Category: Helen Fields

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Perfect Kill by Helen Fields – Blog Tour Review.

About The Book

He had never heard himself scream before. It was terrifying.

Alone, trapped in the darkness and with no way out, Bart Campbell knows that his chances of being found alive are slim.

Drugged and kidnapped, the realisation soon dawns that he’s been locked inside a shipping container far from his Edinburgh home. But what Bart doesn’t yet know is that he’s now heading for France where his unspeakable fate is already sealed…

DCI Ava Turner and DI Luc Callanach are working on separate cases that soon collide as it becomes clear that the men and women being shipped to France are being traded for women trafficked into Scotland.

With so many lives at stake, they face an impossible task – but there’s no option of failure when Bart and so many others will soon be dead…

My Review

With thanks to the publisher for the copy received. Perfect Kill is the latest book in the wonderful series that features Ava and Luc. I was looking forward to seeing how their relationship would continue after the events from the previous book. Their situation is probably helped by their enforced separation due to work. Luc is back in Paris, facing up to some demons from his past as well as working and Ava in Edinburgh. 

The cases are grim and compelling, both concern human trafficking but for completely different reasons.  It was impossible to decide which was the most upsetting, especially when the victims had their own voice. This isn’t a novel where you just see the police activity. You get to know victims and perpetrators from both cases. 

There are also parts that show the more compassionate side to Ada, her concern for her close friend Natasha is touching. Even though they both tease each other you could see how much they meant to each other. And there is also humour, especially regarding Swift, the officer who soon earns himself a nickname. 

As is usual, I still have earlier books from the series to read which I do hope to get to soon. And I am looking forward to what this author writes next.  

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Perfect Crime by Helen Fields – Blog Tour Review.

About The Book

Your darkest moment is your most vulnerable…

Stephen Berry is about to jump off a bridge until a suicide prevention counsellor stops him. A week later, Stephen is dead. Found at the bottom of a cliff, DI Luc Callanach and DCI Ava Turner are drafted in to investigate whether he jumped or whether he was pushed…

As they dig deeper, more would-be suicides roll in: a woman found dead in a bath; a man violently electrocuted. But these are carefully curated deaths – nothing like the impulsive suicide attempts they’ve been made out to be.

Little do Callanach and Turner know how close their perpetrator is as, across Edinburgh, a violent and psychopathic killer gains more confidence with every life he takes…

My Review

With thanks to the publisher for the copy received. I really enjoyed getting to meet Ava, Luc and the rest of the team last year. I still haven’t had the chance to read the earlier books so this was only the second book in the series that I have read. There were a couple of things that I felt I would have understood more if I had read the earlier books but they didn’t impact on my enjoyment of the novel.

What I like about this series is it’s originality. I read a lot of crime fiction but I have never read anything like the cases in this book. There are two investigations, one was a lot more complex and creepy than the other. Unfortunately part of it was completely believable, showing some of the more sickening sides to modern day life. It was this investigation that appealed to me most. The other, didn’t really have much of an impact on me until further on in the novel. I did have my suspicions, but thankfully they were wrong. 

The relationship between Ava and Luc is a strange one. I want them to be together but at times it’s not a healthy relationship. I suspect that many readers have more sympathy and liking for him, but I prefer Ava. Probably because I am a late reader, if I read the earlier novels my feelings may change. Luc is just a little too needy.

I’m pleased that will be another novel, I didn’t read the extract (not good with waiting patiently) but it’s one to look forward to. 

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My Top Ten Books for 2018.

The time has come again to pick my top books of the year. I have read 144 books this year and after much consideration I have managed to get it down to 10. All of the books have been published. Apart from my top book of the year they are in no particular order.

10) Old Baggage by Lissa Evans

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9) Only Child by Rhiannon Navin

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8) And So It Begins by Rachel Abbott

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7) We Were The Salt Of The Sea by Roxanne Bouchard

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6) Resurrection Bay by Emma Viskic .

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5) Perfect Silence by Helen Fields

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4) The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stu Turton

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3) Attend by West Camel

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2) The After Wife by Cass Hunter

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It was very hard to pick my favourite book of the year but I finally decided that it was the first book in a new series.

1) No Time To Cry by James Oswald

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Perfect Silence by Helen Fields – Blog Tour Review.

 

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About the Book

When silence falls, who will hear their cries?

The body of a young girl is found dumped on the roadside on the outskirts of Edinburgh. When pathologists examine the remains, they make a gruesome discovery: the silhouette of a doll carved in the victim’s skin.

DCI Ava Turner and DI Luc Callanach are struggling to find leads in the case, until a doll made of skin is found nestled beside an abandoned baby.

After another young woman is found butchered, Luc and Ava realise the babydoll killer is playing a horrifying game. And it’s only a matter of time before he strikes again. Can they stop another victim from being silenced forever – or is it already too late?

My Review

With thanks to the publisher for the copy received. Everything I have heard about this series of books has been great and I’m kicking myself that this is the first that I have read. Obviously this isn’t ideal but I had no problem following the storyline. I plan on catching up as soon as possible and have the first two books from the series on my kindle.
There are quite a few murders in this novel, they are gruesome but not where the reader feels that there is too much information. What they do show is a very deep image of how much pain the victims go through. I don’t think I’ve read a crime novel before that is like this, where the victim is given so big a personality and you know what their final thoughts are. It was poignant but also made me feel tension, hoping that they would be found in time, that this one wouldn’t die.
I have only ever seen the tourist side to Edinburgh, like many cities it has its homeless and drug problem. In this novel the drug is spice, reading how it affected the people who took it was chilling and very convincing.
I found the team fascinating and likeable. From what I can gather the series is usually focused on Luc but this book is mainly about Ava. This probably made it easier to follow and will have no impact on me reading the series out of sequence. I gather that Luc is a big hit with readers, again, I will probably see the reasons why when I read the other books. There was at least one character I was mistaken about, a more compassionate side was revealed as I got towards the end.
Despite the often upsetting storyline there were humorous parts, a storyline that runs through most of the novel had me smiling a lot. Especially when the ‘why’ couldn’t be revealed.
This is a series that I can’t wait to catch up on and I’m also looking forward to what happens next.

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