#Blogtour The Disappearance by Remigiusz Mróz

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The Disappearance by Remigiusz Mróz. 'The no.1 bestselling crime thriller - now a hit TV series.'

About the Author

Remigiusz Mróz is the author of over 50 novels across 9 series and various standalones and is recognised as the most popular author in Poland according to the National Survey and the Nielsen Bookscan. He has sold eleven million books in Poland alone, with each book becoming a bestselling and remaining in the charts for several months post publication. Remigiusz's work has been sold in multiple territories including Germany, Italy, Japan, Czech Republic, Hungary, UK and more. Follow @remigiuszmroz on X

About the book

A three-year-old girl disappears without a trace from her wealthy parents' summer house. The alarm was on all night long and the windows and doors were locked. Investigators do not find any evidence of an abduction and fear the worst.

Experienced lawyer, Joanna Chylka, and her novice protégé, Kordian Orynski, are tasked with defending a married couple charged with murder by the prosecutor's office. The trial is circumstantial in nature, but everything seems to point to the parents' guilt - after all, when you eliminate what is impossible, whatever remains must be the truth.

Review

I think Joanna Chylka doesn't really fit into the norm when it comes to being a lawyer or a sleuth. She adheres to the rule of laugh - sometimes. She isn't frightened to stand up to and stare down those who are in her way. She excels at the game of law and enjoys the sparring in equal measures.

This new case she has been drawn into is a bit of a conundrum. A missing child, a locked room/hose scenario and two parents who appear to have secrets to hide. Suspicion soon falls on the parents, which means Joanna has to try and defend them, and as she says quite eloquently - she doesn't need to know whether they are guilty or innocent. Not sure her colleague Kordian feels the same way though.

With that in mind - the apparent misbalance in attitude and approach towards the legal and criminal aspects of the case - makes the end of the story even more interesting. In fact it is enough to make you wonder how much of the professional persona is an act, because it is thrown out of the window when a choice between life or death has to be made.

I really enjoyed the more fractured, often stoic approach and the overall voice and style of this author. I would definitely recommend and read more.

Buy The Disappearance at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏:  Zaffre, pub date 5 Dec. 2024.

#Blogtour The Simple Truth by James Buckler

 It's my turn on the Blogtour The Simple Truth by James Buckler.

About the Author

James Buckler lives in London. He has worked in film and TV for many years, most notably for MTV and BBC Films. His first thriller, Last Stop Tokyo, published to critical acclaim. The Simple Truth is his second novel. Follow @jamesbuckwriter on Twitter

About the book

A young woman is dead. A very wealthy client needs a favour. You're newly qualified as a lawyer and this could be your big break, so you jump at the chance.

The case is about to be closed. All you have to do is talk to a family, ask them to sign some papers. How difficult could it be? Their daughter was found dead at a beauty spot on the outskirts of London in what you're told was a tragic suicide. 

Only you can uncover what really happened. But the truth is never that simple. And this case could cost you your life...

Review

What's the difference between the crime organisations that deal with the street and the corporate world that cross the occasional boundary? None at all really other than the fact corporate believe they have the moral high ground, due to their education and the nepotism that gives them a helping hand on their paths. Criminal is criminal, right?

When Lewis is picked for distasteful job of getting an NDA signed, by the boss of his form of all people. He thinks it's a foot in the door to the top, he also presumes it's because the top tier can see the potential in him. It takes him a while to figure out he is the low-class patsy that belongs neither here nor there, because one set of people won't accept him because he works for the enemy and the enemy think he will never be good enough to be considered an equal.

Lewis is the perfect man in the middle, and the kind of character that readers feel sympathy for, as he stumbles right into a wasps nest with the best of intentions. Well, perhaps his ambition allows him to ignore the obvious.

It's a legal thriller, which has the potential to be a series, as Lewis grows and becomes more secure in his self, his nose for crime, and his inadvertent interest in the truth.

Buy The Simple Truth at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Bantam Press, pub date 5th January 2023 / Hardback / £14.99. Buy at Amazon com.

#BlogTour Verbal by Peter Murphy

Today it's my turn on the BlogTour Verbal by Peter Murphy.

About the Author 
Peter Murphy graduated from Cambridge University and spent a career in the law, as an advocate, teacher, and judge. He has worked both in England and the U.S., and served for several years as counsel at the Yugoslavian War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague. He is the author of six historical/legal thrillers featuring Ben Schroeder, including A Matter for the Jury and And Is there Honey Still for Tea? The Heirs of Owain Glyndwr, Calling Down the Storm and One Law for the Rest of Us. He is also the author of the Walden of Bermondsey series. He lives in Cambridgeshire.

Follow on Goodreads, on Amazon, Visit petermurphyauthor.co.uk, Buy Verbal

About the book
A clever, accomplished Cambridge graduate with a good job and an attentive lover, Imogen Lester seems to have the world at her feet. But when her parents are murdered abroad while working for the Diplomatic Service, she is suddenly thrown headlong into a murky world of espionage and organised crime.

When she is charged with drug trafficking, even Ben Schroeder’s skills may not be enough to save her – unless a shadowy figure from Ben’s past can survive long enough to unmask a web of graft and corruption…

Review
The world seems cruel enough when Imogen learns of the tragic brutal death of her parents in a foreign country. It appears as if they were in the middle of something politically complex and yet when Imogen returns to London and her world is turned upside down she realises there is so much more at stake than simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

It's a legal thriller with elements of spydom, politics and police procedural. It's a fast paced read that takes the reader in the direction of one thing and wanders slowly into a dark layer of corruption.

I recommend reading the Author's Notes at the end of this story. It gives an interesting insight into the plot and the historical factual basis some of the story is based on.

When you read urban crime and police procedurals that take place in a certain timeframe there is most definitely a line drawn in the sand when it comes to corruption and reputation of the police. Mentioned under the almost amusing catch phrases of tough policing, turning a blind eye and a sense of fear that stemmed from knowing lawlesss often included the very men who were meant to uphold the law - it defined the way policing was perceived.

What worth does a system have when the people in charge are as corrupt as the criminals they are supposed to be apprehending? How much respect can they expect when everyone knows it isn't the truth or justice that counts, instead it is all about profit, greed and hiding the uncomfortable truth. You turn a blind eye for one thing and before you know it is worth your while to turn a blind eye to everything.

Murphy brings that element of the Flying Squad and their notorious corrupt ways, although they themselves would say they did enough good to balance out the occasional black mark. Easy enough to live by when you aren't the person who has to suffer from the corruption.

Kudos to Murphy for a great read and for the really well explained political and cultural landscape of former Yugoslavia.

Buy Verbal at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: No Exit Press; pub date 25 Jun. 2020. Buy at Amazon com. Buy at No Exit Press.

Read my review of Walden of Bermondsey by Peter Murphy.

#BlogTour Take it Back by Kia Abdullah

Today it's my turn on the BlogTour Take it Back by Kia Abdullah. It's a legal thriller with the precision of a crime, the darkness of a psychological thriller and has the power of women's empowerment at its best.

About the Author
Kia Abdullah is an author, journalist and travel writer. She has contributed to The Guardian, BBC, and Channel 4 News, and most recently the New York Times commenting on a variety of issues affecting the Muslim community. Kia currently travels the world as one half of the travel blog atlasandboots.com, which receives over 200,000 views per month.

Follow @KiaAbdullah on Twitter, Visit kiaabdullah.com
Buy Take it Back

About the book
Zara Kaleel, one of London's brightest young legal minds, shattered the expectations placed on he by her family and forged a glittering career at the Bar. All before hanging up her barrister's wig to help the victims who needed her most. Victims like Jodie Wolfe.

Jodie's own best friend doesn't even believe her claims that their classmates carried out such a crime. But Zara does. And Zara is determined to fight for her.

Jodie and Zara becomes the centre of the most explosive criminal trial of the year, in which ugly divisions within British society are exposed. As everything around Zara begins to unravel she becomes even more determined to get Jodie the justice she's looking for. But t what price?

Review
This is definitely going on my list of favourite reads of this year. It is an extremely powerful story. The author doesn't pull any punches and when she does take a shot those punches are delivered with such an intensity, power and honesty that it leaves a mark.

It's controversial and the subject matter is more so, but perhaps the controversy lies in the realism. The author speaks from the heart, the mind and from her own personal experiences as a Muslim and as a woman and merges all those elements into her main character, Zara.

Zara has broken free of many restraints of her culture and religion, however it has come at a price. There is a moment in the book when her father says something terrible to her. A sentence that changes the way she defines herself in her family, as a person and as a professional, which haunts her going forward. It's simply indefensible and it can't be justified in any way shape or form.

When a young white girl with terrible facial deformities comes to Zara for support after being sexually assaulted by four Muslim boys, she is determined to get Jodie the justice she deserves. She isn't prepared for the backlash against all of them. The racial Molotov cocktail it becomes and the target it paints on her back is lit by the fury of the sanctimonious and thrown by hypocrites.

The author makes some really poignant points about rape. The why and the imbalance when it comes to the treatment of victim and perpetrator, and what role the choice of victim plays in the rape. In this case the shadow of doubt that hovers over the case just because Jodie is deemed ugly, ergo not worthy of raping.

What Abdullah portrays with a frightening accuracy is the patriarchal society we live in, and the role the parochial attitudes play within the male dominated structures. The subordination of women is expected and any deviance is met with harsh repercussions for said women and girls.

Regardless of empty words about women being revered in certain cultures, and especially in specific religious groups, the reality is completely different. Honour killings, kidnappings, forced 'arranged' marriages and the domination of female gender by males of all ages. The author makes a really important point about the role of other women in this systemic domination and oppression. The majority of them take part in the oppression, because it is easier and safer to do so, but also because they have somehow convinced themselves that winning smaller battles is a victory in itself, even if it is at the expense of their daughters, sisters and fellow women in general.

It's a legal thriller with the precision of a crime, the darkness of a psychological thriller and has the power of women's empowerment at its best. This is an explosive must read as far as I am concerned.

Buy Take it Back at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: HQ; pub date 8 Aug. 2019. Buy at Amazon com. Buy at Waterstones.

#BlogTour Fade to Grey by John Lincoln

Today it's a pleasure to take part in the BlogTour Fade to Grey by John Lincoln. It's a legal and crime thriller with a mystery thrown in to boot, which is complicated by the personal issues that seem to follow Gethin around like a bad smell.

About the Author
John Lincoln is the transparent pseudonym of John Williams, the novelist, biographer and crime fiction reviewer for the Mail on Sunday. In his twenties John Williams wrote a book called Into The Badlands, about American crime fiction (‘John Williams' Into the Badlands opened up the world of American crime fiction for me and a generation’ – David Peace).

His true crime account of a notorious miscarriage of justice, Bloody Valentine, is a cult classic, described by Benjamin Zephaniah as his favourite book. Since then he’s written eight more books including the Cardiff Trilogy of novels and biographies of Michael X, Eartha Kitt and Dame Shirley Bassey.

Follow @JohnelWilliams @noexitpress on Twitter, Visit johnlwilliams.co.uk
Buy Fade to Grey

About the book
Gethin Grey is the man you call when there’s nowhere else to turn. His Last Resort Legals team
investigates miscarriages of justice. But Gethin is running out of options himself: his gambling is out of control, his marriage is falling apart and there’s no money left to pay the wages…

Izma M was sent down years ago for the brutal murder of a young woman. In jail he’s written a
bestseller and become a cult hero, and now the charismatic fading-film-star Amelia Laverne wants to
bankroll Gethin to prove Izma's innocence. For Gethin – low on luck and cash – the job is heaven sent.

But is Izma M really as blameless as his fans believe? This seemingly cold case is about to turn very hot indeed…

Review
The Last Resort Legals team has become the team to call when it comes to miscarriages of justice. They are a direct line from the prisoners to the possible door to freedom via a legal defence team. Of course nearly everyone behind bars protests their innocence even when the evidence points directly at them.

Gethin Grey is an odd mixture of a man who wants to be known for his noble endeavours, and yet simultaneously he is driven at heart by his gambling addiction and inner demons. Perhaps he thinks he can use his so-called saintly actions to rescue innocent people from the prison system to cleanse his guilty conscience.

Aside from the gratuitous one-time use of an offensive term referencing a certain sexuality it's an easygoing crime read. Lincoln keeps the violence to a minimum, despite the story being a fast-moving complex plot of red herrings and false identities. All of which becomes doubly complicated by the client who wants Gethin to prove Ismaz is doing the time, but didn't commit the crime.

I have to admit I wasn't feeling Gethin's wife and her justifications or her reactions, possibly because Gethin manages to come off as a sympathetic character. Not sure how, because he has a thirst for lady luck and the propensity to fall into the arms of accommodating women.

It's the type of crime thriller that keeps an authentic feel throughout because a lot of the scenarios border on realism. Gethin has to put his own problems aside to deal with the mystery of whether Izma is guilty or not. Lincoln shows how easily someone can be stereotyped and fall into the clutches of the legal and prison system, despite the lack of any substantial evidence.

It's a legal and crime thriller with a mystery thrown in to boot, which is complicated by the personal issues that seem to follow Gethin around like a bad smell. Oh, and just as a small side note - I was fascinated by the upside down house. I think it might have messed with my head a little.

Buy Fade to Grey at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: No Exit Press; pub date 21 Feb 2019, Buy at No Exit Press