 
    Sixteen Horses
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Near the dying English seaside town of Ilmarsh, local police detective Alec Nichols discovers...
Literary Fiction Trigger Warning: Animal Cruelty and Dismemberment
 
    Missing Fay
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A spirited, restless fourteen-year-old, Fay, goes missing from a Lincoln council estate. Is she a...
literary fiction
 
    The Devil You Know: Stories of Human Cruelty and Compassion
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A perspective-shattering work into the minds of violent criminals that reveals profound consequences...
Non-Fiction True Crime Psychology Mental Health Crime
 
    Time to be in Earnest
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In this intriguing and very personal book, part diary, part memoir, P. D. James considers the twelve...
 
    Death is in the Details
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A woman haunted by her past. A killer who won't let her forget. Faith Day's condition curses her...
thriller fiction adult crime mystery small town
 
    They All Love Jack: Busting the Ripper
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LONGLISTED FOR THE SAMUEL JOHNSON PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION A book like no other - the tale of a...
 
    The Yard: Book 1
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A gripping debut from Alex Grecian, The Yard evokes London in the wake of Jack the Ripper. Victorian...
 
            
            Sarah (7800 KP) rated Unnatural Causes: The Life and Many Deaths of Britain's Top Forensic Pathologist in Books
Oct 17, 2020
This book is truly a fascinating read. It’s an interesting mixture detailing Richard Shepherd’s personal life and the many cases he’s had involvement in over the years. It balances these two aspects very well, and I found I was as interested in his personal life as I was in the cases. It is the cases though that take precedence in this book and Shepherd really has left no stone unturned. There is an immense amount of detail in this about the deaths, bodies, medical terms and outcomes of the cases, and by the end of the book you feel completely satisfied that nothing has been missed.
Shepherd has had a truly impressive career, spanning a number of decades and quite a lot of high profile cases and inquests; Stephen Lawrence, Princess Diana, 9/11, 7/7, Derrick Bird, Harold Shipman. His involvement in all of these cases is impressive and with some, I’ve learnt a fair amount that I’d never known previously (i.e. Diana’s cause of death and the pathology side of 9/11). Shepherd is obviously a very knowledgeable and respected pathologist and it shows from his experience and his writing.
I may be biased as forensics, crime and pathology have always been an interest of mine (I did my dissertation at university on alternatives to traditional post-mortems), but this book is engaging, intriguing and beyond fascinating. I’d liken it to This is Going to Hurt by Adam McKay, obviously this is a lot more serious without the funny anecdotes but if you enjoyed the medical side then you’d probably enjoy this too.
 
            
            ClareR (5991 KP) rated Lying Beside You in Books
Oct 2, 2022
Cyrus is a busy forensic psychologist and criminal profiler, and to add more to his load, he has a lodger with a distressing background (which is only hinted at, but that’s all you’ll need), and his brother is due to be released from a secure institution. His brother has lived and been treated there since he murdered the rest of his and Cyrus’ family.
I found it fascinating how Cyrus seemed to be able to forgive his brother for his actions - particularly as he’d learnt from his job how his brother wasn’t in control of himself at the time. On the other hand, he seemed hesitant to have him back out in society and in his house. But he’s designed to it. I liked how it showed how complex his feelings towards his brother were.
And what a nice person Cyrus is generally. His lodger has had a very bad experience (which we don’t find out about in this book). He’s patient and tries to help her, and understands that she needs time and space. He’s a great character actually.
You might get from this that I specifically like the characters in books, and that I just see plot as a nice aside. Well, you wouldn’t be wrong. But this has enough exciting plot to keep the crime fiction fans very happy. It all gets quite frenetic towards the end, and I had no idea who the perpetrator was up to the big reveal.
It’s a great book - many thanks to the Pigeonhole and Michael Robotham.
 
            
             
        

Sarah (7800 KP) Oct 18, 2020
AJaneClark (3975 KP) Oct 18, 2020