Crime

Great start to a new series. ( )

Initially, I would recommend this book to someone who likes police procedural shows, whether British or not. The lead character definitely will remind you of Prime Suspect's DCI. There are also similarites between Lou and Carol Jordan in the Tony Hill/Carol Jordan mysteries by Val McDermid. Those who love BBC America mysteries will find this series appealing.

This is a fast-paced mystery that flows well. There is a diverse group of secondary characters and the perspective changes from that of the various officers to the witnesses and potential suspects.
The DCI Lou faces the usual sexism and difficulty of managing workplace relationships.

(Standard disclosure- I use these reviews for readers advisory in the library so it's not a standard review but intead I use it to jog my memory about appeal factors.)

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I generally enjoyed this, it had a good storyline and mainly realistic characters. The writing is good, however, I didn't think it was as gripping as ITDC.
I will read the next one in the series. ( )

Under a Silent Moon by Elizabeth Haynes is a police procedural that is the first book in a series featuring DI Louisa Smith. The story features police reports, copies of interviews, e-mails and other documents pertaining to the case of two deceased women. These documents helped to move this rather slow moving story along but overall, I enjoyed many aspects of this story and found it complicated and twisted enough to hold my attention.

The story unfolds through multiple aspects which helps to place the reader in the middle of this investigation and makes the story more viable. Unfortunately I thought that the main character, Louisa Smith wasn’t strongly developed but perhaps the author is planning on doing this over the course of the series. The other members of Louisa’s team were interesting and there was conflict enough to carry over into subsequent books.

Overall Under A Silent Moon was a clever mystery that unfolded in an authentic manner and was intriguing enough that I will most likely be on the lookout for the next book in the series. ( )