Synopsis/blurb....
A prison officer and a convicted killer must work together to solve a brutal murder and expose conspiracy inside a prison.
Ariadne Teddington is surrounded by people who lie but that is to be expected when you work in prison where every man claims to be innocent.
Charlie Bell, an ex-Detective, now finds himself in that prison serving time for murder after having taken the law into his own hands.
When a fellow inmate is killed Charlie is asked to investigate the case from the inside. Soon Charlie finds himself working with Ariande but she is a guard, he is an inmate and some lines should never be crossed…
Can two people on different sides of the law come together to solve the case?
And do the answers lie closer to home than anyone ever imagined?
"Tense and claustrophobic, with a spine-chilling denouement!" Caro Ramsay, author of the Anderson and Costello series
An okay read from another new-to-me author. I liked the premise of the book - ex-cop behind bars investigating a death inside his prison, but in truth the book just didn't really hit any great heights for me and I can't really put my finger on why.
Setting - a prison and for a while a brief interlude the outside world, before we go back behind bars.
Plot - a death of an inmate, too easily written off as either suicide or accidental - can't remember which and can't be that fussed to go back and check. Charlie our ex-cop gets mysterious messages from the female officer - Ariande Teddington - in the prison. Her sixth sense tells her that something untoward is going on and she wants his help to get to the bottom of it. Two different factions control the block and Bell must navigate between the two, all the while a not very welcome presence because of his past career.
Characters - individually I liked both Bell and Teddington, but there's a kind of chemistry going on between the two that adds a forbidden unfulfilled romantic element to the book, one that I didn't especially buy into. Maybe, I was grumpy when I was reading this, maybe the book made me grumpy?
Pace - not an overly long book, but perhaps because I wasn't fully invested in the characters or the outcome, it felt a bit draggy in the middle.
Resolution - okay, but the outcome and the rationale for the goings-on seemed a bit implausible to me. Our raison d'etre for the whole shebang was a bit too much of a stretch for me.Overall - glad I read it, an okay read, didn't hate it, definitely didn't love it and will read the second in the author's trilogy - Locked In.
3 from 5
G.B. Williams has her website here. She has a fair few books published already - too many to mention. She's on Twitter - @GailBWilliams
Read in January, 2018
Published - 2017
Page count - 288
Source - Kindle Unlimited
Format - Kindle
You know, Col, when I read the book's description I was wondering about the whole romance angle. I generally don't go for that in my crime fiction, although it can be done well. The premise of the book's interesting, though, and I'm glad you found things to like.
ReplyDeleteBits to like Margot, but if I'm honest a bit disappointing overall. Hopefully her second one in this trilogy is a bit more enjoyable.
DeleteThe premise, investigating crime in a prison, sounds interesting. Reading about prison life makes me feel tense and claustrophobic, though.
ReplyDeleteI like the claustrophobic setting of a prison set novel, it does add to the tension. I think the romantic element bumped me out of the story.
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