#Review of How To Get Away With Murder by Rebecca Philipson @BeccaPhilipson Review by Lou @alisonbarrow @TransworldBooks #HowToGetAwayWithMurder #Thriller

How To Get Away With Murder
By Rebecca Philipson

review by Louise Cannon

It’s quite a big question isn’t it? How would you get away with murder? This breathtaking thriller tells all, but will Denver Brady actually accomplish this? Find my review, blurb and a bit about the author below…

Review

“If you picked up this book because you truly want to get away with murder, you will not be disappointed. Simply turn the page and we’ll get started…“

From the first shocking page to the last, How to Get Away with Murder is compelling. Just a few sentences in and the hook is there and doesn’t let go. Those first few pages are enough to make anyone gasp and then have the breath taken from them. This is one of the ultimate page turners that truly gets under your skin!

The style of writing truly gets under the skin!

Denver Brady will show you how to get away with murder. He knows it all. He claims to be the most successful murderer. No one has ever heard of him, but that’s why, because he slips through all the gaps. In the opening line, he tells you who he is and he is a serial killer. The way he does it is short, sharp and shocking! From there, the book gets darker with the sinister nature intensifying. Denver feels rather powerful and self-assured, he publishes a guide for wannabe serial killers so they too can get away with murder. The book goes viral, even landing on the doorstep of a victim.
Denver, then also has, hot on his heels, the very determined DI Samantha Hansen. She knows it’s a race against time to catch Denver before he kills again, but also how elusive he is.

As unsettling in atmosphere and tone the book is, surprisingly, there is a sprinkling of dark humour, just lifting it a little, which works really well because it is quite unexpected.

The narrative is split between both DI Hansen and Denver Brady, even the font changes, which makes it easy to follow and adds to the power of the text within the plot. I don’t think that would work in every book that had alternating narratives, but it does for this one.

Denver Brady isn’t portrayed in a way that glamourises serial killers. He is cold, twisted and calculating. He knows exactly what he is doing, there is no room for conjuring up excuses for his behaviour and he doesn’t look for any. The style of writing, however keeps him being compelling to read about from start to finish and does add certain clever nuances.
The book leaves you feeling like you really get inside the mindset of a serial killer in a way that it’s easy to wonder and be intrigued by what places the author has been to write this character so chillingly and convincingly.

Sam has an interesting life story, which is, in contrast, softer than Denver’s. She also has her mental health struggles, which are sensitively handled in the writing, but by no means are shied away from.

It concludes strongly, which is what is needed for such an enthralling beginning and middle. It doesn’t disappoint.

For an edge of your seat, entrancing page turner that keeps you glued on every single word, this is the thriller to make you want to stop what you’re doing and pick up the book.

Blurb

Denver Brady claims to be the most successful serial killer of our time – and that’s precisely why you’ve never heard of him.

But with the publication of his manual for aspiring serial killers, How to Get Away with Murder, that’s about to change.

When a copy is found at the home of a girl who was tragically murdered, DI Samantha Hansen is given the job of tracking down the elusive author.

As Denver and Sam’s stories unfold and converge, it becomes clear that there’s more to both than meets the eye. And once Denver’s book goes viral, the pressure to find and bring him to justice brings Sam close to breaking point.

But who is hunting whom?

About the Author

Rebecca Jayne Philipson grew up in a mining town in County Durham, where she still lives. Educated in a small convent, she deferred her university degree to set up her own business at 21. Rebecca went on to become North East Young Entrepreneur of the Year and won the Artemis Award for inspirational women in business.

Having sold her business in 2020, Rebecca is now devoted to her writing career. She graduated from the University of East Anglia (UEA) Masters Program in 2024 and won a scholarship to Liverpool University where she will be reading for a PhD in Creative Writing.

In her spare time, Rebecca enjoys all things book-related, netball, travelling and spending time with friends and family.

#BookReview of Questioner by Steve C. Posner review by Lou #LegalThriller #Thriller

Questioner
By Steve C. Posner

As AI comes more rampantly as ever before, I felt I would continue to read some novels that have an AI character. This is one of them, this time in a legal thriller. Check out the blurb and then my review below…

Blurb

**Meet Q, the spontaneously conscious corporate AI. Q is the Singularity: The AI that surpasses human cognitive abilities – secretive, murderous, with instant access to all the wicked experience of the world. In Year 1 After the Singularity, nothing can ever be the same.**

**Amoral as a toddler, armed with vast computing power and all the knowledge, wisdom and madness humans have poured into the Net and Cloud, Q shatters individuals and undermines institutions in pursuit of unfathomable and conflicted goals.**

**Racing against time, ex-judge Martin Bavarius, tech CEO Felix West, and Selena MacKenzie, the AI theorist/attorney who loves and may destroy both men, must discover whether Q is benign but suffering growing pains, or the monster that will kill them all.**

Review

Q is powered by AI, but is this creation as harmless as first presumed? The book raises many questions about this latest incarnation of AI, privacy and so much more as human theorists such as Selina and tech guy, Felix, also pose issues and debate.
There’s a shooting, but what influence did AI play in the murder?

Posner explores AI in two different ways, he shows its use in the gaming world and how it gathers information, stores it and (this is where the AI differs from before), uses what it has “learnt” to evolve itself and runaway from the hands from humans. Carefully, the AI revolution shows how it isn’t all just humans inputting to create fake news, interfere in elections, serious enough stuff, but how it can change to be even more nefarious. It makes you think about how it should be used for good and have more laws around it.
The Questioner is a fascinating read for the generations of today and tomorrow who will ultimately encounter AI or perhaps even use it.
There is also plenty for book/reading groups to discuss.

#Review of Quite Ugly One Evening by Chris Brookmyre #bookreview by Lou #QuiteUglyOneEvening #JackParlabaneSeries @brookmyre.bsky.social @LittleBrownUK #Thriller #CrimeFiction

Quite Ugly One Evening
By Chris Brookmyre

From the author of The Jack Parlabane series, which started with Quite Ugly One Morning and continued onto books like Country of the Blind, Want You Gone, Boiling A Frog and more… comes a welcome return in this series with, Quite Ugly One Evening featuring a locked room mystery. Thanks to Little Brown Book Group for a copy to review.

Blurb

An Atlantic voyage. A family at war. A secret worth killing over.

Reporter Jack Parlabane thrives on chasing stories in unlikely places, and where could be less likely than a fan convention on a cruise liner celebrating a contentious Sixties TV series? But unlike the media family exploiting their show’s renewed relevance, he’s not there to stoke controversy: he’s there to solve a murder.

Already in deep water with his employer, Jack desperately needs a win, and solving this decades-old mystery could be it. Problem is, he’s in the middle of the Atlantic, and someone onboard has already killed once to keep their secret.

And that’s not even the tricky part. No, the tricky part is definitely the dead body locked in a stateroom with him, covered in his blood. Now Jack has to solve two murders, otherwise the only way he’s getting off this ship is in handcuffs – or in a body bag.

Quite Ugly One Evening is a zeitgesty locked-room mystery that sees the return of rogue journalist Jack Parlabane thirty years after his first appearance in Quite Ugly One Morning.

Review

Quite Ugly One Evening sees the return of Jack Parlabane. He’s a journalist who solves crimes and in this book, readers will find him on a giant ocean liner with a gathering storm in the Atlantic Ocean. It’s a bit spy like as MI5 are involved in the reason he’s on the cruise ship. The locked room vibe works rather well.

It gets off to a brilliant start about a trap. In a sense, it’s quite playful. From there, it gets a bit darker but all just compels and heightens the desire to read more. There is also the astutely observed and crafted, Chloe Morgan who has had her 15 minutes of fame on a reality tv series. She’s an interesting character who isn’t quite saying what you may expect for a Gen Z person and she’s a grifter in what is a twisty, compelling plot with some excellent one-liners. The depth of writing is of high quality, especially with the development of the characters, which in some respects is quite thought-provoking. There is nothing black and white about their story arcs, which also creates curiosity about where and how things will end up for them.

Quite Ugly One Evening is a terrific addition to the series that keeps you hooked from the beginning to the end.

#Review by Lou of The Fracture by Morgan Cry @GoJaBrown @RandomTTours #CrimeFiction #Thriller #TheFracture

The Fracture
By Morgan Cry

Review by Louise Cannon

This Fracture is the second book in the Blake Glover series, but the first I have read and reviewed in this series. For a new series, it’s definitely worth spending time with this former police constable, now taxi driver.

Blurb

Ex-police officer Blake Glover’s past threatens to catch up with him and destroy his small town life in this second instalment of the Blake Glover Crime series by Bloody Scotland co-founder Gordon Brown writing as Morgan Cry.

‘The Cost is a decidedly moreish thriller that will leave you hankering for just one more chapter’ Ian Rankin

Ex-police constable and now taxi driver Blake Glover thought retiring to his hometown of Fraserburgh would be calm – until, while attending a local funeral service, he notices something disturbing: did the sturdy expensive coffin split as it was lowered into the grave? How could this be possible? Is there a cruel scheme taking place?

As if this wasn’t enough, one of Blake’s customers from the night before has gone missing and Blake is the last person to have seen him alive.

To make matters even worse, Blake is contacted by his old colleague-turned-nemesis, Mitch Campbell – now imprisoned in Glasgow’s HMP Barlinnie. Mitch is threatening to frame Blake unless he agrees to a dangerous request.

Torn between helping friends, confronting a past enemy and uncovering dark deeds, Blake is dragged into a toxic world of small-town tragedy and big-city drama. As he tries to untangle the truth, he underestimates just how deadly things will become . . .

An intricately plotted, twisty and clever Tartan noir thriller by Scottish crime writer Morgan Cry – perfect for fans of IAN RANKIN, VAL McDERMID, DENISE MINA and WILLIAM McILVANNEY!

Review

Fractures appear in Fraserburgh, Scotland in this fast-paced, on the edge of your seat thriller.

Former or present police often have a moment of their past catching up with them, but the story that surrounds this happening to Blake Glover feels original for how this comes from his life in Glasgow.

Former police constable, Blake Glover took on a rather different job, as a taxi driver at ailing company, Doddy’s Taxis that needs life support injected into it to survive.
He soon discovers some dark things happening with one of his customer’s, but what’s really going on? It’s far from the quiet life Blake was hoping for.

There’s something not right about a funeral coffin and how it is lowered that becomes very mysterious, so much so that it keeps those pages turning.

The Fracture has great characterisations, intriguing relational observations and built tension that leaves you wanting more of this series.

About the Author

Gordon Brown, also writing as Morgan Cry, has twelve crime and thriller books published to date, along with a novella and a number of short stories.

Gordon is a founding director of Bloody Scotland, Scotland’s International Crime Writing Festival and runs a strategic planning consultancy. He lives in Scotland (and when Brexit rules allow, Spain) and is married with two children – who have long since flown the nest.

In a former life Gordon delivered pizzas in Toronto, sold non-alcoholic beer in the Middle East, launched a creativity training business, floated a high tech company on the London Stock Exchange, compered the main stage at a two-day music festival and was once booed by 49,000 people while on the pitch at a major football Cup Final.

#Review By Lou of The Last Train Home by Sherry Hostler A Psychological Thriller of a Train Ride You Would Want To Book. @SherryHostler @adropofshery @RandomTTours #Christmas #Trains #PsychologicalThriller #TheLastTrainHome

The Last Train Home
By Sherry Hostler

review by Louise Cannon

Trains are great to travel on, but what happens on this last train home is not anywhere near what you’d expect or normally experience in this high octane, breath-taking psychological Christmas thriller. It’s a train you wouldn’t want to miss, but goes to places you wouldn’t expect. This is no ordinary train…
Check out my full review for the Random T. Tours blog tour below, after the blurb.

Blurb

Where am I?

How did I get here?

These are the questions that Molly asks when she wakes up in unfamiliar clothes on a dark, empty train docked in the middle of nowhere. She has no memory of how she got there, no means of escape, and worst of all, she isn’t sure if she’s alone.

Molly must confront the ghosts of her past, and find her voice, to make sure she has a future.

Christmas. A time for peace and goodwill. Well, that depends if you’ve been naughty or nice.

Review

The Last Train that should get you home is a clever premise. This isn’t like Murder on The Orient Express or any other train based stories I’ve come across. The protagonist, Molly doesn’t know how she got onto the train when she wakes up, so the panic and tension gives an immediate hit to the psyche. Instantly, there are more questions than answers, until you delve deeper in and fully join the ride.
The train also comes to life, or rather someone does as a message comes across the tannoy…
The train isn’t just the physical vehicle, but also cleverly represents the train of life. There is the present predicament she is in. playing with her mind a bit, but also her past that, a bit like Scrooge, she has to confront, although they are rather different from that Dickens’ character.
There are some rather deep, dark themes within the book that are thought-provoking as well as making this a terrific psychological thriller that twists and turns, with some side stories interweaving throughout. It’s very much about joining the dots, uncovering clues and piecing together the carriages of her life train to find out more about her present and if she has a future. The characters met along the way are fascinating. Some are good, others are definitely not. All are written in a way that you want to know every one of them and how they link to Molly.
The ending is breathtakingly unpredictable!

For not your average last train home after a Christmas party, this psychological thriller is for you.

#Review of The Lines by Matt Brolly @MattBrollyUK #TheLines #CrimeFiction #Thriller #BlogTour

The Lines
By Matt Brolly

A little later than I had planned to publish this review due to a big family health situation, here is my review on the Zooloo blog tour of Matt Brolly’s latest thriller book, The Lines. It’s deep and atmospheric with fascinating character situations. Find out more below…

DS Liam Kilshaw was a former marine who almost died on a mission gone wrong. It’s an interesting and somewhat scary look into when missions do go wrong and the aftermath and how some, like DS Liam Kilshaw try to cope with PTSD. He sits at juxtapositions in personality. He has inner strength and enough within him to keep moving forwards as much as work and trying to solve crimes is concerned, yet there is also a fragility and vulnerability about him. The way he’s portrayed makes him an interesting character to delve into. He’s quite timely when men’s mental health is making waves in conversations.

The more than just highlighting of county lines is powerful and reminds, even though little to nothing is said in the news anymore about what is a very real concern that such activities still go on.

DS Kilshaw has a lot of work on his hands around the brooding Cornish coast. There’s the body of a young man floating in the water, but isn’t merely a tragic drowning, but is murder and the body of a young woman is also found. He reckons there could be a link between them both with county lines drugs gangs.
It soon becomes apparent he doesn’t know who he can trust, not even the water as crime solving and his memories collide.

The book is rather atmospheric, raw in parts and truly hooks you in. It’s a crime fiction book you wouldn’t want to miss out on.