Containment by Vanda Symon.
About the Author
Vanda Symon is a crime writer, TV presenter and radio host from Dunedin, New Zealand, and the chair of the Otago Southland branch of the New Zealand Society of Authors. The Sam Shephard series has climbed to number one on the New Zealand bestseller list, and also been shortlisted for the Ngaio Marsh Award for best crime novel. She currently lives in Dunedin, with her husband and two sons.
Follow @vandasymon @OrendaBooks on Twitter, on Amazon, on Goodreads, Visit vandasymon.com, Buy Containment
About the book
Chaos reigns in the sleepy village of Aramoana on the New Zealand coast, when a series of shipping containers wash up on the beach and looting begins.
Detective Constable Sam Shephard experiences the desperation of the scavengers first-hand, and ends up in an ambulance, nursing her wounds and puzzling over an assault that left her assailant for dead. What appears to be a clear-cut case of a cargo ship running aground soon takes a more sinister turn when a skull is found in the sand, and the body of a diver is pulled from the sea … a diver who didn’t die of drowning…
As first officer at the scene, Sam is handed the case, much to the displeasure of her superiors, and she must put together an increasingly confusing series of clues to get to the bottom of a mystery that may still have more victims…
A few pages in and I started to wonder why I haven't read a book by Vanda Symon before. She has a certain eye to detail when it comes to geographical surroundings, certain scenes and characters that remind me of Jane Harper, who also always delivers an engrossing read.
The other thing I found interesting is the way her main character is torn between the feisty side, the vulnerable Sam and the often childlike essence that makes her shy away from certain interactions. You get the act before you think Sam Shephard, who then immediately regrets her actions and often doubts herself seconds later. Such turmoil in one person - it's enough to drive anyone, including herself, to extreme behaviour. Self destruction when it comes to her private life is one of her favourite things to do.
When Sam Shephard turns up to give assistance to the local cops when a cargo ship runs aground and the natives show themselves from their best side by looting a container, she thinks herding the greedy is the worst of her worries. Instead it's the beginning of an intricate puzzle that is as mysterious as it is deadly.
It's a police procedural, New Zealand's answer to crime solving. Shephard is the kind of character you want to revisit, and Symon's writing is an even better reason to delve into one of her books.
So let's not mess around here I am just going to say it like it is. Symon pulls off a very smart shell game with this plot. She literally shows us the pea, puts it under one of three cups and that pea becomes the elusive solution to the entire plot. I was like - I knew it - okay no I didn't - I thought it - yeh, maybe I thought it.
Either way it is an incredibly good read.
Buy Containment (Sam Shephard #3) at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Orenda Books pub date 5 Mar. 2020. Buy at Amazon com.
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