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Murder Squad #1

Lies People Tell

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A man on the edge.
A vicious killer on the loose.

When DCI Bran Reece is called to the bloody crime scene of a brutally murdered woman, he thinks the case is his. And when the victim turns out to be the sister of his nemesis; believes the local gangster must be somehow involved.

The new Chief Superintendent has other ideas. She sees the recently widowed Reece as a volatile risk-taker and puts him on leave, forcing him to watch from the side lines. Or so she thinks.

DS Elan Jenkins soon realises her boss's replacement is out of his depth and takes matters into her own hands. But Elan has unknowingly put herself and others in grave danger.

With the body count rising, can Reece and Jenkins overcome their personal issues and do what's right? Even when the truth might be closer to home than either of them is willing to admit.

Lies People Tell is a page-turning, gritty thriller perfect for fans of Angela Marsons, Robert Bryndza, Ian Rankin and Karin Slaughter.

284 pages, Paperback

First published October 4, 2019

90 people are currently reading
149 people want to read

About the author

Liam Hanson

5 books14 followers

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5 stars
64 (40%)
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61 (38%)
3 stars
23 (14%)
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10 (6%)
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2 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
Profile Image for Sue.
1,417 reviews5 followers
November 10, 2020
LIES PEOPLE TELL is the debut novel in the Murder Squad Thriller Series, a gripping police procedural thriller by author Liam Hanson.

This is the story of DCI Brân Reece and his team of DS Elan Jenkins, DC Ffion Morgan and DC Bobby Ward based at Cardiff Bay Police Station. Reece suffering from PTSD, after recently witnessing the murder of his wife, has been put on sick leave. Reece is an outstanding detective with his own unconventional methods, and works well together with Jenkins, who has her own personal problems.

When DCI Bran Reece is called to the bloody crime scene of a brutally murdered woman, he thinks the case is his…the Chief Superintendent believes Reece is watching from the sidelines. And DI Adams has taken his place on the enquiry.

The victim turns out to be the sister of a local gangster and Reece cannot help but try to involve himself in the investigation despite orders to the contrary. Reece has a feeling that he knows who the killer's targets will be, even though the identity of the killer is still a mystery.

DS Elan Jenkins soon realizes her boss’s replacement is out of his depth and takes matters into her own hands. But Elan has put herself and others in grave danger.

With the body count rising, and the case in the hands of an inexperienced officer, Reece is compelled to take matters into his own hands. But soon Reece suspects that he and the killer have crossed paths in the past. He now knows he must intervene, but to do so means saving the life of the man he’s spent a career trying to take down.

Can Reece do what is right?

If you love fast-paced crime thrillers, courageous protagonists, and cold and calculating villains, this novel is for you. Fast-paced with lots of twists and turns, and relatable characters, this novel will appeal to a wide audience.

Many thanks to the author and Bloodhound Books for my digital copy.
Profile Image for Linda Strong.
3,878 reviews1,708 followers
November 10, 2020
DCI Bran Reece has been put on leave ... his wife died a year ago and he still isn't through his grieving. He's also suffering PTSD. He's irritable, he's rude, even to his team. And he really hates being told to go home just hours before a body is found. He 's not allowed to participate and sitting on the sidelines makes him even more irritable ... and he's never been known to be a rule-follower.

An inexperience officer has taken over the position Reece had, and now Reece feels that he should still be the one investigating.

More bodies fall, even more gruesome than the last. What Reece finds is that the killer might be a lot closer than anyone knows ... and someone from his team might be sharing information with the killer.

Reece has an important choice to make ....

Well written, the action is non-stop and the suspense is nicely paced. The plot is intricate and the characters are deftly drawn. While I didn't much care for Reece in the beginning, he got a little easier to take as the story progressed.

Many thanks to the author / Bloodhound Books for the digital copy of this crime fiction. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
Profile Image for Books 'n' All  Promotions.
844 reviews40 followers
October 11, 2019
Murder Squad 1

This is a debut Police Procedural/ Thriller by Liam Hanson.

Fishy and Onion are tasked with hiding a gun by a big time criminal Billy Creed. What should have been a simple task sets in motion a string of events that will affect many people. Fishy is mentally challenged and when he runs into a bloody corpse he finds himself suspected of murder along with Onion. DCI Reece would have realised the luckless pair were incapable of planning and carrying out a brutal murder but he has been put on gardening leave. With Adams in charge of the case the team are running around and getting nowhere.

Reece is not the most patient of men and he recently witnessed the murder of his wife. However, he is a brilliant detective albeit with his own unorthodox methods. Jenkins is his sidekick and has her own personal problems including domestic abuse. The other characters are all realistic and develop over the course of the story.

The story itself is intriguing with skeletons escaping their closets, corruption and personality clashes all playing their part.

This is a good thriller that moves along at a steadily increasing pace that I really enjoyed reading. I look forward to more from this author.
Profile Image for Philomena Callan Cheekypee.
4,007 reviews431 followers
November 10, 2020
This is a well written debut novel.

This is the first in a series with DCI Bran Reece and his team at Cardiff Bay station. As DCI Reece is on leave a murder victim is found so DI Adams must take over. Reece finds it hard to stand back and watch.

Some very likeable characters and a great storyline has me looking forward to reading more from this author in the future.
Profile Image for Alyson Read.
1,159 reviews56 followers
October 7, 2019
This is the debut novel in the Murder Squad Thriller series and is definitely one of the best books I have read this year! The story centres on DCI Brân Reece and his team of DS Elan Jenkins, DC Ffion Morgan and DC Bobby Ward based at Cardiff Bay Police Station. Reece has just been put on sick leave due to his ongoing PTSD and ever more out of control behaviour (known as The Wrath of Reece - love it!) when a murder victim is discovered at a gruesome crime scene. Even more galling to Reece is that DI Adams, a jumped up fast-tracker has taken his place on the enquiry. This body turns out to the first in a series and Reece cannot help but try to involve himself in the investigation despite orders to the contrary. Old enemies start to emerge and he has a feeling that he knows who the killer's targets will be, even though the identity of the killer is still a mystery. I liked knowing who the killer was from the onset. Although we get glimpses of who it is and bits of the past, it is only at the end of the book that we get confirmation of where the killer fits in now and it was great to keep the reader guessing all the way through. The main characters are all very well described and easy to get to know quickly. Bran, Elan and Ffion are likeable, Bobby is easy to sympathise with and it's always good to have someone like Adams to dislike. Also well portrayed are their personal lives and domestic situations which impact greatly on their behaviour at work. I particularly liked the wonderful caring side shown by Elan despite the grim nature of her work. In addition it was interesting seeing the effect of PTSD in characters on both sides of the law and how they both are dealing (or not dealing) with it in very different ways. The plot was dark and interesting, complex enough to keep putting in twists and turns and having the side plots running alongside, but not over complicated. Since part of my family are from South Wales I loved the setting, and the portrayal of Cardiff, particularly Tiger Bay, which came across as very accurate, also the inclusion of words such as cwtch which I grew up with and make the narrative authentic. I am eagerly looking forward to the next book in the series as there are plenty of threads left open to carry on and great characters (good and bad) that I hope to meet again.
Profile Image for Donna Morfett.
Author 9 books71 followers
May 2, 2020
Cracking read from a debut author.
2 kids, local deadbeats accidentally stumble into a gruesome crime scene, making themselves the number 1 suspects.
However another body is found whilst they are in custody, meaning they can't be guilty, or does it?
Add into the mix that the first was the sister of a local gangster and you have a very tense situations and people tend to have lots of "accidents" along the way.
You have the slightly stereotypical old school cop struggling with issues (his wife killed by a scooter rider in Spain)
However the main cop in this story is a woman, and there is a lot of focus on her and her abusive relationship which is interesting and refreshing (in a fictional sense!)
There are a few twists and turns and lots going on. I read it in one go so it's enough to keep you gripped.
It possibly links back to one of the detectives first cases and a horrific childhood.
Give it a go.
Profile Image for Alyson Read.
1,159 reviews56 followers
November 10, 2020
This is the debut novel in the Murder Squad Thriller series and is definitely one of the best books I have read this year! The story centres on DCI Brân Reece and his team of DS Elan Jenkins, DC Ffion Morgan and DC Ken Ward based at Cardiff Bay Police Station. Reece has just been put on sick leave due to his ongoing PTSD and ever more out of control behaviour (known as The Wrath of Reece - love it!) when a murder victim is discovered at a gruesome crime scene. Even more galling to Reece is that DI Adams, a jumped up fast-tracker has taken his place on the enquiry. This body turns out to the first in a series and Reece cannot help but try to involve himself in the investigation despite orders to the contrary. Old enemies start to emerge and he has a feeling that he knows who the killer's targets will be, even though the identity of the killer is still a mystery. I liked knowing who the killer was from the onset. Although we get glimpses of who it is and bits of the past, it is only at the end of the book that we get confirmation of where the killer fits in now and it was great to keep the reader guessing all the way through. The main characters are all very well described and easy to get to know quickly. Bran, Elan and Ffion are likeable, Ken is easy to sympathise with and it's always good to have someone like Adams to dislike. Also well portrayed are their personal lives and domestic situations which impact greatly on their behaviour at work. I particularly liked the wonderful caring side shown by Elan despite the grim nature of her work. In addition it was interesting seeing the effect of PTSD in characters on both sides of the law and how they both are dealing (or not dealing) with it in very different ways. The plot was dark and interesting, complex enough to keep putting in twists and turns and having the side plots running alongside, but not over complicated. Since part of my family are from South Wales I loved the setting, and the portrayal of Cardiff, particularly Tiger Bay, which came across as very accurate, also the inclusion of words such as cwtch which I grew up with and make the narrative authentic. I am eagerly looking forward to the next book in the series as there are plenty of threads left open to carry on and great characters (good and bad) that I hope to meet again. 5*
Profile Image for Gordon Johnston.
Author 2 books8 followers
February 7, 2021
A very good debut thriller set in and around Cardiff.

The set up sounds cliched. DCI Bran Reece is recently widowed and suffering from PTSD. The old school copper with a legendary temper is temporarily replaced by a fast track DI, full of modern policing and with absolutely no idea of how to run a murder investigation. So when a series of linked, ritualistic killings are discovered, Reece uses his experience to investigate, despite being on leave.

The murders have an apparent link to events long past. But where does a local gangster fit in? DS Elan Jenkins aids Reece to find the key. She's a capable detective with a troubled home life and a violent partner. And where do the loyalties of DC Ward, a troubled copper with gambling debts, lie?

This is a well written thriller, easy to read and with a strong sense of place. The characters are well developed and nuanced and the plot keeps the reader guessing nicely.
Profile Image for Stacy .
110 reviews3 followers
November 9, 2020
A series of unfortunate events puts two small-time criminals at the scene of a gruesome murder and now the team with the Cardiff Bay police department are tasked with determining if they are in fact capable of this heinous crime. Not an easy task under any circumstances but even more difficult when their unconventional leader, DCI Bran Reece, is placed on mandatory leave with his less than capable replacement at the reigns. But DCI Reece still has a few allies on the force, namely DS Elan Jenkins. With the body count increasing can Jenkins keep Reece at bay while the team stumbles through this investigation?

This was a fantastic, fast-paced story with a diverse cast of characters. I can’t wait for the next book in the series!
Profile Image for Gary Dowden.
523 reviews5 followers
March 2, 2021
DCI Bran Reece is recently widowed and on the edge so when the body of a murder victim turns out to have connections to his past, his new boss decides that he's better off away from the case! Set in and around Cardiff and Cardiff Bay, the story is mainly focused on Reece and his understudy Elan Jenkins as they get caught up with further particularly gruesome murders and things ramp up further when a local gangster becomes involved. Although it took me a while to get into it for some reason, the second half of the book really gripped me as the tangled plots become unravelled and retwisted in various ways the realisation hits the characters that all is not what it seems. It's a really enjoyable read and I'll definitely be continuing with the series.
881 reviews9 followers
April 25, 2021
This book is an attention grabber from the word go. I was concerned that it might cool off and become a bit tedious for the next few chapters (as some books do after the initial impact), but I needn't of worried. If fact things were just beginning to warm up. A fair amount of characters were introduced early on in the book with Welsh names (obviously) and I was initially unsure of their gender but it all became clear very quickly. A psychological element to the storyline added even more suspense to the nail biting multiple murder investigation with well defined interesting characters. I hate myself for reading it so quickly, but just couldn't stop once I started. I highly recommend this exciting crime thriller.
Profile Image for Bev.
3,271 reviews98 followers
November 9, 2020
This story is about DCI Bran Reece and a crime scene with a woman who was murdered. But not just murdered. Her body was 'altered' and left for everyone to see. Reece has been put on suspension but he insists that DS Elan Jenkins take him to the murder scene. He knows who the murdered woman is and this can only be big trouble! There are many lies that go on in this story, and not all of them are from guilty parties. But Reece still hasn't gotten over his wife being murdered, is his judgment clouded or does he see things clearly? I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book from Bloodhound books.
Profile Image for Rebecca Charlesworth.
490 reviews
October 30, 2021
This was a first for me with this author and won’t be my last, a gritty police procedural with the usual group of men and women cops. Some who are likeable, some who are utter idiots. I did find at the start there were a lot of names (characters) to get my head around and found myself taking a minute to place the character but as the story went on the main characters stood out in my mind and other characters fell away. A really well written and enjoyable storyline. I won’t write about the storyline in my review as I feel this is the job of a blurb.
Profile Image for Lin Perrett.
297 reviews103 followers
November 30, 2021
Thank you Liam Hanson for the Kindle copy in exchange for a honest review. DCI Bran Reece is suffering PTSD after witnessing his wife's murder. When a woman is found brutally murdered Reece attends the scene. Then the Chief Superintendent tells him he is on sick leave and hands the case to inexperienced DI Adams. DS Elan Jenkins quickly realises he is out of his depth and puts herself and others in danger. A gripping introduction to the Murder Squad thrillers set in beautiful Cardiff. Looking forward to the next installment.
1,467 reviews25 followers
August 6, 2022
I really enjoyed this debut. There was a lot going on, some really brutal killings, a senior officer suffering from PTSD after the killing of his wife, domestic abuse and corruption.

I was captivated by everything yet it didn't feel rushed and despite the quick-to-anger nature of Reece, I actually liked him as a character. I particularly liked Jenkins and hope to read more of these stories with Reece and Jenkins in tandem. It also ended with a little thread which sets us up for the continuation of a side story for later books.
Profile Image for Kristen.
747 reviews87 followers
November 13, 2020
This is a debut novel and any others in the series have a high bar to "live up to." The characters run the gamut from likeable to detestable and those are just the ones who are police officers. There is some gore with regards to the murders that are happening and quite the interesting tale behind why they are happening. I am looking forward to the next book in this series. I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book thanks to the author and publisher.
Profile Image for Lynda.
2,210 reviews117 followers
November 13, 2020
What a cracker of a book from Liam Hanson. One of my favourite reads of the year and I would recommend this to any crime/police procedural lover.

Set in Wales the story revolves starts with a gruesome murder and the detective sent to the scene has his own emendation with the victim’s brother. However, he is not coping well following the death of his wife and is forced to go on paid leave.

Well written and original and I hope this will be the first in a series.
Profile Image for Jean.
1,434 reviews9 followers
May 18, 2021
A great murder mystery.
Set in the Cardiff area the first of DCI Bran Reece who is suffering from ptsd after the death of his wife he's suspended from work and replaced with DI Adams when a horrendous murder occurs which is connected to an old enemy of Bran but Adams disregards all the evidence and trys to go for a easy resolve.
DS Elan Jenkins tries to get Bran back on the case.
A bit of gore but loved the twists looking forward to more of Bran and Elan.
1,273 reviews
November 29, 2020
Lies People Tell is a great read. DI Bran Reece is a bit of a character and his team are very loyal to him. The dialogue is at times very witty giving a few laughs along the way. It is good seeing the characters develop throughout the story and most of them have their own stories. A most enjoyable read and recommended.
Profile Image for Ang.
199 reviews2 followers
November 26, 2021
Lies People Tell is the first thriller in the Murder Squad series.

The book kept me gripped from the start with plenty of twists and turns along the way in this grity police action backed thriller. Some fantastic characters also make this a great start to the series.

The first book I've read by this author, definately won't be my last tho.
209 reviews3 followers
November 18, 2020
LIES PEOPLE TELL Kicks off with a shocking, gruesome discovery which opens the path of a baffling mystery.
The maze of twists, turns and dead ends add to the confounding situation culminating in a hair-raising, suspenseful, edge of your seat conclusion.
Profile Image for Susan.
7,245 reviews69 followers
February 26, 2021
Cardiff. DCI Bran Reece has been suspended and replaced by D.I. Adams. But when a local gangster's sister is murdered he finds himself out of his depth. D.S. Elan Jenkins continues her investigation with the help of Reece.
An entertaining crime story, a good start to the series.
349 reviews
April 4, 2021
Surprisingly good. Nice introduction to some new characters and a decent bash at a procedural storyline. Lots of things going on and it moved along at a steady pace. Think this will be a good series to continue with.
8 reviews
January 26, 2021
Enjoyable read if somewhat a cliche, traumatized police officer, acting hugely on his gut. Difficult relationship with his boss. Bit gory
65 reviews3 followers
February 10, 2021
Good read

I struggled getting into the lingo, but once I did it was a good read. I think it’s an easier read if you’re British. I recommend it.
Profile Image for Natasha du Plessis.
1,062 reviews8 followers
May 4, 2021
Great first book in the series, I can't wait to put my hands on the next books in the series. I hope they will be published soon.
I loved everything about the story and the characters.
Profile Image for McFudd.
33 reviews1 follower
January 19, 2024
Felt really slow and wordy ( it’s a story I know 😅) for 2/3s of the book and then at the end everything just got chucked together. wasn’t my kind of thing.
Profile Image for Pam.
831 reviews7 followers
October 14, 2021
I really enjoyed this book, it keeps your interest from start to finish and the characters are brilliant.
Profile Image for Deb.
694 reviews22 followers
December 18, 2020
From the opening paragraph, I knew I was going to love this book such an easy relaxed style with a touch of humour & sarcasm.
Set in & around Cardiff at Christmas time, a serial killer is on the loose, nicknamed ‘Santa Claws’ by the local press, the first body being accidentally discovered by two inept employees of the local hardman.
Add in to this mix: DCI Reece who is just hanging on to his mental well-being since the death of his wife, his team who have their own problems & the same hardman who is linked to the killer (but doesn’t know it).

Great characters & a great story to kick off the Murder Squad series. Book 2 is even better!
Profile Image for Dee Groocock.
1,405 reviews59 followers
November 27, 2021
DCI Bran Reece is a complicated character, having witnessed the murder of his wife, he has PTSD and a very short fuse.

When the sister of the local gangster is found murdered, it’s a race against time to find the killer before her brother does.

DCI Reece is off the case and DI Adams has taken over. DS Elan Jenkins is passing on as much information as she can to Reece as Adams is struggling.

This is a great start to a new series and a new author to me. Some interesting characters and I liked the working relationship between Reece and Jenkins. This is a fast paced thriller and I’m looking forward to reading more from this author.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews

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