There are a lot of flawed characters in this murder mystery, and a lot of bodies -- including one favorite dog -- to sort through as the plot twists and turns. The two detectives at the center of all this misery are sympathetic, despite their quirks and foibles, trying to figure out the numerous clues. This is what drew me into this book and why I recommend it.

DI Jim Neal and DS Ava Merry are assigned to investigate the deaths of two women .. both bodies given up by the river.

One of the women has a list of five 'victims' in their home. Three of these are dead... by various accidents. What was she researching? What's the connection among these women?

Neal and Merry, along with a new detective, Tom Knight, must sort through a variety of suspects. All of them, it seems, have secrets. And one of them proves very deadly to Neal.

Although 4th in this series, this one does well as a stand alone. But as always, I recommend starting at the beginning.

The story premise is a good one, however, the pace of the action and suspense, is rather low key. The characters are what holds this story together. Neal is a single father, dedicated to his job, who is trying to balance the two halves of his life. Eva is a fairly new detective. She's known for her persistence, even stepping a bit over the line, to not only prove she's worthy of the position, but to bring justice to the victims. Tom Knight is new, not as fleshed out as the others. I look forward to seeing more of him, to see how he fits with the others.

Great story which kept me turning the pages well into the night. Would highly recommend to others.

A really well written and fast paced story,I enjoyed this book and woukd reccomend it

Their fatal secrets by janice frost.
Two students coming home from a drunken night out see something strange in the river. It is a young woman’s body.
A thriller of a read. I really did enjoy this book. 5*.

Quite entertaining but not really special. The suspense level is not really high as we know quite early who is the killer and there are not many twists and surprises.

This is book 4 of the Merry/Neal series, and I think it just might be my favorite in the series, thanks to all the twists and turns! With this book, we get to see more of Merry's character, and how Neal has to juggle home and family. Add a new coworker into the mix, and you have an unknown quantity that has both slightly on edge, add in Merry's closeness to the case, and you have the setting for a rapid page turner! And while the book alludes to what happened in the previous books, it CAN be read by itself. Although, if you have read the previous books, then you know how the characters have evolved, and why they make the decisions they do. if you read the first review of the day, you'll see that this book is almost an opposite side of the same genre. More of the modern take on it really, but a good book for curling up with by the fire (I know I did, thanks to our recent trek to the mountains and CHILLY weather!), and one I recommend for Fall reading!

Oh my god what a brilliant book it had me gripped right from the beginning right to the last page. I have never read any of Janice Frost's books before but I will be reading them all they are brilliant.

At the beginning when Leanne who is a good girl turned bad then becomes good again found dead in the water the book suggests that you know who the killer is but as you keep reading with the many twists and turns you are sent on a roller coaster ride of emotions and you are never sure who the killer is.

I had so many mixed emotions at the beginning I hated Jonty then you think he is a nice guy for looking after his brother. But as the book goes on you can see that he really does not care about his brother he just uses him it's quite sad. Because his brother who has special needs really loves and admires Jonty .

It really had me thinking about the story and plot even once I had finished the book. Everything that happens you never see coming and it's brilliant.

3 stars

A young woman is found floating down the river. DI Jim Neal and DS Tom Knight respond to the call. She was badly beaten and thrown in the river while still alive. Her name was Leanne Jackson. A look at her apartment reveals a list of names. Some are familiar to the police.

Then more girls are murdered. The investigation steps up and the police are interviewing people who knew the women and their relatives.

The reader knows from the beginning the name of the murderer. The fun is in the police figuring it out and chasing them.

The book is fairly well written. (If a little juvenile.) The plotting is not too consistent. I liked DI Jim Neal, but didn’t care for DS Ava Merry. Going out and getting so drunk you can hardly stand is not my idea of a reliable or necessarily good person. This is my first Janice Frost novel, and I can’t say that this book has an awful lot to recommend reading another of her books.

I want to thank NetGalley and Joffe Books for forwarding to me a copy of this book to read.

Their Fatal Secrets. Janice Frost

Another new author to add to my list of must reads. Janice Frost kept me captivated with this book from the moment I read the first chapter. What I enjoyed, and found different to a lot of the books I’m reading is, it wasn’t heavily weighted to the Police side of the investigation.

The book starts with a body being fished out of a canal by two drunk students. The body is quickly identified as Leanne Jackson, a good girl turned bad, and then turned good again. The biggest part of the investigation is working out why this girl has been murdered.

But, it’s not the Police investigation that the book follows. Jess Stokes watches the Police Divers searching the river. Before Leanne had gone off the rails she used used to protect Jess from bullies when they were at school. Twice since Jess had seen Leanne as she got into trouble with the Police but ignored her. She had also ignored an email from Leanne asking for help. Now she is dead, and Jess feels guilty enough to try and work out what happened to her.

The Police team investigating the death start to make slow headway and Jess always seems to be one step in front of them. When Jess, and the 2 other women living in the flats in the same house as her, start to make disturbing discoveries, she starts to think she is being warned off. Is she putting herself in danger, should she stop.

There is a wonderful juxta-position between the naive Jess and her neighbours, and the Police Investigating team.

Ava Merry is the DS on the team, she is a fit extrovert who doesn’t mind partying. Ava and Jess have a passing acquaintance as early morning swimmers at the local pool and Jess reaches out to Ava to gauge how the investigations going.

When things at Jess’s house start to take a nasty turn Ava starts to become worried for her safety. Will it stop her digging.

This book is based in a town with a canal and marina. The murderer is shown straight away, as is the crimes he is committing, so there is no mystery. The man works in partnership with other criminals to get young girls onto a canal boat.

The tension in the book is all about Jess’s welfare, her investigation, and the Police’s investigation.

A real page turner the outcome is not clear right up to the last couple of pages.

I have often wondered why more crimes aren’t set on Canal Boats. They have free roaming rights across the country. As far as I’m aware there is not much in the way of surveillance on canals, and nobody takes any notice of them.

I once investigated an arson where the fire setters had used a canal boat to get into a remote car park on an industrial estate and start a fire which destroyed a factory before making their 3mph get away. Meanwhile the Police closed the roads of around the incident.

When you think about it a lot could be going on in those boats.

Pages:241
Publisher: Joffe Books

Even though this is book 4 in the series it can easily be read on it’s own. I know this as this book is the first one of Janice’s I have read and it worked perfectly fine without the knowledge of the previous books.

The story starts off with two students finding a dead body in the river and the police investigating. Shortly after this body is found another dead girl is found nearby.

The story follows the police officers as they hunt for the killer before more people, including possibly themselves, are murdered.

This book was a really enjoyable read and whilst reading it I slowly learnt about the back story of the main characters, and their history together, which made the book that much better.

The storyline itself is very well written, with enough twists and turns to keep most people (including myself) guessing right through until the end with the big reveal.

As you would expect from a police procedural book there are lots of twists and turns and red herrings along the way before the dramatic climax, and with this book the threat levels to the main characters is very high throughout the book, which makes it a much more enjoyable read than others I have read recently.

Overall I would give this book 5 stars as it is a very enjoyable and intense read.

Thank you Net galley. An entertaining police procedural. Perfect for the long commute, or bedtime. Easy read that keeps you hooked to the end.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Joffe Books for a review copy of Their Fatal Secrets, the fourth police procedural to feature DI Jim Neal and DS Ava Merry of the Stromford police.

When the badly beaten body of Leanne Jackson is pulled out the Strom the team is quick to start investigating. They find a list of women's names in her flat but no obvious connection and are unsure of its value but investigate anyway. In the meantime a school friend of Leanne, Jess Stokes, feeling guilty about her lack of contact with Leanne decides to do a little amateur sleuthing but hardly gets started when some strange things start happening to her and her house mates.

I thoroughly enjoyed Their Fatal Secrets which held my interest from start to finish. It has a suitably complicated plot with plenty of twists and turns and likeable protagonists. As is often the case nowadays the reader knows who the perpetrator is almost from the start although, fortunately, Ms Frost does not spend much time analysing his motives, preferring to concentrate on his actions. I think she does an excellent job of his mindset and thought patterns. The interest of the novel therefore rests in watching the team carry out their investigation as they try to identify a suspect and a motive and try to work out who is behind all the incidents at Jess's house - most of it is quite unexpected.

Neal and Merry are smart, dedicated detectives who are able to make sense of the information they accumulate. They are pleasant people although the hint of sexual attraction between them gets a bit wearing. Put up or shut up is my advice. They are ably assisted in their investigation by newbie PJ and recent transferee DS Tom Knight. I particularly liked the contrast in parenting skills and character of the parents of the girls on the list. It highlights the nature vs nurture conundrum and the woeful state of mental health care in the UK. It makes for distressing reading but unfortunately none of it is a shock.

Their Fatal Secrets is a good read which I have no hesitation in recommending.

This is book 4 in this series but can be read as a stand alone. DI Neal and DS Merry are investigating the deaths of two women found washed up in the river. Are they connected? I liked the character of the bad guy and can't quite make up my mind if I felt sympathy for him or not! This book was an easy read, the connection between the women made for an interesting plot and it was very well written. Plenty twists in the tale to keep the reader guessing and I look forward to seeing how the relationship develops between Jim and Ava. I would recommend this series by Janice Frost. My thanks to Net Galley for my copy. I reviewed on Goodreads, Amazon and Facebook

This is the first book I have read by Janice Frost but the fourth book in the series. I was a bit concerned I might have been a bit lost by not having read the first three books but I was pleasantly surprised. This book is great as a stand-alone, a good storyline and characters that seem to grip you in wanting to find out how it ends. Plenty of twists and surprises to keep you reading. A good solid book.

This is the fourth book in the series but can easily be read as a standalone. Two dead women, Leanne and Ruby, are found in the same river. DS Ava Merry and DJ Jim Neal are joined by a new detective, Tom Knight, to solve these murders. Jess, who was befriended by Leanne when she was being bullied, tries to discover who killed her and if there is a connection between the two murders. This is a nail biting read, full of intrigue, mystery and twists and turns. Well worth reading, keeps you wanting more. Looking forward to see how the relationship between Ava and Jim develops. Thanks to NetGalley and Joffe Books for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

This was ok, the romance part was a lot less interesting than the story. The characters are ok, not really fully fleshed out, its more of a procedural piece.
The tenderness, however, the author shows for those with disabilities and how fiercely protective and devoted families can be. The comparison between the sweetness of one child and the viciousness of another is very interesting and it might have been more interesting if the reasons for the despicable behavior were examined.

DS Ava Merry and DI Jim Neal are assigned to a dead woman found in the river. Soon there is a second body in the same river. What is going on
here? One of the dead women has a list of 5 ladies on it. Two are dead. Whose list is it and what does it mean? How are these ladies connected? With everything going on, Tom Knight has joined the team. Can they find the common connection before anyone else is killed? I like the characters in this series. The stories are well written and keep your interest. I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book from Joffe Books. This is my honest review.

Thank you to Janice Frost, Joffe Books and NetGalley for the ARC of this book

Their Fatal Secrets is book 4 in the DS Ava Merry and DI Jim Neal series. Each book can be read as a stand-alone novel but I recommend that you read the books in order to get the back story on the characters as it makes it a much more enjoyable read.

I was really excited to read this book as I love this series and I was not disappointed.

WOW this book was fantastic; it sucked me in from the first page and spat me out when I had finished it. I read it in super quick time because I literally couldn’t put it down. It was dark, dangerous and scary. There really are people like this walking the streets so keep looking over your shoulders!

Ava and Jim have an awesome relationship, they are tight as work colleagues but beneath the surface there is a desire that neither of them is able or willing to vocalise. They have each other’s backs and care deeply about each other. Jim has a great team of detectives; they are a close knit group that work well together. Reading this book was like visiting with old friends.

I highly recommend this book, it was excellently written and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I give it a big fat very well deserved 5 stars and I cannot wait for the next book!

Here is the publishers blurb on the book:

Two students coming home from a drunken night out see something strange in the river. It is a young woman’s body.

Hours later, a second young woman’s body is discovered on another stretch of the same river.

DS Ava Merry and DI Jim Neal are assigned to both investigations. And they’re joined by a new detective, Tom Knight.

Soon a connection is found between the two dead women. A list of “victims” is discovered in one of their flats. Who will be next and what really happened to the women on this sinister list?

In a thrilling conclusion, Jim Neal fights for his life as the two detectives struggle to solve a complex case involving people with secrets that may prove fatal.

Great for fans of Angela Marsons, Rachel Abbott, Ruth Rendell, or Mark Billingham.

DS MERRY & DI NEAL SERIES
Book 1: DEAD SECRET
Book 2: DARK SECRET
Book 3: HER HUSBAND’S SECRET
Book 4: THEIR FATAL SECRETS