Brilliant just brilliant! I have loved this one from beginning to end. This is a book that intrigued me from the very beginning and it has delivered perfectly.

Unsolved is brilliantly creepy and completely enthralling. Cal has been a great character to go on this journey with. I cannot express how much I’ve loved him as a character. He has his own struggles which we discover but is a great character.

Critchlow has perfectly built suspense and tension for the reader. This is excellently paced and has kept me hooked from the very first page. I have devoured this book with no regrets, only that I wish I could experience this as a read for the first time all over again.

This has been a truly enjoyable read with a range of great characters. I have adored everything about this one. I am a converted fan of Critchlow and absolutely cannot wait for the next book. This is a must for the TBR.

This is book 1 of the Cal Lovett files and my first book by this author. I was intrigued by the story and couldn’t put it down. I’m looking forward to book two since this one leaves a bit of a cliffhanger.

Cal Lovett runs a true crime podcast where he helps solve missing person cases. He wants to find justice for the families and has an obsession in getting to the truth.

When Cal’s sister, Margot, vanished during his youth, the family was forever changed. Although she’s never been found, Cal hasn’t given up the search for his sister. When a convicted serial killer gives Cal information about Margot, he hopes this may be the clue that leads to her finally being found. Was she another one of his victims?

In the meantime, Cal has to make a living. He decides to look into the case of a missing young woman from Scotland. She wasn’t loved by everyone and kept secrets that could have had dire consequences. Will Cal be able to solve this case and get closure for her family?

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you for NetGalley for providing me with this book for review. What a good solid story, thoroughly enjoyed this one, looking forward to reading the next book.

UNSOLVED by Heather Critchlow.
Cal Lovett files book 1.
He won’t rest until he finds out the truth…
Cal Lovett is obsessed with finding justice for the families of missing people. His true crime podcast is his way of helping others, even if he can’t help himself.His sister, Margot, disappeared when he was a child. Only one man seems to know something. But he’s behind bars and can’t be trusted.
A good read. I did find this slow but readable. 3*.

Book Title: Unsolved
Author: Heather Critchlow
Genre: mystery/thriller
Publication date: May 11 2023
Rating: 4/5
Review:
Unsolved follows Cal Lovett, a true crime podcaster as he tries to solve the cold case of Layla, who went missing in Scotland a long time ago. While he’s trying to solve this case thoughts of his own sister who went missing when he was a child are never far from his mind. The story follows the case he is trying to solve, along with that of his sister, all while his own life is slowly unravelling around him.
Unsolved had me hooked right from the beginning. The characters were all interesting and well-developed. You could really feel the pain of Cal, as well as the other characters throughout the book who were dealing with their own losses. I read a lot of thrillers but this is the first that I’ve read that followed the narrative of a true crime podcaster and I found it to be really enjoyable. There were enough twists and turns to keep you guessing right up to the very end.
The writing flowed well and kept me interested in the story. Sometimes I find myself feeling the urge to rush ahead to find out what’s going to happen but the pace of Unsolved was just right. The thought process of seeing things from the point of view of a crime podcaster was interesting as well.
Overall, Unsolved was an enjoyable book, with just the right amount of suspense to keep you on edge while providing solid characters that were easily to identify with. I would definitely recommend this book to other fans of thriller/mystery books.

I have read, and been disappointed by, several books that follow true crime podcasters. This is the one to finally break that lacklustre streak! Cal, a podcaster whose own childhood was marked by a family tragedy, investigates the 1986 disappearance of a young woman. Anyone who has ever listened to any kind of true crime docutainment knows that victims are angels and saints in the telling of their loved ones. Layla however was a complex, difficult person. Fractious and quick to temper, she is the fascinating heart of so many secrets in this small countryside community. This would be perfect for fans of crime and police procedural type books.

3.75 stars rounded up. I enjoyed this quite a bit and am looking forward to the next book in the series.

I received this book for free from net galley in exchange for a review.

"Unsolved" by Heather Critchlow is a brilliant crime thriller - a deeply satisfying suspense novel about Cal Lovett, a man who investigates cold cases for his true crime podcast. As we get to know Cal better, we find out more about the demons that drive him and discover why his life is falling to pieces. This process is underway even as Cal seeks to revive his flagging career by interviewing an enigmatic serial killer.

The criminal, Dubois, has for reasons unknown to Cal, chosen the podcaster to be the recipient of his first interview in years. But the price of this career-saving coup is Cal's growing emotional distance from his wife and teenage daughter, who resent his insistence on, quite literally, chasing ghosts. Because Cal (formerly Chris Longacre) has never got over the unexplained disappearance of his older sister, Margot.

Despite his efforts to get on with his life, Margot's fate - which remains unknown - haunts Cal even after the passing of decades. Indeed, it seems that Margot's disappearance has been the primary factor behind her brother's choice of career.

Now, Cal approaches his interview with Dubois, known as the Woodland Killer, as an opportunity to restore his professional reputation and chase up a possible link with Margot. The killer's notoriety promises both rewards and recognition for the podcaster, who knows he's scored the opportunity of a lifetime.

But Dubois is playing a game of his own. And Cal cannot rid himself of the feeling that the killer's cryptic words will haunt him forever -unless he figures out what those utterances mean, and how the man knows about Margot's case.

In the meantime, Cal's frequent absences haunt his family as surely as the loss of his sister continues to haunt him. His daughter Christina views her father's latest departure to examine yet another cold case as just one more example of the way her father comes and goes in her life, like the shifting tides. His wife Allie has also had enough of his obsessive search for answers and issues an ultimatum of her own.

After hitting a dead end in the Dubois case, Cal tries to distract himself from his sister's story and takes off to investigate the unexplained disappearance of another young woman some years ago.

Only eighteen, Laila Mackie never returned from her ride in the Scottish Highlands, though her terrified mount returned to the stables riderless. Laila was a disaffected young woman working at a nearby hotel, who had a magnetic effect on the men she encountered. And while suspicions still abound regarding various players in her love life, nobody seems able to figure out what actually happened to her. During the process of looking into Laila's case, the other aspects of Cal's life start unravelling, with new secrets surfacing in his family life.

Critchlow does a fantastic job of capturing the reader, building empathy for Cal's situation even as the story sub-plots begin gathering momentum. The pace of storytelling is excellent, the narrative is skilfully plotted, and - perhaps best of all - the characters come alive in the reader's imagination. I, for one, look forward to the next Cal Lovett book with great anticipation!


(NOTE: I have shared this on my Instagram feed and Goodreads already. Amazon will not allow a review, possibly because the book is only available for pre-order. I received this copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review)

An exceptionally assured debut from a writer who is surely one to watch. This crime novel is character-led and beautifully written, with the added tension of a twisty plot and the gorgeous backdrop of Scotland. Highly recommended.

This book is full of twist and turns. I absolutely loved it. It was immediately engrossed in the characters and plot.