A couple chapters in, I found myself hating the main character. Not sure if I'll go back to this one. ( )

DCI Eric Shaw saves a young woman's life after a murder and attempted murder situation. Twenty years later, Eric investigates a similar case and wonders if there is a connection to Mina. The police procedural story follows Eric's perspective on the case and his growing relationship with Adele while referring to Mina's blog. The story might be written in British English, but the terms used are American English. Nonetheless, this is a good read.


I received a free copy and am leaving a review voluntarily.
Thank you to VRO and author. ( )

DCI Eric Shaw saves a young woman's life after a murder and attempted murder situation. Twenty years later, Eric investigates a similar case and wonders if there is a connection to Mina. The police procedural story follows Eric's perspective on the case and his growing relationship with Adele while referring to Mina's blog. The story might be written in British English, but the terms used are American English. Nonetheless, this is a good read.


I received a free copy and am leaving a review voluntarily.
Thank you to VRO and author. ( )

Detective Eric Shaw with Scotland Yard is investigating a string of cases that seem to parallel eerily to a case he worked twenty years before where little Mina was the only survivor when her family was brutally murdered. He was the cop that discovered her hidden under her parent’s bed. As the prologue comes to an end, the reader can’t wait to see if there will be justice for little Mina.

Except for excessive violence, the beginning caught my interest entirely. Writers are said to do best when they write about what they know. By an overview of ratings, this author seems to excel when it comes to her sci-fi novels. I’m not sure the mystery & suspense genre is the best avenue for her. The protagonist, Detective Eric Shaw, is despicable. He alters evidence in order to make sure the charge sticks to the ‘bad guy’. Hello!! How does ‘Mr. Almighty’ determine the individual to be the bad guy if he’s going to mess with the evidence? He’s a fifty-something man practically panting over a twenty-something girl who works under him. If this is classified as a romantic suspense novel, the ‘romantic’ part didn’t work for me. It made him pathetic. There were also some issues, it seems, with translation. This was originally written in Italian and some of the English words didn’t seem to fit well. Rating: 2.5 out of 5. ( )

I got this ebook through the Kindle First program, and am really happy I did not pay for it.

Our main protagonist is the head of the forensic lab, and is proud that he regularly manipulates the evidence entrusted to him in order to convict people that he just KNOWS are guilty. In other words, a criminal himself. He is also involved with one of his subordinates, AND plain nasty to another who he sneers at for wanting his approval in a new job. I suppose Eric has redeeming features, but they are certainly not obvious.

The plot was obvious, though. The murderer did telegraph their intentions, and if Eric had not been thinking with his genitals, it ought to have been obvious even to him. The murderer was clever, and set things up well, except made a few mistakes- and then, the whole telegraphing thing.

So. Obvious plot; cardboard characters; and a translation that often had phrasing that was oddly wrong. Plus, given the flaws, I wonder that anyone thought it worth translating; if you've read any Jacobian revenge dramas, you know what's coming.

Again, glad I got it free, but regret spending the time reading it. ( )