This was a great, twisted mystery. We follow alternately Mick, a cop, and Stefan, a lawyer, following an assault on Stefan. Great story with many twists and Mick and Stefan are super characters as weird all the supporting characters. I appreciated the representation of a main character with CF. It was in some ways central to the plot, but also not important which was wonderful to see.

I really enjoy the writing of author Chris Collett having read her DI Mariner series so it was interesting to read her new standalone book 'The Truth about Murder'.
Stefan Greaves emerges from a coma, after been brutally mugged while investigating a complaint at a local hospital.
The woman who visited the law firm where Stefan works had feared something very sinister was going on in the hospital’s postnatal ward. Now she has disappeared. Policeman, Mick Fraser and his partner Denny Sutton interviews Stefan and try to track down the missing woman. Then a body is found on the riverbank. There are more secrets to be uncovered that first thought.
I really enjoyed this book , decent plot and characters that grew on me as I read the book.

I would like to thank both Net Galley and Joffe books for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Absolutely flew through this book in two days and couldn’t put down my kindle! Such an amazing read with so many twists and turns, just when you think you’ve got the story sussed it takes a different turn. If you’re into murder mysteries this is the book for you!!

I believe this is a standalone piece of character driven crime fiction from Chris Collett with fascinating protagonists in the form of disabled paralegal Stefan Greaves, afflicted with cerebral palsy and a rookie Scottish police officer, PC Mick Fraser, partnered with the older Denny Sutton, a man with his eye on retirement. A paediatric nurse at the local hospital has concerns about neonatal deaths at her workplace which she relays to Stefan. Stefan becomes the victim of a apparently random but brutal attack that puts him in hospital. Mick investigates the mystery where there is a death with Stefan. This is a particularly chilling read, the investigation is a chilling affair when the truth comes to light. An atmospheric, tense and twisted read that I really enjoyed. Many thanks to Joffe Books for an ARC.

Lawyer/Para Legal  Stefan Greaves is brutally mugged one evening whilst popping to the local shop for no apparent reason.  Mick Fraser takes over the case from his partner Denny Sutton and soon he is found murdered.  What's more puzzling is the last potential client who spoke to Greaves is also fund dead, setting the scene for a puzzling case with limited evidence. 

I loved the way Chris Collett has written the two male lead protagonists.  With Stefan, she has written a very intelligent and strong disabled character who lives a happy and fulfilled life but has equally highlighted some of the daily struggles and misconceptions faced by him.  He is charming and witty and easily likable.  Mick Fraser is a little more 'wet behind the ears' to begin with but has great instinct and likes to have answers for things.  He is not a smooth as Stefan but together with their skills combined they are formidable.  Writing in first person and using each character's perspective the reader experiences the investigation in different ways and from different view points.  For me it was also a great way to gain more insight into the characters themselves.   

The plot unravels at a steady pace and reveals little bits of the jigsaw along the way.  It's pacey enough to keep the reader interested but not so fast that you miss bits.  I found myself analysing every bit of conversation, interaction or evidence to try and piece the crimes together.  For me this is the whole point of reading crime and police procedural novels - to be pulled in so much that you turn detective.   

Told through clever plotting and narrative, once the threads do pull together it results in a twisted and disturbing conclusion.  Chris Collett goes beyond simple story telling and delves deep into the psyche of people and society and has produced a riveting read that I couldn't put down.  I'm really hoping to see more from this duo.

he Truth About Murder by Chris Collett
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Publication date was the 19th December 2019.
Publisher - Joffe Books
Thanks to @netgalley and @joffebooks for an e-copy of the book.
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Description
A MUGGING.A MISSING WOMAN. THEN A MURDER. Stefan Greaves wakes up from a coma. He was brutally mugged while investigating a complaint about a local hospital.
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The woman who visited the law firm where Stefan worked had feared something very sinister was going on in the hospital’s postnatal ward. Now she has disappeared.
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Rookie policeman, Mick Fraser interviews Stefan. Mick’s new partner Denny Sutton is a cynical man with secrets of his own. They try to track down the missing woman. Then a body is found on the riverbank.
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HOW ARE THESE CRIMES LINKED AND WHAT’S REALLY GOING ON IN THE POLICE STATION?
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The theme of eugenics as a narrative concept through the premise of forced sterilisation and riding the population of its undesirables is not new. However, Chris Collett has delivered it in a modern way - a complex plot featuring victims, the police and investigative lawyers. I think that Stefan being born with so called ‘birth-defects’ emphasises the consequences of the actions of those trying to ‘better’ the area.
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I loved both Stefan and Mick as characters and they interacted well with each other. Both want to help others and do the best job that they can. They came from the story at differing angles which eventually intertwined to a satisfying conclusion. They both come across as being strong characters and I would honestly like to find out more about them. This book is advertised as being a stand-alone but I could see a series being developed from this book.
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The action was fast paced, the plot was complex and chilling but for me the star of the show was Stefan himself. The author didn’t want us to judge Stefan for using drugs or prostitution as a means to cope with his disability, so we didn’t. You see his wavering self-confidence throughout the plot, his naivety regarding his assistant is sweet. It shouldn’t happen but people are self-conscious still about their disability and Chris showed how this can affect even the strongest of people.

Thank you to NetGalley, the Publisher and the Author for the ARC.

The story follows a police officer who is new to town, a paralegal who has been mugged and a headstrong paediatric nurse who is being bullied at work. The stories all intertwine to solve a suspicious death and to challenge our thoughts on the ethics and politics of management.

I loved this book, I found it hard to put down! I thought the were characters engaging and interesting and the story fast paced and intriguing. Working in the NHS myself I found the demands of the work and the pressure of caseloads accurate. Although the twist can be guessed early on the ending is still chilling and thought provoking. I would highly recommend this book.

Detective Jason Smith is back so I settled in for another thrilling instalment in this breathtakingly brilliant series. I wasn't disappointed this is, as expected, a brilliant read.

The team is still reeling from the loss of Brownhill but, thankfully it is a pretty quiet time crime wise and Whitton and Smith are getting ready for a trip to Bridlington. But as usual time off is not going to happen and the phone starts ringing......

I wont say much about the story as I don't want to spoil anything but I will just say that as usual it is unique, intriguing and another book you are unable to put down once you start reading.

What is different about this book is that it is emotional we see a team that has lost its leader and the effect on morale that brings with it but also other emotional aspects that really feed in to the story to make it even more adrenaline pumping.

We also meet a slightly different Smith in this one, one who is no longer confident and sure of himself. He messes up badly and the jury is out on whether he can come back from this.

An absolutely gripping story, well written with very human characters I can't wait for the next book to find out what Stewart Giles has planned for the poor man next.

5 Golden stars from me.

An ingenious and inventive plot. Kept the reader fully involved from start to finish. Well recommended a great read look forward to more from this author

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. I have never read anything from this author before but will change that. I thought this was a well written thriller with great characters. I enjoyed it.

So I love Christ Collett’s DI Mariner series so when I saw that she was releasing a standalone crime thriller I was intrigued.

Stefan Greaves is approached by Rita Todd about infant death at the hospital she works at. Later on, Stefan is mugged and Rita disappears.

PC Mick Fraser is assigned to Stefan’s case but without much evidence to go on, the investigation stalls.
Rita’s body turns up and it’s assumed as suicide but Rita’s daughter isn’t convinced. With the help of Mick, Stefan must get to the bottom of a terrifying conspiracy and find out what really happened.

The Truth About Murder is a twisty and complex tale which I found quite unsettling at times, although I do think this would make a fantastic TV series!

The story follows two perspectives, Stefan Greaves, a paralegal who suffers from cerebral palsy and PC Mick Fraser, a Scottish policeman who’s just moved to Charnford.

They are both really strong characters but Stefan just edged ahead for me. Also Stefan having a disability (although we don’t find out the true extent of this until later in the novel) really added that extra dimension to the story showing some of the difficulties he faces. I also liked Stefan’s emo personal assistant Plum, she’s full of attitude but has a kind heart.

The underlying theme in this story is quite harrowing especially regarding disability and how it is treated. And there are certain parts of the story, in our current political climate, I thought to myself, I could actually see this happening, which were truly terrifying.

I did have an issue with the layout, Stefan’s perspective was written in normal writing but Mick’s was written in italics. I know this was done so you could tell the difference between the two first person perspectives but going from one to the other made my eyes go a little funny!

The Truth About Murder is realistic police procedural which will equally enthral and chill you to your core.

I know this is currently a standalone novel but I would love to see some more from these characters.

Stefan Greaves is a paralegal working for a small firm in Charnford, struggling to stay afloat in the current climate and therefore sometimes having to take on less than preferable cases. Indeed they have just lost a case trying to sue a shoddy landlord for the death of a child. Back at the office he sees Rita Todd, a paediatric nurse at the local hospital who has been persuaded to consult them by her daughter. She has concerns about things that have been happening to the children there, including an increased number of deaths, and she may be about to lose her job, but refuses to tell this to Stefan and leaves, agreeing to come back in a few days if she changes her mind. Sadly this appointment is never kept. Stefan is mugged that same night leaving the local shop and wakes up in hospital to be interviewed by PC Mick Fraser. Mick is a fairly new addition to the local force, relocating due to his wife's job, and has been teamed up with old hand PC Denny Sutton who is due to retire very soon. Clearly Denny misses his old partner who left under an alcoholic cloud and can't wait to retire. In his last couple of weeks he is involved in some hush-hush project with the boss Supt Bowers and Mick is left to his own devices. Investigating Stefan's mugging leaves him up against a brick wall with a lack of witnesses and no forensics. He soon learns that there is tendency in the station to pursue only the cases that can be solved but this does not sit easy with Mick. Then more strange events take place. Rita's body is pulled from the nearby river, thought to be an accident or suicide, and Denny is stabbed to death, leaving Mick to make some disturbing discoveries when clearing out his locker. As Stefan looks into the events surrounding Rita, Mick is meanwhile unearthing uncomfortable truths in his own enquiries and gradually they are pulled together into working on and solving their cases with devastating results for some. There are some very likeable characters in this book. Stefan has cerebral palsy, pretty obvious from the start of the book but only actually confirmed much later on, and someone in Stefan's position could be bitter or feel sorry for himself, but he is neither of those things, instead having a very upbeat outlook on life which is reflected back by how most people see him. It was sad to see a few people were still very ignorant in the way they viewed and treated him, and not surprising that it upset him. Mick is another great character, a good man who cares about people. The story unravels slowly as the reader gets more information and evidence to piece together, and it was intriguing waiting to find out the extent of Denny's involvement and for Mick and Stefan to finally join forces. There were some very thought provoking issues with no easy answers tackled in the story, leaving the readers with a "gosh, could this really happen?" feeling. Although billed as a stand alone, I really hope that the hints left at the end of the book lead to a series featuring this new and very interesting partnership. 4.5*

Stephan Greaves works for a local solicitor. PC Mick Fraser has just been transfered to the area. When Stephan gets mugged, it's Mick that's sent to investigate. Stephan is working for Rita Todd wh is a nurse and her daughter, Andrea. Then a ody is found in a river. Is there a connection to these crimes?

The story is told from Stephen and Micks perspectives. I love the authors writing style. The pace is fast and the storyline gripping. The prologue is written in a first person narrative from a foreign Bishop. I hope there are ore books involving Stephan and Mick in the near future.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Joffe Books and the author Chris Collett for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Stefan Greaves was almost killed. He was viciously mugged while investigating a complaint made by an employee of a local hospital.

The woman who visited Greaves at his law office expressed fear that 'something' was going on... she just wasn't real sure. Or at least that is what she told him. Her daughter reported her missing soon after.

Mick Fraser is a rookie detective. Working under the direction of his new partner, Denny Sutton, he is investigating Greaves mugging and robbery. Denny is soon to retire, so he's not exactly helpful in teaching Fraser anything in the way of investigating. Sutton is not the most likeable man ... he' s cynical and extremely secretive.

A woman's body is found on the riverbank ... it's the missing woman. Sutton steers him away from looking into what happened to her even though Greaves thinks the cases are connected.

When Sutton is killed while chasing a suspect, Greaves' job is to clean out Sutton's locker. What he finds there has him really concerned. And if there was one corrupt cop ... might there be more? And how far are they willing to go to keep their secrets?

Who can he trust?

This is a well written complex stand-alone police-procedural. The story is told by two men ... Greaves from his point of being a lawyer, as well as a victim and Fraser, the young cop who wants to get it right. There's plenty of action and lots of suspense.

Many thanks to the author / Joffe Books / Books n All Book Promotions / Netgalley for the digital copy of this crime fiction. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Joffe Books for an advance copy of The Truth about Murder, the first novel to feature Constable Mick Fraser and paralegal Stefan Greaves, set in the fictional English town of Charnford.

Nurse Rita Todd’s daughter insists that she visit a lawyer to discuss the possibility that she might lose her job at the hospital and she chooses to speak to Stefan but says little and makes a follow up appointment. Stefan misses this appointment because he is mugged and ends up unconscious in hospital and when he tries to contact Rita she has disappeared. In the meantime rookie Constable Mick Fraser is investigating Stefan’s assault and a body found in the river.

I enjoyed The Truth about Murder which is a fast moving novel, full of events, developments and twists. I must admit that my heart sank when I read the prologue as it is a first person narrative from a foreign bishop and seemed to bear no relevance to the plot synopsis. It bears re-reading once the novel has been read as it encapsulates many of the themes but will seem pointless until then. It is only a page long then the author gets started. The novel takes some getting used to as it switches perspective between Stefan and Mick, both of whom narrate their sections in the first person. It does give the novel an intimate feel but can be confusing as to who is speaking.

The plot is clever, interesting and unusual so it held my interest from start to finish. I’m not sure how realistic it is in its overarching premise but it’s scary enough to give the reader pause. I liked the detail and plausibility of how it was achieved, leaning on current social conditions and mindsets to take them to an extreme conclusion. I just hope it’s not prescient. I also liked that Mick and Stefan approach the investigation from different angles and reach the same outcome through different avenues. It means that the reader gets to see a broader picture than one narrator could offer.

Stefan is disabled with some serious physical problems. I found it very annoying that there is no explanation for this until about half way through the book although, looking back, maybe this is a plus as it allows the reader to inhabit his difficulties in the physical way he does without preconceptions. I have intermittent mobility and speech problems so I understand the staring he gets but his self consciousness about it doesn’t ring true as he would have learned to live his condition after so many years, especially as he seems a popular person. Mick Fraser is a bit of a self starter, determined to do a good job and solve his cases despite the discouragement he receives. There are hints that he has a troubled background so perhaps more will be revealed as the series progresses. There is enough in these characters to make me want to read more.

The Truth about Murder is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

I loved the Tom Marriner series by this author, but this was nothing like as good. It is narrated in alternating chapters by PC Mick Fraser (first person italics) and Stefan Greaves (also in the first person, but this time no italics). This was a strange experience for the reader. There were an awful lot of characters to keep on top of and an embedded narrative told by a priest which I'm afraid I skipped entirely.

The plot was distasteful and unlikely, although the resolution was more realistic than I thought it was going to be a couple of chapters from the end (and I'm adding the second star for that). The nature of Stefan's disability was drip-fed to the reader very gradually, which also puzzled me - it's not as if those interacting with him in the 'real life' of the narrative wouldn't have been able to perceive it.

Thank you NetGalley and Joffe Books for the eARC.

I really enjoyed this story as it follows Stefan Greaves, who works for a local solicitor, and PC Mick Fraser, a new transfer into the local police ranks..
Their paths cross after Stefan is mugged and it begins to unfold that Stefan was approached to represent Rita, a local nurse before her recent disappearance,

Helping each other, with the help of Stefan’s PA, Plum, they discover a sinister plot in relation to the local hospital and the wider community.

I found the ending chilling and more dark than I imagined this story was leading more.

I am hoping that this is a start of a series of books with Stefan, Plum and PC Fraser. There are snippets of back story in relation to the characters entwined in this book and I need to know more..

Thank you NetGalley and Joffe Books for the eARC.
I loved the book until the ending, which I thought was a bit over the top...but hey, when watching the news I could almost believe the ending could at some point become reality.
Stefan is approached by Rita who works at a neonatal clinic where she believes something shady is going on. She then disappears and is later found dead - presumed to have committed suicide.
Stefan in the meantime is mugged and left badly wounded. PC Mick Fraser interviews him and the two of them end up trying to solve Rita's death together. They realize something evil is being played out as more murders are committed
The book tells both their stories from their points of view, which I enjoyed. Both characters are very likeable, as is Plum, who works with Stefan. I hope all three will be featured again in the next book; it promises to be an excellent series if they are in it.

This was one wicked book most unexpected I must say. The subplot was so evil in its conception that I was quite awed by it.

Stefan was mugged and beaten badly while investigating Rita’s claims of increased neonatal mortality at the hospital. Fraser was the young cop who was to investigate the mugging. Links were found between few other mugging and his partner’s death. Then Rita died. And the duo continue to solve both the crimes in different manner until they discovered the sane truth.

My first book by author Chris Collette, the human psyche and greed were well explored. I loved how the author linked the crimes in a decidedly twisted manner. I liked main characters Fraser and Stefan. They were steadfast and constant in their determination to get to the truth. Both investigated different crimes yet there was a meeting point.

The style of writing was slightly different. It took me quite a while to get into the plot of the book. Different POV with no clear heading confused me. I had to read and reread certain sections to get a clear concept. But once I got the initial thread, I could unknot the yarns of subplots pretty well.

Quite a twisted tale where I gasped and shook my head at the human psyche. The author used pure strategy to hide the clues in the shadow of goodness. Wicked purely wicked…