Sunday, 22 December 2013

P.D. VINER - THE SAD MAN


Synopsis/blurb........

Police officer Tom Bevans is nicknamed the Sad Man by his colleagues. As a Family Liaison Officer he is always the bearer of bad news - it is his job to tell the friends and family of victims the fate of their loved ones.

But Tom is weighted down by crimes both old and new - haunted by the death of his best friend Dani, whose murder has never been solved.

When a rare opportunity emerges for Tom to take the lead in a horrific murder investigation, he is determined to get justice for the victim. A young girl has been found in her own home, cut so badly - and so carefully - that she has bled to death, leaving a deliberate pool of blood in the shape of angel wings....

At time of writing this is currently free for Kindle on Amazon UK. At 111 pages long this novella is a great introduction to another new author on the block. 

Written after The Last Winter of Dani Lancing - the author’s debut novel; The Sad Man gives us the back story of policeman Tom Bevans and brings us to speed on his career and his emergence as a valued investigator trying to secure justice for young female victims of violent crime.

An interesting murder mystery which sees the likeable Bevan prosper at the expense of an inept and difficult superintendent. 

Loved this and it proved a great warm-up for Dani Lancing, which I read straight after. Lancing proving to be my book of the month so far.

4 from 5

Sourced at Amazon UK



14 comments:

  1. Col - Glad you enjoyed this. I'll admit, I'm a bit tired of 'young-girl's-been-brutally-killed' plots, but at least this one has an interesting-sounding sleuth...

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    1. I haven't really read many of the "young-girl-killed" books this year, or at least not enough of them to feel jaded, but the author's characters in this and Dani Lancing were extremely interesting. It didn't come across as a cliched crime book at all.

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  2. This definitely sounds like someone I should try - I've been interested by the sound of Dani Lancing, and will read your review before deciding which to read first.

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    1. Moira, glad to finally grab your attention - it's been a while! Either/or....I'm not sure it matters too much really, but I would recommend them both.

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    2. OK, downloaded it and read it! And yes it was very good, and I will definitely be pursuing the next one.

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    3. Oh wow....glad to hear it Moira!

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  3. Glad you enjoyed this one Col. Oh, hey, I finished The Girl Who Played With Fire before work this morning. Starting the other one later tonight. Cheers! Merry Christmas to you all just in case I might not be back on this week.

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    1. Keishon cheers. Hope you enjoyed TGWPWF, might have been last year or the one before when I read it. Not sure if I heard right, but they've got someone penning a fourth?
      Hope you have a fantastic Christmas!

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  4. Too bad it's not free here in the States. It's $10.99! Darn it sounds good.

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    1. Peggy Ann.....oh dear. Hopefully they put it on offer in the States sometime soon.

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  5. Col, once again, the "bearer of bad news" reminds me of a film with a similar theme. I'm scratching my head unless, of course, I'm way off the mark.

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    1. Can't think of it myself.......keep scratching!

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  6. Not sure about this, the characters sound good, the topic not so much. The novella length sounds great and work a try. On the other hand, as Peggy says, the first book is not cheap here in the US in any version, and the second is not available. So I can wait a while to decide. Nice review.

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    1. I actually think you would enjoy it. You have some time to make your mind up though.

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