Hilary Bonner

What a slog! I really should have just skimmed this book after about 50 pages and read the end, but I didn't and now I wish I had those three reading days back. This mystery had holes in the plot the size of my swimming pool and wooden characters who never develop beyond their specific stereotypes. The pacing was very slow and the writing awkward and the denouement was just lame. Also, Bonner overuses the word "obliquely" and half the time doesn't use it correctly. I will happily be sending show more this one to the used bookstore and clearing a space on the shelves for something more worthy. show less

Disturbing!

A psychological thriller that deals with pedophilia, unresolved sexuality acceptance and relational difficulties in three voices. These three voices lead the story, interacting to form the whole. This modus operandi employed by Bonner lends a fascinating pull slowly drawing the reader further into the unfolding action.
The brutal murder of fourteen year old Madeline has Detective David Vogel methodically parsing every action of those close to her, every nuance is noted as he digs show more further into Madeline's life and the lives of those within her orbit.
I found this an uncomfortable read due to the subject matter and yet quite brilliant its execution. Bonner has a way with words that captivates you and places you right in the here and now, whether you want to be or not. It's hard to detach from the visual images she evokes.
Really this is a 5 star writing performance from Bonner, but from my personal liking of the subject matter, 1 star.

A NetGalley ARC show less

The disappearance of Clara Marshall and her two young daughters in the 1970’s has haunted the police for decades. DS Karen Meadows was thirteen at the time of the crime but feels a personal connection due to having lived next door to the Marshalls at the time. Through it all, the husband, Richard Marshall has declared his innocence. First swearing that Clara took the girls and left him, and later just by just keeping his silence and knowing that without a body there was little the police show more could do. Twenty-seven years later, human remains are found, it seems as if Richard Marshall will finally be brought to justice. But things don’t always work out as they are supposed to.

The story was straight forward enough, but the author chose to deepen our connection by showing how a crime of this nature can impact a community. We see how these disappearances affected people both close to the victims, like Clara’s father, as well as the casually connected like the girl’s school teacher. Even Karen herself has memories of this time that she has chosen not to reveal.

When The Dead Cry Out literally was one of those book that I couldn’t put down as I wanted to see what was going to happen next. Although there was little action involved, the author tells her story with incredible pacing, delving into the psychological motivations of all involved. I thought this was a well told story about the resurfacing of a horrendous crime and the repercussions that it brought with it. show less

David Vogel, mild mannered surface, steely strength running deep!

David Vogel’s latest murder investigation is a web of past deceits, present truths and complicated twists.
Vogel is called away from a family dinner to attend the death of a prominent screen writer , James Harding, at the annual book writers festival at Appledore in NorthDevon.
Nothing to see here! It appears to be more a heart attack, but Vogel goes through the appropriate procedures. It’s more that the dead person is a high show more profile Netflix writer that’s had him called out.
Vogel needs to get back to his wife and daughter, Rosamund. She’s about to go to a residential school but is upset about her missing cat.
When another successful Romance author, Delia Day, who’d been on the same panel as Harding, is injured in an ‘accident’, Vogel is suspicious, which becomes a certainty when Delia is attacked in the hospital.
This was a convoluted yet exciting tale that kept me swiping the digital page so fast that I almost lost it several times in my determination to find out who’d done it!
Even the ending added its own frisson!

A Severn House ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher. show less