Rachael Blok's latest novel The Scorched Earth is an incredible page-turner that takes the reader on an intriguing and gripping journey. As Ana desperately searches for the truth of who killed her beloved brother, the clues point towards an unsettling past with dangerous implications for all those involved. Blok writes with vivid detail and complex characterisation to build the suspense and draw readers into the depths of this chilling murder mystery. With plenty of unexpected twists and turns, The Scorched Earth will keep readers guessing right up until the shocking conclusion. A must-read for crime fiction fans!

The second book featuring Dutch detective DCI Jansen, who finds himself mystified by the close-knit English village community. It seems no one believes in plain-speaking, preferring closing ranks, and relying on innuendos.

The story is a sad one. Two brothers take a camping trip two years earlier. One is presumed dead, the other convicted of murder, but is it that simple. Ana, the accused brother’s partner. believes not. She has no chance of proving this until the missing brother’s body is found buried in the village. Now, his brother can’t be the murderer. DCI Jansen has to find the real killer, but although gossip is rife in the village, there is nothing of substance, and everyone is keeping secrets.

DCI Jansen suffers a personal tragedy, which he has to conquer, to stop his emotional state having a detrimental effect on the case. Ana wants to help her partner but doesn’t want to reveal what she knows. She feels threatened, and the suspense and menacing ethos surrounding her are well-written.

There is a strong psychological element to this story, particularly from Ana’s perspective, as events from her past invade her present situation. Events are revealed, from Leo’s point of view, in the past, and Ana, Ben and DCI Jansen’s points of view, in the present. The two timelines create dramatic irony, the reader knowing things the characters don’t at that time.

Scene setting and character dynamics form the first part of the book, this slows the pace, but the short chapters and active voice, keep the story moving satisfactorily, ensuring reader engagement. There are several viable suspects, and even though you may guess who did it, early on in the story, there are plenty of smoke and mirrors. to make you doubt it.

Clever twists and a final reveal, make this a good story, with its solid police procedural theme tempered with psychological suspense.

I received a copy of this book from Head of Zeus Books via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Old demons and ghosts of the past are unearthed in this atmospheric, terrifying and chilling crime thriller that kept me gripped and on the edge of my seat throughout: The Scorched Earth.

A camping trip had changed Ben Fenton’s life forever. Two years ago, he had gone away for the night with his brother Leo and he had woken up covered in blood with his brother gone. All the evidence pointed to Ben having murdered his brother and days later, Ben had been arrested and was facing a murder charge. Nobody believed that Ben was innocent – except for his girlfriend, Ana Seabrook. While Ana protested that Ben was totally innocent and that he was not a murderer, everything was stacked against him – until an unexpected turn of events that turns thing around and sheds new light on what really happened that fateful night between the two brothers…

When on the hottest day of a scorching heat wave, a body is discovered in Ana’s village, DCI Jansen is convinced that Ben Fenton’s girlfriend is hiding something. He is absolutely convinced that Ana is keeping something very close to her chest and that she is keeping a vital piece of information from him that could untangle this twisted web of secrets, lies and deceptions. DCI Jansen cannot work out how everything is connected, but he won’t rest until he figures it out. Ana might be determined to keep her secrets buried forever, but DCI Jansen will unearth them and finally discover the truth about Leo Fenton’s murder.

Is DCI Jansen ready for what he is about to uncover? Is Ben Fenton innocent? And will Ana Seabrook’s secrets ever come to light?

A twisted crime thriller that is absolutely top-notch, The Scorched Earth is a nail-biting page-turner packed with plenty of shocks and spine-tingling surprises. Rachael Blok has written a fantastic crime novel full of action, danger, intrigue and suspense where the pages just turn themselves leaving readers absolutely desperate to find out what is going to happen next.

The Scorched Earth is a phenomenal read sure to appeal to fans of Jane Harper and Stephen Booth from a fantastic new voice in the genre.

The Scorched Earth is the second book in the DCI Maarten Jansen police procedural series. The story begins when Ben Fenton wakes up covered in blood in a camping trip with his brother Leo. Leo’s body was never found, but Ben was convicted for his murder. Ana Seabrook, Ben’s girlfriend always believed his innocence. Present day 2018, one of the hottest days on record, bones are found in the Hertfordshire Village of Ayot, close to Ana’s house, in a local churchyard. Ana seems to know so much more than she is letting on, and the police is on her to solve this case.

The story is told between two different timelines, present-day and the night Leo disappeared, and also between various perspectives, mainly those of DCI Jansen, Ana and Ben. I loved the seamlessness of the stories and how it added to the tension it created for the storyline.

I enjoyed reading this book for its characters and the story telling. The pacing was fabulous and had me so intrigued with the different POVs on how the story was told, that I was so engrossed with what is to come next. The slow reveal of the story line was masterfully told, and is Rachael Blok’s enigmatic ability to tell this story full of all the suspense and thrill that I was craving for.

If there's one thing I like to do, it's to discover new authors. Rachael Blok is definitely a new author for me but having enjoyed reading 'The Scorched Earth' as much as I did, I can guarantee that I will read more of her work in the future. As soon as I have finished typing this review I am going to scoot off and buy a copy of Rachael's first book 'Under The Ice'. I thoroughly enjoyed reading 'The Scorched Earth' but more about that in a bit.
I can't say that I took to any of the characters in this book but I don't mean that to sound negative because I really don't mean it that way. I am a bit of a paranoid person by nature and I tend to believe nobody and suspect everybody. I must have read too much crime fiction. I just got the impression that the main characters were holding something back and that things weren't as they appeared to be if you get my drift. What is the truth? Well for the answer to that question and so much more you are just going to have to read the book for yourselves to find out because I am not going to tell you.
I must admit that it took me a little while to get into this story. This was partly due to the fact that I was tired and finding it difficult to concentrate and partly because the book is written in a different sort of style than I am used to. However, once I got into this story that was it. Reading 'The Scorched Earth' became an addiction and I found any excuse I could to get back to reading this book. I would pick the book up only intending to read a couple of chapters but I became so absorbed by the story that I read over half a dozen chapters in one go. That was pretty much the pattern for the rest of the book. I seemed to race my way through to the end because I was so desperate to find out what the real truth actually was.
'The Scorched Earth' is written in a different sort of style to what I am used to. It took me a while to get used to the author's writing style but after I got used to it, I really enjoyed it. The different chapters are written from the points of view of the different characters and shows how the story developed from their perspective. I did wonder if that way of writing may lead to the story seeming a bit disjointed but I needn't have worried because the way of telling the story worked really well and the story flowed seamlessly. The author certainly knows how to grab your attention and draw you into the story. Once Rachael had my attention, she would not let it go until I finihsed the last word on the last page.
In short, I thoroughly enjoyed reading 'The Scorched Earth' and I would recommend it to other readers. I will definitely be reading more of Rachel's work in the future. In fact as soon as I finish typing this review I will be off to purchase a copy of her first book 'Under The Ice' and I will be reading it just as soon as I can. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.

Brothers Ben and Leo want on a camping trip. One morning Ben woke, covered in blood and Leo was missing. He was arrested and imprisoned for murder, even though a body wasn’t found.

2 years later, Ben’s girlfriend, Ana hears of a body being discovered in a freshly dug grave….is this Leo’s body?

This is a tension packed whodunnit mystery with enough twists to keep you guessing.

I have to admit I struggled to get into this at the start, due to the staccato, short sentences, but I soon got into the rhythm and I found it really helped ramp up the tension. Did Ben kill Leo? Who dug the grave?

A twisty, tense and thoroughly entertaining read.

Thank you to The publishers and NetGalley for a free ecopy of the book. This is my honest and unbiased review.

While I wasn't enamored with the characters which is very important to me is to have characters that you really want to read about either because you love or hate them, the book fell short in that area.

Ths story was fairly good.  I love camping having grown up doing it a lot and think it has an amazing amount of items you can do especially in a crime book.

It is inspiring to see someone writing from that angle as it's not often that a book is about something that I am into.

Will read the author again in hopes of finding the characters that fit for me.

A twisted tale of secrets and lies, THE SCORCHED EARTH by Rachael Blok is a solid story with solid characters.

Two years ago Ben's life was changed forever when he went camping with his brother and awoke to find him missing, and blood everywhere. Tried and found guilty of his murder, Ben is now in prison where he desperately tries to survive and come to grips with the fact that there is no hope for him. Until a body is discovered in the village where Ana, his girlfriend, lives. When it appears that the body is that of Leo's it brings the case back to life but there is something strange about the whole case that has DCI Jansen very suspicious. Just what the hell happened that night? And what is Ana hiding?

Moving from past to present, and watching the plot unfold from different characters' points of view, worked well for me as I never felt the plot slow down and it kept the tension on high alert at all times. I didn't realise that this story is actually the second book in a series but it can easily be read as a standalone. The drama, the atmosphere, and the setting all work well together and I found myself invested in uncovering the truth.

THE SCORCHED EARTH by Rachael Blok is a story of surprises, and while it doesn't read like a traditional police procedural, it has a little bit of everything for those who enjoy crime fiction, suspense, and psychological thrillers.

Two years ago, Leo Fenton went missing. Despite his body never being found, his brother, Ben was charged and convicted with his murder, although he has consistently denied any involvement. Now, a body has been found, in a newly-dug grave, close to the home of Ben’s girlfriend, Ana Seabrook. Who put it there and, if it is Leo, where has it been for the past two years? It is up to DCI Jansen and his team to try to make sense of what happened two years ago, and discover whether Ben has been imprisoned for a crime he did not commit.

From the start, I was convinced of Ben’s innocence, and felt that this was an incredibly well-planned murder with Ben being made the scapegoat. But why? This was the question I constantly asked myself, and I particularly enjoyed the chapters set prior to the disappearance of Leo as I tried to fathom out what happened that led to the event.

I had a lot of sympathy for Ana, whose life is turned upside down once the body is discovered. With the police convinced that she knows more than she is letting on and her paranoia that she is being watched, a claustrophobic atmosphere is created and you begin to genuinely fear for her safety. Although the secret she is hiding wasn’t that difficult to figure out, it did, again, make me ask questions as I wondered if this was what set off the chain of events.

This is one of those books where you know that one of the characters you meet along the way is going to end up playing a bigger role than you initially thought, and Rachael Blok has done a good job in adding several characters who could, potentially, be this person. Being convinced of Ben’s innocence, two characters in particular stood out to me, my suspicions wavering between the two throughout the book. With numerous secrets being hidden, either of these characters could have been the guilty party!

The Scorched Earth is a great thriller, with some very tense moments, and one that I enjoyed a great deal. I was not aware that the detective, DCI Maarten Jansen, had appeared in a previous book, Under the Ice, but I will definitely be looking out for this one now!

This was a slow start to a police procedural where a grave found led to the case of a missing man probably murdered with brother incarcerated.

Ben and Leo went camping. The next morning, Leo went missing. Ben was soaked in his blood. Traces of it found at the cliff edge led to murder charges. But Ben's partner Ana was convinced he was innocent.

My first book by author Rachael Blok, the first section laid the foundation of the police team along with showing me the details of Ben's term in prison and Ana's personal life. Then as the investigation proceeded, slow and steady, doubts started appearing in the known theories. And the story picked up pace.

The second half was very interesting as the scenes were linked well. The team under the helm of DCI Maarten Jansen worked cohesively in finding out the clues. The writing style was quite different, atmospheric at some places, and red herrings led to a few dead ends. The story with its decicious finish and wrenching epilogue made my morning extremely entertaining.

A fun read!!

Apparently Scorched Earth was a second book in a series, I wish it was clear from the description. I think I'd enjoy it more if I read the first. But, anyway, I thought this was a solid book with enough intrigue & atmosphere. The pacing was quite good with twists and turns. So, solid 4 stars.

Thanks a lot to NetGalley and the publisher for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Scorched Earth is the second police procedural in the DCI Maarten Jansen series and is perfect for those long, drawn-in nights with a cup of hot chocolate curled up in front of the fire. Having read the first book, Under the Ice, I can say that I felt it was necessary to gauge Jansen's personality but if you don't have an issue with going in not privy to that information the story in itself is a self-contained one. It revolves around two brothers, Leo and Ben Fenton, who took a camping trip to view the stunning scenery in Norfolk. However, Ben awoke terrifyingly covered in blood and with no sign whatsoever of Leo; he was never to be seen again. For good reason, people believe he was killed by brother Ben as what are the chances of heading into the wilds of wanney and encountering a kidnapper or, worse still, a murderer? Ben is convicted of the crime but Ana, his wife, believes him to be innocent. Then a body is uncovered, predicted to be Leo's, in the Hertfordshire chocolate-box village of Ayot...

This is an exciting and fascinating read which feverishly keeps you turning the pages; Ms Blok knows how to grip you in the very beginning and understands how to keep the reveals coming to ensure you are completely under her spell. I couldn't put it down and so long as you can dismiss some of the less than realistic detail - there are quite a few instances in which the story required suspension of disbelief but I feel it is an accomplished enough book in the thrills department to be worth doing so. It switches between two different timelines, present-day and the night Leo disappeared, and also between various perspectives, mainly those of Maarten, Ana and Ben. The switches are seamless and allow for a deeper sense of immersion into the case; I also feel seeing things from different points of view makes it much more intriguing. The mystery is so, so compulsive and with twists around every corner, the suspense is ratcheted up aggressively. Soon secrets will come tumbling out. Many thanks to Head of Zeus for an ARC.

My thanks to Head of Zeus for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Scorched Earth’ by Rachael Blok in exchange for an honest review.

Two years ago brothers Ben and Leo Fenton went camping. By the end of the trip Leo had disappeared and Ben was arrested for his murder. Yet Ben and his girlfriend, Ana Seabrook, have always protested his innocence.

Now during the 2018 heatwave the police contact Ana with news of a body discovered in a freshly dug grave in her local churchyard. It appears that the body is Leo’s, which leads to the St. Albans police reopening its investigation led by DCI Maarten Jansen.

Although this was an intriguing premise, I found the execution rather fragmented; moving as it did between the past and present as well as between various characters’ viewpoints. I feel that I was expecting a straight forward police procedural and this novel had more of a literary feel to its narrative.

I also hadn’t realised that this was part of a series featuring DCI Jansen. This meant that the car accident involving his family in the opening chapters that naturally preoccupied his attention didn’t have any context as I had no background on the characters.

The mystery of whodunnit and motive was quite engaging and satisfying even if I had issues as noted above. I do plan to read the first book in the series, ‘Under the Ice’, as well as looking out for future works.

3.5 rounded up to 4.

Thanks to Head of Zeus for my e-arc of this new atmospheric thriller 'The Scorched Earth' by Rachael Blok

When Bones are unearthed in a churchyard, the past is pulled into the present. 2 years ago, Ben Fenton went camping with his brother Leo, Tragedy strikes, Ben awakes in the morning covered in his brothers blood, But there is no sign of Leo and Ben has no recollection of the prior events. Ben is soon sentenced for his brothers murder and sent to Prison. Untill this body turns up casting fresh doubt over the whole thing. Where has this body come from? Was Ben really the Killer?

This story is told from the point of view of the main protagonists, Ben , Ana , Ben's girlfriend at the time and someone who seems to have a secret, and DCI Maarten Jansen , The main investigator who has his problems to deal with as well this case.

A compelling, atmospheric thriller, this is very well written, It's very descriptive writing, it all feels very dark and brooding.

Plenty of Twists and Turns, the tension is almost palpable, this is a mystery will keep you guessing until the end.

Recommended Read

3.5

I would like to thank Netgalley and Heads of Zeus for an advance copy of The Scorched Earth, the second novel to feature DCI Maarten Jansen of the Hertfordshire Police.

Two years ago brothers Ben and Leo Fenton went camping in Norfolk. Ben woke up covered in blood and Leo went missing. Ben was convicted of Leo’s murder but his wife Ana is sure he is innocent. Now bones have been discovered reburied in the graveyard in the Hertfordshire village of Ayot, just yards from Ana’s house. Ana is hiding something but Jansen and the team aren’t sure what, could it be her helping Ben?

I thoroughly enjoyed The Scorched Earth which has a compelling storyline if the reader is prepared to take it at face value. My first thought was that with modern forensics, notably blood spatter, Ben would never have been convicted but he is so I just went with it. The novel is told from various points of view, mostly Maarten, Ana and Ben, and switches in timeline between now and the night Leo disappeared. This and the obvious secrets being withheld make the start of the novel bitty and disjointed with the reader never actually sure what is going on. Personally I soon got used to the approach and was soon hooked on the mystery of what happened to Leo and who was behind it. I also liked the way all Ana’s secrets were gradually exposed. There are twists galore (and certain improbable coincidences) but the sense of fear from Ana and the tension as the investigation ramps up more than make up for any shortcomings.

I didn’t realise when I read this novel that there was a previous one and perhaps this is why I didn’t get a good sense of Maarten Jansen’s personality. He is preoccupied with his wife’s car accident and this tends to overshadow the rest of his personality in the novel. Also the novel centres, in terms of characterisation, on Ana Fenton. She’s a high powered lawyer but seems to act on poor decision making rather than logic. Her backstory seems to confirm this. Put it this way, I wouldn’t go out of my way to befriend her.

The Scorched Earth is a good read.

“Jess knows. The village knows. Everyone knows.”


A dead body shows up, and this quote is the resulting inner thought in the opening chapter of the character whose world we are being introduced to. This instantly hooked me, and I knew this was a book for me.

I didn’t realise that this was the second book in a series, and luckily it turns out that it works perfectly as a standalone book. I will, however, be adding the prequel to my TBR list!

The Scorched Earth is a deliciously meaty crime thriller that drops so many feasible suspects along the way that as a reader your guesses at solving the mystery are likely to change with almost every chapter. There are lots of subtly dropped hints that could implicate almost any character who crosses the reader’s path, and – although, sure, a certain amount of suspension of disbelief needs to be in place to justify the vast number of consequences that occur – the pace at which the path twists and turns is perfect and by the end I was completely unable to put the book down!

There is a claustrophobic atmosphere built up from a combination of a suffocating heatwave occurring in the country at the time, along with a growing paranoia and fear that Ana, one of the main characters, is experiencing throughout the story. Many of her fears felt like a very relatable aspect of womanhood, sadly, however they were amplified by specific instances in her life. The use of a heatwave as a trope for tension is a cliche one, but a cliche for a reason – it works!

The two main characters that the reader sees the world via are Ana, and DCI Maarten Jansen, are both hugely sympathetic characters, and I warmed to them both very quickly. Other chapters are seen through the eyes of Leo in flashbacks, and his brother Ben, who is serving time in jail for his brother’s murder.

I ended up suspecting the person behind the mystery fairly early on, however I soon lost that suspicion due to the number of convincing red herrings along the way. In fact, by the time that his part was fully revealed, I’d kind of forgotten that I’d ever suspected him!

There was a final reveal in the epilogue which had been hiding in plain sight for several chapters by this point, and yet still took me completely by surprise – to the extent that I actually vocalised my shock and sadness. That was a testament to how well the book had been crafted.

On a personal note, as someone who knows the area that the book is set in extremely well as I grew up there, I really loved being able to picture the settings so perfectly.

Rating: 4/5

Two years ago, brother Ben Fenton and brother Leo decided to go camping in a remote area of Blakeney Norfolk. The next morning Ben Fenton woke up drenched in blood and Leo Fenton feared dead but, his body was never found. Ben was accused of his murder, but always claiming he was innocent. Present day, a body was found in a freshly dug grave. The body believed to be Leo’s is found near to were Ben’s girlfriend lives.
I liked the premise of the Scorched Earth. It had it usual twists and turns and kept you guessing throughout. But I am afraid I didn’t like or cared for any of the characters in this story and the description went of far too long, which let me skimmed read towards the end. Three stars from me.

Good premise from the off - two brothers Ben and Leo go camping. but the next morning In there's no sign of Leo and Ben has literally got blood on his hands. But does he have blood on his hands in every sense of the phrase?

Then a body is found - close to where Ben's girlfriend lives...

The then and now plots work well since the disappearance happened only two years ago so it's a recent and timely way to tell the story. Ana, Ben's girlfriend provides the links between the then and now and as you read, the case starts to come together. It's a slow burn but an interesting one.

The setting of the camping trip in the countryside compared with life in the town now is well done - the chapters on the camping scenes are dark and claustrophobic.

There's something about camping in the woods that you just know is going to end badly. A good read but not a standout one.

Not my cup of tea. The book is well written but I couldn't connect to the story or the characters and the book fell flat.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

I’d like to thank Head Of Zeus and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘The Scorched Earth’ by Rachael Blok in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.
Ben and Leo are camping in a field in Blakeney, Norfolk, when Leo disappears and although his body is never found Ben is arrested for his murder. Two years later a body identified as Leo’s is found in a freshly dug grave in a churchyard near to the house where Ben’s wife Ana lives. DCI Maaten Jansen is in charge of the investigation but Jansen’s wife and children are involved in a car accident at the beginning of the case and his thoughts are with his family rather than the murder. As Ben has always protested his innocence, who killed Leo and then moved his body?
‘The Scorched Earth’ is the second book in the series and perhaps if I’d read the first one I’d have had a better understanding of the characters who I thought came over as stilted and contrived at times. Nevertheless, I liked the description of the book and in that respect I wasn’t disappointed as the plot was interesting and there were enough twists and turns to keep me involved. Also, I liked where the story was based, St Albans, Hertfordshire, an area well known to me, and I was keen to see if I recognised any of the places mentioned. Generally the book was reasonably good, not the best I’ve read but certainly not the worst.