Mark Hardie

As a crime fan did this book look very promising. A policeman that is found in a burnt-out car and a young woman that's trying to solve the death of a friend of hers. Intriguing. There are several POV, we have for instance Donna, the young girl that's trying to find someone to help her solve her friend Alicia's death. We also get to follow DS Frank Pearson and DC Catherine "Cat" Russell, as they try to solve the murdered policeman's death.

The book starts off first with a prologue where a man is awakening in a car before it goes up in flame and then it's a time jump and we get to follow Frank Pearson arriving at the burnt-out car and is notified that it's Sean Carragher's car and that's probably him in the car. Then, we go back in time, four days earlier and get to follow the main characters as the story progress towards the unavoidable death in the car and what happens after that.

I found the book both interesting, but also a bit hard to take in. My main problem was that neither Frank Pearson nor Cat Russell made a big impression on me. Donna, however, was the one that I felt most for at the same time was I curious about her mental state. She did seem to be a bit troubled and could she have anything to do with Sean Carragher's death? In the beginning was it hard to figure out where all the different storylines had to do with each other. Why is Sean Carragher under investigations? Does Cat know more than she lets on? Was Alicia murdered? And, what's up with Frank Pearson brother-in-law? And, how is it all connected? Is it all connected?

Burned and Broken was an interesting book. I really liked that I did not see the ending coming. I would have liked to have connected more with the Frank and Cat, but I felt that they just didn't resonate with me, but thankfully the story made up for that.

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy for an honest review!
… (más)

With a gripping prologue, we are launched straight into Burned and Broken with the suspicious death of DI Sean Carragher. DI Carragher is under investigation and when he doesn't turn up for work, it is his partner, DC Cat Russell, who is put under the spotlight, being asked questions about Carragher. When Carragher's body is found in his burned out car, DS Frank Pearson heads up the investigation into the death of one of their own.

The story is two-fold, with a young girl, Donna, trying to get somebody to listen to her about her friend's death. Alicia and Donna met in a children's care home and due to their troubled past, Alicia's death was not seen as suspicious. Donna is haunted by Alicia's death and together with her new strange friend, Malcolm, they try to piece together what happened.

Both stories appear completely unrelated but they come together superbly at the end, and I certainly didn't see it coming. I think perhaps that sometimes there was too much going on to throw the reader off the scent, as I occasionally felt that the story was a bit disjointed and didn't flow as well as it should have. On the other hand, I loved the dynamic of Pearson and Russell and the sneaky peaks into Pearson's private life showing that he is well and truly married to the job.

Burned and Broken is a good introduction to Pearson and Russell, however, it only manages to scratch the surface of these characters. Although perhaps not quite in the same league as Peter James, it's a good start to a series and I'd be keen to read more books starring this duo to see where the story takes them.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.… (más)