crime · Detective · mystery · suspense · thriller

*BLOG BLITZ* The Third Breath – Malcolm Hollingdrake ★★★★

Blurb; DCI Bennett is away on compassionate leave. After much soul-searching, he has decided to attend his father’s funeral.

DS Owen is left at the helm when the discovery of a body in a car in the multi-storey car park is reported. Initially, the Coroner rules out suspicious circumstances but when a second body is found with similar symptoms, Bennett is back in the fold. He suspects that the coincidences must be of some significance.

Soon Bennett’s team are hunting for a callous and devious killer who has covered his tracks effectively.

Will Bennett’s perseverance and attention to detail eventually crack this perplexing case?

My Review; BENNETT IS BACK! WOW! We made it to book seven in the series. Amazing… Could this be the toughest case yet? I am seriously loving this series and you can find all my reviews for each book by searching on my blog for them. A brilliant series.

Back to the dream team. Back home… Cyril is contending with what could possibly be the cleverest killer out there yet? However, there are far too many conincidences appearing for his liking… Leaving no traces of himself and no dark, disturbing killings how is he killing these people? Do they all have something in common? A real puzzler.

I actually learnt quite a lot from this book that I didn’t actually know. Very clever indeed, but with Bennett on your case you’re bound to be caught some how. He is one clever man with a brilliant team behind him to help.

I actually managed to read this book within a day as I have been waiting and looking forward to reading this book for a while. I can always count on Malcolm to write a belter of a book that will whisk me away to Bennett and his team. He has not let me down yet! The Third Breath reads perfectly as a standalone. A real page turner that you will want to devour in one sitting. I awarded a well deserved four stars and I hope for possibly… a book 8? Please.

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crime · Detective · mystery · suspense · thriller

*BLOG TOUR* Crossed Out – Malcolm Hollingdrake ★★★★★

Blurb; DCI Bennett and his team are back and called to a house in Ripon that has collapsed into a sinkhole where a body is discovered.

Soon old weathered Remembrance Crosses are found dug up. Each one numbered.

DC April Richmond is assigned to help the team due to her impressive biblical knowledge and soon makes a startling discovery.

Meanwhile, Gideon Fletcher is walking around the streets of Harrogate distributing religious texts. Is there a link between Gideon and the crosses? Do the crosses have anything to do with the body in the house?

Bennett and the team find themselves wondering if the killer is exacting revenge or punishment and whatever the answer, they soon realise the clock is ticking.

My Review; Now, it’s been a while since I started and finished a book within the same day but Crossed Out had me hooked and I couldn’t put it down which is how I finished this gripping story within a day. 

Crossed Out had me intrigued from the prologue and it was great to be back in DCI Bennett’s world once more. I must mention that this is book six in the DCI Bennett series and it does make references to the previous books in the series so they are best read in order. The story is written well, thrilling and fast paced. You really won’t want to put it down. 

Crossed Out is a brilliant, cleverly written story with links to religion (Christianity) in this complicated, mysterious case. But not too much for it to become boring for the reader, infact I learnt quiet a lot from reading this story about Christianity myself which is always a bonus. This could be one of Malcolm’s best stories in the series yet. Very impressed. 

This is one of those stories that will make you go “Ah! That’s why it’s called that”. Outstanding and a well deserved five stars from me. I look forward to more by DCI Bennett and his team. This series really does just get better and better. Highly recommend. Crossed Out also made it into my top twenty books of 2017. Brilliant. 

crime · Detective · mystery · Short Stories · suspense · thriller

Long Sleep – Malcolm Hollingdrake ★★★★★

My Review:
Long sleep is the perfect short story for readers who have enjoyed the DCI Cyril Bennett series. It is perfect until the next book is released and will keep you wanting more for just a little bit longer. Long Sleep is written well, easy to read and will not take you long to finish. I enjoyed this bite size story and would highly recommend you all take five minutes to read it. A well deserved five stars from me.

If you’re an arty type Malcolm is currently asking for designs for the cover of this short story, if you’re lucky your design could be the future book cover of Long Sleep. All details and the story is available to read over on:
Emma’s Blog (Emmathelittlebookworm)