A.D Garrett

Very complex intertwining plots, built around detailed knowledge of forensic science. Prof Nick Fennimore is a leading forensic scientist based at the Robert Gordon Institute in Aberdeen, which co-incidentally I've visited. He isasked to review a possible case of miscarried justice, little realising the impact on his personal life. Kate Simms is a Police DCI with whom he has worked previously and with whom there are hints of an affair. He recruits her to help him unofficially on several parallel investigations, including the murder of his wife and disappearance of his daughter several years previously. Gripping plot.… (lisätietoja)

3.5 stars

This is an intricate thriller for those who like the nuts & bolts of a police procedural. The book blurb gives a good synopsis of the story & the hunt for the killer makes for a gripping read.
Chapters alternate POV's. Some follow the task force as they piece together cold cases & come to realize what they're dealing with. Fenimore & Sims find themselves in Oklahoma with member of the St. Louis PD, FBI profilers & a local sheriff more concerned with how his hair looks on TV than the fate of a few missing children.
In others, we follow the killer & his mysterious colleague as they carry out truly despicable acts. They're seriously twisted people & we are privy to information the cops are searching for. It adds a sense of urgency as young women & their children are taken. You desperately want the police to catch up & discover the killer's lair before it's too late.
But the chapters I found most affecting are those that tell of "Red", a 9 year old boy living in a trailer park with his ex-addict mother. It's no secret she will be one of the victims. His life, however, hangs in the balance & it's not til the end we learn his fate.
The 2 MC's are quirky individuals that obviously have a lot of history. Neither is particularly likeable but excel in their professions. I actually enjoyed the procedural part of the plot more than their personal story. It felt forced at times, as if the author thought they should include a potential romance in an otherwise straight up thriller. There is a previous book & I think it would have helped to read it first. Maybe I would have warmed to them knowing their shared past. Having started with this one, I found the frequent references to Fennimore's back story distracting & just wanted to get back to the present day.
Peripheral characters include a smart, local sheriff's deputy & the colourful people who inhabit rural Oklahoma. Their stories make for great reading with distinct personalities that jump off the page & I found them more compelling than Fennimore & Sims.

It's a well written thriller full of interesting forensic techniques & gadgets. The last quarter of the book is a page turner as the task force races to find their man before another woman dies. Not everything is tied with a neat bow, leaving questions that will probably appear in the next instalment. If you're a fan of gritty/graphic suspense stories, this is a good summer read.… (lisätietoja)

Authored by A.D. Garrett, the collaborative pseudonym of award winning author Margaret Murphy and renowned forensics expert Professor Dave Barclay, Believe No One is the second gripping crime fiction installment to feature DCI Kate Simms and Professor Nick Fennimore.

UK Detective Chief Inspector Kate Simms is on a six month 'method' exchange with the St Louis PD when her cold case team uncovers evidence of a serial killer dumping bodies along a 600 mile stretch of the I-44. For Professor Nick Fennimore, touring the Midwest promoting his latest book, it is a convenient coincidence that a case he has been invited to consult on in Oklahoma, concerning a murdered woman and her missing child, links with Kate's investigation.
As the ad hoc task force involving Simms and the St Louis PD, Fennimore and the Williams County Sheriff's Office, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and an FBI Behavioural Analyst get closer to identifying the killer, they discover a link to a crime that happened more than two decades before, and a world away. Fennimore is stunned by the possibilities given his own tragic loss, and with another body of a young mother and her child missing, he isn't about to let this killer get away.

Part police procedural, part thriller, the third person narrative exposes the perspectives of the investigators, the killer and a young boy running scared.

I really enjoyed seeing the case come together through the hard work and persistence of the officers despite political maneuvering from a boorish local sheriff and the occasional inter-agency skirmish. I felt Kate got a little lost within the cast though I did like her colleagues, particularly the gruff Ellis. Abigail Hicks was an interesting character as well, and I was surprised to learn that deputy sheriffs receive so little training or support for their role.

The killer is suitably creepy with an interesting pathology and surprising motive. Some of the scenes involving the torture of his victims are disturbing, but thankfully are mostly light on details.

'Red' is the nine year old son of one of the victims who escapes the killer but is too afraid to go to the police. I felt both sad and afraid for him and I'm still not sure how I feel about the unusual situation he winds up in.

The personal lives of the feature protagonists, Kate and Nick, matter within the context of the story too, though it is Fennimore's history that is more relevant. Five years ago Nick's wife and daughter were abducted and while his wife's body was recovered in a marsh, his daughter has never been found. Fennimore is convinced she is still alive and the similarities between this case and his own tragedy has him on edge. Meanwhile Simms accepted the exchange in part to escape Nick and their complicated dynamic so she isn't thrilled when he involves himself in the investigation.

With a complex plot and interesting, well developed characters, Believe No One is an entertaining and exciting novel. Though it conceivably works as a stand alone I would recommend reading Everyone Lies first.… (lisätietoja)

The first in a series introducing DI Kate Simms and forensic lecturer, Professor Nick Fennimore, Everyone Lies is a collaboration between award winning author Margaret Murphy and renowned forensics expert Professor Dave Barclay.

After a professional misstep, Kate has worked hard to regain her footing in the force but when she is allocated to investigate a cluster of drug deaths in Manchester, she suspects it indicates a larger problem. Stonewalled by her colleagues, Kate turns to Nick Fennimore, once a respected crime analyst, for help, risking her career to expose a conspiracy of drug trafficking, corruption and murder.

There is a history between Kate and Nick that is slowly divulged over the course of the novel. Their relationship is a muddle of professional respect and mutual attraction complicated by guilt, resentment and shame, creating an interesting, layered dynamic. Nick is reluctant to become involved in Kate’s case, but unable to resist her plea for help, as he feels responsible for her demotion. Kate doesn’t want to put Nick in a difficult position but her passion for justice demands she does whatever is necessary.

In essence the plot doesn’t offer anything new within the genre but it held my interest without effort. I particularly enjoyed the forensic focus of the investigation, which should appeal to CSI fans. I liked that Simms and Fennimore have to work hard for every lead, constrained by uncooperative criminals and colleagues, police budgets and politics.

Everyone Lies is a gritty police procedural and a promising start to an interesting new series.… (lisätietoja)