Book 1 in the Detective Craig Wild police procedural mystery series set in Wiltshire.
Detective Sergeant Craig Wild is in his late thirties and has recently moved from London to rural Wiltshire. He has landed in a small community rife with nepotism and local knowledge – the antithesis of his former job. In the midst of a divorce from a senior police officer, he is unsettled to say the least. Two weeks in to his new squad and he doesn’t seem very popular. His car has been keyed and his co-workers give him a wide berth for the most part. Then, finally, a case he can sink his teeth into. A farmer has been shot with a shotgun in a remote field.
His boss, DCI Marsh seems to be testing him. The only person who views him with any kind of tolerance is Police Constable Marnie Olsen, a rookie. Craig is suspicious by nature, takes anti-anxiety meds, and uses his job to avoid introspection.
I always enjoy police procedurals, especially when the protagonist has a troubled personal background. DS Craig Wild certainly fits the bill.
The setting and the police team were interesting to become acquainted with. The murder investigation was a tad convoluted, and hard to follow. The motives seemed insufficiently strong for the crime, in my opinion. Also, in concurrence with the Wiltshire murder enquiry, DS Wild still has a residual case ongoing in London, which further muddies the waters.
My favourite character was the rookie policewoman Marnie Olsen. She was smarter and more ambitious than her male counterparts, and I can see a bright future for her. Apparently the author thought so too, as she figures prominently in the second book.
All in all, a decent series debut, but not my personal favourite. I did enjoy it enough to have the second novel “West Country Murder” already loaded on my Kindle.
This review was written voluntarily and my rating was in no way influenced by the fact that I received a complimentary digital copy of this novel from Joffe Books via NetGalley. This is a title from my NetGalley backlist which I should have read and reviewed ages ago… my apologies to the author and the publisher.
ISBN: 9781789313598 – ASIN: B089GXTB47 – 238 pages
Derek Thompson grew up in London and started writing fiction in his teens. After spending a year in the US, he returned to London and subsequently moved to the West Country. He wrote a commissioned piece for The Guardian in 2008 and entered the world of freelance writing in 2009. His short fiction has featured in both British and American anthologies, and can be found online. He has also written comedy material for live performance and radio.
His love of film noir and thrillers began with The Big Sleep, and has never left him. Much of his fiction involves death, data or secrets. As the saying goes: write about what you know. He writes about Thomas Bladen and his role in the Surveillance Support Unit.
His books have been described as snarky (yes, it’s a real word), pared down, and morally ambiguous. What more could any novelist ask for? Apart from pens — you can never have too many pens.
Connect with Derek Thompson on Twitter @DerekWriteLines or via his publisher, Joffe Books.
They say you can never have a second chance to make a good first impression. A book’s cover does just that – gives a first impression. A good cover can make a reader pick up a book. A bad cover can leave the book at the very bottom of a dusty pile.
The Throwback Thursday meme was created by Renee over at 
The Mermaids are now all around the age of forty.
The protagonist(s) were very interesting characters, and you got to know them well over the course of the book. I particularly liked Freddie Power and enjoyed the scenes where she took up her late mother’s pet hotel.
The cover is stunning and exactly fits the subject nature of the novel.
When the Goldman’s arrive at their rental house in Toronto, Sarah discovers several hidden cameras installed… In addition, she encounters a pushy neighbour, and a creepy ‘neighbourhood watch‘ man across the street. And to make matters worse, her son’s favourite toy rabbit was lost in the move – until it was found on the bed in her son’s new bedroom…
First I have to say… the title of this book is perfect! “Watch Out For Her” meaning ‘be careful, she is a threat’ AND “Watch Out For Her” meaning ‘take care of her’.
1) To be honest, the blurb had me at “funny old house”.
Ellie Jacobs – Before her marriage to Clive, Ellie was a librarian, but now she is a housewife. She has little in the way of self esteem due to a fraught relationship with her mother. With no children to care for, Ellie spends her days writing poetry and wandering Exmoor. It is on just such a jaunt that one day she wanders into the ‘Harp Barn’ and meets Dan Hollis, the harpmaker.
Ellie’s marriage is not unhappy as such – it is just… empty. When Dan Hollis gives Ellie a harp and her husband tells her to ‘take it back‘, she does, only to learn that Dan says it is HER harp, and that he will store it for her. She begins visiting Dan, and her harp, on a daily basis – then she begins taking harp lessons.
Told via the alternating perspectives of Ellie and Dan, the story was heart-warming, poignant, humorous, and up-lifting. I particularly appreciated the chapters written from Dan’s point of view as his was such a uniquely different, and pure perspective. The addition of ‘Phineas the Pheasant‘ added some levity and interest too.
This review was written voluntarily and my rating was in no way influenced by the fact that I received a complimentary digital copy of this novel from Berkley Publishing via 
Hazel Prior is a harpist and novelist based in Exmoor, England. Originally from Oxford, she fell in love with the harp as a student and now performs regularly. She’s had short stories published in literary magazines and has won numerous writing competitions in the UK. “Ellie and the Harpmaker” was her debut novel and “How the Penguins Saved Veronica” then “Call Of The Penguins” were her second and third respectively.
Last year I started going through the entire alphabet, one letter per month. For April 2022, the 16th month of my endeavor, I’m listing all of my favourite novels that begin with the letter ‘P‘. I am choosing these titles from the books I’ve read since I began this blog. There are 20 books recommended here.
Fiona Cummins is an award-winning former Daily Mirror show business journalist and a graduate of the Faber Academy Writing A Novel course.
Most readers will acknowledge that some words reappear time and time again in titles. Often these words are associated with a particular genre. Case in point: “The girl on the train” and “Gone girl” spawned countless thriller titles with the word ‘girl’ in the title.
Her employer is warmly charming and personable. His wife, Mrs. England, on the other hand, is quite withdrawn and seemingly not interested in her children. She rarely leaves the house, and spends an inordinate amount of time in her bedroom.
When a photographer comes to Hardcastle House to photograph the England family she is frightened that her secret might get out.
With its gothic setting, its captivating protagonist, and its plethora of family secrets, paranoia, and deception, this was exactly my kind of novel.
The crimes themselves were disturbing – almost as disturbing as the event that precipitated them.
This review was written voluntarily and my rating was in no way influenced by the fact that I received a complimentary digital copy of this novel from Bloodhound Books via 
Kate Williams – grew up at Villa Magna with her sister. The magnificent house was built be her great-grandfather for her great-grandmother, Magna. Her mother has recently passed away, so she returns to the house for the first time in eighteen years. She left when her younger sister Lacie disappeared. Kate’s memories of the events surrounding her sister’s disappearance are sketchy at best. She has repressed the memories of that traumatic time, but now, back at Villa Magna, her memories are starting to return.
This is my second book by this writing duo and I enjoyed this one marginally better than the last.
This review was written voluntarily and my rating was in no way influenced by the fact that I received a complimentary digital copy of this novel from 
1) The creepy vibe of ‘being watched’ and not knowing who is watching you.
Fictionophile 
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