Wow - talk about launching the reader straight into the action. After a creepy sinister prologue we catch up with (acting) DCI Tom Mariner. The police are preparing to stage a reconstruction of the night that eighteen year old Grace Clifton disappeared on her way home from work. Grace just happened to be the daughter of Council leader Bob Clifton,a wealthy and overbearing man who doesn't hold back on his opinion on police incompetence. The more time Mariner has to be spend with the man,the more convinced he becomes that Grace has ran away of her own accord.
Then the police receive a package containing Grace`s clothes,neatly pressed and laundered,even her shoes have been polished. Then a second woman disappears and the police receive a second package.
It appears that there is a serial killer stalking the streets of Birmingham. Mariner who is still adapting to a new investigation team and is struggling to pull its members together is about to tackle one of his strangest and most challenging cases yet.
As well as struggling to adapt to a new team,Mariner is missing his right hand man DS Tony Knox who has been seconded to Operation Athena. A task force that is clamping down on the circulation of illegal firearms in the city. Mariner is also struggling with his decision to move severely autistic Jamie Barham into his home. Jamie is the younger brother of Mariner`s ex partner Anna and Mariner was positive that he had made the right decision at the time especially considering the conditions that Jamie was living in at his previous residential facility. Now Marriner is in charge of a major investigation,he feels guilty about being over reliant on kindly Mercy Brown who takes care of Jamie when he is not in day care. So Mariner has to seriously rethink his decision and is wondering wether he should find Jamie a new residential facility. Although Tony Knox is in this book,he only appears every now and again and like Mariner,I missed the banter and camaraderie that the two characters share when they are investigating a case together. Mariner still had Charlie Glover and the new addition to the team Vikki Jesson fitted in well with the team but the banter and camaraderie that the usual team share was missing. Jamilla (Millie) Khatoon is currently off on maternity leave and although she loves her new baby,she is also missing her colleagues in CID,the sense of belonging and the sudden bursts of energy when they go on a shout. Little does she realise the life threatening situation she will find herself in,all because she makes a new friend at the health clinic.
This intricately plotted thriller is told from the points of view of Mariner,Charlie,Millie and poor little eight year old Dominique who`s mummy doesn't come home from work. Dominique`s chapters were heart breaking as we witnessed the poor little girl try to take care of herself,getting herself to school and being bullied because she couldn't wash herself or her clothes properly. It was ingenious how the author made all the threads of the story pull together and the identity of the killer who was actually hiding in plain sight was revealed. The killer was a sick,twisted but very clever individual who's identity took me completely by surprise,I definitely didn't see that twist coming.
Missing Lies is a gripping page turner,packed with twists and turns and keeps the reader guessing throughout. It also contains are moral message which is that some people in different professions might be heroes but that doesn't mean everyone is. Although this is the seventh book in the series,it can be read and enjoyed as a stand alone. I really enjoyed this book and link forward to whatever Mariner`s next case is going to be,hopefully,fingers crossed,Tony and Millie will be part of his team again.
AUTHOR BIO
I was born and grew up in a Norfolk seaside town, almost as far east as it’s possible to go in England without falling into the North Sea. There I worked variously in a boarding house (now defunct) a local bakery (closed down) and a crisp factory (razed to the ground). I graduated in Liverpool, then for twenty-five years taught children and young people with learning disabilities, including autism, before going into higher education as a senior lecturer.
Mindful of its reputation, I moved somewhat reluctantly to Birmingham, where I met my husband, in 1981. But just a few years later DI Tom Mariner was created to police its mean streets, and these days I relish the vibrancy and rich social history of the city. After eight outings for Mariner, I still feel as if I’ve barely scratched the surface.
Recently retired from lecturing and I’m currently luxuriating in the time I now have to continue the Mariner series, alongside published short stories and academic works. In my spare time, among other things, I’m a manuscript assessor for the Crime Writers Association.
LINKS
Website : http://www.chriscollettcrime.co.uk
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/chris.collett.5477
Twitter : @crime_crow
THE SETTING Birmingham is a city of stark contrasts with a rich cultural and historical heritage. Playing a key role in the industrial revolution, it helped shape the nation’s manufacturing industry
But with its many green spaces, Birmingham also borders on the beautiful countryside of Worcestershire and Warwickshire, is just a few miles from Stratford on Avon and a short drive from the wild country of mid-Wales.
Birmingham’s population is large and ethnically diverse, and while urban regeneration has forged a modern and culturally vibrant city, the decaying remnants of the industrial past and 1960s concrete jungle give it a unique and gritty character; the dark underbelly policed by DI Tom Mariner and his team.
THE DETECTIVE Detective Inspector Tom Mariner is, on the surface, an average dedicated policeman, but his experiences as a younger man have given him an insight into life on the dark side, and a clear sense of right and wrong. Mariner has little interest in material things. He lives in a modest canal-side cottage, enjoys the occasional (real) beer and game of dominoes and drives an old car. He is most at home in the outdoors, with an OS map and a compass, and in times of crisis, will take off and walk for miles in any weather.
THIS IS A REVISED EDITION OF A BOOK FIRST PUBLISHED AS “DEAD OF NIGHT.”
DI MARINER SERIES
Book 1: Deadly Lies
Book 2: Innocent Lies
Book 3: Killer Lies Book
4: Baby Lies Book
5: Married Lies Book
6: Buried Lies Book
7: Missing Lies
PUBLICATION DATE : 28th October 2018
PUBLISHER : Joffe Books
GENRE : Crime,Thriller,Police Procedural
PURCHASE LINK...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/MISSING-gripping-detective-mystery-twists-ebook/dp/B07JZDNPBQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1541429856&sr=1-1&keywords=Missing+lies
Don't forget to check out the other stops on the tour
No comments:
Post a Comment