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The Neve & Egan Cases #4
Blind Chess
They took down his partner. Can a blind detective bring a dark conspiracy to light?
Professor-turned-PI Ashford Egan owes everything to Alexandra Neve. So when his kind-hearted colleague is shot and slips into a coma, he vows to take revenge. But even using every trick she taught him, a sightless investigator may be no match for London’s most ruthless criminal kingpin.
Desperate to leave no stone unturned, Egan teams up with cops and criminals alike. But someone is hiding their true allegiance, and the professor fears he’s being played for a pawn. With Neve’s life hanging in the balance, Egan’s terrified even Scotland Yard could be caught in a crooked game.
Can the cane-carrying private eye reveal a callous underworld and bring Neve justice before a deadly checkmate?
Professor-turned-PI Ashford Egan owes everything to Alexandra Neve. So when his kind-hearted colleague is shot and slips into a coma, he vows to take revenge. But even using every trick she taught him, a sightless investigator may be no match for London’s most ruthless criminal kingpin.
Desperate to leave no stone unturned, Egan teams up with cops and criminals alike. But someone is hiding their true allegiance, and the professor fears he’s being played for a pawn. With Neve’s life hanging in the balance, Egan’s terrified even Scotland Yard could be caught in a crooked game.
Can the cane-carrying private eye reveal a callous underworld and bring Neve justice before a deadly checkmate?
- GenresMystery
Paperback
Published November 1, 2015
6 people are currently reading
81 people want to read
About the author
Cristelle Comby
16 books261 followersCristelle Comby was born and raised in the French-speaking area of Switzerland, in Greater Geneva, where she still resides.
She attributes to her origins her ever-peaceful nature and her undying love for chocolate. She has a passion for art, which also includes an interest in drawing and acting.
She is the author of the Neve & Egan Cases series, which features an unlikely duo of private detectives in London: Ashford Egan, a blind History professor, and Alexandra Neve, one of his students.
Currently, she is hard at work on her Urban Fantasy series Vale Investigation which chronicles the exploits of Death’s only envoy on Earth, PI Bellamy Vale, in the fictitious town of Cold City, USA.
She attributes to her origins her ever-peaceful nature and her undying love for chocolate. She has a passion for art, which also includes an interest in drawing and acting.
She is the author of the Neve & Egan Cases series, which features an unlikely duo of private detectives in London: Ashford Egan, a blind History professor, and Alexandra Neve, one of his students.
Currently, she is hard at work on her Urban Fantasy series Vale Investigation which chronicles the exploits of Death’s only envoy on Earth, PI Bellamy Vale, in the fictitious town of Cold City, USA.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 15, 2016
I began reading the Egan and Neve series of crime novels after a book tour request to review the second book in the series and I enjoyed the novel so much that I’ve gone on to read the rest of the series. And, I enjoyed this fourth book as much as the previous ones.
For me, the essence of these novels is the relationship between the main characters: their development from bumbling amateurs to professional investigators and the deepening of their friendship and loyalty to each other. The first three books are told convincingly mainly from Lexa’s point of view. With the developments in the plot in Book 3, Book 4 takes a turn and this time we see mainly Ash’s perspective. The change of main narrator completes the picture of the pairs’ relationship with each other for the reader.
Each book in the series gives the likeable main characters an intriguing mystery to solve. As they work on the cases, some of the clues begin to reveal that a sinister criminal mastermind is in the shadows watching them. As the pair gets closer to discovering who this person is, their job becomes more dangerous and the stakes get higher for them. In Book 4, they are physically and emotionally challenged to their limits and it has profound effects on each of them. I think that Book 4 has crossed the line between cosy and standard crime novel, but, despite the increasingly tense, dark plots as the series progresses, the witty and feel good element that enervates all the novels is never lost.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and its predecessors, and, although the series seems as if it may have reached a natural conclusion, I still hope there will be more Egan and Neve books to come. I heartily recommend this novel.
For me, the essence of these novels is the relationship between the main characters: their development from bumbling amateurs to professional investigators and the deepening of their friendship and loyalty to each other. The first three books are told convincingly mainly from Lexa’s point of view. With the developments in the plot in Book 3, Book 4 takes a turn and this time we see mainly Ash’s perspective. The change of main narrator completes the picture of the pairs’ relationship with each other for the reader.
Each book in the series gives the likeable main characters an intriguing mystery to solve. As they work on the cases, some of the clues begin to reveal that a sinister criminal mastermind is in the shadows watching them. As the pair gets closer to discovering who this person is, their job becomes more dangerous and the stakes get higher for them. In Book 4, they are physically and emotionally challenged to their limits and it has profound effects on each of them. I think that Book 4 has crossed the line between cosy and standard crime novel, but, despite the increasingly tense, dark plots as the series progresses, the witty and feel good element that enervates all the novels is never lost.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and its predecessors, and, although the series seems as if it may have reached a natural conclusion, I still hope there will be more Egan and Neve books to come. I heartily recommend this novel.
June 6, 2024
"The End(?)" - I hope not!
July 6, 2016
The characters in Blind Chess were very real for me. I don’t think that you must read the first three to enjoy this work, but certainly any series is richer if you come in from the beginning. The early two or three chapters had passages where you were being told rather than shown things. I would have felt more shock and adrenaline if I had lived through the shooting with Alexandra instead of coming into the story after the event had already taken place.
But we get into the action soon enough as Ashford sets off to find out who did this to his only friend. You wouldn’t think a blind person would be able to trail someone on their own, but he uses all his senses and has learned lots of ways to cope. You really feel the emotions these characters have. From the apologetic wife who doctors Ashford and makes him some tea, to Langford who shows Ashford a different side of himself, they all are very well developed and genuine. I feel this is the strong suit in this author’s writing. If you like character driving stories and mysteries, give this author a read.
I was provided a free copy of the book to read and write an honest review.
But we get into the action soon enough as Ashford sets off to find out who did this to his only friend. You wouldn’t think a blind person would be able to trail someone on their own, but he uses all his senses and has learned lots of ways to cope. You really feel the emotions these characters have. From the apologetic wife who doctors Ashford and makes him some tea, to Langford who shows Ashford a different side of himself, they all are very well developed and genuine. I feel this is the strong suit in this author’s writing. If you like character driving stories and mysteries, give this author a read.
I was provided a free copy of the book to read and write an honest review.
July 5, 2019
Comby set the bar high for herself when she challenged blind detective Ashford Egan to avenge the shooting of his young partner Alexandra Neve. I was impressed with the creativity demanded by this plot and greatly enjoyed watching the story unfold. Give it a try; you’ll see what I mean.
March 17, 2019
Neve is in the hospital in a coma after being shot. And Egan is out to catch and kill the Sorter who set up the murder. He goes to his Russian friend Dimitri to help him lure the Sorter out.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews