Katerina Diamond

I was unaware when I began this book that it was actually the fifth book in an ongoing series but thankfully for me it reads just fine as a standalone novel, but saying that I really want to go and read the first four books now just to check and because this one was so good!

A young woman is found beaten and left for dead on the banks of the river, with no memory of what had happened to her and even worse, no memory of who she even is leads Detectives Adrian Miles and Imogen Grey into an investigation they will never forget.

Set in Exeter in Devon which is where I live really helped connect with this book and it isn’t somewhere that comes up very often so for that reason alone it will stand out in my memory but as well as that some of the subject matter in this will also make it stand out form the crowd for its own reasons. To say it made for some uncomfortable reading would be putting it politely but it was done with compassion and understanding without being sensationalised. You will understand once you read it but I don’t want to say for fear of taking away the twist and shock from future readers!

It is one of those books that is quite tricky to review without spoilers, there is not a huge amount of dead bodies or gore but there is a huge amount of intrigue and depth to the story. It is fast paced and will keep you glued from the first page to the very last as well as you crying out for the next book in the series, I know I certainly am!

Shocks and a twist that will spin your head, this is one book you really must read to believe!

Woman in the Water will be published on 11 November 2019 and is available for preorder now.
A big thank you to the author Katerina Diamond, publishers Avon Books UK and NetGalley for my advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest and independent review.… (más)

I haven't read The Teacher by Katerina Diamond (yet), but this book was so tempting that I just couldn't resist agreeing to do a blog tour for the book. And, the beginning of the book was really captivating, and it was frustrating having to work when I wanted to read. However, I started to have some problem with the story as it progressed. The dialog felt terse and a bit contrived now and then. And, it bothered me because I found the story to be interesting.

We have three storylines in the book; the present time, what happened two years prior and we also have a single individual's life story as he "tells" the reader things about his childhood. It was with this life retelling that I really started to feel that the dialog was not working for me. It was very terse and jagged to read, and lacking finesse.

However, I was curious to what was going on with DS Imogen Gray (however I did see her big secret a mile away) and what linked the past story with the present. Then, something happened that really made me extremely frustrated. This may be a bit of a spoiler, but I need to put it here to show why I just couldn't give the book a higher rating. The parents to a missing girl went to prison for her murder. And, it just stunned me because how on earth can anyone go to prison for murder when there isn't a body or no proof for it to be murder? Sure, one can be declared dead after a couple of years. But, as far as I know you can't send someone to prison just because "they seem guilty". This bothered me quite a lot, I spent the next day at work fretting about it. And, that together with the dialog issues made it hard for me to truly enjoy the book.

However, I will say this, I found the story most of the time to be engaging. It did feel a bit over the top sometimes. Nevertheless, it was not boring to read. Sure, Imogen's problem with the men around her feel a bit like cheesy, like straight from a soap opera, but it was entertaining. And, if I hadn't been so annoyed with the whole prison thing (and some other things, but can't spoiler the book too much) and if the dialog had felt a bit more smooth, then I would have enjoyed the book a whole lot more. I do plan to read The Teacher and hopefully, it will work better for me.

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review!

Read this review and others on A Bookaholic Swede… (más)

Although the mystery surrounding the kidnapping of Marcus, and the increasingly frantic search to find him, is central to this novel, it is the number of inter-linked strands which thread through it which make it a satisfyingly tension-filled psychological thriller, rather than just a straightforward police procedural story. DS Imogen Grey’s determination to follow her instincts as she attempts to uncover the truth behind the kidnapping of Marcus, and to finally expose the perpetrator, gradually exposes layers of deceit which, via many labyrinthine twist and turns, will confirm she was right to do so. Although there were a couple of occasions when I thought this aspect of the storyline relied a little too heavily on convenient coincidences, I found there was enough credibility in the outcome to enable me to suspend disbelief quite easily! I thought that the author very effectively captured the roller-coaster of emotions which must affect any parent whose child has been abducted … the panic, the fear, the struggle to hold onto hope as the days pass by without the child being found … as well as the increasing pressure on police officers, who are all too well aware that with each day that passes the likelihood of a successful outcome diminishes.
The other major strand to the story involves Imogen’s long-term boyfriend, Adrian Miles, who until a year ago, had been a fellow police officer, However, following a five-hour long brutal attack in which he was repeatedly raped, he resigned from the force and is now working for a private-investigation firm. He is still struggling to come to terms with what happened to him. Unable to let go of feelings of shame and a belief that he should have been able to fight back, or to acknowledge the emotional turmoil and vulnerability he’s feeling and to trust that friends and colleagues will both believe him and be sympathetic, he’s never been able to seek help or to tell Imogen the truth about what happened. All she knows is that his behaviour has changed, that he is avoiding both physical and emotional intimacy and yet continues to deny that there is anything wrong. As a consequence their relationship is becoming increasingly strained and, as most of the story is told from each of their perspectives, the reader becomes aware of the emotional distress each of them is experiencing. It’s seldom that an account of sexual assault and rape is ever told from the perspective of a male victim and I was very impressed with the author’s insightful, sensitive portrayal of Adrian’s struggles to seek the help and support he needs. Although there were moments when I found this strand of the story very disturbing, particularly the descriptions of the assault, it added a psychological integrity which I very much appreciated.
Another linking strand features teenager Jason, the first character we meet, who, in the process of burgling the house opposite Marcus’s home, notices a white van outside, with two men sitting in it and a gun on the dashboard. As they seem to be watching the boy cycling up and down the quiet cul-de-sac, he takes a few photos of the men and, as they began to pull balaclavas over their faces, decides he needs to dial 999 and anonymously report what he’s seeing. As he’s speaking to the operator he sees one of the men grabbing Marcus and putting him in the back of the van. After stressing the need for the police to hurry, and without mentioning that he has taken photographs, Jason flees the scene before the police arrive. We soon learn that his elder brother is about to be released from prison and his father, a petty criminal whom he hasn’t seen for seven years, has suddenly reappeared. When Jason tells him about the photos he’d taken it’s immediately clear that his father sees an opportunity to take advantage! Jason doesn’t want to end up in prison like his father and brother but, as the story progresses, we watch as he struggles between family loyalty and wanting to do the right thing. I found myself becoming very fond of him, and rooting for him as he battled with his conscience!
I was a bit concerned when I realised that this is the seventh story in in the DS Imogen Grey series and wondered if this would make it difficult to fully engage with it. However, although it would probably have felt more satisfying had I read the previous books in the series, if only to gain more insight into how the close personal, as well as professional, relationship between Imogen and Adrian had come about, there were certainly enough clues about the back story to make it easy to read as a stand-alone story. Given the credibility of the character development, the complex, tension-filled plot and the author’s immediately engaging writing-style, I’m now feeling tempted to read the earlier stories and, given the final cliff-hanger sentence, to look out for the next one!
With thanks to NB for a copy of this book in exchange fro an honest review.… (más)

When Felicity hears that a girl has gone missing from her home town, it forces her to to confront her past by returning to her hometown.

Since there are too many similarities between this case and what happened 16 years ago. She believes only she holds the answers – and they’re more shocking than anyone could imagine.

This is my first book by this author and I really enjoyed it!!

It is so well written that initially very little information is revealed so it keeps the reader guessing and adds to the suspense. It is nicely split into chapters told by the two main characters, Felicity (now) and her best friend, Jasmine (then). It starts slowly but then it gathers pace and intensity.

This is a thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat and had some very surprising twists, some of which I guessed and some I didn't expect!! Overall this book was brilliant and I read it in one sitting.

Thank You to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for this ARC!!… (más)