What I love about the Detective Inspector Gina Harte series is how much the book focuses on the case rather than the private lives of the detectives. Yes, there are some sections about Gina’s private life, including her love life, but they don’t overtake the plot of the case.

The writing is superb and draws you into the plot and the characters. There are plenty of twists, turns, and mysteries to keep you on your toes, although I did work out who the killer was early on in the story. This didn’t put me off reading though as I was determined to prove to myself I was right and to watch the case come together.

The pace is fast throughout and there are a few grizzly or disturbing scenes, so if you don’t like these kinds of scenes then maybe police crime thrillers aren’t for you. However, I love them as they add authenticity to the story and make the book feel very real.

I really hope that there will be more to come in the series, as Gina is such an amazing character and Ms. Kovach’s writing is spectacular – The perfect combination.

This is the first novel I've read by Carla Kovach, and I felt like it would have been helpful had I read the other three novels in the Detective Gina Harte series first, but overall it is possible to read it and understand most of what was going on. However, there was one passage that referenced a previous crime and the killer and victim were both named. I hope that doesn't ruin the story of an earlier installment in the series.

That said, I enjoyed the novel a lot. Gina Harte is likeable as a no-nonsense cop with a difficult past, inner demons, and conflicted feelings. She reminds me of author M.J. Arlidge's character Helen Grace, but the story had a lot less violence and gore than that series.

Kovach wrote an entertaining mystery with well-rounded characters, an interesting storyline featuring a technological element that added depth to the story, and a great protagonist. I definitely plan to read other books in this series.

Whew what a gripping, fast paced thriller, one I was totally enamoured with from the first chapter. It may start off a little bit slowly, but its like a snowball rolling down a hill it gathers pace and momentum before coming to an explosive stop. What a thrilling ride it was too. Keeping you guessing all the way, throwing around false leads and dead ends. I had an idea who the suspect was and I was pleased to have been right but that didn't detract from the enjoyment of the book. There was plenty of descriptions of police procedural to complement the story. It also involved the out of work lives of the police, and how that their life choices can bleed into and affect their work. This is book 4 of a series that I have not read previously but that did not deter the enjoyment of the book. It was a binge reading, don't put down till the last page type of book. Whatever your reading speed though you will enjoy it.

Loved this book!! It's my favorite one in the series. Each book keeps getting better and better. This is one of my favorite series and I absolutely love DI Gina Harte. This book showed how much pain she is still carrying around from the abuse she received from her husband. Terry was simply a despicable, horrible man. His death was a blessing for Gina. I wish Hannah would forgive her mom. Hannah doesn't know how much Gina suffered at the hands of her dad. Gina NEEDS to stay off Tinder. No more swiping left or right because she doesn't make good choices. I still have hope for Briggs. I think Diane will be a good friend for Gina. Maybe Gina will share her past with her and they both can start to heal.

There were so many twists and turns. I never guessed who was behind everything, mainly because there were so many scumbags/losers to choose from. All the men were likely suspects and all had their own issues. I was hooked from the very beginning until the last page. I couldn't put it down because I needed to know who was behind all the craziness.

Definitely recommend the book and the previous ones in the series. I loved the story, writing style and characters. It was a great mystery/suspense. I can't wait to read what's next for DI Gina Harte.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bookouture through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

My thanks to Bookouture for an eARC via NetGalley of Carla Kovach’s ‘The Liar’s House’ in exchange for an honest review.

This is the fourth in her D.I. Gina Harte series of police procedurals. I have read all of the previous books and found them all highly engaging. This certainly continues the trend and I am completely hooked on this series.

Gina’s new case involves Jade Ashmore, a young woman brutally murdered while walking home from a party close to her home. Inexplicably there appears to be a link between this and the disappearance of Samantha, who seven years previously had left a party and was never seen again. Diane, Samantha’s close friend, receives a birthday card addressed to Samantha and finds inside it a fingernail painted in the same colour Samantha wore. Luckily Diane is savvy enough to contact the police. What they discover is deeply disturbing.

Things get complicated for Gina when one of the attendees at the party is someone from her troubled past. Carla Kovach skilfully blends these personal aspects of Gina’s life with her dedication to her career.

I read this in a single sitting, unable to put it down and it delivered a very satisfying reading experience.

It definitely ticked all the boxes of what I look for in crime thrillers/police procedurals. Roll on Book 5!

The Liar’s House by Carla Kovach is the fourth in the Detective Gina Harte series.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Bookouture, and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.



Series Background:    (Warning – May contain spoilers from previous books)
DI Gina Harte works homicides. Her team consists of: DS Jacob Driscoll, DC Harry O’Connor and DC Paula Wyre, with a lot of assistance from Police Constable Smith. She is a stubborn lady, and a determined detective. Gina has a daughter and grand-daughter, who she is trying to get closer to, but it is hard work. She has recently broken up with her boss DCI Chris Briggs, with whom she was having a secret affair. Gina is not ready for a relationship anyway. It is not common knowledge that her husband was abusive, and no one knows that she helped him fall to his death many years ago.



My Synopsis:    (No major reveals, but if concerned, skip to My Opinions)
The brutal death of Jade Ashmore leads the team on a hunt through a partner-swapping website. It also seems to connect to a cold case. Samantha Felton disappeared seven years ago, and her best friend Diane just received a card which contained a fingernail, which looks like it may be Jade’s. But there are a lot of secrets, and a lot of lies.

Meanwhile, Gina may comprise the case herself. When the brother of Gina’s dead husband ends up being part of the case, she is terrified that her team will learn of the abuses she suffered at her husband’s hands, because his brother Steven was there for most of it, and enjoying every minute. Not even Chris Briggs, her boss and ex-lover, knows everything that happened.

To complicate things even further, Gina has been trying to get over Chris by dating again. The results have been disastrous, partly because she still loves Chris, and partly because of the men she picks. Her latest Tinder date is becoming a stalker, and again part of the investigation.

Gina will have to put everything aside to try and concentrate on the case, but things are starting to get to her. She will have help.



My Opinions:
I love this series. First, without reading the first three books in the series, you will really miss a lot. In this book, Gina seems weak, which isn’t really her character at all. Kovach’s characters are deep, and they grow on you, and although I didn’t particularly like seeing this weak side of Gina, it is realistic after some of the things she has endured.

As always, there are a lot of twists and red herrings which keep things interesting, and the plot was really good.  I love the way the author writes, pulling the reader into the story, into the characters, into the mystery. 

Again….can’t wait til the next one!

Carla Kovach has done it again! This is the fourth novel in this series and the series just keeps getting better in my opinion. We have DI Gina Harte and her team back on the scene and they work well together.

There is a party going on, Jade and her husband Noah had an invite although they didn’t know Dawn that well before going and there were two other couples there. They were all mingling and having drinks. As the evening wore on, one guy was taking pictures constantly of Samantha and ignoring his wife. Samantha grabbed a guy on his way back from the bar whilst he had hold of a pint in his hand, sloshing it over his hand, wanting him to dance with her. Then one of her favourite songs from Dirty Dancing came on so she screamed they just had to dance to it. She made sure she got close to the guy and when she spotted him with the camera, she pointed and stuck her tongue out. He looked around and saw his wife was watching him but was none to pleased with his behaviour. She spotted him looking and then left him, so even better for him, no need to rush off. Then he spotted her sitting on a chair, with the letter ‘J’ hanging round her neck. She was not impressed with the canoodling on the dance floor either. Next thing she had left too.

Jade was feeling drunk and she really had to find Noah, She wanted to tell him how she felt. That she didn’t like that type of party and didn’t want to do it again. She loved him and her daughter. Just wanted it to be them. She was wandering round the back alleyway’s but every alleyway looked the same. The shoes she was wearing were hurting her feet so she decided to take them off. She could hear someone coming up the alley behind her. As she stopped, they kept coming and then stopped behind her. She got worried, normally someone would speak. Before she knew it, she was grabbed from behind and she struggled then she was hit on the head. She fell onto the floor and carried on struggling. Then she managed to grab onto the bottom of a nearby gate and pull herself towards it. The attacker hit her on the head again, perhaps a bit harder them he should. The light went out of her eyes. Jade was dead.

This was a fantastic book to read. It really tested DI Harte and her team and dredged up events from the past for some in the book. The book is well written, the story flows and I was hooked from the start. I really enjoy this series and the police characters gel well together. I will look forward to the next book.

Diane has been grieving the loss of her best friend Samantha for seven years. The police were never ever able to find Samantha as their trail went dry. On the seventh anniversary of her disappearance, Diane receives a letter addressed to Samantha. It is actually a birthday card and it has a fingernail in it. The nail is painted with the very same nail polish Diane remembers gifting to Samantha.

Instead of the police using the DNA on the nail to lead to Samantha, it leads to another woman, Jade Ashmore, and the police were able to find her body. There is a connection, however, it is not quite apparent. Instead, as the police investigate Jade's murder they begin to delve deep into parties with one intention in mind.

The police have several suspects and Detective Gina Harte is hot on the trail. The case becomes very personal to Gina and her boss, and one-time lover, worry that this will affect her objectivity. Gina is determined to use her skills and her unfortunate previous circumstances to stay on the case and to dig as deep as possible. As the connection between the current murder and Samantha's long-ago disappearance become more apparent, Gina becomes even more focused.

The Liar's House is the fourth book in the series. I hadn't read the first two, but did read the previous title, Her Pretty Bones, so I was a bit familiar with Gina, her history and her impeccable work ethics. I enjoy her character, her strength and her dedication. This was a compelling read, especially as it delved into a part of marriage and relationships hardly touched in psychological thrillers. This is a book I was able to read in one sitting. I definitely look forward to this series continuing.

Many thanks to Bookouture and to NetGalley for this ARC to review in exchange for my honest opinion.

I am conflicted about this book. I actually really like the story. There are clues along the way that help the reader to solve the murder right along with, and maybe a little faster than, the detectives who don't have insight to the minds of others. Linking a murdered woman to missing woman, it was like an episode of Criminal Minds-a little unbelievable, but interesting anyway.

That would also be its downfall. The dialogue is sometimes cheesy. Often cheesy. It's full of cheese. Sometimes it seems like the author had a book called "Police Cliches" sitting next to her. At one point the lead detective interrupts a witness to tell her she was doing great. Right in the middle of her statement. There was no indication that she needed to encouragement. It just got thrown in there.

The characters are not all that well written. The lead character should never have passed the psych test to be a cop, let alone a detective. She is completely unstable and literally lets EVERYTHING get to her and throw her off. I mean, hold it together at work, woman! I get no reason why she is kept on the case except that her boss/former lover keeps saying that she is the best detective he has. I don't see that expert detecting going on. Things are handed to her and she handles them...sometimes well and sometimes badly. They really could have done it without her.

So the story brings it up to 3 stars. A small rewrite on the dialogue and descriptions that moved the story along would help.

Thank you to Bookouture for letting me take part in this tour and for my copy of this book via netgalley. I have bee following Gina Harte's books since the beginning and I couldn't wait to see what happened in this next instalment.

This book became quite personal for Gina and it was interesting to see her open up a little more about her past. Gina has been to hell and back in her past but she survived and while she may not ever be over it she is a strong woman.

I won't go into too much detail on the story but it was fascinating to see how some people live and how they are so very different in their personal and professional lives.

Carla once again had me on the edge of my seat. This book had some real heart-stopping moments. The last 20% I didn't put the book down for anything because I just had to keep reading. My heart was racing.

I really enjoyed the epilogue of this book and I do hope that Gina will reconnect with her daughter at some point.

The Liar’s House is the fourth book in the DI Gina Harte series by Carla Kovach. I absolutely love this series. The books keep getting better, the cases more interesting, the entire narrative more compulsive and Gina Harte continues to be one of my favorite lead detectives.

In this case, Samantha goes missing when walking home from a party. Years later, Jade ends up dead while walking home from another party. Events occur to link the cold case with the current happenings. I was so captivated and couldn’t wait to find out how the two cases connected.

Let me just say something about Gina Harte. She’s a unique kind of detective, different from any of the others that I have encountered in other crime thrillers. I especially like that she is portrayed as being flawed but also quite vulnerable. She is human, not some hard-core robotic fictitious character. Nope, our Gina has been through experiences that most women can identify with. In this book, she’s trying to date and ends up with the same dating drama that touches on her work. I just enjoy reading about Gina and can’t wait to find out what happens to her character as the series progresses.

As always with this series, I couldn’t guess the identity of the unsub in this one. I had a few suspects but my guesses were so not right. I like how the tension escalated through the pages. It made me feel the pressure that Gina and her team had to deal with. They needed to catch the perp but this wasn’t an easy case to crack.

The Liar’s House is well-written, thrilling and totally riveting with plenty of red herrings that had me guessing up to the last page. The case maybe new but to better enjoy the characters, I’d suggest reading the entire series in order. It is one of the best police procedural series out there. Definitely worth checking out!

The Liar’s House by Carla Kovach is the fourth book in this series, but can easily be read as a stand-alone.

DI Gina Harte is still haunted by her past with an abusive husband that had ended with his death….

Now investigating the death of Jade Ashworth, she is brought face to face with her horrendous brother in law……and for a while she is afraid and stressed out to say the least.

They find their victim had been a participant in wife swapping parties and so their suspect pool just grew……in this rather seedy lifestyle that seemed mainly men coercing their partners to take part…..

What is the link to the missing Samantha…..?

The story really grabs you with both hands and will not let go…..I loved they way the killer’s identity was kept under wraps until the final couple of chapters…….so many despicable people to choose from……..creepy, violent and downright nasty…..full of suspense right to the end….brilliant.

Thank you to Bookouture, the author and NetGalley for a free copy of the ebook. This is my honest, unbiased review.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you NetGalley.

Carla Kovach's books are amazing. Even though this is part of a series, this book was easy to read as a stand-alone.
Samantha has been missing for 7 years after disappearing from a party. On Samantha's 35th birthday, a letter addressed to herw ith a birthday card and a finger nail in her shade is found on her best friend's doorstep. It isn't Samantha's but rather another woman who was murdered the night before! how is this connected to Samantha's disappearance?!

Read it. You won't regret it.

First, I must say that I love to discover a new series and I’m so glad I found this one by Carla Kovach.

One night Samantha leaves a party near her home. And she’s never seen again. Fast-forward seven years…on Samantha’s 35th birthday her best friend, Diane, finds an envelope on her doorstep that is addressed to Samantha. Inside is a birthday card and a fingernail with the same shade of polish that Samantha always wore. But, instead of belonging to her missing friend, the nail belongs to a woman who was murdered the night before the envelope was left. Now it’s up to Detective Gina Harte to investigate the murder and the connection it has to the disappearance of Samantha seven years earlier.

This is the first book I’ve read in the Gina Harte series but, nevertheless, I found it fairly easy to read as a stand-alone. It is a well-written police procedural with a good mystery and good characters. The writing is very well-done and the story is fast paced. It is a great book to read on a lazy summer afternoon. I thoroughly enjoyed my introduction to this series and I look forward to catching up with Gina Harte and her team.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book for review.

Another great read from Carla Kovach.
The book centres around some local parties that are taking place where some couples partake in swapping partners.
A woman is found dead after one of these parties and Gina and the team have a real job on their hands untangling everyone’s secrets and lies.
Gina isn’t have much luck in her personal life and soon the case gets a bit too close to home.
This is a great read as I really had no clue who the killer was and it had me hooked throughout.
Thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

Having read the earlier books by the author Carla Kovach, I was quite pumped up (learned this phrase from my friend Noriko) to read this. And a good book it was. A solid police procedural. I loved the cohesiveness of DI Gina Harte and her team.

Samantha, a girl who liked to have a good time, disappeared from the pub 7 years ago. And in the present time, Jade, who was returning from a party, was found dead with her face punched in. A gruesome sight to imagine!! To think there was a killer in the streets killing women with a blunt object. Yikes. Gina and her team started investigating. And they discovered a trail which led to a deeper meaning to these parties.

The book moved at a swift pace, I could read it in a few hours. The plot weaved Gina's dark past into the present case. There were moments of fear and trepidation created in her. The team investigated well; the boss Briggs was quite a neat guy. I want to say I could guess the killer before Gina, oh, I am so tempted. But I didn't because I suspected everyone. I would have loved if the story had darker twists. But that was purely my need of the hour.

My niggles crawled in. Gina was great in most of the book, but I was not too fond of her longing for her boss The one thing I didn't like was Gina crying at work. Hmmm..

A good mystery with a solid plot line made this a fun read.

This is the fourth in the DI Gina Harte series, set in a small fictional town in the English Midlands. I’ve read them all in order, but you could safely start here, as while there are ongoing characters, all the necessary backstory is filled in. They can be rather grim, not in a gruesome sense, but in that virtually every male character, in all the books, apart from the police officers, is a truly horrible sex-crazed mysoginistic individual.

A young woman is brutally murdered on her way home from a party. Seven years earlier, another woman disappeared, and now her friend, Diane, a recluse, crippled by arthritis, has been sent a card including her fingernail. Gina’s team discover that what links the case is wife-swapping club, and she is horrified to learn that Stephen, the brother of the abusive husband that she killed in self-defence, is a member, and he is just as horrible. Meanwhile Gina is bitterly regretting letting a tinder date go too far, when he refuses to stop calling her.

These are solid well-written police procedurals with a decent mystery and enough suspects to make it interesting. I did guess who the killer was, and his motivation, quite early on but that doesn’t spoil a book for me, as long as there’s enough suspense as to how it will turn out. This one was a little predictable as it followed a similar pattern to the previous books.

I am getting a little tired of Gina’s angst and self-pity, and the non-relationship with Briggs, her boss. I would rather her team members be developed further, with some backstory and drama of their own, as four books in we know almost nothing about them so they are very two-dimensional. I’ll definitely be continuing the series, and hope that we can see more character development in future - I did like the hopeful tone of the epilogue, and hope this means Gina is turning a corner.

One thing that stood out for me was the gorgeous cover image: in a sea of red coats and houses on hills, it was great to see something both attractive and unusual that linked in to the title without spoiling anything.
My thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for the arc which allowed me to give an honest review. The Liar’s House is published on July 2nd.

Author Carla Kovach knocks it out of the ballpark again with book #4 of the Detective Gina Harte series. I love this police procedural thriller series that works well as standalones. Detective Gina Harte and her superior DCI Chris Briggs have a past romantic history which complicates things at times but makes the story very interesting. A young woman is found murdered after an adult part which leads detectives to questions whether this death is related to other previous disappearances of young women from the area. There are many twists and turns and surprises in this page turner. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I look forward to Author Kovach's book #5 in this series. Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC of this fantastic book that kept me on the edge of my seat.

The Liar’s House is the fourth in Carla Kovach’s series about Gina Harte, a detective with a background of domestic abuse. I had read the first three books in the series before beginning The Liar’s House and was pleased I had as there were references to previous storylines. However, it could be enjoyed as a stand-alone book.

In this case Harte and colleagues delve into the world of swingers’ parties and unsolved cases from the past. The book is well-paced and easy to read with short chapters.

I didn’t think it was the best crime fiction I’ve read this year but I was hooked enough to look out for book 5 in the series.

DI Gina Harte and DS Jacob Driscoll are called to the scene of a deadly assault on a young woman in an alleyway in the dark of night. Jade Ashmore has left a party early but doesn't make it home. It's up to Harte and her team to find out what has happened and why - and more importantly who wanted her dead. Why did she leave alone when her husband was also at the party?

This is a fairly fast paced novel, with short punchy chapters which keep the action moving and your attention focused on the characters. It is probably best to have read at least one of the previous novels in the series in order to understand Gina's personal and career history and how this influences her feelings towards this case. As Gina interviews local residents and other partygoers who would have known Jade, the past and present come hurtling together and threaten to have Gina taken off the case. It's all getting a bit close to home - but is Gina being paranoid or has someone orchestrated the whole scenario in order to get the DI personally involved?

With a cold case from 7 years previous suddenly seeming to come alive when the best friend of a missing woman receives a birthday card containing a fingernail painted in her favourite colour nail polish, Gina has her work cut out to find out whether this is just another coincidence or whether the sender has knowledge of the events surrounding Jade's attack. Why wait 7 years to make themselves known?

We follow the investigation of the two events which throw up some eyebrow raising facts along the way. There are some really unlikeable people in this book and some who I genuinely felt sympathy for. I found this a good balance of characters and a realistic representation of how some of the people we see outwardly as happy, outgoing and funloving are actually very lonely and sad behind closed doors. We are only judged by the persona we present to the world, but if you scratch the veneer sufficiently the real person underneath can be a very different soul. Everyone has their secrets.

I am really enjoying this series, and would recommend it as a good crime/police procedural series if you don't want anything too heavy. A good book to pop in your suitcase for your holiday.