Moment of Truth

Rutland #5

by Adam Croft

A man is found dead in the judge's chair inside the Great Hall of Oakham Castle, beaten to death with a ceremonial horseshoe. As Rutland Police investigate, they discover the victim was a charitable, public-spirited man who only ever wanted to help others. So who wanted to kill him so brutally? And why? DI Caroline Hills and DS Dexter Antoine are left disoriented and dejected. But the discovery of a shadowy and mysterious figure leads them onto a trail of deep corruption — one that will take them far from Rutland. And it seems their victim wasn't quite the man he made himself out to be. Is anyone ever truly innocent?

Genres: Crime, Fiction, Thriller, Mystery

238 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 16, 2022

About the author

With more than half a million books sold to date, Adam Croft is one of the most successful independently published authors in the world, and one of the biggest selling authors of the past year.

Following his 2015 worldwide bestseller Her Last Tomorrow, his psychological thrillers were bought by Thomas & Mercer, an imprint of Amazon Publishing. Prior to the Amazon deal, Her Last Tomorrow sold more than 150,000 copies across all platforms and became one of the bestselling books of the year, reaching the top 10 in the overall Amazon Kindle chart and peaking at number 12 in the combined paperback fiction and non-fiction chart.

His Knight & Culverhouse crime thriller series has sold more than 250,000 copies worldwide, with his Kempston Hardwick mystery books being adapted as audio plays starring some of the biggest names in British TV.

In 2016, the Knight & Culverhouse Box Set reached number 1 in Canada, knocking J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Cursed Child off the top spot only weeks after Her Last Tomorrow was also number 1 in Canada.

During the summer of 2016, two of Adam’s books hit the USA Today bestseller list only weeks apart, making them two of the most-purchased books in the United States over the summer.

Before writing full time, Adam had previously worked as an internet marketing consultant, delivery driver and professional actor.

Adam has been featured on BBC Radio, The Guardian, The Huffington Post, The Bookseller and a number of other news and media outl

Reviews

[NILTON TEIXEIRA · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Moment of Truth”, (book 5 of Rutland Crime series), by Adam Croft

4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Just a brief note.
I’m giving it 4 stars mostly for the writing.
The storyline was interesting, but again it lacked some thrilling.
The development of the storyline had more emphasis on each character’s personal drama, rather than on the investigation itself, and I did enjoy that aspect, although we were left wondering what was really going on (and hopefully we will get the answers in the next book). At least the crime was solved.
Overall, another very entertaining story.

e-book (Kobo): 202 pages (default), 54k words

[mary patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rutland crime series books one thru five

These five books were great! I'm a kindle unlimited gal so I don't usually buy books. I was hooked from the very first book. Well written and extremely good reads. Can't wait for more books by Adam croft. You can't go wrong reading this series. I highly suggest every one read this. Series.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just like Dexter, I took an instant dislike to the new guy.

[Sue Hull · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another enjoyable read with a good storyline

[Glenda Duming · Rating 5 out of 5]

Trouble in Rutland

Another thrilling police procedural and suspense novel by one of my favorite authors. Adam Croft is a master at his craft and this book is no exception. A well known citizen of Rutland has been murdered while volunteering at the local castle, a favorite site visited by many vacationers. A ceremonial horse shoe given to the Castle by Princess Margaret is missing from it's place on the wall. Who would want to kill such an upstanding citizen? Did the murderer kill the volunteer because he caught them taking the horse shoe? Carolyn and her team are on the case but will they catch the killer?

[Jill Stirling · Rating 2 out of 5]

I do like this series but the ending was annoying. To leave us up in the air with the new sergeant and Dexter's problem is frustrating.

[Daniel Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another crime solved by DI Caroline Hills and her team!

I remember reading the first book in this series and being put off as it felt like an author who had only visited Rutland once and then spouted everything he had learnt about the area in the opening chapters as if it was a test.

I'm glad I stuck with it as it just gets better with each new book! The character development over the series is very well written and weaved into the main storyline neatly.

You don't need to have read the previous books to enjoy this one, but as with all good series' that obviously helps!

Very easy reading, difficult to put down at times with plot twists and new developments. It's easy to visualise the stories as a TV show which always helps and I'm looking forward to book 6 already!

[Martin Pilkington · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the latest, or last book in the Rutland Crime Series. It is, in my opinion, the worst book of the five.

I don't like to put spoilers in the reviews I post here on Goodreads, which makes reviews like this one very difficult to write as it makes it very difficult to say why this book is my least favourite, and why it has annoyed me, frustrated me. But I will try.

The author has introduced a new character into this novel, introduced aspects of one of the main characters that hasn't even been hinted at in the previous 4, and while the solution of the crime was wrapped up at the end of the book, there is so much left in the air that i came away feeling very dissatisfied by the whole thing.

My advice is stop at book 4 and don't bother with this one.

[Lorrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m on a kick where I read books that have the same title; so the only reason I read this book is because I also read this book: Moment of Truth. But what really started me on this series was the third book, In Cold Blood. It turns out that all the titles in this series have duplicates.

[Vron · Rating 2 out of 5]

The mystery isn’t that much. Very easy to guess what happened.
The book concentrates mostly on the Police people and their lives although in a very superficial way.
It’s like the author thought of putting any dramatic trope you can think of amongst the Policemen to make the book more interesting. It failed for me because everything is highly stereotyped autistic girl - check. SA- check . As*^le manipulative man towards women - check. Selfharm-depression thoughts -check. Bdsm - check and so on

[Estelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again Adam has given us a page turner of a story.

A man was killed in a castle. Who would want to kill a charitable man and why?
Yet another intriguing case for DI Hills and DS Antoine to solve.

Each and everyone of his books is always better than the previous one, if that is possible, as he is such a brilliant author in all that he writes.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another cracking story from Adam Croft about the Rutland Police force. I felt a bit uncomfortable with the way the interview of the autistic girl, Kelly, was set up, but otherwise, this book was a good read. It is also setting up the next book with possible tensions likely to arise within Caroline's team due to the new DS.

[Julie Devonald-Cornelius · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book in the Rutland series. Caroline Dexter and team might only be small but they really get things done. Was worried about one character in this book . Not keen on Elijah but will see if my opinion changes in next book. Definitely 5stars

[Lora King · Rating 4 out of 5]

I keep trying to love these books but only kinda like them. Story is so drawn out even though a quick read. A man who is retired and has done charity work for years is found dead in a throne in a castle. Is he the man everyone thinks he is or does he harbor a dark secret. I'm tired of Hill's family life story.

[Christine Hicks · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic rollercoaster of a read, this series just gets better and better

[John Bell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book

Brilliant story keeps you on the edge of your seat lots of twists an turns in it , couldn't put it down , well done Adam croft !!!!

[Sue Hickling · Rating 3 out of 5]

good read but the others were better .

[Karin Tholander · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed listening to the audiobook. Not completely predictable. Good depth of characters

[KATHY WILKINSON · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book.

[Jeremy Jl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another murder mystery set in the county of Rutland. England's smallest county, there can't be many people left for Mr Croft to kill off now!

[Christina O'Farrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent book in this series

Loved it! Can't say too much as don't want to be giving out spoilers but just, wow, what a cliffhanger! Can't wait for the next one

[Martha Poe · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good

Wonderful! I didn't see the twist in this one coming at all! Another great story at Caroline and her team

[Rosie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmmm not sure on the new team dynamics

[Maggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok read

[Emily C · Rating 5 out of 5]

A real mystery of who committed the murder but it unravelled towards the end and with a shock twist! It had you gripped from the start!

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the fifth book in the series by Adam Croft set in Rutland. In the historic Oakham castle a man is found bludgeoned to death sitting beneath the display of horseshoes - the murder weapon being one of these artifacts. Di Hills and her team are initially confronted with a victim who was a pillar of the community, loved and respected by all. But things are never what they seem and secrets soon emerge.
This is a well written crime series - the characters are becoming better known with each book and there was a new police officer joining the team. I did feel on this occasion that there was almost too much emphasis on the teams private lives which was detrimental to the solving of the crime. In the acknowledgments at the end of the story the author says it was a difficult book to write due to various external pressures. I feel that this showed in the writing which was sometimes rushed - especially the end which I felt needed at least a bit more information regarding the outcome of the case itself. However that said it was still an enjoyable story. I have visited Oakham on several occasions and was familiar with the Castle, I always find knowing the location is a bonus. I look forward to the next case from the team at Rutland.

[Nicola Lester · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve read all the others in this series and enjoyed this one, good mystery as usual and a good story. Well written characters and a clever plot.