Tropical Girl Reads

Title:- The Lost Ones (Detective Jackie Cook series Book 1)

Author:- Marnie Riches

Date published:- will be published on June 7th 2022

Publisher:- Bookouture

No. of pages:- 338 pages

Genre:- Thriller

Plot rating:- 4.5/5 stars

Writing rating:- 4/5 stars

Character rating:- 4.5/5 stars

Overall rating:- 4.5 /5 stars

The girl is sitting upright, her dark brown hair arranged over her shoulders and her blue, blue eyes staring into the distance. She looks almost peaceful. But her gaze is vacant, and her skin is cold…

When Detective Jackie Cooke is called to the murder scene, she has to choke back tears. Missing teenager Chloe Smedley has finally been found – her body left in a cold back yard, carefully posed with her bright blue eyes still open. Jackie lays a protective hand on the baby in her belly, who seems to kick out in anguish, and vows to find the brutal monster who stole Chloe’s future.

Breaking the news to Chloe’s mother is heartbreaking, and Jackie is haunted by the woman’s cries. She knows too well the terrible pain of losing a loved one: her own brother went missing as a child, the case never solved. Determined to get justice for Chloe and her family, Jackie sets to work, finding footage of the girl waving at someone the day she disappeared. Did Chloe know her killer?

But then a second body is found on the side of a busy motorway, lit up by passing cars. The only link with Chloe is the shocking way the victim has been posed, and the mutilated body convinces Jackie she is searching for a disturbed and dangerous predator. Someone has been hunting missing and vulnerable people for decades, and only Jackie seems to see that they were never lost. They were taken.

Jackie’s boss refuses to believe a serial killer is on the loose and threatens to take her off the case. But then Jackie returns home to find a brightly coloured bracelet on her kitchen counter and her blood turns to ice. It’s the same one her brother was wearing when he vanished. Could his disappearance be connected to the murders? Jackie will stop at nothing to catch her killer… unless he finds her first…

This is the first book of the Detective Jackie Cooke series.

The story starts with the discovery of a body of a girl named Chloe who was mutilated. Chloe was suffering from Down’s Syndrome and when Chloe’s mother cried over the death of her daughter, Jackie was determined to bring justice. But then a second body was found, murdered in the similar fashion and Jackie thinks she is dealing with a serial killer. Meanwhile, her boss threatens to cut her off from the case as she refused to believe that there’s a killer on loose.

The writing was spot on! The author did a good job of drawing the reader into the story and making the reader feel like they are a part of the story. The story is fast paced though in my opinion not much of twists and turns that I would like to see in a psychological thriller. Nonetheless, what I really liked about this book is the diverse cast of characters–Jackie’s partners Dave who is I supposed is Chinese and Shazia who is a Muslim so I do like the diversity in the book. Besides solving the crimes, I do like the personal life of Jackie–how her husband left her for another woman and how she was dealing with her pregnancy while solving and chasing after a killer. It was, in my opinion a unique thing in the book. Overall, though the ending was predictable, I liked the ending.

If you are looking for a start of a detective series, then I will recommend this series–worth four stars!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

Marnie Riches grew up on a rough estate in north Manchester. Exchanging the spires of nearby Strangeways prison for those of Cambridge University, she gained a Masters in German & Dutch. She has been a punk, a trainee rock star, a pretend artist and professional fundraiser.

Her best-selling, award-winning George McKenzie crime thrillers, tackling the subject of trans-national trafficking, were inspired by her own time spent in The Netherlands. Dubbed the Martina Cole of the North, she is also the author of Born Bad and The Cover-Up – the critically acclaimed hit series about Manchester’s notorious gangland.

Tightrope is the start of a brand new series, set mainly in the famous footballer-belt of Hale, Cheshire, and introducing flawed but fearless northern PI, Bev Saunders who risks everything to fight the corner of her vulnerable client. A second Bev Saunders novel will follow in early 2020. So far, Marnie has sold an impressive 250,000 books and counting…

When she isn’t writing gritty, twisty crime-thrillers, Marnie also regularly appears on BBC Radio Manchester, commenting about social media trends and discussing the world of

Title:- The Gosling Girl

Author:- Jacqueline Roy

Date published:- January 20th 2022

Publisher:- Simon and Schuster

No. of pages:- 397 pages

Genre:- Psychological Thriller/Black American Fiction

Content Warning:- Child Murder, Abuse, Racism

Plot rating:- 4/5 stars

Writing rating:- 4.5/5 stars

Characters rating:- 4/5 stars

OVERALL RATING:- 4/ 5 STARS

Monster?                    Murderer?
 
Child?                         Victim?
 
Michelle Cameron’s name is associated with the most abhorrent of crimes. A child who lured a younger child away from her parents and to her death, she is known as the black girl who murdered a little white girl; evil incarnate according to the media. As the book opens, she has done her time, and has been released as a young woman with a new identity to start her life again. 
 
When another shocking death occurs, Michelle is the first in the frame. Brought into the police station to answer questions around a suspicious death, it is only a matter of time until the press find out who she is now and where she lives and set about destroying her all over again.
 
Natalie Tyler is the officer brought in to investigate the murder. A black detective constable, she has been ostracised from her family and often feels she is in the wrong job. But when she meets Michelle, she feels a complicated need to protect her, whatever she might have done.
 
The Gosling Girl is a moving, powerful account of systemic, institutional and internalised racism, and of how the marginalised fight back. It delves into the psychological after-effects of a crime committed in childhood, exploring intersections between race and class as Michelle’s story is co-opted and controlled by those around her. Jacqueline writes with a cool restraint and The Gosling Girl is a raw and powerful novel that will stay with the reader long after they have turned the last page.

I listened to this as an audiobook. The story somewhat left some thoughts that greatly upset me.

In the story, we were first introduced to a character named Michelle Cameron, who was released from the prison. She was in prison for the murder of a four year old Carrie Gosling, which she committed when she was just ten years old. Now an adult, Michelle is living under the name Samantha and is friends with a girl named Lucy, whom she met while they were both in prison. Then Lucy was found murdered and Michelle was the prime suspect and her past came back haunting her.

What I like about the book is how realistic this book. Though it’s a work of fiction, you can see the reality of the whole story. Michelle was half-white half Black and throughout her entire life, she will be known as the “black” girl who lured the “white” girl and murdered her. The story basically focuses on Michelle’s life after prison, and how she still had to live under the shadows. In this book, we question about racism in the society and how the society is able to quickly judge and pinpoint the blame on the minority instead of blaming on the majority “white” population. We also learn in the story through Michelle’s account that a “white” girl named Jessie was also present when Carrie was murdered and that she too had a role in the murder, though Jessie was never charged, which brings us question as to how fair the justice system actually works. In real life, this is really true as we see how many black or minority people were sent to prison and blamed easily for the crimes they would have or wouldn’t have committed.

Here along with Michelle we were introduced two more characters–Natalie Tyler a cop and a black cop who is assigned to be Michelle’s parole officer and Zoe, a white woman who wants to write a book about Michelle, hearing her side of the story. We see Natalie’s struggle as a black cop, adjusting to the justice system. Overtime, towards the end, we see some development of friendship between Michelle and Natalie. Zoe, in my opinion was a mistrusting character–though we see that she was adamant that she wanted to write Michelle’s side of the opinion, we wouldn’t know what her true intentions were.

As for Lucy’s murder, I am not sure if it was solved–I am not sure if I actually missed that part. We see how Michelle slowly try to adjust a normal life but every time someone gets to know her past, Michelle was forced to move from place to place. You could actually see all the emotional struggles Michelle was going through as she actually had no real or trustworty friends she could turn to, even after her boyfriend, Ryan betrayed her by telling about her past to one of his friends Amber.

The writing was spot on–excellent as the writer manages to take the reader into the story. All the character, particularly Michelle Cameron is a very complex character that despite the crime she committed, as a reader you actually feel sorry for her. Overall, if you like heartbreaking and emotional thrillers, The Gosling Girl might be for you. Overall, worth four stars.

Jacqueline Roy was born and raised in London. Her father was Jamaican and her mother was English. She lectured in English at Manchester Metropolitan University for many years, teaching Postcolonial Literatures and Creative Writing. She writes fiction for both adults and children.

Title:- Birthday Girl

Author:- Niko Wolf

Date published:- will be published on 7th June 2022

Publisher:- Hodder and Stoughton

No. of pages:- 307 pages

Genre:- Psychological Thriller

Rating:-

Jonathan’s wife disappeared more than twenty years ago. Now he’s seeing her everywhere . . .

New York in the 1990s – impoverished writer Jonathan Dainty takes his wife Maddie out to the beach for her birthday. Hours later he finds himself at the local police precinct trying to explain how on earth he let his wife get into a stranger’s car, and allowed it to drive her away.

More than twenty years later, Maddie is presumed dead and Jonathan has channelled his grief into a best-selling series of crime novels. As far as he can, he is living the perfect life.

Then one day he catches a glimpse of his dead wife, moving through a throng of people. Is Maddie alive? Has she come back? And why does no one believe him? As Jonathan attempts to uncover the truth, it soon becomes clear that the people closest to him are hiding something, something that could change everything . . .

The propulsive thriller from debut talent Niko Wolf, perfect for fans of Gone Girl and Blood Orange

In the 1990’s, Jonathan is a struggling writer and Maddie, his wife is an aspiring actress. Then one day, Maddie gets into the stranger’s car and disappears. Jonathan was trying to explain the police about his wife’s disapperance and soon comes to term that his wife maybe is dead. Many years later, Jonathan is now a sucessful writer. One day, among the throng of people, he spotted Maddie. He believed that she was still alive but was not sure why she was avoiding him. No one else seemed to believe that Maddie was alive but soon find that his closest friends might be hiding something.

I do like the plot but then I found this slightly boring. The story shifts between present and past–the past his life with Maddie, the time of her disappearance and how he ended up becoming a successful author. This wasn’t much fast paced and not much twists and turns you would normally expect in a thriller. But then it wasn’t really bad either–the writing was great and the plot was good as I mentioned before. The ending, well, in my opinion or maybe it was just me was slightly confusing.

Overall, it my opinion, it was an OK thriller and worth three stars!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Hodder for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

Title:- Six Graves (DI Kim Stones series Book 16)

Author:- Angela Marsons

No. of pages:- 424 pages

Date published:- will be published on May 17th 2022

Publisher:- Bookouture

Genre:- Thriller

Rating:-

It’s a typical teenage bedroom with posters covering the walls and clothes littering the floor. But the girl lying on her bed, wearing a delicate chain around her neck, is lifeless. A circle of red stains her white vest top. How had the girl’s mother looked down at her sleeping child and pulled the trigger?

When Detective Kim Stone rushes to the scene of a house fire, she’s shocked to discover it’s claimed the lives of two teenage children and their parents. But this tragedy is not quite as it seems. Each body is marked by a gunshot wound and the mother, Helen Daynes, is holding the gun.

The case sparks painful childhood memories for Kim who suffered at the hands of her own abusive mother, but it just makes her more determined to uncover the truth. As Kim untangles Helen’s past, she finds a history of clinical depression. But did it drive Helen to murder her loved ones?

Then Kim uncovers a tiny, vital clue in Helen’s bedroom that throws the investigation wide open. Could someone else have killed the Daynes family?

Just as Kim feels she’s making progress, a deadly threat is made to her own life by a dangerous psychopath from her past. Biting back her fear, she keeps digging. And when Kim hits upon a shocking secret that changes everything she thought she knew about Helen, she realises that the remaining family members are in grave danger.

Kim is under pressure like never before, and the monster circling her is getting ever closer. Four bodies already. Four graves fresh in the ground. Who will be next? Can Kim find the killer and save herself before it’s too late?

This is the first time I started reading Detective Kim Stone series and I have to say, this has become one of my favorite series even though I started from Book 16!

Kim Stone rushes to a crime scene where a house is on fire and two teenagers were found dead. The police suspect that Helen Deyner, the mother who has been suffering from clinical depression was responsible for the fire and deaths as the gun that was used was found in her hands. But when they find a clue, they believe that someone else was responsible for the murders. Meanwhile, a ruthless person from Kim’s past comes back, determined to pay revenge on Kim…

From start to finish, I was literally hooked into the story. I can understand why this series became so popular. It was fast paced with twists and thrills that you didn’t expect and the author has done a good job putting the reader at the edge of the seat. I felt like I was watching some sort of thriller movie on the TV and felt like going on a roller coaster ride while reading the book. The ending…the ending was completely unexpected–I did not expect that type of ending at all!! The book was really awesome and Detective Kim Stone has become one of my favorite detectives. Now I am literally looking forward to read more of Detective KIm Stone series.

Overall, if you like fast paced thrillers with a female police officer as a main character, then this book is one for you. Worth five stars!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

Angela Marsons is the Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author of the DI Kim Stone series and her books have sold more than 5 million in 7 years.

She lives in Worcestershire with her partner and their 2 cheeky Golden Retrievers.

She first discovered her love of writing at Junior School when actual lessons came second to watching other people and quietly making up her own stories about them. Her report card invariably read “Angela would do well if she minded her own business as well as she minds other people’s”.

After years of writing relationship based stories (The Forgotten Woman and Dear Mother) Angela turned to Crime, fictionally speaking of course, and developed a character that refused to go away.

She is signed to Bookouture.com for a total of 28 books in the Kim Stone series and her books have been translated into more than 27 languages.

Many of her books, including Blood Lines, Dead Souls, Broken Bones, Fatal Promise and Dead Memories reached the #1 spot on Amazon on pre-orders alone and the translation of Dead Souls, La Verita Sepolte, recently won the prestigious Primo Bancarella award.

Title:- The Lies I Tell

Author:- Julie Clark

Date published:- will be published on June 2nd 2022

Publisher:- Hodder and Stoughton

Genre:- Psychological Thriller

Rating:-

Meg Varnum. Maggie Littleton. Meg Upton. Different names for the same person, depending on the town, depending on the job. I’m not a con artist as much as an avenger. A righter of wrongs. But nothing about me is real, other than my desire to hold men like you accountable for the things you’ve done.

I don’t break any laws, and what I take is given willingly. I can’t be blamed for how easy it is to manipulate you. It’s a discipline involving confidence, cleverness, and deception. And now, I’m about to work my final trick . . . this time under my real name. Because when it’s done, I want you to know who I am and remember what you did to me.

Meg Varnum. Maggie Littleton. Meg Upton. Different names for the same person, depending on the town, depending on the job. I’m not a con artist as much as an avenger. A righter of wrongs. But nothing about me is real, other than my desire to hold men like you accountable for the things you’ve done.

I don’t break any laws, and what I take is given willingly. I can’t be blamed for how easy it is to manipulate you. It’s a discipline involving confidence, cleverness, and deception. And now, I’m about to work my final trick . . . this time under my real name. Because when it’s done, I want you to know who I am and remember what you did to me.

I was so excited when the ARC of this book got approved!! I have always wanted to read Julie Clark’s books as I have heard many raving reviews about her previous book Last Flight, which I haven’t read yet. But this book, was disappointing at all and I actually enjoyed devouring this book in one go!

Meg Varnum, Maggie Littleton, Meg Upton…all these different name belong to the same person–a woman who is actually a con artist by getting herself into a relationship with men with money and eventually and slowly withdrawing their money from their accounts with excuses of payments or some sort. Kat is a journalist who goes as an undercover to expose this Meg. She has a fiance, named Scott who is addicted to gambling. While Kat is trying to expose her, Meg knows what Kat is really up to.

The story is told from the perspectives of both Meg and Kat. The author has done a good job of drawing the reader into the story and I was literally hooked into the story from start to finish and couldn’t simply put the book down. The story itself is fast paced, which is one of the main things I like about a thriller with some twists and turns along the way that will keep you guessing what the ending is going to turn out like. I felt like I was watching a movie rather than reading a book and overall, I actually enjoyed reading this book! The ending was gripping and shocking and not to give too much spoilers…let’s just say, Meg is the female version of Robin Hood. I really did like the ending actually. I do like the feminist vibe in the book as well that portray the women as strong, courageous and ambitious and would do anything to get what they want.

I would most certainly read more books from this author and I couldn’t wait to read more from Julie Clark !

If you like a gripping fast paced thriller that will make you feel like you are watching a thriller movie on the screen with ambitious women as main characters, and if you like women as con artists as a main topic in the story, then this book is one for you–worth five stars!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Hodder and Stoughton for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

Julie Clark is the New York Times bestselling author of The Ones We Choose and The Last Flight, which was also a #1 international bestseller and has been translated into more than twenty languages. She lives in Los Angeles with her family and a golden doodle with poor impulse control.

Title:- Missing

Author:- K.L. Slater

Date published:- will be published on May 19th 2022

No. of pages:- 256 pages

Publisher:- Bookouture

Genre:- Psychological Thriller

Rating:-

I’ve known him all my life. I know he has taken my daughter. His mother says she can help me. But she’s the last person I can trust…

Samuel lived next door when we were children. We were inseparable. But he didn’t like sharing me with my adored little brother. And one terrible night, he got rid of my brother forever…

Now, years later, he’s free. And my daughter is missing.

I turn on my baby girl’s unicorn nightlight and bury my face in her pillow, my heart breaking. I know Samuel has her – he blames me for ruining his life, and even after all this time, he still doesn’t like to share.

As darkness falls, there’s a knock at my door and I open it to see Samuel’s mother. She says she can help me.

I know I can’t trust her, but I don’t have a choice. With each step I take, my fear grows stronger. Can she help me find my daughter? Or does she know something about what really happened all those years ago? Something that could stop me from saving my baby girl…

What a mind blowing psychological thriller!!! K.L. Slater is back with another thriller that will keep you hooked till the end!

In 1993, a young boy named Jimmy was murdered by locking him up in a warehouse. The suspect, Samuel was then sent to prison. Now back in the present day, Josie, Jimmy’s older sister is owning a cafe and has a daughter named Ivy. She then hears the news that Samuel has been released on parole. Now Josie was worried that Samuel was released and was worried about her safety. Then her daughter, Ivy goes missing and Josie suspect that Samuel is behind her daughter’s disappearance.

From the first chapter till the end, it was mind blowing and unputdownable! I finished this book in less than two days and still my mind is reeling from what I have read. This was fast paced, with twists and turns, the story mostly told from Josie’s perspective. The author has done a great job of drawing the reader into the story and making the reader feel like they are part of the story. The ending was what actually blew me away and I was literally shocked at the ending–so unpredictable ending. Out of all her books I have read, I felt this book was one of her best.

If you like a fast paced, twisty thriller that will keep you up all night with a theme of dysfuctional relationships, then this book will be one for you–worth five stars!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

Kim is the number one bestselling author of sixteen psychological crime thrillers. She has sold over two million copies of her books worldwide. She has also written four Carnegie-nominated Young Adult novels as Kim Slater for Macmillan Children’s Books. Kim has an MA in Creative Writing and lives with her husband in a small Nottinghamshire village.