Murder in Slow Motion – Rebecca Muddiman

Crime Fiction
4*s

Andrew returns home to find his partner Katy missing. The last text he had received was to let him know that she was visiting their neighbour. When he goes to find her there is nobody there but blood has been spilt. When DI Michael Gardner and DS Nicola Freeman talk to him they are inclined to think he is panicking unnecessarily despite the fact that the once confident Katy has recently been made redundant and seemingly doesn’t go anywhere. To find Katy they have to find her friends but that’s easier said than done when a person’s life has contracted to be contained within four walls.

The pair soon realise that one half of the neighbouring couple is also a police officer Dawn Lawson and she called in sick and no-one, including her boyfriend knows where she is either.

This is an incredibly claustrophobic novel and one where DI Gardner is so fired up by Dawn’s disappearance he often almost forgets that Katy is also missing. With the subject matter focussing on domestic abuse it is also a book that makes the reader think. Yes, we are in 2018 and domestic abuse is no longer the hidden subject it once was but this book shows us the different forms that it can take and of course, the effects it can have on the victim. It is also a sad reflection of the way that even though violent rows are overheard by others living nearby few take any action at all.

So the book has a big ‘issue’ but it is also a police procedural, albeit one where DI Gardner stretches the bounds of the law to the nth degree to ensure that he gets to the bottom of the women’s disappearance. As the investigation intensifies we see that both women had secrets and their lives from the outside were not at all like the reality.

There is plenty of action but overall this is a thoughtful book. The key drivers are the personalities, of Gardner and Freeman whose relationship is easily familiar although with a hint of irritation about their differences. But it is the supporting cast, the ones off page whose personalities intrigue us just as much. What did the shy Katy share with Dawn, or was it the other way around? Surely it can’t be a coincidence that they both have vanished at the same time? Their partners are also in the spotlight although neither can be placed at anything like the scene of the (almost) non-existent crime. Our pair of detectives have to work hard to sort this puzzle out.

I have enjoyed the two previous books I read in this series and have vowed to get around to the missing third episode. Fortunately they do work as standalones because like a lot of my favourite these contemporary writers, Rebecca Muddiman manages to give a different ‘feel’ to all her books despite keeping the key characters in place. This is definitely a police procedural that is as much about the why as the who.

I’d like to say a huge thank you to the author who provided me with a copy of Murder in Slow Motion – sorry it took me so long to get around to reading the book and writing this unbiased review.

First Published UK: 25 February 2018
Publisher: Independently Published
No of Pages: 388
Genre: Crime Fiction Series
Amazon UK
Amazon US

Books in the Gardner & Freeman Series

Stolen
Gone
Tell Me Lies

This Week in Books (April 4)

Hosted by Lipsy Lost & Found my Wednesday post gives you a taste of what I am reading this week. A similar meme is run by Taking on a World of Words

Now that I’ve read all the millions of books which were being published on 5 April 2018, I hoping to squeeze some of my own books into April’s schedule as well as some exciting upcoming publications.

I am currently reading Smash all the Windows by Jane Davies which will be published on 12 April 2018.

Blurb

For the families of the victims of the St Botolph and Old Billingsgate disaster, the undoing of a miscarriage of justice should be a cause for rejoicing. For more than thirteen years, the search for truth has eaten up everything. Marriages, families, health, careers and finances.

Finally, the coroner has ruled that the crowd did not contribute to their own deaths. Finally, now that lies have been unravelled and hypocrisies exposed, they can all get back to their lives.
If only it were that simple.

Tapping into the issues of the day, Davis delivers a highly charged work of metafiction, a compelling testament to the human condition and the healing power of art. Written with immediacy, style and an overwhelming sense of empathy, Smash all the Windows will be enjoyed by readers of How to Paint a Dead Man by Sarah Hall and How to be Both by Ali Smith.

That was after catching up on the seventh in the superb DI Kim Stone series, Broken Bones by Angela Marsons before the eighth is published in May!

Blurb

They thought they were safe. They were wrong.

The murder of a young prostitute and a baby found abandoned on the same winter night signals the start of a disturbing investigation for Detective Kim Stone – one which brings her face to face with someone from her own horrific childhood.

As three more sex workers in the Black Country are murdered in quick succession, each death more violent than the last, Kim and her team realise that the initial killing was no one-off frenzied attack, but a twisted serial killer preying on the vulnerable.

At the same time, the search begins for the desperate woman who left her newborn baby at the station – but what at first looks like a tragic abandonment soon takes an even more sinister turn.

When another young woman goes missing, the two investigations bring the team into a terrifying, hidden world, and a showdown puts Kim’s life at risk as secrets from her own past come to light.

As Kim battles her own demons, can she stop the killer, before another life is lost? Amazon

And next I am catching up on another series, this time Rebecca Muddiman’s Murder in Slow Motion, the fourth in the Gardner and Freeman series which was published on 25 February 2018.

Blurb

Katy Jackson is missing, last seen at her neighbour’s house. DI Gardner and DS Freeman think Katy’s boyfriend, Andrew, is overreacting. She’s been gone just a few hours. But next door there’s evidence of a struggle and blood throughout the house. When they realise Katy’s neighbour is police officer Dawn Lawton, and that Dawn is missing too, it becomes impossible for Gardner to put his personal feelings aside, driving him to put his own career on the line as he tries to find his friend.

As Gardner and Freeman unravel both Katy and Dawn’s secrets, they discover neither woman’s life is what it seems. And when everyone has something to hide, how do you know who to trust? Amazon

So what do you think? Have you read any of these? Would you like to?

Weekly Wrap Up (March 4)

Well this has been an interesting week! While the UK was under mounds of snow good old Jersey managed a massive 1 cm (in places) by Thursday morning which meant that I had no excuse not to tramp to work complete with laptop which I’d taken home on the promise of some real snowfall. I hope all of you have managed to stay safe and warm during the ‘real’ snow.

This Week on the Blog

I was in Leicester last weekend celebrating a friend’s birthday and so didn’t do my normal wrap up last week. What I did have was a very generous 15% discount code for World of Books – if you didn’t see my post and you want to take advantage of the discount, it runs until the 31 March 2018.

On Monday I posted my review for Before I Let You Go by Kelly Rimmer which was published on 27 February 2018.

My excerpt post came from The Trick to Time by Kit De Waal which is out on 22 March 2018.

This Week in Books featured the authors Clare Mackintosh, Simon Bourke and Mary-Jane Riley

On Thursday I posted my review for one of my favourite non-fiction reads of all time: Bookworm: A Memoir of Childhood Reading by Lucy Mangan.

Friday had me featuring 5 five star reads from February 2014 to 2018 a reminder of how brilliant books don’t ever fade.

Finally another list, this time my preparation for the Classic Club Spin which will take place on Friday – spin gods, if you could give the first five lengthy books a miss, I’d appreciate it as I have about a thousand books due a read and review before 5 April!

This Time Last Year…

I was reading Quieter than Killing by Sarah Hilary. This is the fourth book in the series featuring DI Marnie Rome and her partner DS Jake Noah and another which uses contemporary issues as a basis for the crimes, in this instance the pair find themselves investigating the gangs and their increasingly young recruits. There is outstanding characterisation, not just of the main protagonists, but many of the secondary characters too. With perfect plotting and plenty of twists and turns Sarah Hilary’s books are not to be missed.

You can read my full review here or click on the book cover

Blurb

It’s winter, the nights are dark and freezing, and a series of assaults is pulling DI Marnie Rome and DS Noah Jake out onto streets of London. When Marnie’s family home is ransacked, there are signs that the burglary can have only been committed by someone who knows her.

Someone out there is playing games. It is time for both Marnie and Noah to face the truth about the creeping, chilling reaches of a troubled upbringing. Amazon

Stacking the Shelves

I have a copy of Rebecca Muddiman’s latest book Murder in Slow Motion which is the fourth in the Gardner and Freeman series and was published on 24 February 2018. I really enjoyed the first two books in this series and am now wondering if I can fit in the third before reading this one – I suspect not since the author would probably like the review before the end of 2018!!

 

Blurb

Katy Jackson is missing, last seen at her neighbour’s house.

DI Gardner and DS Freeman think Katy’s boyfriend, Andrew, is overreacting. She’s been gone just a few hours. But next door there’s evidence of a struggle and blood throughout the house.

When they realise Katy’s neighbour is police officer Dawn Lawton, and that Dawn is missing too, it becomes impossible for Gardner to put his personal feelings aside, driving him to put his own career on the line as he tries to find his friend.

As Gardner and Freeman unravel both Katy and Dawn’s secrets, they discover neither woman’s life is what it seems. And when everyone has something to hide, how do you know who to trust? Amazon

And from NetGalley I have a copy of The Liar’s Room by Simon Lelic which will be published on 2 August 2018. This is another author whose previous books have wowed me!

Blurb

Susanna Fenton has a secret. Fourteen years ago she left her identity behind, reinventing herself as a counsellor and starting a new life.

It was the only way to keep her daughter safe. But everything changes when Adam Geraghty walks into her office. She’s never met this young man before – so why does she feel like she knows him?

Adam starts to tell her about a girl. A girl he wants to hurt. And that’s when Susanna realises she was wrong.

She doesn’t know him.
He knows her.
And the girl he plans to hurt is her daughter. NetGalley

Do either of these take your fancy?

Since my last post I have only read 4 books and since I have gained rather more than 4 thanks to David the nice man from World of Books, my TBR has risen to its highest level yet this year 188

Physical Books – 113
Kindle Books – 55
NetGalley Books –21

I haven’t banked any book tokens this week but nor have I bought any books, so I’m still 2 whole books in credit!