Harm None

Davies & West #1

by Will North

Penwith, the southwest tip of Cornwall, is a land of mystery and magic, of prehistoric monuments, witchcraft…and murder. When an American archaeological team stumbles upon the skeletal remains of a missing child beneath a Stone Age burial quoit, irascible CID Detective Sergeant Morgan Davies and her Scene of Crimes partner, Calum West, unearth a growing list of suspects.

Within days, another body is discovered. Is the killer the mind-reading village witch—who has long been a suspect in the child’s disappearance? Is it the drug-dealing partner of the child’s heroin-addicted mother? Or is it someone even closer to the investigation? Just as Davies and West close in on their prime suspect, another child disappears.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Ebooks, Crime, Thriller, Paranormal, British Literature

258 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 28, 2014

About the author

Will North is the pen name of an international award-winning author and ghostwriter of more than a dozen nonfiction books as well as six recent novels. He has ghosted books for Bill Clinton, Al Gore, several famous Everest mountaineers, a team of dinosaur-hunters, a renowned physician, and others. Two of his books have been the subject of PBS and A&E documentaries. As a fiction author, Will has penned two romantic suspense novels, a family saga, and four titles in his Davies & West British murder mystery series. Will lives on an island in Washington's Puget Sound. You can find him at www.willnorthnovelist.com and on Facebook at Will North, Author.

Reviews

[Sharyn Hutchens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!

Pages of description bore me, but the fairly long descriptive passages at the beginning of this book did not. They were so well done I felt as though I were in Cornwall myself. As an Anglophile who has never been to Great Britain, I am a serious fan of the English murder mystery, both the cozy and the more graphic. As for the mystery itself, I had a hunch whodunit, but there were enough other possibilities that I was never sure. The 'touch' of the supernatural was just enough to leave you wondering. Will be reading the rest of this author's work. He can write!

[Nancie Lafferty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this creative mystery set in Cornwall with excellent descriptions of scenery and interesting developing characters. So many facets of life, living, belief systems, ancient and modern problems are combined nicely.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a mystery/crime fan who seeks out series set in England and Scotland, I'm especially excited to find a new series set in one of my favorite English settings, Cornwall. Will North first came to my attention as a fiction writer with his book Water, Stone, Heart. It was, again to my delight, set in Cornwall, and I thoroughly enjoyed the setting, story, and characters. So, when I discovered that Will North had begun a mystery/crime series set in this land of rich history and cryptic culture, I had high expectations. I'm happy to report that those expectations were met.

It's always exciting to come in on the ground floor of a series and begin the characters' developmental journeys along with them. North has created two main characters who seem opposites in many ways, but who work well together and seem to have a rather direct method of understanding one another. CID Detective Sergeant Morgan Davies and her Scene of Crimes partner, Detective Sergeant Calum West, are that intriguing combination of intelligence, perfect for their jobs, and struggling personal lives. Of course, their personal lives are rather non-existent with their dedication to the job. Davies is the hard-edged personality and West is the more amenable, and West seems the only one who looks at Davies as more than a police officer and is able to engage her in some witty conversation. The supporting cast of characters are also well-written and easily engage the reader into their world and problems.

Another of the great strengths of this book is the author's immersion into the somewhat quirky culture of the Cornish people, where witch craft and paganism still have strong holds on residents. It all begins with an archaeological dig at a sacred site, of which there are many in Cornwall, and the discovery of a young girl's skeletal remains. The disappearance of a young girl a year prior quickly is tied in with the remains, and this identification connects the investigation to the world of the occult, as the girl worked for the local witch or wise woman, and the girl's uncle owned a darker, less authentic shop of occult merchandise. As more murders occur and suspects begin to surface, Davies and West are desperate for evidence and learning that there are no easy answers in an ever expanding search for the truth. There is a darkness that even they had not expected.

[Bryan Higgs · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the second book in this series that I've read. Curiously, I read book 2 ("Too Clever by Half") before book 1 (this one).

I found these somewhat interesting, except -- a BIG except -- I really don't like the witch/magic/old wisdom mumbo-jumbo. Do they really believe in that medieval superstition down in Southwestern Cornwall? Are they really that primitive? Or is this just for the sake of a good detective yarn with a different slant?

I don't plan to read any more of this series because of how much this superstition pervades these books.

[Sharon · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story combined archeology, witchcraft and the crime of murder. The story itself was interesting but I found the characters wooden and of little interest.

[Emmy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very difficult to get into with the combination of first person present tense and third person past tense story telling.
It seems to have substance, but since it took me seven months ... I wouldn’t recommend it and have no intentions of following the series. It just didn’t seem to be worth my time, even in bite sizes.

[Erth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bravo! A good fast read! now i am hooked. This was such a great, easy and creative book. i was hooked after the first page.

The characters were easy to fall in love with and follow, along with the story. the author made the mental visions so easy and vivid of the surroundings and the characters actions felt so real.

i would highly recommend this author and this book.

[Monty Bates · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast Pace

This is a very good read and keeps you moving at a fast pace. I like it that way myself. Any reader of mysteries will surely enjoy this one as much as I did!

[Sheila Myers · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not a big fan of novels containing occult themes; however, Will North kept my attention throughout the story with the intriguing plot and interesting characters.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slow start but exciting finish!

This British mystery/police procedural/paranormal is an intriguing read. It gets off to a slow start which I believe is partly attributed to setting the stage for a new series. The action picks up considerably by the midway point and the ending is suspenseful.

Police Sargent Morgan Davies makes for a great protagonist. Older, snarky, impatient and a bit reckless she is nonetheless a brilliant detective. We also meet her Scene of Crime partner Callum West. Getting used to the British procedures takes a bit for those used to American police procedures and stories. There are great secondary characters, a witch, a clairvoyant ten year old and some truly awful people you just want to punch.

The mystery builds though it becomes obvious who the villain is to the reader quite a bit before Davies clues in. The paranormal element adds to the suspense of the story.

The story’s arc moves well once it gets going. The character development could have been a bit more in depth. It was kind of hard to connect to the characters. However the whole setup was interesting and entertaining enough that I will certainly be reading the next books in the series.

[Lynda Kelly · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh dear...I packed this in in disgust when a character changed her name on ONE page from Ruby to Ruth to Ruby, back to Ruth and then to Ruby again !! That goes beyond careless for me and the fact nobody spotted it is even more worrying. I was only 14% into it and not prepared to carry on after I saw this.
The story is set in Cornwall, which the author clearly knows a lot about but I found we didn't need to know all the Cornish history and need to wade through the way they speak there. I had to keep looking words up, like leat or athame or piskies and I'd never heard the expression "It frosts me" before, either, though I quite liked that one. He's chosen to go with all American spelling as well for some reason.
The story itself sounded promising and I liked he used a real setting for his cover, too but he committed the ultimate transgression in getting his own character's name wrong for me and put me off straightaway.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the debut novel in a new mystery series by Will North and it was ideal for a recent week at the beach where I spent hours reading at the edge of the waves. In terms of the plot, the book takes place in Cornwall where an American team of archaeologists discover the skeleton of a missing child in a Stone Age burial quoit. Naturally there are suspects galore.

[Stacie Haden]

Giving up at 48%, after forcing myself to get that far. It's hard to drill down to the reason. I just know that I'm bored and I don't care about any of the characters. It's too "procedural". I have way too many good books waiting for me. Done, done, done, ✔

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this one and am excited that it is the first in a new series!

[Carlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is book #1in the Davies-West mystery series by Will North. I read #2 a year ago and loved it. Although I had no trouble figuring out the main characters in that book, there were secondary characters I wondered about. So it was a real pleasure to finally get the back stories from #1.

The book is set in Cornwall with Morgan Davies as an investigating detective stationed in Penzance. Callum West is a SOCO (Scene of Crimes Officer). Davies is hard headed, sometimes doing things not in police protocol, but has brilliant deductive skills and solves cases.

In this book two events occur on a tor (hill) high above Penzance. An archeologist finds a female figurine buried in a carn (cairn) dating from a time before he believes the carn was built. The figurine appears to have unusual powers. He also discovers a skeleton buried beneath a quoit (ancient burial site not far from the carn). He knows the bones are not old and enlists the police.

The police ultimately enlist the help of Tamsin Bran a "wise woman" who practices the "Old Craft" as her mother and other female ancestors have done for centuries.

I loved the book and felt the characterizations were strong and believable and the writing first-rate. I am looking forward to reading more in this series.

[Jamie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh - that's all I could really say about this one. I used Kindle Unlimited to read this because I noticed one I had already saved was the second story of this series so I felt like I should read this one first. It's not really my "go to" genre (witches, magic, folklore, etc) but I've been trying to branch out and read different types of books that I normally wouldn't read. However, now I know why. This book fell flat. It was odd because some chapters I noticed I would be skimming through and then others I would be so interested and needing to know more about what was going to happen. This whole book seemed to be all over the place chapter to chapter. The ending was SO rushed I felt like we went from 0-100 in 4 seconds. I don't know if it's because I wasn't interested, but I didn't understand the ending or how we even got to that point. There was no build up, no character development and certainly it didn't seem like a plot was there either. I just thoroughly didn't enjoy this one, so I returned this and the second part of the series to KU, and probably won't read anything else from this author.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had already read #2 before I read this - Too Clever by Half - which is NOT another edition of this book! This was another fascinating one - the title refers to the witches mantra Do Good and Harm None. An archeological team discovers a skeleton and an Iron Age figure when excavating. The skeleton turns out to be that of a young girl who went missing several years ago. When the girl's mother is killed and two other deaths occur, Davies zeroes in on the man she is sure is the killer. But is she right? Meanwhile, another young girl, who is under the protection of the local 'wise woman' witch disappears, and the team must work against time and accept the help of the witch to save her. I love this series!

Started April 11, finished April 12, 2018. No matter what how many entries are shown below!

Goodreads, the entry pages are thoroughly screwed up! Now it is trying to tell me that this is another edition of Too Clever By Half, which is #2 in the series and I marked as Read - it is an entirely different book! And this is showing that I have read this book three times, with no way to delete either entry - I just started reading it!! PLEASE fix this!!

Purchased 4/10/2018, Barnes & Noble Nook book. ISBN 9780998964980
Yay! the Owned Book section is back!

[Victoria Nankervis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good old fashioned who done it based around the myths and mysteries of West Cornwall. Living in the area the book was based, the majority of locations were factually correct, with a few made up ones for good measure. There is indeed a superb iron age village at Carn Euny not far form Sancreed and well worth a visit if you are in the area. There is however, no quoit close by and suspect from the description it is based on Lanyon quoit just beyond Madron at Ding Dong. The only thing that irked me was the authors references to Tors, which we don't have, at least by name anyway. The rocky granite outcrops on the hilltops are refered to as Carns, 'Carn Galver, Carn Kenidjack, Carn Bean, Carn Brea' to name a few. The nearest named tor is on Bodmin moor, 'Rough Tor', a good hour away. This however does not detract from the story, which keeps you guessing till the end. Would read more by this author.

[Cecile · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable police procedural

The mixture of archeology, geography, mysticism and real locations, along with the lovely descriptions and metaphors, made the book a reasonably engaging read. They made for an interesting backdrop.

I found most of the characters not so interesting. Davies is a bit brittle. I did find her partner, West, more human. The witch, or wise woman, was interesting. And the first person entries of the little girl. She had the most warmth. The witchcraft made the story fun.

It was easy enough to figure out the culprit was early on. I just wondered how they’d discover it in the story. I will consider reading more of the series. I rather like the woo-woo stuff, which others have found annoying or “primitive.” For me, there is more out in the world than we can measure. Why not have fun with it in a story. Perhaps Davies will become more interesting in the second book.

[Nakoma · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wouldn't even give this book a rating. It is clear where the writer's mind is at when he writes. Yes he is writing a mystery, but he seems to enjoy sexually explicit descriptions of a woman's attire and the male mindset of "what would this woman look like without her clothes on".

Cussing: Yes
Nudity/sex: I hadn't gotten that far in the book, but the way it was written, I would not be surprised if there is.
Violence: Unknown. Didn't get that far.
Explicit Descriptions: Yes, of women and their bodies. Pornography would be the closest term to use for his writing.

The part that I finally shut the book was where the scene turned to what I can only describe as "Slutty Whore Avenue".
I will never read another book written by this author. I tolerate a lot in books, but there is a line, and this book has crossed it.

[Alisha Henri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Puzzle upon Puzzle, Interlinked yet Obscure

I thoroughly enjoyed following Det. Sgt. Davies through this mystery, loved the setting, liked the character development, and look forward to the next mystery she and West will have to solve. I especially liked Tamsin Bran, and the clarification between the Old Craft and modern Wiccan, both with the strong tenet, "Harm to None." I enjoyed Davies' process of revealing the murderer, although I knew which character was well before she made the discovery. Whether that was Will North's intention is unknown, but I got impatient with Davies failure to even consider that character early on. Have I intrigued you enough to purchase and read the book? Good. You'll enjoy the puzzles.

[Anne Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

I ordinarily don't take well to books with paranormal elements, but this one wasn't crowded with the usual overwhelming panoply of weird stuff. Reading the prologue, I was immediately groaning: "Not another one of these." But reading onward, I found the mix of down-to-earth and typically well-elucidated British crime procedural action and intertwined activity of a witch and her young charge both interesting and entertaining. The book is just believable enough, if you know what I mean, to keep me from continuously rolling my eyes and instead enjoying the story as our witch, Tamsin, and her charge, Tegan, work opposite Davies, Bates, and the rest of the constabulary crew to solve the mystery of a murdered girl. Once you begin, you'll find it hard to put this one down.

[Morgan Young]

No stars. I had to stop 26 pages in. Every woman introduced was overly sexualized. For example, “His eye caught one customer, a not-so-young, well-built woman with hair bleached nearly white who wore four inch "sheet-ripper" black patent boots and torn lace stockings held in place by elastic garters made visible by a leather skirt not much longer than a belt. She wore a see-through, frilled black mesh blouse that made no secret that her nipple-pierced breasts were unencumbered by a bra. A belly corset plumped her breasts skyward.” DS Morgan Davies was described as “tough-minded, bordering on belligerent.” Because of course a strong-willed woman is aggressive 😒. If I were reading a physical copy, I would’ve thrown it across the room.

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ancient ruins, witchcraft, festivals celebrating the summer solstice meets murder, kidnapping and modern police procedures. Morgan Davies (police sergeant) believes in rational facts so when she encounters a "wise woman" aka a witch in a murder investigation she's skeptical.

Will North has an eye for detail with wonderful descriptions of people, not only height, weight, eye color but the color and cut of hair and clothes. Great characters, people you can almost "see" and believe.

This is the first book in the series and it's interesting to see if an relationship develops between Morgan Davies and Calum West and if Terry Bates is a continuing character.

No graphic sex or violence

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is hard for me to review this because I have been a naughty girl and gone too many months in between reading books and reviewing them. I have a terrible memory for the story lines in books once I finish with them unless they are something truly special. I promise to try to be better about reviewing as soon as I read something from now on. Sometimes it is a reflection of having gone on vacation for several weeks and reading lots of books one after the other before I get home to my computer. All I can say here is that I read the whole book so it must have kept my interest and as far as I can remember I like it ok. sorry!

[Harry L. Lydick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well done!

A clever conceit here, using rural English country land and characters blended with early Druidic more and practicing witchcraft. As the investigation proceeds, some old-tiimers proceed to slowly and reluctantly admit some " strange doins" to the police. Also a historical survey locates a hidden underground tunnel with a concealed shrine.

Just about the time the reader begins to feel comfortable, another twister in he p!or occurs.

It's a good thing I'm retired! I had a hard time putting this one down!

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

😊

Archaeology, witchcraft, murder. What or who connects all three?
A child's body found at stonehenge, is the local Witch to blame? Or will she be the one that helps to determine the killer. Another body is found, deepening the mystery. When another child goes missing, its time to find the perpetrator before the victim list gets any bigger.

I did enjoy this book. I thought all the different elements may muddle it a bit but it flowed real well and all the way through I had no idea who the real criminal was so a bit of a twist at the end.

[Gina Schaarschmidt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow, I usually love this kind of stuff, where the line between fantasy and real life is blurred, but this novel felt disjointed and didn't work.

There were too many characters at first and I couldn't keep track of them because they didn't have many distinguishing characteristics.

I'm not sure if this was self published, but that general "feel" added to my reading experience. The binding and printing were a little off, and there was a spelling error in the text.

The premise and story were good, it just needed a little polish.

[Mrs J M Ancsell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read

First book I've read by this author, set in Cornwall and relates to a number of seemingly different deaths. Chief investigator is DS Morgan Davies who has her own demons to deal with as well as trying to find out who carried out the crimes. Mix in some archeology and mysterious witches and you have a mixed bag of suspects to choose from. Thoroughly enjoyed it and hope the next book starts to develop some of the main characters more deeply.

[Dorothy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this crime novel. It is set in Cornwall and the descriptions of the area around Penzance are very good. I also liked the incorporation of a team of archeologists examining a Quoit, and the role played by a 'wise woman' and her apprentice. I did spot one error. The apprentice is named as Tegan St Claire and her mentor says this is a good name as she is clairvoyant. Why then is she named as Tegan St James later in the book. I think the editor should have caught that one.