BLOG TOUR: Their Fatal Secrets Review

Author: Janice Frost
Series: DS Merry & DI Neal Series
Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Crime
Published: October 21, 2017
Retail Price: $8.99 (Paperback)
Rating: 3/5 stars

Synopsis

THE EAGERLY AWAITED NEW MYSTERY FROM BEST-SELLING AUTHOR JANICE FROST

Two students coming home from a drunken night out see something strange in the river. It is a young woman’s body.

Hours later, a second young woman’s body is discovered on another stretch of the same river.

DS Ava Merry and DI Jim Neal are assigned to both investigations. And they’re joined by a new detective, Tom Knight.

Soon a connection is found between the two dead women. A list of “victims” is discovered in one of their flats. Who will be next and what really happened to the women on this sinister list?

In a thrilling conclusion, Jim Neal fights for his life as the two detectives struggle to solve a complex case involving people with secrets that may prove fatal.

If you like Angela Marsons, Rachel Abbott, Ruth Rendell, or Mark Billingham you will be gripped by this exciting new crime fiction writer.

THE DETECTIVES

DS Ava Merry is a young policewoman, recently promoted to detective sergeant. She is fitness fanatic with a taste for dangerous relationships. DI Jim Neal is single dad who juggles his devotion to his job with caring for his son.

DS MERRY & DI NEAL SERIES
Book 1: DEAD SECRET
Book 2: DARK SECRET
Book 3: HER HUSBAND’S SECRET
Book 4: THEIR FATAL SECRETS

About the Author

Janice was born and grew up in West Lothian, Scotland. After completing an English degree at St Andrew’s University, she moved to London where she lived for ten years doing an assortment of jobs. Her passions are reading, writing and walking in Scotland and the Lake District. She lives in Lincolnshire with her husband and two sons.

Review

Their Fatal Secrets is about an investigation department hunting for the killer of two dead women found only a couple of hours apart boring similar injuries. We follow multiple characters in third person all somehow involved in these murders.

The thriller element of this story was really well executed. I really liked how it has the common plot of thrillers where the characters take one step forward in finding out what’s going on and then take four steps back.

One thing I loved about this book was that we were given the killer right of the bat. We follow our murderer’s point of view after he kills these women and how he’s handling the situation and we get to hear his thoughts when he back tracks through what happened. What I love about this aspect is that no one else in the story knows what we know! Dramatic irony is so amazing and in this novel it was well executed.

My biggest problem with this novel was how quickly and easily things were given to the characters. Not many fast paced scenes where they gather information were drawn out and explained. They had a hutch, for example, and they would get the right answer in a couple of sentences. Action scenes ended really quickly and were done in two pages without lots of detail or depth.

To talk about the characters, I loved our detectives. Seeing their personal lives within these couple of days really added a sensitivity level to the story and a real life aspect. Basically it didn’t seem like all they were doing was solving a mystery. They also went home and partied, etc. My favorite character overall was probably PJ because she was lovable flawed. She was funny, sweet, and caring and added a more down to earth point of view that the other characters couldn’t really offer. I also really enjoyed Tom because I imagine him to be incredibly handsome even though we don’t see much of him alone.

Favorite Quote

“Jock was a dog lover,” Loc 2042.

“‘Have nothing your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful…'” Loc 3280.