Married Lies

DI Mariner #5

by Chris Collett

Lucy Jarrett is terrified. Someone is watching her every move, following her home from work and making threatening phone calls. But her husband doesn’t believe her and no one else is listening.

Lucy’s married life is proving anything but blissful. Her musician husband is perpetually away on tour and doesn’t want to start a family.

Lucy finally calls on DI Tom Mariner for help, and he takes her fears seriously because of the recent murder of another young woman by her ex-partner.

Mariner himself is already on the hunt for a sadistic killer. Nina Silvero, wife of an ex-police officer, was duped into sipping sulphuric acid disguised as celebratory wine. Grappling with her apparently motiveless killing, Mariner delegates Lucy’s case to Millie Khatoon. Is someone out for revenge against the police?

Can DI Tom Mariner track down the stalker and catch the killer before anyone else dies?

Genres: Crime, Fiction, Mystery

296 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 15, 2009

About the author

Chris Collett grew up in a Norfolk seaside town where she worked in a boarding house (now defunct) a local bakery (closed down) and a crisp factory (razed to the ground). After leaving school, Chris moved to Liverpool to train as a teacher for children with learning disabilities, including autism. Now a recently retired university lecturer, Chris is married with two grown up children and lives in Birmingham, on DI Tom Mariner's 'patch'. She has published short stories, teaches creative and crime writing and is a manuscript assessor for the Crime Writers Association.

All 8 books of the DI Tom Mariner series are released in revised editions by Joffe Books, along with a new standalone: The Truth About Murder.

Find out more at www.chriscollettcrime.co.uk

Reviews

[Louise Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

DI Mariner #Book 5.

Lucy Jarrett is terrified. Someone is watching her every move, following her home from work and making threatening phone calls. But her husband doesn't believe her and no one else's is listening.

Lucy Jarrett is married to a musician. He is often away leaving home alone. Someone is watching Lucy and making silent phone calls. Her husband thinks she is making it all up so that he will stay at home. Frightened, she eventually calls the police and DI Tom Mariner takes her seriously. Will DI Mariner be able to get to the bottom of the case he is working on where the wife of an ex-police officer drank sulphuric acid thinking it was wine, while Millie Khatoon takes on Lucy's case. Is there a connection to both cases? The pace is fast set from the beginning. There are plenty twists to keep,the reader guessing. I did correctly guess where this book was going though.

I would like to thank Joffe Books and the author Chris Collett for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Linda Strong · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars

THIS IS A REVISED EDITION OF A BOOK FIRST PUBLISHED AS “STALKED BY SHADOWS.”

Lucy Jarrett is a young woman married to a musician. He is often gone leaving her at home alone. Normally this wouldn't bother her, but someone is watching her. Whoever it is has followed her home from work and making silent threatening phone calls.

Her husband thinks she's making this up ...wanting him to stay home more.

Lucy finally calls and DI Tom Mariner is the one who answers the call. He takes her seriously as recently there was another young woman killed by her ex-partner.

He's already involved in another investigation. The wife of an ex-police officer somehow was forced to drink sulphuric acid disguised as a wine. Mariner and another of his team split up .. he takes the ex-wife, Millie Khatoon takes on Lucy.

When Lucy receives flowers with a message that is the carbon copy of flowers sent to the ex-cop's wife, they start looking for something or someone who connects these cases.

Can DI Tom Mariner track down the stalker and catch the killer before anyone else dies?

This is an excellent addition to a series that is well written, with outstanding characters, and a terrific story premise. Along with the professional side of Mariner and his team, the reader is also treated to a glimpse of their personal sides, which make them much more credible.

Many thanks to the author / Joffe Books / Netgalley / Books n All Book Promotions. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

[Gary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the 5th book in the Birmingham Detective series DI Mariner by author Chris Collett.
I have read many in this series so I am already a fan and accustomed to the main characters with their quirks and ways. This is an excellent addition to the series and just enforces my positive opinion to this series and is certainly one I wish to continue reading.
In this plot Lucy Jarrett who is a young married woman whose husband is often away from home playing gigs. So when she starts to get unwanted attention from been followed and silent phone calls, she begins to get unnerved and seeks help from the police. Her husband is very sceptical about Lucy's concerns but DI Tom Mariner appears to take her claims more serious and decides to investigate.
If you have not yet read any of this series yet I would highly recommend giving them a read. Full of interesting believable characters and page turning plots. Good quick reads that entertain.
I would like to thank both Net Galley and Joffe for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Merged review:

This is the 5th book in the Birmingham Detective series DI Mariner by author Chris Collett.
I have read many in this series so I am already a fan and accustomed to the main characters with their quirks and ways. This is an excellent addition to the series and just enforces my positive opinion to this series and is certainly one I wish to continue reading.
In this plot Lucy Jarrett who is a young married woman whose husband is often away from home playing gigs. So when she starts to get unwanted attention from been followed and silent phone calls, she begins to get unnerved and seeks help from the police. Her husband is very sceptical about Lucy's concerns but DI Tom Mariner appears to take her claims more serious and decides to investigate.
If you have not yet read any of this series yet I would highly recommend giving them a read. Full of interesting believable characters and page turning plots. Good quick reads that entertain.
I would like to thank both Net Galley and Joffe for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy this book nearly as much as the previous books of the series. I didn't guess who the murderer was but the reveal felt rather anticlimactic.

[Books 'n' All Promotions · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is book 5 in the DI Tom Mariner series and I have absolutely loved every one.  This one is no different.  It should work very well as stand-alone.

The story begins with a woman found dead in her kitchen after drinking some acid: suicide or murder?  No reason for suicide and loved by everyone so no reason for murder either.  Tom is struggling with the lack of clues when a stalking case comes in so he allocates that to Millie who becomes attached to Lucy.

This is a very complex story with many twists, turns and curve balls along the way.  The reader just keeps turning page after page.  I loved the detective element in this book you could really get stuck in to the struggle for clues and trying to fit everything together and the suspense is building all the time.  The ending is a real jaw dropper - I certainly didn’t expect THAT.  Wow brilliant read this series just gets better and better.

I want to say a little about the characters. Tom Mariner has recently split with Anna and is struggling to move on.  He took Katarina (Kat) under his wing after she was saved from a trafficking ring in a previous book.  Kat wants to move on but Tom is struggling to let go.  This emotional side to Tom brings a different element to the story and I felt we got to know him really well in this book.  The other members of the team continue to develop as team members and  we get to know more about them as they gain depth.

All in all this is a fantastic read that will appeal to anyone who loves Crime Fiction, Police Procedural and thrillers.

A well earned 5 stars from me and I am looking forward to the next book

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘Married Lies’ is the fifth book in the series featuring Detective Tom Mariner. I have had the pleasure of reading and reviewing a couple of them and I loved them just as much as I love this one but more about that in a bit.
Detective Tom Mariner is a funny old fish. He is a career policeman and works extremely hard. He leads from the front and he doesn’t hesitate to take on more than his share of the workload. He works well as part of a team but equally he works well on his own. I found it interesting how loyal the team are to each other and they have each others’ backs. Mariner has something of a ‘policeman’s nose’ and if something doesn’t seem right, then that means that it isn’t. Mariner is a bit like a dog with a bone in that he won’t settle until he has satisfied his own curiosity or completely exhausted a particular line of inquiry. Mariner’s personal life is a bit messy to say the least. ‘Married Lies’ sees Mariner on his own as his relationship with Anna has broken up. Mariner has a thing for casual sex and for somebody who is usually suspicious of everybody and everything , he is incredibly stupid for engaging in one night stands with women, who he doesn’t know from adam. The beginning of the book sees him have a one night stand with a woman, who is a bit of a bunny boiler to say the least and she won’t take the hint. He wants nothing to do with her but she insists on texting him, ringing him, turning up at his work and making him packed lunches. She seems to think that they are in a relationship where Mariner just used her to get his leg over. This woman set off some major alarm bells for me. Mariner uses the main cases featured in this book to distract him from his personal problems. Lucy Jarrett is terrified out of her skin. She is married but her husband works away a lot. Somebody has been bombarding her with junk mail, silent phone calls and they have been following her. Mariner takes her concerns seriously due to the death of a woman in similar circumstances to Lucy. However, another case comes in which also distracts Mariner. The wife of a former police officer dies after drinking sulphuric acid, which she was duped into drinking. Will Mariner’s one night stand turn dangerous? Will Mariner manage to find who is terrorising Lucy? Will Mariner find out who duped the ex-policeman’s wife into drinking sulphuric acid? Are the two cases connected? If so how and why? Well for the answers to those questions and more you are just going to have to read the book for yourselves to find out as I am not going to tell you.
To say that the Detective Tom Mariner series is addictive reading has to be the understatement of the year. I was hooked on this book from the first word on the first page and I wasn’t released from the book’s grip until the moment I closed the back cover so to speak. I was swept along by the story and I felt as though I was an invisible member of the investigating team. There were times when I wanted to leap into the pages of the book to slap Mariner across the chops with a wet fish several dozen times because he literally couldn’t see what was at the end of his nose and especially as regards his bunny boiler one night stand. There were also times when I wanted to bop Lucy’s so called husband on the nose end for how he treated Lucy. The writing style and story were so realistic that I even found myself shouting or arguing with the book. I know it’s a work of fiction but I find that if I enjoy a book then I tend to ‘live’ the story and act as though the characters are stood right in front of me. I know I am weird. Ha ha. Reading ‘Married Lies’ was like being on a slightly scary rollercoaster ride with lots of twists, turns and unexpected moments. There were times when I almost had to read through my fingers because I genuinely feared what fate had in store for Lucy and for Mariner. Every so often I smugly thought that I had figured out who was doing what and why only to find out that I was completely wrong and the real culprit was somebody else entirely. This book certainly kept me guessing.
In conclusion I think that it’s more than fair to say that I totally loved reading ‘Married Lies’. I wholeheartedly recommend this author and their books to anybody and everybody. I can’t wait to read what comes next from Chris Collett. Here’s hoping that we don’t have too long to wait. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a well deserved 5* out of 5*.

[Elaine Tomasso · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would like to thank Netgalley and Joffe Books for an advance copy of Martied Lies, the fifth novel to feature Birmingham based DI Tom Mariner.

Tom and his sergeant, DS Tony Knox, are asked to look into the death of Nina Silvero, widow of a controversial detective inspector, who appears to have committed suicide by drinking drain cleaner. Appearances are deceptive, however, and it soon becomes clear that Nina was murdered. This means that he delegates his other open case to DS Millie Khatoon. Lucy Jarrett is being stalked and after the death of another young woman whose case wasn't taken seriously enough they want to pull out all the stops.

I thoroughly enjoyed Married Lies which is a very solid police procedural with what was, at the time of writing in the early 00s, a fairly novel theme. Stalking was not taken as seriously then as it is now. Ms Collett does an excellent job of describing the hurt, pain and fear it engenders and the mixed reactions the victim receives. As a counterpoint to this she also shows that it can be the result of misunderstanding and poor social skills, not the most acceptable point of view nowadays but it balances the narrative.

The novel held my attention from start to finish with both plotlines equally absorbing. There is, perhaps, more emphasis on Lucy's story than Nina's but only because they have more to work with. I like a novel with a well hidden perpetrator, although in case I had an inkling of who if not why, and the hunt to find them so this novel suits my taste. I am always interested in the narrowing down process and it works well in this novel with the team examining several possibilities until Mariner puts it together.

After five novels I'm still not sure if I like Mariner as a character. He is a solitary man who seems to lack the ability to connect emotionally with others or to make the compromises necessary for a successful relationship but my heart went out to him in this novel as he dealt some devastating blows.

Married Lies is a good read which I have no hesitation in recommending.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chris Collett has done it once more – another excellent Tom Mariner book which compliments the series nicely. I really did enjoy this one in which Tom and his team investigate not one but two intriguing and worrying cases – one a suspicious death and the second a possible stalker. The story is extremely well written and there are plenty of twists and turns as suspicions jump from one character to another and slowly the two cases merge into one as more and more similarities are discovered. Whilst all this is going on Tom’s life is in turmoil as usual. His current lodger Kat is starting to want to spread her wings and he has somehow managed to spend the night with a woman who is reluctant to let him move on. To top it all, he unexpectedly meets Anna and starts to wonder whether they may still have a future together when she hints that things are moving on as quickly as expected between her and Gareth. The whole story is a rollercoaster of emotions and the ending has a very poignant twist to it with the reveal of the killer and a massive upheaval in Tom’s personal life, both of which I really did not expect!

Thank you so much to Joffe Books for sending me an ARC of this fantastic novel and I look forward to number 6 in the series.

[Dee · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like this guy’s books but the endings are always so rushed. The last 5 pages or so is “We know who the killer is!” thanks to some obscure thing the protagonist notices and then immediately it will be the killer going, “Yes, here is step by step what I did and why.” Couple more paragraphs about the main characters after and then THE END.

[Sue Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars from me! Again I was hooked from the start in this fifth book in the series. I love the way that the characters feel so authentic. The mystery and real danger work alongside a personal story. Imagine a death caused by swallowing acid, a stalker, marital issues and trying to find a killer? That is just a taster of the plot of this book! Highly recommended!

[Nora · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent Book.

[Gary Van Cott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unlike one of the other comments I was surprised by the twist at the end but don't think it was set up very well.

[Woofas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Surely the secret of any good thriller is that the reader can realise the clues missed whilst following the story. In this book the murderer is quite a surprise to the point of hardly being mentioned in the rest of the story. I almost felt cheated in that I was unable to join in the "guess the identity of the murderer" game

[Greta Halliday · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent read in the next of the series, although can be read as a stand alone book. I thoroughly enjoyed this well written, fast paced and absorbing book. Thanks to Joffe Books for giving me the opportunity to read this brilliant book.

[Anne, Unfinished Woman · Rating 3 out of 5]

In an earlier story, Anna leaves Tom Mariner, and he brings Kat, a woman he recures, to live with him until in this installment she finds a boyfriend and moves out to an apartment.

The wife of a former police officer who was accused of police brutality/negligence in which a boy died, Nina Silvero is murdered by drinking acid, after receiving harrassing phone calls and dead roses accompanied by a threatening note. Another woman, Lucy Jarrett, is plagued by the same, becomes very ill and finds that she is being poisoned by thallium. Her musician husband is suspected as he is doesn't believe her and she is getting a lot of emails and mail relating to pregnancy, when they agreed not to have children. In the process of the investigation the police discover that the reason for his not wanting children is he has Huntington's disease from which his younger brother died. He moves off the suspect list but there is a neighbor who took Lucy's friendliness wrong and got too friendly, plus others.

As for Nina Silvero, the family of the boy who died is suspected, though the case is twenty years old. But Nina is the owner of a ballet school and is getting an MBE based on her contribution to dance, so that may have stirred someone up.

The two cases become linked, Nina also having been poisioned, and Mariner finally sees a link. The cleaner in the neighborhood. When they set up a sting to catch the milk being poisoned, they lose the killer. Later, when confronted Pamela Rasen, formerly a hotshot rep for a wedding planning service that both Nina Silvero's daughter Rachel used and Lucy used, confesses. When in school, Lucy and her friend Julie-Ann, had made fun of Jonquil, Pamela's daughter, and Nina Silvero had told her parents, in front of her that she was too awkward to be successful as a ballet dancer. The girl became anorexic and eventually died. On the anniversary of her death, Pamela kills Nina. She hadn't yet decided how she was going to kill Lucy.

At the end of this installmenet, Tom sees Anna again and has a cuppa with her, thinking he hears doubt in her voice about her current relationship, and that he will attempt to see her again soon. He has realized what he lost when she left him. But it is not to be. When she is returning home with the couple that she had been in Birmingham with, they are attacked in a road rage incident and stabbed to death.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Married Lies ( book 5 D.I.Mariner series ) by Chris Collett published by Joffe Books and Out Now

So, another book in a series that I was coming to relatively late at book 5,this time the author in the narrative alluded to characters past events and important things you needed to know but didnt fully make you aware of them until later in the book, not a problem but was good when I did piece together the past of the people I was now reading about, saying that it ‘stood alone’ well enough
A big BIG plus was the books setting in good old Brum and surrounding areas and was good to immediately have a minds eye on area descriptions of the City ( lived there 7 years and met Matt there etc) and some of it was set in Bourneville and Harborne (2 areas lived in) so a plus point bias there 😃
One thing I was not so keen on was the very ‘P.C’ ness of the book, every possible minority combination was included inc my own 😃, it didn’t ruin the book at all but was there enough for me to mention it
The book is set in the infant stages of social media, internet, email etc and some of the references to this ‘era’ although not long ago now seem eons ago
The story...this was good, a ‘whodunit’ set on the backdrop of a seemingly no enemies middle aged woman killing herself by drinking acid, not pleasant!but set off a great investigation with big characters, I enjoyed the ‘chatty’ narrative, easy to follow and not bogged down in irrelevant police procedure, that that was included was relevant!
I guessed the murderer about 3/4 of the way through but not why they had done it........
The main character Lucy who is being terrorised at times got on my nerves but hey we all get on peoples nerves at times!
All in all a good read and one (again) that was an exciting and interesting read and with a surprise ending and a shocking discovery for the DI who the books revolve around... I liked him and his policing style and would deffo read more about( old books in the series and new )
A book to settle with and happily read and get involved in
8/10 4 stars

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

DCI Tom Mariner and his team are on a case that has them all wondering how someone could be so heartless and ruthless. A middle aged woman is found dead in her home and when they begin to investigate the death, they find that it was a cruel death and they have no real suspects. The team is also investigating a claim from a woman who believes she is being followed and is getting harassing phone calls. DCI Mariner along with Jamilla Khatoon are investigating this claim by Lucy Jarrett. A young woman who has recently married a musician who is on the road a lot. 

The investigations are leading to very little and the team is having a hard time to figure out who the culprit is in both cases. A break finally comes in the case of Lucy Jarrett being harassed. However, it takes a little while longer before the cases are solved. During this time, DCI Mariner finds his life going through more changes and a real tragedy could leave him a broken man this time. 

This was another great story with DCI Mariner. I enjoy reading this series as each story has a lot of twists and suspense, but the stories all take you into the life of DCI Mariner and his team, Tony Knox, Jamilla Khatoon, and Charlie Glover along with their Commanding Officer, DCI Davina Sharp. Ms. Collett does a great job with these characters and it feels like they are a part of my neighborhood, or circle of friends when I am reading their story. I feel the pain they are going through in their personal lives and the frustration they feel when trying to solve a case feels so real.

I give this book a 4.5 star rating and I look forward to more in the series. I love DCI Mariner and I hope that the next books in the series find him living a happy and healthy life.

[Robert Crouch · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve enjoyed all the Tom Mariner books so far, but this one is my favourite so far. Maybe it’s because his relationship issues are not so prominent in this story, though they’re never too far away. It was also interesting to see an investigation into stalking, bearing in mind the story is set at the start of the millennium, when attitudes were changing.

There’s also a gruesome death to investigate. Nina Silvero is the widow of a former police detective with a chequered past and death. This connection, and the nature of his widow’s death, lifts the investigation up several notches. Not so, the stalking case, where the victim, Lucy Jarrett, wavers between fear and wondering if her imagination’s playing games with her.

Both investigations soon become bogged down as progress is slow and painstaking. Then a partial fingerprint on a wine bottle leads to a promising suspect, who may also have a connection the Lucy Jarrett’s stalking.

There’s good interplay within the team and even time for Mariner to make a fool of himself, helping to lighten the mix a little. The story moves along at a steady pace, picking up speed as more suspects are drawn into the investigation. A spark of inspiration has Mariner confronting the killer in a restrained climax with a kick in the tail.

Another enjoyable story in an engaging series, where the main characters continue to develop and show their frailties. It all adds to the backstory and my continued reading pleasure.

I’m already looking forward to the next book in the series.

[Joanna Larum · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the 5th book in the Mariner series but it works well as a standalone. I would, however, recommend reading the earlier books because they give the personal backgrounds to Tom, Knox and Millie which makes it a much more satisfying read. Tom is a complex character who is an ace detective but pretty useless at personal relationships. Knox seems to be developing nicely and actually learning how NOT to behave in a relationship. Millie is given a bigger role in this story and I hope she gets even more action in future books.
The novel grabs the reader from the first page. An ex-policeman's widow is murdered by being given acid to drink and a young housewife is being stalked. Both cases could possibly be solved by blaming the women's other halves. Nina's husband died while being investigated for a death in custody and Lucy's new husband appears to have married her for her money. But nothing is that simple and we are taken on a rollercoaster ride as the clues are revealed to us, eventually linking the two cases together before the end is reached. I didn't guess who was behind it all, which I put down to Chris Collett's ability to weave such a marvellous tale.
We are left, at the end, with some terrible news regarding Tom's personal life and I, for one, cannot wait for the next book to find out how he copes.
All in all, a magnificent story which had me glued to the pages. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to all lovers of crime books.

[Marion · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the fifth book in the DI Tom Mariner series and having read the previous four I was looking forward to reading the latest.
I was certainly not disappointed, once again I was hooked from the beginning.
Tom and his Sgt are tasked with looking into the suspected murder of the wife of an ex-detective inspector.
Nina Silvero apparently drank drain cleaner, however the original assumption that it was suicide is no longer believed.
When a young newly wed, Lucy Jarrett, reports that she is receiving silent phone calls and believes she is being stalked he assigns DC Millie Khatoom to the case.
As enquiries progress similarities between the two investigations start to appear.
Between them they attempt to discover the perpetrator before they can claim another victim.
I really enjoyed trying to work out what the connection was before the surprise ending was revealed.
This series just keeps getting better, can`t wait for the next installment!
Thanks to Joffe books for the chance to read this as an ARC.

[Bruce McNair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lucy Jarret is being harassed. She was married recently but her marriage seems to be in turmoil. She is also getting threatening phone calls and receiving unwanted junk mail through the post and by email, which is only making the situation worse. And her health seems to be suffering too. The police initially could not help until other deaths of women suggest there may be connections with Lucy’s tormentor, particularly as one of the women was the wife of an ex-police officer who was under investigation when he died. Both cases become more complicated with no apparent connections. DI Mariner and his team have a difficult time trying to find anything that will point to the perpetrator.

I thought this was a good story with the perpetrator well hidden until near the end. Suspicion continued to switch between the various suspects all through the story. I gave the book 4 stars out of 5.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Squeezed in a trip to Birmingham while reading this one and saw a few familiar sights.
Lucy Jarrett is receiving threatening messages and seems to be stalked. Her new husband Will, the super attractive musician is not at all sympathetic. Meanwhile an older woman has been poisoned to death - she was married to an ex copper.
Perhaps I’ve been reading this series too quickly because I guessed what was probably going on in terms of the whodunnit element of the plot but there’s plenty more backstory, indeed one huge and unexpected twist that DI Mariner does not really respond to properly. I hope this is rectified early in book 6!

[Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

MARRIED LIES
Love this author's writings! She holds your interest, and it's always exciting. I sometimes skip along without reading portions, but I have not wanted to since I started this series with DI Mariner. The author holds you in suspense with all the different things happening. But it is never confusing and it all blends together well. Thank you, Ms. Collett, for the exciting books you've written for our pleasure.

Judy S

[Erica Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

First off let me say the s is book 5 in a series I knew there where others that were but i didn’t know they were in order I wish they were number because now that I read the end I find it hard to go read the Other but idk if it’s amazon or the writers fault anyway this was a nice slow read a little hard to get into in the beginning but slow an steady after the 2nd chapter I gave it 5 stars because even though it was a little slow for me an not as much action I usually read it was still good.. but man I really wish they were numbered especially because of anna

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lucy Jarrett has recently married a musician who is often away touring. But she believes she is being stalked. But can think of no reason why. Although taken seriously by DI Mariner he is busy with another case - the wife of an ex-police officer may have been murdered, so he assigns the case to DC Millie Khatoon.
An enjoyable read, once again in this series. A good well-written mystery with likeable characters.

[Martha Brindley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great series of books featuring Detective Tom Mariner. He is a bit tenacious in his quest to find the murderer in his latest case. Set in Birmingham, Mariner is investigating the case of a murdered woman, the wife of a former police officer and the case of Lucy, who appears to have a stalker. Are the cases connected? Find out by reading this latest book by Chris Collett. A cracking read. Thanks to Net Galley for my copy.

[Jean McKay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

I really enjoy Chris Follett books. Detective Inspector Tom Mariner together with his team are very plausible. Likeable and interesting as they work together to solve the murder and prevent another. I did not guess the murderer. Working through the clues does not help. There are always suspects but not all the puzzle pieces fit. I can hardly put this book down and have read all four books in a very short time. I have so enjoyed them.

[Jillian Higham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intriguing

Really good police procedural with 2 separate crimes to solve, seemingly unrelated. One a particularly gruesome murder and one a case of stalking. DI Tom Mariner is a great character, totally devoted to the job. I really thought Stephanie was going to prove to be a "bunny boiler", but that fizzled out. Good team and the ending came together well and I was completely hooked.

[Sebastian Barrow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Repercussions from a death in custody many years ago have far reaching consequences today. Or do they? What are the links between a poisoned wife of the now deceased detective in charge of the dead prisoner and a recently married woman?
A complex story, as expected, with the identity of the murderer not being who I expected!
Clever and brilliant at the same time whilst we have the personal lives of our main detectives taking a dive.

[Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, while a bit slow in places the story was well written and nicely paced. The characters were likeable and I didn't guess whodunit! I found the characters weren't as rounded as I would like, but this is likely as it not the first in the series and I haven't read any of the others. I would definitely read another in the series,