Michael Wood (13)

This novella is a prequel to the excellent Matilda Darke Series, and takes place shortly after the MIT Team has been formed and shortly after Matilda’s promotion to the DCI. It also takes place before Matilda’s husband’s death, which occurs before the first book, and it is interesting to see that relationship prior to his death.

A coach driver, and former soap star, is found dead at his flat, following a break in, however Matilda and her team aren’t sure about the break in as nothing has been taken. Matilda is convinced the murder relates to his past so the team set off to investigate.

I enjoyed this book much more than I usually do with novellas, but that is because I already knew the key characters so was invested in the series from the beginning. I feel this is aided by Michael Wood’s excellent writing and slow build up of the case as we get to know more about the victim; it’s rather like the layer’s of an onion slowly being peeled off.

Overall this was a very enjoyable read and it’s good to see the key characters in their early days. As with the rest of the series this is very well-plotted and there are the usual surprises and twists throw in, as well as some lead in to themes that will appear in the main series. I throughly recommend this novella, especially if you have read any of the Matilda Darke Series. I feel you will get more out of it if you have already read some of the series. If you haven’t read the series I very strongly recommend it as it is one of my favourite crime series but be read for a real rollercoaster ride as Michael isn’t always kind to his characters.… (mehr)

I've been reading Robert Dugoni's Tracy Crosswhite series and it's set me down the path of needing more procedurals. I stumbled across this in my Amazon searches and it fit the bill. I liked Matilda. She was a little bit of a mess but I enjoyed the case and the way she came to handle herself. Adele was a good friend to her and reminded me a bit of Betty Rogers in Motive (tv show). I kept picturing her with red hair. Which of course made me think Matilda was Angie Flynn. It was a whole thing. I loved the show and this reminded me of everything I loved about it. It's not particularly thrilling but it is a good solid mystery with enough twists and turns to keep me happy. There were a couple of plotlines that kind of went nowhere (why was the case box so empty? Where were all the witness statements, etc, etc. and what the hell was the whole thing with Ben Hales about - he just went nuts? Did he stab him? Was it a faked move by the other guy? Was he framed? It just kind of fizzled though) but it was decent enough to convince me to pick up the next one.… (mehr)