Book Review: I Have Something To Tell You, by Susan Lewis

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher Harper Collins for my copy of this book. I asked my book loving friends Irena and Ani if they wanted to buddy read this with me, which made the reading experience a lot more enjoyable.

Description

High-flying lawyer Jessica Wells has it all. A successful career, loving husband Tom and a family she adores. But one case – and one client – will put all that at risk.

Edward Blake. An ordinary life turned upside down – or a man who quietly watched television while his wife was murdered upstairs? With more questions than answers and a case too knotted to unravel, Jessica suspects he’s protecting someone…

Then she comes home one day and her husband utters the words no one ever wants to hear. Sit down… because I’ve got something to tell you…

Now Jessica must fight not only for the man she defends, but for the man she thought she trusted with her life – her husband.

Published September 16th 2021

My Thoughts:

I have read quite a few of Susan Lewis’ books, so I had high hopes for this one. This Author has never disappointed me before. Unfortunately there is a first time for everything and this one did not meet the expectations I had from her previous books.

I Have Something To Tell You gives the impression in the blurb of being a legal thriller, a lawyer defending a man who is accused of killing his wife. Then the lawyer’s husband has something to tell her. I rightly or wrongly went into this book with some kind of pre expectations of what the plot would be. I was wrong!

While the legal case of the man who is accused of killing his wife gripped me for the first half of the book, from the second half onwards I felt it was being dragged out longer than necessary and I became a little frustrated that it wasn’t moving along faster.

The plot about Jay ( the lawyer) and what her husband has to tell her is a good storyline and does add the personal part to Jay’s story. But again I thought this was far to drawn out and her husband was given too many chances ( in my opinion).

I read in the acknowledgements that this is based on a real life story, although made to be fictional so I can’t say that the plot was unrealistic, however I would not appreciate a lawyer like Jay. I felt Jay was quite unprofessional in many ways. I certainly would not want to her to represent me.

I became totally dismayed with the book at about three quarters of the way through when a plot twist is revealed. If it had stayed this way, my rating would have been 2 stars. It was only raised that extra star because of a later twist that redeemed it slightly.

I hope that future books by Susan Lewis will go back to the standard of her earlier works.

Links:

• Amazon

 

Are you ready to get burned…. Book Review: A Price To Pay by Paul Gitsham

Thank you very much to Author Paul Gitsham and Netgalley for my copy of this book. These are my unbiased thoughts on A Price To Pay.

Description:

If you play with fire, you’re going to get burned…

It should be an easy solve: a murder in broad daylight with two eyewitnesses. But the victim is the son of a notorious local crime family who has a habit of hitting on other men’s wives; the witnesses are Serbian nationals who speak limited English.

For DCI Warren Jones, this is his most challenging case yet. As the suspects pile up, the victim’s family work to protect their son’s memory by destroying any evidence that could betray his criminal past – or might have led to his killer.

Somehow Warren must uncover the truth about the murder – but there are secrets at the heart of the case more dangerous than anyone could have imagined, and the fallout could tear Warren’s team apart.

• Publisher: HQ Digital (5 Jun. 2020)

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My Thoughts:

A Price To Pay is the sixth book in this series with DCI Warren Jones. It is however, the first that I have read. I can see how reading the prior books would give you a bit of back knowledge but this in no way made the book any less enjoyable for me. Everything was clear that should be clear. The case in question though was not so clear.

DCI Warren Jones begins this case with a murder of a man from a notorious crime family, he was murdered in a massage parlour. Whether the victim is a criminal himself made no difference to Warren, but it made the case much more difficult as evidence and witnesses seemed difficult to find and be clear cut. It also impeded the murder hunt that the main witnesses are Serbian with very limited English language.

The book is primarily police procedural, so as they find the clues, we know the clues. This did not lead me to the murderer until the very end though. The process and the crime itself became more intense and more complicated as the team delved in. ( just the way I like it)

I like to discover new detectives. Having just ” met” DCI Warren Jones, I wondered what kind of man and detective he would be. I like him! Many of the detectives we read about, in the many crime books that are about now, are so dedicated to their jobs that they have little time for anything else. While this makes them excellent detectives, it also makes them seem like lonely souls. Warren was different in that way. He has a lovely wife and a few other extended family members and he cares deeply for them. While this makes his job more difficult, it makes Warren seem relatable and likeable. Warren is probably one of the most compassionate detectives I have ” met” through the thousands of pages I read.

Aside from being a police procedural, crime thriller book, it also has humorous parts and parts that taught me something about policing!

Some quotes that made me smile 😁

” if my old mum is right, then should the wind ever change direction when these girls are pouting for the camera, they’ll end up permanently looking like goldfish “.

It’s not just the British and American girls that pout for photos. Something I find really odd, but maybe I’m just getting old 😛

” Andy calls CSI the Open University for Burglars “

I haven’t watched this show but after this quite I feel like I might enjoy it.

A Price To Pay is an enjoyable crime thriller that picks up pace as the pages turn. The plot thickens with each chapter and DCI Warren Jones is a pleasure to get to know. I can see why this is the sixth book on the series.

About the Author.
Paul Gitsham started his career as a biologist, working in such exotic locales as Manchester and Toronto. After stints as the world’s most over-qualified receptionist and a spell making sure that international terrorists and other ne’er do wells hadn’t opened a Junior Savings Account at a major UK bank (a job even less exciting than being a receptionist) he retrained as a Science Teacher. He now spends his time passing on his bad habits and sloppy lab-skills to the next generation of enquiring minds.
Paul has always wanted to be a writer and his final report on leaving primary school predicted he’d be the next Roald Dahl! For the sake of balance it should be pointed out that it also said “he’ll never get anywhere in life if his handwriting doesn’t improve”. Twenty five years later and his handwriting is worse than ever but millions of children around the world love him.*
You can learn more about Paul’s writing at http://www.paulgitsham.com or http://www.facebook.com/dcijones
*This is a lie, just ask any of the pupils he has taught.

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Links:

Goodreads

Amazon.co.uk

www.paulgitsham.com