Wednesday, September 11, 2019

BLOG TOUR - Play Dead


Today is my stop on the Blog Tour for Play Dead by Anne Penketh.
DESCRIPTION:

A SLEEPY ENGLISH CITY IS ROCKED BY A SERIES OF MURDERS TARGETING MEMBERS OF THE LOCAL ORCHESTRA.

WHO IS KILLING OFF MUSICIANS WITH THEIR OWN INSTRUMENTS?

Detective Inspector Sam Clayton is called in to investigate three victims with ties to the Norfolk Festival Orchestra. 

Musician Kristina Manning is impaled by her cello spike. 

The disgraced conductor is found with his head stuffed into a piano. He’s on the brink of death. 

A trumpeter dies, poisoned by his mouthpiece.

Will Clayton’s new girlfriend, Melissa, a singer in the NFO, be next on the murderer’s list? 

Is there a serial killer with a musical edge on the loose? And what does the disappearance of former orchestra member Lauren Garner have to do with it?

A MYSTERY WITH A STUNNING TWIST AND A RACE AGAINST TIME TO STOP A MURDER SPREE

PLAY DEAD is the third in a new series of page-turning crime thrillers set in an atmospheric part of Norfolk. Perfect for fans of LJ Ross, Mel Sherratt, Colin Dexter, or Ruth Rendell.

What readers are saying about ANNE PENKETH

“Five out of five stars!” Michelle K

“I had a hard job putting this one down as it had me fully engaged and wanting more.” Dawn J

“This book was brilliant from start to finish, it was totally gripping from the first page. I read this book in one sitting, it was so good I didn't want to put it down.” Lynn G

“Great book to read on holiday with a satisfyingly twisting storyline.” CH

“A real page turner.” Barb D

“It had many twists which kept me guessing. I would never have worked out the ending.” Shamiela A

Riveting read.” Penny B

“Sam Clayton is not your average hard-boiled detective. He has problems of his own as he sets out to find a serial killer.” Meg B

THE TEAM

Detective Inspector Sam Clayton leads the investigation into the North Norfolk murders, joined the police straight from school as a beat bobby in Manchester before rising through the ranks of the CID. He was transferred to Norwich after being promoted to DI following a high-profile case investigated by Lancashire Constabulary.

Detective Sergeant Julie Everett is an intuitive officer who was promoted to detective sergeant from her home town of Ipswich where she had a background in child protection. She is discreet about her personal life among colleagues, particularly about the tragedy which haunts her. She has to deal with a high-pressure job while raising her child who moved with her to Norwich.

ALSO BY ANNE PENKETH
THE DI SAM CLAYTON SERIES 
Book 1: MURDER ON THE MARSH
Book 2: THE BAD SISTER
Book 3: PLAY DEAD


MY THOUGHTS:

Title:   Play Dead
Author:  Anne Penketh
Series:  DI Sam Clayton #3
Genre:   Mystery/Thrillers
Publisher:  Joffe Books
Format:  Kindle ARC
No. of Pages:   384 Pages
Date of Publication:  September 5, 2019
My Rating:  4 Stars

Not one. Not two. But three victims. And all three are connected to the Norfolk Festival Orchestra. Despite the fact that the murders could be tied together, the method that lead to their untimely deaths was complete different for each one of them. The victims were a musician, a trumpeter and the orchestra's conductor.

Why did these three die? How is the murderer connected to all of the victims to the extent that they all had to die? While the police, namely DI Sam Clayton, begin the investigation, they discover one disturbing fact after another. For starters, there is a former member of the orchestra missing. Will that person turn up dead as well?

Sam indeed has his hands full. His team includes DS Julie Everett, and they soon discover that while they have a bevy of suspects, they have a shortage of clues. With the manners of death being so brutal, motive is difficult to ascertain. Things get way too close to home for Sam. His new girlfriend Melissa is also a member of the orchestra. Will she, too, become a victim?

Play Dead is the third book in the DI Sam Clayton series. The book does do well as a standalone, however, I didn't have the opportunity to read the previous titles. I would much rather have know more about Sam and his team, but I was able to jump right into the story nonetheless.

I found the drama and the intrigue to be equally compelling and I did enjoy the fact that I was left guessing. This really was a great read, and I was able to devour it in one sitting, in part, because I really wanted to know who the killer was. In addition to that, this was a very well-written and engaging story. I look forward to continuing this series as future titles are released.

Many thanks to Joffe Books, NetGalley and Books n All Promotions for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

I’m a Lancashire lass but for most of my career, I’ve been a foreign correspondent. I’ve reported from all over the world on some of the most cataclysmic events of our time, including the Egyptian revolution and the collapse of the Berlin wall.

While in London I was diplomatic editor of The Independent, but these days I’m based in Paris and concentrating on fiction writing. The third in a series of crime novels featuring Detective Inspector Sam Clayton, Play Dead, is out now. My first novel, Food Fight, was published in 2015.

I’ve reported from Paris mainly for The Independent and The Guardian, but I also contributed to France24 television and Monocle radio.  As a freelancer, I’ve written for The New Zealand Herald and The National (Abu Dhabi), as well as the LA Times, the New York Times, the Radio Times, the Oldie, Monocle magazine, Quartz, and Spark News.

Between 2009 and 2012, I headed the Washington office of the British American Security Information Council (BASIC), a trans-Atlantic NGO focused on nuclear disarmament.
During my ten-year stint on The Independent I was one of the few journalists to report from Iran, North Korea and Saudi Arabia.

Earlier, I was a staff foreign correspondent with the French news agency, AFP, which posted me to Moscow during the incredible Gorbachev years. I also reported for AFP from France, and New York where I covered the United Nations.

I started my journalistic career in Canada, arriving with two suitcases to seek my fortune in Montreal, from where I reported for British newspapers before getting a job on the Montreal Gazette.

Before that, I was a postgraduate student at University College London whose French department nurtured my lifelong love of French literature and culture.


8 comments:

  1. I'm so glad you enjoyed this book. I love it when I can jump into a book and feel like I can follow the story even when I haven't read the previous installments in the series, though I agree with you that sometimes you just need to read the previous ones to understand the characters better. I can't wait to see which book you're going to read next. Happy reading!

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  2. I'm glad that you enjoyed it. I do like a book that keeps me guessing,

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  3. Great review, the author and book are new to me. I'm really glad you fully enjoyed reading this book. Thank you so much for sharing your awesome post.

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  4. This author is new to me but you have intrigued me

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  5. Great review. Always good when you are left guessing.

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