When you are mine by Michael Robotham

Philomena "Phil" McCarthy has worked hard to become a police officer with the Metropolitan Police - no easy feat for the daughter of a notorious criminal.  Phil fought hard to become a police officer, pushing past all the rejections and working harder than anyone else in her class to make it - and she has also cut all ties with her father, and her father's side of the family.  Life isn't easy, but she has found happiness with her fiancée and his son, and she is looking forward to her wedding.  That peaceful normalcy is rocked when she attends a domestic violence complaint with her partner and has to defend herself in an unorthodox fashion.  Blindsided with the identity of her assailant, Phil finds herself on the outside once again, fighting for her place.  Phil soon discovers that she has a connection to the victim, Tempe Brown, and an unexpected friendship develops between them.

As the friendship grows, Phil finds herself in the unusual position of needing a favour from her father - the only person who can help her keep Tempe safe.  Contact with her father comes with a price though, her career with the Metropolitan Police is on shaky ground, and reconnecting with her family is not a good look.  Phil has been told she is obsessed, that she needs to stop investigating Tempe's case, that she is done - but she is determined to stop the harassment that Tempe is facing.  Something isn't quite right with Tempe though, she seems nervous and edgy, and she tells Phil's friends the wildest stories.  Phil tries to shrug it off, Tempe is helping plan her wedding after all, but things aren't adding up.  When her friends and fiancée raise questions about Tempe and her story she tries to brush it off, but she soon finds herself chasing Tempe's story down a rabbit hole that could destroy everything she has worked for.

When you are mine is a standalone novel that is a roller-coaster ride of emotions, conspiracies, betrayals and family that stands out from other books in the crime genre because of the weight of the characters and the situations they find themselves in.  Phil is an interesting character to build the story around, her links to the criminal world and the her work as a police officer making her a pariah in both worlds.  She is also impulsive, stubborn, and loyal - which makes her chasing the story to the end a foregone conclusion.  The people in her world are also complete people with their strengths, flaws, and weaknesses and they make her world completely believable and absorbing.  The theme of a young police officer standing up to a corrupt system is not a new one, but Robotham puts a very good spin on it and keeps you hooked on the story from start to finish. 

If you like this book then try:

• Then she was gone by Lisa Jewell
• When I was ten by Fiona Cummins
• Sticks and stones by Katherine Firkin
• The puppet show by M.W. Craven
• The edge of normal by Carla Norton
• Eeny meeny by M.J. Arlidge
• The liar's daughter by Claire Allan
• Good me bad me by Ali Land
• Crimson Lake by Candice Fox
• The better sister by Alafair Burke
• The tattoo thief by Alison Belsham
• Either side of midnight by Benjamin Stevenson
• Two wrongs by Rebecca Reid
• The coast to coast murders by James Patterson and J.D.Barker

Reviewed by Brilla

Choose me by Tess Gerritsen and Gary Braver

When Taryn Moore is found dead in the street outside her apartment after a fall from her balcony it is easy to conclude that she killed herself, a sad case of a young woman who took her own life.  Detective Frances "Frankie" Loomis is not convinced, and not just because her cellphone is nowhere to be found.  As she investigates the case with her partner, Frankie learns more about Taryn and her life, and the events that lead up to her death.  

Taryn left her home town in Maine to study at Commonwealth University in Boston, and she has impressed a few professors in the English Department with her brilliant mind and interesting analysis of English texts.  She is not as popular with some of her classmates, but she has a bright future in academia - as long as she can convince her mother to keep supporting her studies.  The class where she shines the most is Professor Jack Dorian's Star-Crossed Lovers seminar.  Taryn brings a spark to the class, intelligent and thoughtful debate, and Jack is more than a little taken with his star pupil - not in a romantic sense, but he is drawn to her.

As Frankie digs deeper into Taryn's life she discovers that Taryn was a complex young woman - and that there was a lot going on in her life.  Liam, the boyfriend that Taryn followed to Boston had started a new relationship while on a 'break' from his relationship with her, something that Taryn doesn't take well.  Her relationship with Professor Jack Dorian also proves to be more complicated than that of teacher and student - and some of her fellow students are not afraid to try and use that relationship to their own advantage.  As Frankie untangles the story of Taryn's death she makes some startling discoveries that prove you never really know people - not completely.

Choose me is one of those difficult books to review because talking it up requires spoiling some of the best elements of the book.  It is relatively safe to say that this is an outstanding work of psychological fiction, as no one is what they seem, and victims aren't always the victims they seem.  Taryn is a complex and very real person, not only in her death, but also in her life.  She has depth, history, emotion, and it is all too easy to see her actions played out in real life with real people.  Gerritsen and Braver have done an amazing job of creating people who fully come to life with their aspirations, histories, secrets, lies, and desires - no one is under or over done, and the conclusion is thoroughly satisfying.  A great find.

If you like this book then try:

• Then she was gone by Lisa Jewell
• When I was ten by Fiona Cummins
• Sticks and stones by Katherine Firkin
• The other woman by Sandie Jones
• Hidden lies by Rachel Ryan
• When I was ten by Fiona Cummins
• Before she was Helen by Caroline B. Cooney
• All of us by A.F. Carter
• The better sister by Alafair Burke
• Either side of midnight by Benjamin Stevenson
• Good me bad me by Ali Land

Reviewed by Brilla

The puppet show by M.W. Craven

The Serious Crime Analysis Section (SCAS), lead by Detective Inspector Stephanie Flynn, uses a range of data sources and information to identify the emergence of serial rapists and serial killers - as well as providing Police forces with analytical support for their trickier cases.  It's not typical Police work, and involves some rather unusual skill sets, and personalities.  Tilly Bradshaw is one of the more unusual members of the team, she can see mathematical patterns that others miss, and if she needs a programme to do a job and can't find one she writes the programmes herself.  While she may be a genius and something of a prodigy when it comes to seeing patterns, she lacks many of the common social skills that are important when working in a team.  When Tilly sees a pattern with the third victim of  killer the press has dubbed The Immolation Man, because he likes to burn his victims, she makes a phone call that leads to a startling discovery.

Washington Poe is minding his own business in Cumbria, waiting for the day when the hammer finally drops on his career.  Suspended in disgrace more than a year ago after a careless act that leads to the death of a suspect, Poe has been quietly working on his new home Herdwick Croft.  When DI Flynn appears with the news his suspension has been lifted he has mixed feelings, especially when she gives him the choice of coming back to work or resigning, but the details of the case are too tempting to ignore.  The Immolation Man is not only leaving his victims in the stone circles of Cumbria, he has also linked Poe to the latest victim.  Poe is a brilliant profiler, even if he is unorthodox and prone to break the rules - and one of the first rules he breaks is taking Tilly Bradshaw into the field.  It's a partnership that shouldn't work, but it somehow does - even if Poe seems to spend a lot of time helping Tilly navigate the real world rather than working on the case.  It is a race against time for Tilly and Poe to find The Immolation Man before he finds his next victim - or before the rich and powerful stop their investigation in it's tracks.  Poe has never been afraid to fight the hard fights and pursue a case to the end, but this time he has Tilly to think about too.

The puppet show was an engrossing read which fits the old cliché of 'the pages almost seemed to turn themselves' - which doesn't do the story or the characters justice.  I wasn't sure what to think about Tilly when she was first introduced, you would expect the main character to be the introduction, but starting with Tilly was the perfect place to start.  I could see a lot of people in Tilly, and while some might dismiss her as a cliché (brilliant but socially awkward), she is an engaging character in her own way and allows you to find a different view from the traditional Police perspective in crime novels.  Poe in his own way is also both a walking cliché and refreshingly different - he is the Police officer on the edges, loathed by some of this colleagues, but also brilliant at what he does and with a good heart.  The combination of Poe and Tilly leads to some heart warming moments as well as some laugh out loud moments - and the story they are investigating is complex enough to keep you guessing but still challenges you to solve the case before they do.  

The puppet show is the first book in a series and I have already ordered the next book in the series so I can read it.  A highly recommended read.

If you like this book then try:

• Then she was gone by Lisa Jewell
• When I was ten by Fiona Cummins
• Before she was Helen by Caroline B. Cooney
• Every last fear by Alex Finlay
• Hidden lies by Rachel Ryan
• Sticks and stones by Katherine Firkin
• The liar's daughter by Claire Allan
• The nowhere child by Christian White
• My best friend's murder by Polly Phillips
• Crimson Lake by Candice Fox
• The better sister by Alafair Burke
• Either side of midnight by Benjamin Stevenson
• Two wrongs by Rebecca Reid
• The coast to coast murders by James Patterson and J.D.Barker

Reviewed by Brilla