What do you think?
Rate this book
Brodie Farrell ##1
Echoes of Lies
Brodie Farrell finds things for a living, and when she's asked to locate the whereabouts of Daniel Hood, she sees nothing suspicious in the request. She finds the young man, passes the details on to her client, and commends herself on a job well done. But when the young man is found brutally tortured and left for dead, Brodie is overcome with guilt.
Still blaming herself when Daniel asks for help, Brodie finds it impossible to do the sensible thing and walk away. He needs to understand what Until the attack, he'd never known an enemy in the world. The men who hurt him were looking for someone named Sophie, and Daniel knows no one by that name.
Finding the authors of Daniel's misfortune, in the end, resolves nothing. It only leads them both into a deeper, more complex tragedy than either imagined possible.
"Fresh and brilliant." - Publishers Weekly
Still blaming herself when Daniel asks for help, Brodie finds it impossible to do the sensible thing and walk away. He needs to understand what Until the attack, he'd never known an enemy in the world. The men who hurt him were looking for someone named Sophie, and Daniel knows no one by that name.
Finding the authors of Daniel's misfortune, in the end, resolves nothing. It only leads them both into a deeper, more complex tragedy than either imagined possible.
"Fresh and brilliant." - Publishers Weekly
283 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 21, 2001
About the author
Jo Bannister
78 books96 followersJo Bannister lives in Northern Ireland, where she worked as a journalist and editor on local newspapers. Since giving up the day job, her books have been shortlisted for a number of awards. Most of her spare time is spent with her horse and dog, or clambering over archaeological sites. She is currently working on a new series of psychological crime/thrillers.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
November 7, 2017
This is really worth 4 and a half stars because it was a masterfully crafted crime novel with everything in it BUT murder: well-defined characters, a great mystery, a sense of menace and some social commentary. I look forward to the next book in the series.
Read
December 7, 2010I really enjoyed Jo Bannister's Castlemere series but I had a few reservations about trying other books by her in case I didn't find them as interesting or gripping. I think I was wrong to be worried but I still didn't like this as much as I do the Castlemere series.
This book is about what happens after Brodie Farrell, who runs a service called Looking for Something?, finds a conman for one of his victims but then discovers that the "conman" has been all but murdered afterwards. Missing persons aren't really Brodie's line of work, she spends more time finding matching glasses, lost ponies and first editions. As I expect from Bannister the characters were wonderful and the plot a bit over the top but basically sound. I enjoyed the seaside setting. I think the plot got lost a bit towards the end and wondered why things were getting dragged out for so long. There are a couple of decent twists near the end but they went on for longer than I felt that they should have done which made them seem less twist-like.
Basically a pretty good book though not as good as the Castlemere books and it doesn't put me off trying more of the non-Castlemere books.
October 12, 2017
This was a nicely written mystery. Unfortunately, I guessed who the kidnapper was, but the route to finding out was enjoyable.
This is unlike her other series, except there is a strong female character helping a male who has been seriously injured with a male detective on the side. This is not a police procedural, rather an amateur playing detective.
I like that Brodie is a "finder" not a professional. She does take chances but does not risk her family in the process.
I borrowed a copy from the public library.
This is unlike her other series, except there is a strong female character helping a male who has been seriously injured with a male detective on the side. This is not a police procedural, rather an amateur playing detective.
I like that Brodie is a "finder" not a professional. She does take chances but does not risk her family in the process.
I borrowed a copy from the public library.
March 16, 2023
interesting series launch-- Finder Brodie Farrell unwittingly puts a young mathematician Daniel Hood in danger and then must make reparations solving a kidnapping case and dealing with DI Jack Deacon. The seaside setting and characters are strongly drawn, and the plot is full of twists and turns, but credible and compelling.
"Sometimes he believed in God simply because there had to be someone up there messing him around. If Daniel Hood hadn't been as blind as a bat wearing sunglasses in a cellar at night, he might have made an arrest by now;" p.60
"The road tohell is paved with fear. With the echoes of lies and the ghosts of good deeds stillborn because people were afraid of the consequences." p. 151
"Sometimes he believed in God simply because there had to be someone up there messing him around. If Daniel Hood hadn't been as blind as a bat wearing sunglasses in a cellar at night, he might have made an arrest by now;" p.60
"The road tohell is paved with fear. With the echoes of lies and the ghosts of good deeds stillborn because people were afraid of the consequences." p. 151
February 24, 2025
I almost stopped reading this after the first chapter or so. It begins with a man being tortured. I really wanted to find out why, though I didn't like the ending. One of the main characters, Daniel, I found intriguing and that led me to the second book. I'm still reading the series with no end in sight. I find the books get better as the series progresses. These books to me are more about the characters involved than about the puzzle to be solved.
November 26, 2019
The plot was intriguing at first, but the characters got on my nerves after a while--too pompous or diffident, and too often repeating themselves. I wanted to quit reading so many times, but chose to see it through--and not for much pay off. I rather liked the first book in her Hazel Best series, but I definitely won't be reading any more in this series.
March 26, 2022
Interesting and different. I did have questions (would so-and-so have really said/done that?) and at times the ethical line of the story was a bit cumbersome, but I’ll definitely read the series. Another good one from Ms. Bannister.
July 20, 2023
This was a pretty good read. There were parts that I guessed but the whole truth took me back. Some things didn't seem realistic (the budding possible relationship after short time knowing each other) BUT I appreciate how it all played a part in the end.
June 1, 2017
Strong beginning and was hopeful I was in for a great ride but then it got VERY lame and the dialogue was insipid. Could not continue.
Sigh.
Sigh.
March 28, 2009
This is one of those books where I'm almost certain I'd read it before, since it's the first in a series, but then I didn't remember what happens as I was reading it this time so maybe I'm getting it confused with something else...
Anyway, the main character in Echoes of Lies is Brodie Farrell, formerly married to a lawyer but now divorced and trying to make a living by finding things and people. What she doesn't realise, when asked to find a particular man who's being blamed for committing fraud, is that her talents have been turned to bad use - this only comes to light when the man she identified, a high school maths teacher called Daniel Hood, is tortured and left for dead.
Brodie is appalled by how she's been used and resolves to first of all make recompense to Daniel and then to find the people who did this to him. The two of them end up in a somewhat uneasy friendship, with Brodie and Daniel getting deeper and deeper into the mystery of a millionaire's missing grandchild.
I liked Brodie as a character very much, although Daniel annoyed me greatly because most of the time in Echoes of Lies, he's written as just too gosh-darned perfect, and that's not an attractive quality in a character with whom you're supposed to be empathising. The series continues in True Witness and I expect I'll carry on, unless the annoyance factor grows too large in the future.
Anyway, the main character in Echoes of Lies is Brodie Farrell, formerly married to a lawyer but now divorced and trying to make a living by finding things and people. What she doesn't realise, when asked to find a particular man who's being blamed for committing fraud, is that her talents have been turned to bad use - this only comes to light when the man she identified, a high school maths teacher called Daniel Hood, is tortured and left for dead.
Brodie is appalled by how she's been used and resolves to first of all make recompense to Daniel and then to find the people who did this to him. The two of them end up in a somewhat uneasy friendship, with Brodie and Daniel getting deeper and deeper into the mystery of a millionaire's missing grandchild.
I liked Brodie as a character very much, although Daniel annoyed me greatly because most of the time in Echoes of Lies, he's written as just too gosh-darned perfect, and that's not an attractive quality in a character with whom you're supposed to be empathising. The series continues in True Witness and I expect I'll carry on, unless the annoyance factor grows too large in the future.
July 18, 2011
Our library is cleaning and this book was on the "free" cart along with 5 others I pulled off there quickly. I had not heard of this author but the story was fresh and the fact that it is a British mystery was a draw for me. I loved the dialogue, the emotional pull the mystery and situation with the main character. The story does not go the way you would typically think when Daniel takes matters into his own hands to discover who wanted to torture him almost to the point of death.
His decisions and the people he involves tangle and I found myself struggling to figure out which character was right in their thnking in the end. Good story and will read more of hers.
His decisions and the people he involves tangle and I found myself struggling to figure out which character was right in their thnking in the end. Good story and will read more of hers.
January 9, 2015
I'm happy to have found this series. Brodie Farrell has an unusual job that I've never seen in a mystery series. She finds things for a fee.
In this mystery she finds a man for a women who claimed he'd conned her. Later she reads in the news that the man, Daniel Hood, was murdered. Enter Police Inspector Jack Deacon who is at first suspicious when Brodie turns up at the police station with the information that she found Hood, possibly for the murderer.
I hope to go back and read other series by Jo Bannister. After reading only the first two books in the Brodie Farrell series I've grown attached to Bannister's characters.
In this mystery she finds a man for a women who claimed he'd conned her. Later she reads in the news that the man, Daniel Hood, was murdered. Enter Police Inspector Jack Deacon who is at first suspicious when Brodie turns up at the police station with the information that she found Hood, possibly for the murderer.
I hope to go back and read other series by Jo Bannister. After reading only the first two books in the Brodie Farrell series I've grown attached to Bannister's characters.
August 25, 2008
Brodie Farrell mysteries (1)
An intricate puzzle with complex characters makes this an absorbing mystery. I gave the rating as Fantastic because I’m impressed with the level of writing and plotting. I’m not sure I actually *enjoyed* the book, but I found the characters engrossing, the mystery compelling, and most of the plot believable. I’m a fan of police procedureals (both written and televised), but in this book I *despised* the police Inspector responsible for investigating Daniel’s attack. As deftly as Bannister created her characters I believe she wanted that response. I wonder why?
An intricate puzzle with complex characters makes this an absorbing mystery. I gave the rating as Fantastic because I’m impressed with the level of writing and plotting. I’m not sure I actually *enjoyed* the book, but I found the characters engrossing, the mystery compelling, and most of the plot believable. I’m a fan of police procedureals (both written and televised), but in this book I *despised* the police Inspector responsible for investigating Daniel’s attack. As deftly as Bannister created her characters I believe she wanted that response. I wonder why?
July 10, 2010
This is the first book in a proposed series featuring Brodie Farrell. If the books to follow are as interesting and attention-grabbing as this one, Jo Bannister will have an excellent series to be read. As this book was published in 2001, I have to assume that other have been written in the series, and will definitely see if I can find them.
July 6, 2012
I had high hopes for this series when I started this first book. I like mysteries where the main character figures things out with brain power instead of brawn. This book did that, but the story was slow moving and one of the main characters (Daniel) was fairly unbelievable to me.
My library has quite a few of Jo Bannister's book, so I may give another one a try someday.
My library has quite a few of Jo Bannister's book, so I may give another one a try someday.
August 22, 2010
Not really as good as the first of these I read. It may be Brodie Farrell falls for a man in every one of these, which is pushing the limits of my credulity. But they're enjoyable enough as character-driven mysteries.
Read
April 17, 2013Absolutely riveting! Just when I thought I had a handle on the events the plot veered in another direction. Even having finished it there's not the sense of closure for what transpired nor the characters involved. Looking forward to the next in the series.
April 18, 2015
I enjoyed her standalone books Death in High Places and Deadly Virtues so decided to try one of her series -- this is the first of the Brodie Farrell books. Interesting character -- not sure if I will continue with the series -- too many other books to sample.
August 17, 2015
I am not sure what to think about this book. I don't know if the author was trying to make a personal philosophic point or just writing the way the story took her. I also found this book to be on the wordy side.
December 1, 2009
This is the first I've read of this author, and I really enjoyed it. It's heavy subject matter,but dealt with well in a well developed story. I like the characters and the twists in the story.
May 15, 2010
This was such a good series, and this first one was great, I loved it so much! If you love murder, mystery and suspense check out this series! So good!
August 30, 2010
This is the first book I've read by this author. It was well done and had a twist or two, so it won't be my last.
December 12, 2011
Read in hospital, from inpatient library.
January 30, 2012
this is the first Bodie Farrell book and it got my interest in her books. It is exciting and philosophical all at once. I really liked it.
June 30, 2012
Woman English private eye works with a torture victimto solve why he was kidnapped. Held my interest. Dark.
April 14, 2013
As I started this book - was going to give it a 3 star but man, as I kept reading and then finished - totally didn't see the ending coming. A very complex mystery for a first book by Bannister.
August 25, 2013
Wonderfully atmospheric crime novel. Characters were sympathetic and the story really cracked on. Who couldn't resist a well-written book featuring a Daniel and a Jack...?
April 28, 2015
Very well written with great power of description without being overwhelming.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews