Engaging and entertaining. A recommended purchase for collections where crime and thrillers are popular.

This compelling novel features a mother with a number of compulsions arising from childhood trauma but who is determined to keep her daughter safe. Fifteen years ago, Laughton Rees witnessed the murder of her mother. Now Laughton is grown up and-—despite her difficulties with social interaction—has a distinguished academic career, but a killer is bringing up the past. Not only is this an excellent mystery, with characters worth following and a mix of procedural and thriller elements, it also exceptional well written. I kept finding myself electronically highlighting clever phrases and apt observations. Looking forward to more work by this author!

Thanks to Netgalley and William Morrow for a digital advance review copy.

Laughton Rees (her first name is explained late in the book) has been estranged from her police commissioner father since her mother was murdered when she was fifteen. The murderer was McVey a man whose alleged crimes involved rape and murder of little girls. Rees was head of the investigation that led to McVey's arrest for these front page crimes. But he was released and the charges were dismissed against him. Still, someone leaked his name while he was locked up. He claimed to his dying day, that he was innocent but driven mad by the resulting negative publicity.

Laughton, is now the single mother of a fifteen year old Gracie. At some point in her life, on the advice of a therapist, she spent time looking into the details of the police investigation and conviction of McVey for her mother's murder. This led to an interest in criminology. Laughton wrote "the" book on forensically processing a crime scene and now her book has shown up at the scene of Kate Miller's murder. Laughton's work exclusively involves old, closed out cases, never active ones. She lectures on criminology and has a huge following. But she is very private. She has significant obsessive behaviors centering on the number three. She is very protective of Gracie and very closed with her about her mental health issues and any details relating to her mother's murder.. (Laughton, for me, is one of the more interesting new protagonists to show up in a series in awhile, and this is the first book in the Laughton Rees series. YAY!) So Kate Miller is dead and Mike Miller is missing. Their home with an impregnable security system was breached. They seem to have sprung up from nowhere a year ago. Tannahill Khan, a young Irish-Pakistani DCI catches the case.

Reporter Brian Slade is a the son of a former London cop who was forced out during a cleanup of the force to rid it of abusive and corrupt officers. He is a star writer for "The Daily" a sensation driven rag and he does a mean job staying on the cutting edge of his stories through payoffs, a bit of bullying and a lot of arrogance. He hates Commissioner Rees. Someone with inside knowledge sends Slade information about the Miller case before he should get it. Both Slade and Khan want Laughton to work with them on the Miller case.

And off we go into a tangled investigation of a brutal, bloody stabbing, a strangely staged crime scene that is totally "clean" from a forensics point of view. Who are the Millers who live in a multi-million pound modern behemoth next to a Victorian era graveyard? Where is Mike Miller? Does anyone know about their relationship, enemies, the source of their money? Laughton certainly has learned that her book was found facedown at the scene. Will she been drawn into the helping Slade, given his hostility to her father? Will she help Khan/the police given her expertise and gift for finding what matter in a criminal investigations? She is focused on a serious problem with Gracie and whether to change her school. Also she is stressed about how to afford a new school.

I have not previously read Toyne's other (best selling) work, but I will. First, development of characters matters a lot to me and he deftly draws even the most minor walk-on to create a recognizable personality and some great back stories. Khan is an appealing guy, living in a tiny studio type apartment that he intended to quickly replace but never did, eating miso soup and lying to his Irish mother about what he eats and how much he's working. He wears his Pakistani half in his features so deals at times with harassment, but is obviously respected at his job. Even the cleaning lady who discovered the body is someone whose values, likes and dislikes make up a person we recognize and understand. Second, his writing is impeccable. It flows, is descriptive where it should be and moves along briskly other times. The story remains engaging and one never has to go back to figure out what just happened or what someone meant. His dialogue is great as is his ability to create images/scenes, like that of an old decommissioned police station or the Miller's house. It's not that he says a lot. It's just well done. Finally, plot. This is a police procedural and Toyne checks all the boxes, giving us the information we need to solve this but not giving it away.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and highly recommend it!

Forensics expert Laughton Rees hunts an unusually clever killer who appears to be staging murder scenes just for her in this twisty new psychological thriller by the bestselling author of the Sanctus trilogy.

How do you catch a killer if the victim doesn’t exist?

A glamorous woman is murdered in her ultra-luxurious London mansion and her husband goes missing. But according to public records, neither of them exists.

The only leads police have are several objects arranged around the woman’s body, including a set of keys and a book called How to Process a Murder by Laughton Rees—a book that appears to have helped the killer forensically cleanse the crime scene.

Laughton Rees is an academic who doesn’t usually work live cases after the brutal murder of her mother as a teen left her traumatized and emotionally scarred. But the presence of her book at this scene draws her unwillingly into the high-profile investigation and media circus that springs up around it. As the dark objects found beside the body lead her closer to the victim’s identity, a dangerous threat to Laughton and her daughter emerges, as well as painful memories of her past related to the man she has always blamed for her mother’s death: John Rees, Laughton’s father, the current Metropolitan Chief Commissioner and a man she has not spoken to in twenty years.

Laughton’s family was destroyed once and she built herself a new one. Now, she has to face her darkest fears and help catch a killer before this one is destroyed too.

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Creepy but in a good way. I've been invested with this book since the first chap. It's full of mystery, drama, and the plot is so so so good. I really like this book and highly recommend this book for any readers out there!

3.75 stars rounded up to 4!

When a crime scene sans victim turns up looking exactly like Laughton Rees' book "How to Process a Murder," DCI Tannahill Khan turns immediately to her. Unfortunately, Rees is not interested as she has not talked to her father, the Police Commissioner, in twenty years ever since the police botched the investigation into the murder of her mother. As DCI Khan finally persuades Rees to work the case, she must work to figure out what the objects surrounding the body mean, and find the killer before the killer finds her.

I think where this story kinda lost me was in the ending. For the majority of the story I was in it, but as the clues started to become uncovered I became slightly less invested. I also did feel that some of the twists were very easy to predict, but it did leave me with a last second end of page twist, which I do always enjoy. That being said, I am still interested in the sequel and do think this will be a thriller most people will enjoy.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

This is a dark and twisty thriller that you won't want to put down. The characters are secretive and well fleshed out. I found myself just wanting to keep turning the page to see what would happen next. Well done!

Laughton Rees' novel was found at the murder scene. Kate Muller was killed. Did her husband do it? Laughton's mom was murdered when she was fifteen. She cut off contact with her dad, a police commissioner, whom she blamed for failing to prevent the murder. The crime scene had some disturbing personal elements for Laughton. Is someone sending her a message?
I enjoyed this book and found the plot intriguing. The characters were well-drawn and complicated. The twist at the end was a complete surprise and very satisfying. If you like crime thrillers with hidden messages, then you will enjoy this book.

Interesting murder that goes between two murders. Are the past and present connected or are they unrelated? Can Dr. Rees save the others including herself? Good read, keeps the reader wanting more.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.
Great fast paced thriller. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Author did a great job at keeping me interested and waiting to see what happened next.

The description really tells you all you need to know about the plot, and it didn’t disappoint! Fast paced and told from various perspectives. No loose ends, and the ending caught me off guard! 4.5 stars rounded up. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

A beautiful woman of means is found by her cleaning lady, horrifically stabbed to death in her ultra-expensive, high-tech secured home. A search for her husband reveals he is missing; however, a probe into public records shows no evidence that either of them exist. In spite of the bloody, appalling scene, the woman is carefully arranged in a crucifixion pose, with four difference objects/symbols surrounding her. At her feet is a copy of the book “How to Clean a Murder” by Laughton Rees, a forensic expert in academia. Because the crime scene is forensically clean, it appears that the book was used as a reference by the murderer. DCI Tannahill Khan and his team have the investigation assigned to them. Reluctantly, Laughton is drawn in to the case although she never works live crime scenes, only solved and cold cases. This is because her own mother was brutally murdered when Laughton was a teen, which left her emotionally and mentally traumatized. Unfortunately, the “dark objects” left around the woman start to point to a suspect who is a threat to both Laughton and her teen daughter, Gracie. Working with the police department has also reignited the bitterness and resentment she has held on to for the past twenty years toward the man she holds personally responsible for her mother’s death—Chief Commissioner John Rees—her father.

This wildly entertaining psychological thriller is an absolutely stunning read. I read it so quickly that I inhaled it! I quite literally could not put it down. It is definitely not “another crime novel!” The characters are well-developed, flawed, perfectly imperfect; the eloquent prose and palpable scenery descriptions take the reader along where the author wants him/her to go. I found the book adept, indulging, and exciting, the climax and reveal are beautifully developed. Author Simon Toyne is one to watch, and I’ll be looking forward to more of his work.

I’d like to thank NetGalley, Simon Toyne, and William Morrow/Harper Collins for the ability to read and review this ARC.

Dark Objects by Simon Toynbee

Laughton Rees hunts an unusually clever killer, who appears to be staging murder scenes just for her in this new thriller.

Excellent written book. You won’t be able to put it down. Interesting, and secretive, characters. I recommend this book.

Thanks to Net Galley for sending me an advanced reader’s copy for my review.

This masterfully written mystery opens on the discovery of a woman's body staged with various objects, including Laughton Rees' book, 'How to Process a Murder'.

Laughton is an academic, estranged for 20 years from her father John since her mother's death. John Rees is the Metropolitan Chief Commissioner, so the press have a heyday with his daughter's connection to the case.

DCI Tannahill Khan leads the investigation. and reels Laughton into it.

There are further deaths, as the killer moves closer and closer to his ultimate target

A crime scene expert discovers her book on forensic procedures has been left at a gruesome murder. Carrying enough emotional baggage from a childhood trauma she finds herself pulled into her estranged father’s world of current cases instead of cold ones.

Have you ever started a book and thought that it wasn’t going to be that good? Well I did about this one and it proved me wrong. I liked the characters, the plot was good if a little sporadic in places, and the ending…..oh my!

Recommended!

When Celia Barnes reports to her house cleaning job in the posh Highgate neighborhood in London, she wasn’t expecting to find her employer, Kate Miller murdered. Nor did she know that she was being watched the entire time. Kate’s husband, Mike is nowhere to be found, could he be the brutal killer. When DCI Tannahill Khan starts his investigation Kate and Mike are ghosts, the don’t exist. A book entitled “How to Process a Murder”, written by Laughton Rees, the estranged daughter of the police commissioner, she’s asked to join forces with Tannahill. Laughton doesn’t work active cases because of a childhood trauma, one she blames her father for, but needing a boost in her finances, she agrees to help with the case. As more bodies stack up, it’s evident that Rees is at the center of the crimes being committed, but is she the target? This was a fast paced, well written thriller, with an ending you wont see coming. Would love to see Tannahill and Rees team up for future cases!

This one was a head scratcher from the beginning! Don't worry, it all comes together in the most unpredictable way. Nice character development and good segues between the past and present. New to me author but will look for more.

This was a bit too predicable and cliche for me but overall, I enjoyed the experience. It was dark and twisty, with unique characters. I found the case to be interesting and a step outside the usual “who done it”. This was my first by the author and I look forward to reading more!

A wealthy woman with a mysterious past is found stabbed to death in her home, the body has been meticulously arranged and her husband is missing. Laughton Rees is a professor and forensics expert. She deals exclusively with old cases, but when her forensics textbook is left at the scene of the murder she seems to be the obvious choice to hire as a consultant

Laughton’s estranged father is the Metropolitan Chief Commissioner, who Laughton believes was responsible for the murder of her mother. Laughton also has a fraught relationship with her teenaged daughter. We are told that Laughton has an exceptional talent for observation. Unfortunately for the book, she seems to miss a lot and doesn’t really add anything to the investigation. All of the fact finding and deduction is very capably done by the police. It also helps them that the murderer keeps leaving behind evidence and sending a tabloid reporter clues. Brief parts of the book are from the pov of the murderer. I really should have paid more attention to those parts, because I had no idea who the murderer was until the big reveal at the end. What I see as giant plot holes may well have been explained somewhere and I just missed it. The ending was also a little too tidy for me. Those are merely quibbles and I did enjoy tracking through the red herrings as the police followed the clues.

This is the second book that I’ve read by this author and I have enjoyed each of them. “The Searcher” was more unusual than this book (it features a barefoot amnesiac stranded in a strange town), but that intended series seems to have fizzled out. “Dark Objects” is a standalone, but there is certainly room for a sequel if the author chooses.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

A woman lies dead, stabbed to death in her ultra modern, top security protected home. Days later the body of her missing husband is found, bound and tortured. Both bodies have been posed with seemingly unrelated objects, including a textbook by Laughton Rees, a crime forensics specialist. DCI Tannahill Khan, in charge of the case, recruits the reclusive Laughton to be a consultant. She instinctively explains the crime scenes, leading Khan and his team to suspects. Meanwhile, Commissioner John Rees, Laughton’s estranged father, deals with departmental politics, budget cuts, rising crime and a hostile press.

A character driven police procedural, Dark Objects is the explosive first in the Tannahill Khan series and what a debut it is! Tannahill Khan is confronted with prejudice and dealing with his mother’s interest in his private life and his attraction to the vulnerable, prickly Laughton. She has never fully recovered from an early tragedy and has transferred her anxiety onto her teenage daughter. I’m looking forward to what happens next! 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, William Morrow and Simon Toyne for this ARC.

This was a twisty, unputdownable thriller! The forensic science behind the writting was impecable and enthralling. A must read for anyone who loves medico fiction!