I am at a loss for words.... This does not happen often . Simon Toyne, you are a twisted twisted man and I love every bit of it.

Dark Objects, is not the typical type of thriller I would choose for myself. I avoid police procedurals because I find them to be boring and repetitive. I want to read a book from the eyes of the villain or victim but never from a third party. Well, there is a first time for everything.....

I absolutely loved this book! I devoured it in one sitting and I could not stop thinking about it long after I concluded!

You can tell Toyne, did his research. The plot was executed with precision. The characters were all layered and well developed and the twist was on point and hit like no other.

I would highly recommend this book to those who enjoy police procedurals but even if you don't I would still give it a try !

Read this if you like: Procedural cop thrillers, slow burn, multiple POVs, dysfunctional families

A glamorous woman is murdered in her ultra-luxurious London mansion and her husband goes missing. 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. The book appears to have helped the killer forensically cleanse the crime scene.

Laughton Rees is an academic who doesn't usually work live cases since the brutal murder of her mother as a teen left her traumatized and emotionally scarred. The presence of her book at this scene forces her into the high-profile investigation and media circus 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. Painful memories come up of her past related to the man she has always blamed for her mother's death: John Rees her father. He's the current Metropolitan Chief Commissioner. She hasn't spoken to him in twenty years.

This is my first read by Simon Toyne. It was good. I would say I think it was a bit too long as it dragged in many spots. Too many background details added in. However, the twists were good. The ending was shocking. The characters were well developed. It shows a lot of the procedure when figuring out a murder case as well as tons of background on the Rees family. I recommend this one!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and William Morrow for the gifted copy!

Loved this one! The premise intrigued me and I’m happy to say that it lived up to my expectations! Nice twists and turns and I loved the author’s writing style.

Here’s another one to add to your 7/12 #pubday buy list! @simontoyne has served us a novel that will satiate the appetite of every type of thriller lover! Even if you don’t normally read thrillers but want a genre introduction, this is it!

🔹𝚂𝚈𝙽𝙾𝙿𝚂𝙸𝚂:

A posh young woman is found dead in her luxurious London mansion and her husband is missing. The woman’s body is meticulously staged and seemingly random objects are placed around her. Laughton Rees is a brilliant criminologist but doesn’t work live cases and only shares her expertise with her University students. Because one of the items placed near the woman’s body is a procedural textbook written by Laughton, she finds it necessary to step out of her comfort zone and aid investigators with the case. It seems the killer is taunting her and she will do everything she can to keep herself and her daughter safe from this monster. Ever since her mother was murdered and her police chief father wasn’t present to stop it, Laughton has dedicated her life to protecting what family she has left.

🔹 𝚃𝙷𝙾𝚄𝙶𝙷𝚃𝚂:

This book has it all! A serial killer, police procedure, twists and turns throughout, jaw-dropping suspense, relatable characters, and an ending that will blow you away! I was immediately sucked in and finished this book in 2 sittings! Toyne’s writing is brilliant, keeping tension high throughout the book instead of saving it all for the end. Laughton is a quirky character with OCD tendencies and a severely overprotective nature but I loved her so much because of this! I truly hope this is the first of many books featuring this complex cast of characters.

Dark Objects
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Mystery Fiction
Format: Kindle eBook
Date Published: 7/12/22
Author: Simon Toyne
Publisher: William Morrow
Pages: 400
Goodreads Rating: 4.15

TW ⚠️: Aspects of racism and bullying.

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley and William Morrow and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

Synopsis: When she was fifteen years old, Laughton Rees witnessed the brutal murder of her mother by a masked killer—and barely escape with her own life. Now a successful forensics professor, Laughton’s focused on her daughter and her work—but the past isn’t done with her. When Laughton’s book about criminal investigation is found at the scene of a violent murder, the Met police officer in charge of the case asks for her help. The crime scene has some disturbingly personal elements for Laughton, and she can’t shake the feeling that someone is sending her a message. After all these years, has the monster who murdered her mother come back for her?

My Thoughts: The story is narrated by Laughton, Khan (DCI leading investigation), and Slade (ruthless tabloid reporter), from their own perspectives. The characters are so well developed with layers of depth, yet mysterious, emotional, and intriguing. The author’s writing style was chilling, suspenseful, twisty, complex, and the storyline builds with tension and a twisty plot that has complex layers. I loved how each chapter ends in cliffhanger, drawing you to immediately proceed to the next chapter, regardless if it is 2am. A twisty, fast paced, page turning novel from Toyne that will keep you absorbed from cover to cover. While a plot is always important to a thrilling read, this novel not only has a great plot but focuses on the characters. This is my first read from Toyne but will not be my last, I really enjoyed this author’s writing style and will be reading more from Toyne. I highly recommend that you preorder this book that releases on Tuesday!!

By my way of reasoning , all books are mysteries in that , crime or no, the author’s job is to keep the reader guessing what will happen next. Because of this when I start a new story I make an attempt to know as little as possible about it. That being said when I jumped into Simon Toyne’s clever new police procedural #DarkObjects I was totally blind as to its twists and turns ( of which there are many ). Suffice it to say that Pakistani/Irish detective inspector Tannahill Khan is up against it when attempting to solve a murder whose perpetrator carefully chooses the clues that are left behind. #DarkObjects is a page turner loaded with fascinating developments that keep this much trod upon genre fresh and engrossing. A splendid time is guaranteed for all ! Four stars.

While this book had a fairly novel premise, the book itself is addled by shortcuts taken along the way. The story is of a ceremonial murder, that obviously has more than meets the eye, and an interesting premise is teased along the way, with the now-customary nod to the COVID-19 pandemic, and omni-present masking is used as a prop - but literally only for a fleeting moment.

The original crime scene had all the makings of an excellent police procedural, but the author takes the easy way out of the "perp" sending well-timed "hints" to a reporter of questionable integrity and with a lightly-hidden agenda of his own, and that - to me - made this book lose its head-start.

There is an attempt to make the characters three-dimensional, but many still came across as fairly cardboardish and veritable caricatures of numerous earlier such characters from many other novels.

All in all, an interesting premise with promising characters, that would have definitely benefited from a little more hard work.

I Often Try A New Author — This Was A Grand Slam

Early on a Monday morning, a cleaning lady arrives to work at a highly secure private residence. She checks the garage, and both of the Millers’ cars are there. She starts her cleaning routine. When she enters the living room. She notices blood everywhere and something on the floor. She calls the police. While the house is highly secure, the back side of the house is almost entirely glass. What the cleaning lady did not know is that the perpetrator was watching her the whole time from a cemetery right behind the residence. The action shifts to DCI Tannahill Khan to investigate. He is the North London Murder Squad’s lead knife attack expert.

This novel’s main storyline is the one of the most complex and enjoyable that I have read. The novel has seven main storyline threads. In numerous chapters, the narrator’s voice changes. These are harbingers of a novel that is difficult to read and follow. That was not the case here. I had zero problems following the action in this novel. The complexity is demonstrated by the status at the start of the investigation. The woman was murdered in a high security residence without any alarm activity. The woman’s body is staged with numerous objects around her. One of them is a book about how to process a crime scene written by the estranged daughter of the Commissioner of Police. The husband is missing. Both of them do not have a history. The residence is owned by an offshore company that also pays all the bills. From there, this novel proceeds in a most intriguing way. There are what I call literary tropical storms that lead up to a category five hurricane in the storyline. My attention was riveted to finishing reading this novel as soon as possible.

The B-storyline is just as complex and equally enjoyable to read. The major thread is that of Laughton Rees. Her thread is extensive in covering her relationship with her father, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan police, and her daughter. Much of this thread also is part of main storyline thread of the investigation as her joints it. DCI Khan’s background was more conventional. His actions, thoughts, and conversations with his mother, superiors and his team. The B-storyline really enrichen my reading enjoyment.

For the aspects that cause some readers to stop. I rate intimacy a green flag — no issues at all. Language is more rude than vulgar and earns a yellow-green flag. This flag also includes the British equivalents. Violence is described both clinical versus emotional. There is some violence described in the more edgy as it occurs. None of these aspects should be an issue for most readers. The author is British with the novel set in London, so some of the British informal chased me to the Internet to determine the meeting.

I did not find anything that I disliked or irritated me while reading this novel. There was plenty that I liked. This is the first novel I have read that used social media more than just texting. The Highgate Ladies’ Book Club WhatsApp group added a delightful touch to the novel. I counted nine different voices of narration. I did not find this man confusing, but it actually provided me a very detailed insight into the novel. Lastly, the B-storyline thread on Laughton Rees kept my interest peaked, and I felt that I couldn’t wait until the thread resumed just as I did for the main storyline threads. I cannot remember this happening before. All of these aspects kept my interest in the novel all the way to the end. I could not stop reading until late every night and read some more when I woke in the morning.

I selected to read this novel as I was looking for a new author to try. I was greatly pleased with this selection. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel. While I would like to read at least one more novel, I am fairly confident that it too will confirm this author being in my Must-Read category of authors. I strongly recommend reading this novel. I rate it with five stars.

I received a free e-book version of this novel through NetGalley from William Morrow. My review is based only by my own reading experience of this book. I wish to thank William Morrow for the opportunity to read and review this novel early.

From the publisher: 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 a murder scene draws her unwillingly into the high-profile investigation and media circus that springs up around it.

I thoroughly enjoyed Dark Objects. I haven’t seen anything that indicates this is the first in a series, but I hope it is. Dark Objects is a combination psychological thriller and police procedural, and I need a new police procedural series to read.

The book introduces a large number of characters, and the narrative also serves as a commentary on how society reacts to violence close to home. The “dark objects” refer to items placed around first one, then two murder victims in a very deliberative fashion. The structure of the plot walks us through the significance of the items.

Tannahill Khan, the Detective Chief Inspector in charge of the case, is half Irish, half Pakistani. His arresting looks don’t protect him from racist comments and behavior. Laughton Rees, the forensics expert whose book called How to Process a Murder is one of the “dark objects,” is an extremely traumatized survivor of violence. After living on the streets, becoming an addict, and having a child as a teenager, she became a respected academic. But the trauma is always just under the surface of her life. Both Tannahill and Laughton are interesting characters with a lot of room to grow in future books, if there are any.

Other characters include a sleazy and sexist reporter with an ax to grind, Laughton’s troubled teenaged daughter, Laughton’s estranged father (the current Metropolitan Chief Commissioner), and the house cleaner who found the first body.

The author seems to know what he is talking about as far as crime scene procedures and crime scenes go. Most of my knowledge comes from watching CSI and reading police procedurals, but it all seemed to make sense to me. The author did a great job keeping my interest in the characters and the crime. I especially loved the climactic ending. This is my first book by Simon Toyne but I predict it will not be my last.

I read an advance reader copy of Dark Objects from Netgalley. Dark Objects is scheduled to be published on July 12, and the Galesburg Public Library will own it in print and digital.

I loved reading this. It's been a while since a book has grabbed me from the very beginning but this one took me on a ride. To see everything though the killers eyes and what they were thinking and what actually happened was so well done.

What a fantastic story. Intriguing and mysterious from beginning to end. Laughton has a personality and enigma that shine through that pages. The mystery surrounding the murders and their identity of Miller truly keeps me captivated. The story unfolds at a very good pace. The middle of the story does have some confusion as there was so much going on. The ending had a twist that I never saw coming, and nothing led up to that ending that would make me think there was a twist. Yet, there was a huge twist, a little nugget of a surprise.

Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for letting me read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Yes to all of it. A fun, fast moving read. You will stay up late reading this one- beginning with the seemingly impossible murder get from the get go! How did the murderer even get in the house!?? Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read this thriller as an ARC! I had a great time!

I love a good twisty intellectual thriller. The catch with thrillers is that the endings often wrap up a little too neatly and in a manner that feels far fetched. This is a nearly universal criticism for me for the genre. So not just for this one book. In fairness, if a thriller ended like a case in life, we could wait years for a resolution! Not such fun reading…

Having said that, if you can push that out of your mind- you will enjoy this book. It was a fast paced read that kept me going. I loved that Laughton wanted nothing to do with crime investigation itself- but yet the crime pulled her in anyway in such a personal manner. She is an interesting character, and I would definitely read another story with her in it.

I tried to give this book a chance, but I just couldn’t get into it. I tend to read for relaxation and if a book doesn’t grab me, I have to put it down. I do appreciate the chance to read and review, Unfortunately,this one didn’t work for me.

This is a very intelligent police procedural, there were moments that were a little slow, but overall the slow burn, the piece by piece of information. The overlapping storylines make sense. The main characters were very likeable and smart. It wasn't predictable and kept me guessing until the very end. Very good book

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Dark Objects.

I love police procedurals and the premise of Dark Objects sounded right up my alley so I was pleased when my request was approved.

When a well-to-do woman is murdered in a bizarre method, academic Laughton Rees, author and teacher, is brought in to investigate the case. Her book was found at the crime scene and the lead detective believes Rees can provide insight he may not otherwise be aware of.

The narrative is wordy, packed with exposition about major and minor characters, which adds bulk to the word count.

I'm all for background information, but it was a tad much in Dark Objects.

The premise isn't just about these brutal murders; it relates back to the case that tore Rees' family apart and caused the death of her mother, a lingering sorrow and resentment at her father, the police commissioner, that has never gone away.

There's a lot going on; Rees and her father's estrangement, Rees' teenage daughter is struggling at school; Rees's father is dealing with the politics and bureaucratic red tape of his job, Khan and his team racing to find a brutal killer, an annoying reporter seeks revenge against the justice system after what happened to his father.

I enjoyed the procedural aspects of the story the most; how Khan and his team probe into the backgrounds of the victims, how they discover who they are and the reasons behind their deaths.

I guessed the ending, it was a bit hard to suspend disbelief for.

There are your usual tropes in Dark Objects; a detective bringing an outsider to consult on a case and she/he has insights the police don't have (would police really not check where the cars in the garage have been previously? Are all police this dumb or only books so the consultant looks way smarter?)

Khan and Rees have a flirty vibe between them, naturally, because in most books, the main characters need to be in a relationship or there has to be the possibility of one.

I didn't dislike Rees and Khan, but I didn't like them like I thought I would.

I actually found Rees kind of annoying, though I can't really put a finger on why. Something about her personality was irritating.

Khan was fine, a typical workaholic detective with a good heart and a strong work ethic.

Dark Objects wasn't bad, especially if you can suspend disbelief. The violence may put some readers off.

Interesting and well written I just personally couldn’t get into the story. Definitely creepy. Just a little slow and unbelievable at some points. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

From the get-go, Dark Objects distinguishes itself as something more than your ordinary murder-investigation thriller. Written with an uncharacteristically beautiful prose that chills you deep down to your bones, this book is crafted brilliantly as a magnificent crime thriller that stands up to the best in the genre with more diversity and ingenuity than usually explored.
When a gruesome murder of a woman in a high tech secure house shakes the confidence of the elites in London, Forensics expert Laughlin Rees is pulled into the heart of the mystery when her book on how to process a murder is left by the murderer at the crime scene. Partnering up with the lead investigator, DCI Tannahill Khan, Rees must overcome her dark past with murderers to stop this one before she finds her daughter in the crosshairs of the unhinged murderer.
Dark Objects is not for the faint-hearted. Simon Toyne does not shy away from painting a vividly disturbing and ultimately realistic picture of horrifying crime scenes that carry the gravitas to propel the characters into action. Toyne’s insights into crime scene investigation make for one of the most shrewd and cunning works of literature I’ve read of recent. Coupled with a keen eye for introducing distinctive characters of both male and female genders, Toyne keeps the narrative fresh and engaging; Tannahill’s representation as an Irish-Pakistani is one I haven’t read in mainstream books, especially with the authenticity of Toyne’s indisputable research of the cultures. Rees herself is a very formidable and aptly written female protagonist with a heart of gold and the rage of a warrior. At no point during the whole narrative did she seem the least bit unnecessarily sexualized or overtly emotional for the sake of being a female character. Her martial arts training pay off dividends during the climax.
The heart of this narrative is the art of processing a crime scene. Toyne walks readers through the grim and violent scenes with an expert hand, describing the scenes and emotions artfully. Every laser focused detail acts like an important puzzle piece to solve the mystery of the crime scene, leaving no single sentence wasted. Rees’s forensics mindset is a delight to traverse as she picks through the evidence smartly and energetically, amping up each chapter with vigor and enthusiasm.
Dark Objects is a must-read for all those who enjoy dabbling in dark stories where gray subject matters persist more than the typical straightforward resolutions. Captured artistically against the cloudy skylines of London, this cinematic thriller is one to stay with you.


Full review posted on: https://www.bestthrillerbooks.com/kashif-hussain

I went into this book thinking it would be a murder mystery, which it very much is not, but is instead a much more interesting crime thriller touching on grief and justice. The book takes a while to get to the crime solving aspect, because the chapters rotate through many character's perspectives, but once everyone gets together, it was a pretty thrilling ride. Dr. Laughton Rees was a great, complex character who had a really well-done character arc during the book. I enjoyed Toyne's inclusion of her lecture and excerpts from her fictional book, they were a fascinating insight into criminal procedure that made up the backbone of the book.
Would I follow the characters who survive into another book? Absolutely. But Toyne does a great job of wrapping everything up in this book and I found the ending very satisfying, even if the final twists were not the most shocking thing I had ever read.
This book is another great character driven crime thriller, with more emphasis on the characters, since there only a few chapters of actual detective work. If you want a Sherlock Holmes-type mystery, this is not that book, but it is very good as its own dark character drama.

This is my first Simon Toyne and it won't be my last ! Dark Objects is a fantastically plotted murder mystery featuring interesting characters that I would like to see more of!

Laughton Rees is our heroine, she is the estranged daughter of the police chief and only child of his and his murdered wife. This traumatic event happened when Laughton was a teen and has caused her to hide in the shadows of life and maintain a career mainly through writing. Her famous book "How to Process a Murder" is found at a scene - a very wealthy women killed in her luxurious home. The home is accessed only via fingerprints thus her husband is the only suspect.

Excerpts from Laughton's book start the chapters and assist the reader with solving the murder. If you like complicated and fascinating characters, locked room mysteries and interesting procedurals then Dark Objects is for you (sequel please!)
#williammorrow #netgalley #netgalleyreads

Smart & thoughtfully written, this thriller kept me turning the pages late into the night. I love how the author knew exactly where to add detail without over explaining things that didn’t move the plot forward. It was like reading a great episode of your favorite “criminal minds” style TV show.