Tag Archives: DCI Helen Lavery

A Deathly Silence by Jane Isaac

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5 Stars from me

Jane Isaac has a lovely writing style, she is among the group of authors whose books I pick up without hesitation for I know that I am guaranteed an exciting tale with comfortable and well rounded characters.

DCI Helen Lavery is fast becoming a favourite of mine and I might just adopt her mantra for myself:

“Assume nothing. Believe nobody. Challenge everything.”

In A Deathly Silence Helen is just returning from an absence – I loved the opening scenes with her in the hotel ordering a bottle of wine, SO real and total sucked me straight into her life – and finds herself plunged deep into a major investigation as a fellow officer has been found murdered.

Not only has one of their own been murdered but also quite brutally tortured and yet the victim seemed to live quite a blameless life – liked by fellow officers and respected by criminals for her fairness – and she leaves behind two young children and a grieving partner for whom Helen is determined to find justice.

There are many lines of enquiry and we follow Helen has she determinedly set off to work through them all. The book has a great pace and I could easily have devoured it in one rainy day into evening sitting, however I made sure to spread it over a couple of days! Having looked forward to reading A Deathly Silence for so long I made sure to do it justice.

Characterisation throughout is spot (as I would totally expect) and all characters – from our two young scallwags, through all ranks of the police and a variety of members of the public – are all beautifully well defined.

This is police procedural at its best and I can easily visualise it becoming a TV series, much like Tennison.

I would heartily recommend #ADeathlySilence and indeed any of Jane’s books to any fans of crime thrillers and police procedurals and I look forward to reading more.

#ADeathlySilence @JaneIsaacAuthor @Legend_Press

Synopsis: When the mutilated body of a police officer is found in a derelict factory, Hamptonshire force are shocked to the core.

DCI Helen Lavery returns from injury leave and is immediately plunged into an investigation like no other. Is this a random attack or is someone targeting the force? Organised crime groups or a lone killer?

As the net draws in, Helen finds the truth lies closer than she could have imagined, and trusts no one.

But Helen is facing a twisted killer who will stop at nothing to ensure their secrets remain hidden. And time is running out…

An Unfamiliar Murder by Jane Isaac

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Unfamiliar Murder5 Stars from me!

What an absolute gem of an author Jane Isaac is, I am so glad to have found her books and honestly don’t feel I can fault a single thing (ok, except the cover).

Isaac is, in my view, an astonishingly accomplished writer. Her stories are virtually flawless in their pace, content and style.

I read her second book, The Truth Will Out, before I read this one and for me it didn’t spoil the books in any way but it would obviously make more sense to read them in the correct order if you can.

I read lots and lots of crime thrillers and genuinely think that Jane Isaac is up there with the big hitters, she had me led completely up the garden path with ‘who dunnit’ which is a feat in itself and I usually know by about a third of the way in! In An Unfamiliar Murder though I got it wrong right up until the end.

Fabulous book, absolutely loved it, can’t wait to read more.

Synopsis:

Arriving home from a routine day at work, Anna Cottrell has no idea that her life is about to change forever. But discovering the stabbed body of a stranger in her flat, then becoming prime suspect in a murder enquiry is only the beginning. Her persistent claims of innocence start to crumble when new evidence links her irrevocably with the victim… 

Leading her first murder enquiry, DCI Helen Lavery unravels a trail of deception, family secrets and betrayal. When people close to the Cottrell family start to disappear, Lavery is forced into a race against time. Can she catch the killer before he executes his ultimate victim?

 

The Truth Will Out by Jane Isaac

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Truth Will Out

5 stars from me!

Love, love, love this book!

I bought The Truth Will Out after seeing @NovelBird recommend it on twitter. Actually she was mentioning to @JaneIsaacAuthor how much she was enjoying it and I always think there is nothing better than a personal recommendation, so I bought it too.

I’m so glad I did. What a great book. It literally grips you from the first few pages and doesn’t let go.

I lovedthe DCI Helen Lavery character, hated Dean’s character and enjoyed the whole host of characters in between.

I thought The Truth Will Out was a very accomplished book with a great story line, plus additional side plots, which kept me on my toes the whole way through. Several nice little twists and turns and a great insight into the life of a female DCI, makes a change for it to be a woman in the lead role in books like this one.

I haven’t read anything by Jane Isaac before but I certainly look forward to finding more of her books now.

 

Synopsis:

“Everything’s going to be okay.” 

“What if it’s not?”

Suddenly, she turned. For a split second she halted, her head inclined.“Naomi, what is it?”

She whisked back to face Eva.

“There’s somebody in the house…”

Eva is horrified when she witnesses an attack on her best friend. She calls an ambulance and forces herself to flee Hampton, fearing for her own safety. DCI Helen Lavery leads the investigation into the murder. With no leads, no further witnesses and no sign of forced entry, the murder enquiry begins.

Slowly, the pieces of the puzzle start to come together. But as Helen inches towards solving the case, her past becomes caught up in her present.

Someone is after them both. Someone who will stop at nothing to get what they want. And as the net starts to close around them, can Helen escape her own demons as well as helping Eva to escape hers?