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Sometimes, you pick up a book and you don’t get hooked till a few pages or chapters in. Most times, (I suspect like most people), I don’t have the patience to discover this ‘hook’ if it’s not present in the first few pages. A Life for a Life got me hooked in the first few sentences!

Straight away, you’re made aware that the first character we’re introduced to is going to shortly meet his demise. It’s cold. It’s calculated. And it happens in an instant.

We soon get introduced to the main characters in this series – Detective Sergeant Jed Parish and PC Mary Richards. Jed is in his late thirties while Mary is in her early twenties. They have a wonderful relationship that’s almost akin (in my opinion) to a big brother and his little sister as opposed to a Police Detective and a new recruit. What makes their relationship work so well is the banter that flows between them. Richards (as Jed Parish chooses to refer to her) is not afraid to point out Jed’s poor social and health choices. Parish is not afraid to remind Richards whose Boss. It’s this mutual respect/disdain that they have for each other plus their shortcomings that I found compelling and drew me into the story.

It becomes obvious very soon that we’re dealing with a serial killer. Tim Ellis goes against the grain of most mystery/crime thrillers where the reader is presented with several suspects and has to work with the protagonist(s) to figure out the perpetrator of the heinous crime. I’m struggling not to give too much away but you’ll agonise with Parish and Richards as they struggle to link the dots and capture the killer who seems to have an established pattern associated with every murder. There’s something about the murders that make you empathise with the killer as the story plays out. This killer is on a mission and we get to know what it is in the final denouement.

The sub-plot that runs alongside the main murder story is Jed’s love life. There’s a scene that occurs between Jed Parish and a PA at the local council that completely took me by surprise. This Jed Parish guy is human.

So what did I not like about this book. While I loved the chemistry between Richards and Parish and feel it’s one of the factors that makes this book a winner, on a few occasions, I think it strayed into the realm of ‘Really?’ Sometimes Richards came across as an emotional, naïve, little girl who wanted her way or she’d throw all her toys out of the pram. Maybe its this naivety that endears Richards to Parish. Maybe its this innocence that’ll have you rooting for her. Still, it made me stop reading the book now and then and ask the question, “Really?” Please let this not stop you from picking up this book. It’s set in London and it really gives you a feel for the local banter common to people who live in and around London.

The final climax was worth the wait and ties everything beautifully together.

I understand there are now more than 10 books in this series and I can only imagine it gets better with each episode. Grab a copy today as I believe you’ll enjoy the ride.

A Life for a Life on Amazon

Stephen King said in his book ‘On Writing’ that there are 2 things every writer should do: Read a lot and Write a lot.

I try to do both but sometimes one of these activities supersedes the other. I’m currently in a read a lot mode.

The book I’m currently reading is called ‘Girl Jacked’ by Christopher Greyson. It’s a mystery thriller and I’m at the half way point. My interest in the thriller/mystery genre was inspired by a chat I had with Stephanie Bond at the London Book Fair. Stephanie has more than 6 million books in circulation and writes in the cozy mystery genre.

I’ve been reading a few articles about mystery writing and Greyson’s book is the second novel I’ve read/am reading since my curiosity for this genre was piqued. The beauty and I guess popularity of the mystery genre is that the reader gets to play the role of a sleuth along with the main protagonist in the book. I believe it’s this interaction with the facts and clues revealed in a mystery story that make them so enjoyable. At the heart of every mystery story is a puzzle that needs to be solved. Most of the times this puzzle is the murder of someone related in some way to our main protagonist. The story usually ends with a resolution of the puzzle and the protagonist living to fight another day.

In ‘Girl Jacked’ (SPOILER ALERT, don’t continue reading if you have any intention of reading this book which I highly recommend) the murdered victim is Michelle who is the foster sister of Jack Stratton, a detective at the local police station.

Compared to other mystery books that I’ve read, the murder was revealed quite late into the story. There was always a dark cloud hanging to suggest that something diabolical had happened to Michelle but when it was finally revealed, I found myself saying aloud ‘Oh No!’ Girl Jacked has had more than 175 glowing reviews on Amazon and I think what really works for this book is that you get to empathise with the main character who is facing some emotional battles and his side kick – Replacement. I found myself chuckling when the origins of this nickname was revealed. There is a down-to-earth way Greyson narrates this tale that’s free of BS and gets you rooting for the Jack. At the half-way point, o real suspects have really been identified but this has not taken from my enjoyment of the book.

The next book on my list to read is ‘A Life for a Life’ by Tim Ellis. I can’t wait to get into this book for two reasons. One is that I’ll be interviewing the author on Author Interview Thursday a few weeks from now and Tim’s books are very popular on the Amazon UK site and have more than 200 glowing reviews.

Like Stephen King advised, I believe we should all be actively reading and sometimes read outside the genre we write in. You never know what new idea you could stumble upon while doing this.

What are you reading at the moment?