A really well written murders mystery with ex Interpol D I Luc Callanach pitched straight in to this case after his transfer from France. Set in Edinburgh you are soon introduced to the 'goodies' (mainly the police), and also the dastardly killer, so there are no spoilers to really worry about! There are small sub plots to keep the interest going, and the blood and gore is well described without being too upsetting. All the characters are well rounded, but I found a certain member of Luc's team to be too stereotyped in his dealings with Luc. I could have done without this and thus the reason for just 4 stars.

As for the author, she comes across really well when she appears on our local radio station (BBC Solent). After hearing her I was pleased to be given the chance to read and review this book (first in a series) by Net Galley.

Perfect Remains by Helen Fields is the 1st in the Luc Callanach series.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Avon Books, and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

My Synopsis:
DI Luc Callanach is half French and half Scottish, living most of his life in France, and working for Interpol. Due to circumstances beyond his control, he leaves France, his job, his friends, his mother. Few are sad to see him leave. With some assistance from his bosses, he heads to Edinburgh to take command of a homicide team. His welcome is not particularly warm, particularly from DS Lively, who feels there should have been a promotion from within. DS Lively will make things rough. Luc does, however make friends with a co-worker, DI Ava Taylor, and a few others are there to help.

His new job immediately becomes his only focus. A woman’s body is found, burned beyond recognition, except for a tooth, and a bit of a scarf, which identifies her as Elaine Buxton, a missing lawyer in Luc’s jurisdiction. When a beloved minister, Jayne Magee, is abducted, things start to get out of control. Luc will have to deal with DS Lively and an arrogant profiler while still trying to keep the case going in the right direction.

Dr. Reginald King has his own agenda, and thus far, he has been meticulous. He’s been leaving evidence that show his victims are dead, while he has them hidden in a sound-proofed room in his house. He’s been killing substitutes, but that doesn’t mean that the kidnapped victims are safe. He believes that torture will make them submissive, and become his perfect life partner.

Meanwhile, there is another player behind the scenes that has their eye on Luc, and that reunion may not proceed as planned.

My Opinions:
I really enjoyed this book. Evidently I have a new author to add to my favorites. Helen Fields is very talented. Her characters are deep, but you still want to learn more. Her writing is fluid, and her plot was great.

The story is told from multiple points of view, but mainly Luc and the kidnapper. Everything flowed smoothly. It is fast-paced, moving quickly from one scene to the next. Fields didn’t shy away from showing the brutality of the kidnapper, so if you are squeamish, beware.

Wonderful book, highly recommend it, and I am so happy to know that there are a couple more in the series I can already read :)

I found it a little slow at the start but it picked up pace later. Not keen on the violent behaviour towards women but enjoyable on the whole. First in a series so will be interesting to see the books that follow.

I enjoyed this first book in this series. It can be frustrating as a person who is watching tv or reading a book and you want to yell at the main character that they are looking in the wrong direction, haha. Okay so that's just me. Poor Callanach, that guy has been through so much in the last year. I liked how there was really 2 different cases you get to follow and figure out. The main case for Callanach you also get the point of view of the bad guy. I loved that it's in Scotland. I would read more in this series.



*I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.*

I liked this book so much I’ve bought the next three in the series! I liked the characters, the banter between the the characters and the page turning plot! Excellent read would definitely recommend this book!

This book is very gruesome and too much violence for me . I wasn't enjoying it so gave up on it. Not my kind of story

For me, this book proved to be quite extraordinary. It put me into a turmoil. Several times, as I read the first few chapters, I was on the verge of giving up on it. So much of what I was reading seemed ridiculous to me. It was just not credible.

However, I persevered and I urge you, dear reader, to do the same. The second half of the book was a huge improvement on the first, and the final few chapters had a pace and tension that really gripped my attention.
By chapter three, I was struggling to justify a one-star rating. When I got to about six chapters from the end, I had convinced myself that it deserved three stars and I’d revised my rating again by the time I finished.

Without giving too much away, let me tell you a few things that almost made this my third DNF: Did Not Finish.
Some of the journey times are absurd. Soaking a body in accelerant, “marinating”, wouldn’t mean that all tissue would be destroyed in a fire even if the peat floor of the bothy were to burn. The large stones in the foundations of the walls shift in the fire, yet a small piece of fabric is perfectly preserved because it is under a rock and starved of oxygen.

When Dr King, the perpetrator, declared in chapter two so this is not a spoiler, drives from near to Braemar (one hour in a 4WD) to Edinburgh in just two hours, he stops to drink tepid tea from his flask. His reason is that he wants to avoid being spotted on CCTV in any of the cafes. There are lots of cafes near to the A9 which don’t have CCTV. However, the road is lined with ANPR cameras. Everybody’s movement is monitored.

How the Dr King manages to lug dead bodies around when he is nowhere near the peak of physical fitness, is beyond me. It gets worse. He manages to source a barrel full of sodium hydroxide in which he dissolves a body. He takes the full barrel, in his car and on a trolley, to a warehouse in Grantham. Furthermore, he doesn’t spill a drop. He must be a world champion power-lifter. He wouldn’t even be able to lift it on his own!

The introduction of Franco-Scot Detective Inspector Luc Callanach to the story is completely nuts! He arrives in Edinburgh from Interpol. His first briefing with all of the team focuses on his fear that they’ll take the piss out of his accent – and they do – aggressively. His DS falls out with him immediately. THEN he takes a DS and 2 DCs off their current workload because Grampian police think that some bones that they’ve found MIGHT belong to a missing person from Edinburgh because one of the police officers recognises the preserved fragment of scarf as matching a detail of the mispers description that he has read. How likely is that?

Luc doesn’t even check in with his boss to ask if it’s OK to take half the team away. When he gets there, having driven all the way to Braemar, which would take three hours and then a further one hour in a 4-wheel drive vehicle, the pathologist and two from forensics are there on site waiting for him – why? The charred bones are in Aberdeen, an hour and a half away. The roof of the bothie collapsed, so it must have taken them days to get to the bones and the piece of scarf.

The Edinburgh team find a B&B to stay in. The next day, Luc goes to Aberdeen and back, then decides that they’ll all go back to Edinburgh. That only takes two hours.

However, the forensic side of the story, especially the DNA tracing, is all very authentic.
From half way through, the story picks up both in pace and atmosphere. The characters and their relationships develop very well. Once the momentum built, I just couldn’t put it down.

I would recommend Perfect Remains to any of my friends who like crime fiction with the proviso that they should be prepared to grit their teeth as they wade through the first fifty or sixty pages.

Immediately on finishing this book, I sought out the rest of the series and devoured them back to back. Excellent crime thrillers and can't wait for the next one. What more can I say!!

Perfect Remains by Helen Fields is the first in an exciting new crime series. Gripping and brual and totally addictive.

This remarkable debut from Helen Fields featuring DI Luc Callanach is brilliantly constructed. We know the evil culprit immediately but the journey to discover the twisted truth and the ultimate outcome of the disappearance of professional women makes this an absorbing read. Clever, wicked and psychologically gripping with strong characters that are sometimes flawed but likeable and believable, this book will have the reader desperate for answers.

I have now read all 4 in the series and bloody hell they are good!

Interesting characters, well developed plot. Impressive

This is a creepy story! But I was also totally hooked from start to finished. Well written and plotted, this is a taut thriller you will have a hard time putting down!

This is the 1st book in the DI Callanach series by author Helen Fields although I have previously read two subsequent books, which I also enjoyed.
Detective Inspector Luc Callanach is transferred into Edinburgh’s Homicide Team from Interpol which ruffles the feathers of many of his future colleagues. Born to a Scottish father and French mother, Callanach spent most of his life in France but now back in Scotland he is keen to make a good impression. The novel begins when Elaine Buxton is found dead with her body burned to a crisp, there is only a tooth and a shred of material that can identify her. Although the police do not know that Elaine is being held in a house against her will, being tortured by a serial killer who is enjoying every minute. Soon after another successful woman is abducted from her doorstep and is also being kept locked up by the killer.
This novel is well written and introduces DI Luc Callanach, a character with plenty of substance to further develop in future books. As previously stated I have read other books in this series but to be honest enjoyed this one a lot more. A page turner and a very enjoyable read.

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

DI Luc Callanach is starting a new life in Edinburgh and with a history in Interpol he has a lot to prove. When missing women start to pile up can Luc find the villain before it’s too late?

I started reading the DI Callanach series with the latest book – Perfect Silence and straight away was hooked. Getting a copy of Perfect Remains gave me a chance to come back to the very beginning and learn more about the characters I had started getting to know.

The first thing I noted on the last book in the series was how well-rounded and interesting the characters were and this is still very much the case. We find out more about Luc’s past as well which is an unusual choice of backstory but one I felt was quite believable. I liked the introduction to Ava although I feel that she wasn’t as rounded as she could have been although this is the first in the series from Luc’s perspective so that makes sense.

The case itself is quite violent and gory but very interesting and has a few other threads and different cases put in to hold your interest throughout. There are also a few twists I definitely did not see coming! It’s interesting the know the identity of the villain right from the start so the twists and turns come from the investigation and the crimes rather than whodunnit. The DI Callanach series seems to be gritty and realistic and not afraid to pull punches and make its readers feel uncomfortable which I admire.

Overall a great start to what I already know is a great series! Now to read the next 2 instalments! Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books for the chance to read another book in this series in exchange for an honest review.

Absolutely brilliant book in what I hope is the first of a series. It kept me enthralled from the first to last page, keeping me on the edge of my seat wondering what was coming next. An absolute gem of a book for crime lovers

A very interesting case is told here in this gripping novel as the culprit gradually degenerates psychologically.
Helen Fields writes a nicely paced story. Compact and concise and one that you read almost compulsively (as yet more women die).

This is book 1 in this series about the half-French detective Luc and his move to Scotland. Slowly Luc wins over his new staff as they realise that he is more than his sexy accent and model looks.
Shame about the coffee though, it appears that in police stations no-one instals a Nespresso!

Loved this book from as soon as I started reading it. The story was well planned and the characters excellent. I hope to read more with Callenach and Ava working together and I am sure there will be many more.
There were parts of the book that for me were over the top and unlikely but overall a good solid four stars.

On a remote Highland mountain, the body of Elaine Buxton is burning. All that will be left to identify the respected lawyer are her teeth and a fragment of clothing. In the concealed back room of a house in Edinburgh, the real Elaine Buxton screams into the darkness.
Detective Inspector Luc Callanach has barely set foot in his new office when Elaine’s missing persons case is escalated to a murder investigation.
I loved meeting DI Callanach and DI Ava Turner. I had read one of their stories and I was interested in reading his back story, how he came to Edinburgh and how did he arrive on the team. This book didn't disappoint. There are a number of missing women who turn up deceased, or do they? Callanach is under pressure from all sides to solve these murders but is everyone looking in the wrong place? There are times during the story you want to scream at them to open their eyes and that is part of the enjoyment of it.
I cannot wait to read the next instalment!
Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honesty review

Highly enjoyable introduction to a Detective with a difference:
"Perfect Remains" is the first in a series of books written by Helen Fields and featuring Detective Inspector Callanach: a half-Scots, half-French, former Interpol Agent. As you would expect with the first book in a series, much of the narrative is committed to building up the characters who will feature in later books. I thought the plot original although the police's failure to pinpoint the perpetrator earlier was a little frustrating. Without spoiling the storyline I would say that there is an unexpected twist towards the end of the book which will catch most readers by surprise. A very promising start to the series and will definitely make me feel guilty when I trundle my midi-size suitcase along to the airport in future!
A good read with great potential.

This was a psychological murder thriller. I could add a few more to the descriptions and it alternately kept me on edge, full of revulsion, appalled at the sheer brutality of one man and amazed at the facade he maintained.

The story of unrequited not love, but esteem coupled with a yearning to be recognized and rebuffed by all, makes King a monster. Systematically choosing women by a method which was inhuman purely to gratify his own yearnings, he murdered two each providing DNA evidence that he doctored so that he could keep the women from whom he felt he should get recognition and respect.

The book was a tough one to read. I don't know whether it is a good thing that all I wanted to do was finish the book fast. It made me uncomfortable but I will not detract from the fact that it was meticulously plotted and planned. Still not a comfortable read.
me on edge, full of revulsion, appalled at the sheer brutality of one man and amazed at the facade he maintained.

The story of unrequited not love, but esteem coupled with a yearning to be recognized and rebuffed by all, makes King a monster. Systematically choosing women by a method which was inhuman purely to gratify his own yearnings, he murdered two each providing DNA evidence that he doctored so that he could keep the women from whom he felt he should get recognition and respect.

The book was a tough one to read. I don't know whether it is a good thing that all I wanted to do was finish the book fast. It made me uncomfortable but I will not detract from the fact that it was meticulously plotted and planned. Still not a comfortable read.