Thank you for allowing me to review this book. I read it quite quickly as I was gripped by the storyline from the offset. How could someone who was well liked be found murdered in such a horrible way, with no clues left in the village. The Ritualist Behaviour Unit, was a new one for me and something I was unfamiliar with the idea of. I found it all very intriguing and fascinated by Dr Harrison's thinking behind solving the mystery around this and subsequent murders. I shall now look into reading earlier books in the series as well as any new stories.
Recommended for those who enjoy crime fiction and thrillers.

The fourth Gwyn Bennett book I have read but the first in the Dr Harrison Lane Mystery series (book 9). Another well written and gripping book which as enthused me to read more in this series. Thanks to Storm Publishing and NetGalley for th the chance to ARC this book.

This book was really frustrating as it leaves us hanging at the end! I haven't read the previous Harrison Lane books but was impressed with him and the plot from the beginning. Women walkers find a woman burned at the stake and Lane is called in to investigate but quickly discovers Harmony House--which houses ex-cons who are reforming their lives--and Thistleford Community Church where everyone gathers for worship. And if that isn't enough, another dead body appears and everyone is a suspect--and tight-lipped! As I eagerly approached the end, I discovered there are no answers...so either wait for the next one or be happy not knowing what's going on!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

This book had a great plot with intriguing characters. I’ll definitely be looking out for more from this author.

ARC Review
I enjoy a good detective book and Harrison Lane who is head of the Ritualist Behavioral Crime Unit delivers. He's asked to help on a case in an English village where a woman and psychic named Louise was unalived by being burned at the stake. But as he's working on the case, mysterious disappearances happen, another body is found, and his past make its presence known.

The pacing started off a bit slow for me, which is fine, because when answers were being found and Dr. Lane started putting pieces together, it picked up. The pace reminded me of the show 48 Hours and I wanted to know who did it. I liked the fact that the book was in third person point of view. It allowed me to see how Dr. Lane looked for the small details within the crime scene, how he looked at the body language of the people in the village he interviewed. Sometimes being in the mind of an unaliver can be tricky and scary and this did not have that. I'm hoping there's a second book because this one left me on a cliffhanger and left with me questions about some of the characters.

Another gripping and entertaining mystery in this series. It's a story of secrets, red herring, the search for a motive and a high number of possibile culprits.
I thoroughly enjoyed it and the solution surprised me.
Well done, highly recommended
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This books starts off extremely strong, letting us dive straight into a murder mystery that involves cults, witchcraft and religion in a seemingly quiet town.
This book is quite short- less than 200 pages, so it is fast paced. It’s written in 3rd person which, for murder mysteries, I tend to not love as much. I feel like it could have been longer to really explore some of the topics and/or characters but it was still a good, fast read that touched on some heavy topics.


Thank you to Netgalley and Storm Publishing for this arc.

First off I want to thank Storm Publishing for allowing me to read this ARC. I held contradicting opinions about this book. Initially, I was excited to start it because I hadn’t read a mystery novel in a long time, and the plot intrigued me. However, upon reading, I felt a bit disappointed. Now, keep in mind that this is purely my personal opinion, and others may feel differently. Books are like an acquired taste—some people enjoy certain aspects while others don’t.

On the positive side, I appreciated how the plot was set up. It felt like I was watching an episode of “Criminal Minds” while reading. There were moments when I was genuinely intrigued and eager to uncover what would happen next.

However, there were aspects that didn’t sit well with me. One of my biggest pet peeves in books is pop culture references. If a chapter went without mentioning TikTok or YouTube, I was pleasantly surprised. Authors sometimes insert cultural references, but they don’t always get them right, which can be frustrating.

Additionally, I found that many crime elements were overly spelled out. Even subtle hints were explicitly stated, which diminished the mystery. When reading a mystery, I prefer to feel a sense of unease and stress, trying to piece things together on my own.

I do want to read the author’s other books, as I started with this one in the series rather than going back and reading all the previous ones beforehand. Unfortunately, I didn’t entirely connect with the main character, which I think impacted my ability to enjoy the book. So, I want to go back, read the earlier novels, and gain a better understanding of the character. Perhaps a fresh perspective will allow me to appreciate this book more.

Finally, I wasn’t a fan of the third-person point of view. I rarely enjoy it unless it’s exceptionally well done. In this case, it felt somewhat redundant. While the narration would delve into what Harrison was thinking, it remained in third person. I believe that if you want to include a character’s inner monologue consistently, it’s more effective to tell the story from their first-person perspective. First-person narration immerses readers deeply into the character’s thoughts and emotions, which is especially crucial in mystery novels. It brings the audience closer, allowing us to experience the story from within rather than observing from the outside.

Overall books like all other art are subjective and just because I did not enjoy the book does not mean no one will. If you are still curious about the book, I suggest reading other reviews for different perspectives.

This is book 9 in the Dr Harrison Lane. I have read and loved books 1 & 2 and I will be going back for the rest asap. I didn't feel like I was missing any vital information from not reading all of the books.

I really enjoy the ritualistic behavioral element of the crime solving. Harrison is an intriguing character although I struggled with his lack of communication with his girlfriend. The murder and investigation throws up plenty of suspects although I did guess who was responsible. The village definitely gives off Hot Fuzz vibes.

My only issue was the ending was so abrupt. It felt like there were pages missing. I look forward to going back to learn more about Harrison and is past and I will be keeping an eye out for future additions to this series.

This is the first book I've read in this series so you don't need to have read them all to read and enjoy this one. Called out due to what looks like the burning of a witch, the investigation leads Harrison and the police to a religious group, a home for ex convicts and a village where everyone apparently liked the victim. The murderer wasn't immediately obvious, with false leads causing delays in the investigation. It also brought up a trauma from Harrisons past. Not something you need to have read the series for, but makes me curious so I might have to read the previous books.

Thank you for the ARC!

This book is definitely centered around the law enforcements perspective and is well done in that sense. There is a lot of teamwork, communication, and research that is put into solving this case. That is the way the author intended this book the be read and viewed. I do not believe that I am the intended audience for this book, since I would have preferred another perspective, every few chapters, just to freshen up the dialogue and take away from the research perspective.
I think someone who enjoys Criminal Minds, or any show of that nature, would very much enjoy this story.

Burning Lies by Gwyn Bennett

When a woman is found burnt at the stake on the edge of a pretty English village, the police suspect this is no ordinary murder. Dr Harrison Lane, Head of the Ritualistic Behavioural Crime unit, is quickly summoned to unravel the mystery.

As Harrison investigates, he uncovers a web of deceit woven through the tight-knit community of Thistleford. The villagers claim the victim, Louise Swift, was a gifted psychic, beloved by all… but Harrison immediately senses darker forces at play.

Although this book is far down in a series ( ninth I think ) this way a first time read for me.
I really enjoyed the character Dr Harrison Lane and the way the author wrote the book , lots of twists and intrigue to keep you interested .
I now have the joy of going back to book 1 and enjoying this brilliant authors work.

3 Stars.

Thanks to Storm Publishing and Netgalley for this arc. The first chapter really had me hooked and I really thought this book was interesting. There's third person narrative which isn't my fave and be aware that this right from the beginning has strong themes of religion and cult talk. For this being a murder mystery I feel like there were things missing as well as it not being long enough to even explore it all. 199 pages isn't the greatest. Besides the heavy religion topics and the cult being involved this was actually really good, I just wanted more. Right in the beginning of this story there's a group of people who are in a field and there's a huge bonfire but also there's a person chained to a cross and burned. We don't know who this person is at first but it's obvious as time does progress. Louise Swift goes missing as the "ritual" killing happened. Louise was a beloved person in the community of Thisleford. She is popular on social medias such as TikTok and Youtube and she is considered by a lot of people as a which. This was interesting overall I just didn't connect with the characters and I honestly pushed through only because I wanted to give a review honestly. I wasn't invested in the characters, I just wanted to learn more about Louise.

DNF at 60%. I tried to finish it but I have read it for the past 7 days and just can’t. For a book that is less than 200 pages I’d have had it done in one sitting. It just didn’t grab my attention or make me eager to keep reading.

Definitively sounded promising and certainly sounded intriguing that the main character was not a DCI or whatever but the head of the Ritualistic Behavioural Crime Unit. I was therefore expecting rather more of a psychological aspect. I got a blackened burnt cross with body attached - an apparently gifted psychic loved by everyone in the impossibly twee, sorry 'sleepy little', English village; I got a bizarre, isolated household comprising ex-cons seeking redemption or at least getting back into the real world and I got an enthusiastic but appalling bunch of an alleged Christian sect, brainwashing as only they can. The police work on the two murders seems weak and not enthusiastic let alone dedicated; Our Dr Lane had promise although, typically, had personal problems with murdered mother and 'wanting' girlfriend; trouble with that promise is that he had vague thoughts, convinced the police that he was right and didn't really get to grips with anything. Kept being thought of as a Sherlock Holmes type apparently. I guess that he might feel better if I'd read any of the previous books but, as a standalone, he felt annoying to me.. 3.5* but, with the cliff hangers I cannot bring myself to upgrade to a 4*. Thanks to NetGalleu and the publisher for an advance copy.

Another gripping crime mystery featuring Dr Harrison Lane. Gwyn really keeps the reader engrossed until the end. Now waiting for the next one in the series. Hopefully we won't have to wait too long!

This was a really great mystery and it kept me hooked the entire time that I was reading. It was a quick read and the plot was really interesting and complex and the characters were very dynamic and well developed. Would highly recommend if you enjoy a good mystery.

Dr Harrison Lane is dispatched to a small town to aide in the investigation of a woman who appeared to be burnt at the stake. Will he be able to help find the killer or will everything go up in smoke?

I didn’t realize prior to starting this book is it was technically part of a series but luckily even without reading the first 8 Harrison Lane mystery books, I was still able to enjoy this book. It has sort of a standalone feel while also letting the reader know some stuff went down in other books that the MMC is still working through.

The storyline itself was able to hook me right away and I found it super refreshing that the written dialogue sounded realistic and not the cookie cutter every word is perfect that some authors can give you. While I definitely started to get early on who the killer(s) could be, that didn’t take away from the plot development and twists/turns that the story had. Overall I really enjoyed this book & would recommend it to others (but maybe read the first 8 books beforehand).

Thank you #netgalley and Storm Publishing for providing me with an ARC of Burning Lies for my honest feedback.

Unfortunately, this book just didn’t do it for me. While the storyline showed promise, I felt the book had a lot of filler chapters that weren’t necessarily needed.

I was really disappointed in the ending as I initially thought the book hadn’t completely downloaded to my Kindle.

A lot of potential that just wasn’t reached sadly.

This book just didn’t do it for me. From the description I expected a thriller, with more suspense and action. This was definitely more cerebral than action, more thought provoking than suspenseful. I did like the main character, Dr. Harrison Lane, a psychologist with the Ritualistic Behavioural Crime unit. His character was really well developed. But I didn’t connect with any of the other characters in the book. I also didn’t like the ending. I was looking for more. 3 ⭐️