Reflections of Deviance

Thank you NetGalley and Severn House for the eARC.
A pretty good read with a surprising ending, this book deals with the death of a successful business woman who has retired in a wealthy community where she slowly deteriorates from an outgoing, happy personality to a confused, frightened shell of herself. 6 Months after her death the police decide to investigate it as a possible murder.
The team manage to involve Will Traynor who seems to be revisiting his years-long PTSD. Jess is increasingly worried for him.
I enjoyed the read, especially Chloe's involvement and her cute adopted kitten made me smile.
The identity of the murderer was a shock and I totally agreed with Jess' decision. Can't wait for the next book!

Reflections of Deviance is book 4 in Will Traynor Series by A.J. Cross
Definitely going to buy book 1-3 in this series.

Reflections of Deviance by A.J. Cross is my first read by this author and I'm thrilled to read the ones before this.

So I really enjoyed this story.
Criminologist Will Traynor was a wonderful lead character.
His story pulled me in and hooked me almost immediately.
The mystery behind the death of successful Marion Cane was so intriguing and thrilling I couldn't stop reading.
This is an enjoyable cold case police procedural that is full of suspense, tension and amazing characters.
You will be kept guessing till it's all revealed.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Severn House,
Thank You for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this eARC!

Will Traynor, DCI Bill Watts, and DC Chloe Judd find themselves investigating a case that was initially ruled natural causes but now, six months later, has been determined to be a murder. Marian moved from the city to the village but she brought her backstory, like it or not, with her. This is a fairly standard procedural that is distinguished by Will's tragic past and his PTSD. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

How Killing Oneself Be Murder

A cab takes Marion Cane to her home that was large and ultra-modern. She doesn't want to get out of the cab. She eventually gets out at the urging of the cab driver. She asks him to go with her into the house, but he tells her that it is against company policy. He walks her to the door and collects his fare plus a generous tip and then he drives away. Once inside a man approaches and hugs her. She does not respond to the hug. She knew she would never be free from him. The novel shifts six months to current time. DCI Watts and PC Judd are called into the office of their new Superintendent. He wants them to investigate Marion Cane’s death. Officially, she died of a heart condition, but the Superintendent had received an unsigned note stating that her death should be investigated. No reason was given on the note. The novel proceeds from this start.

The main storyline consists of one thread. Basically, it was the investigation in the Cane’s death. In this investigation, I will say that there were many stones overturned. Each one was interesting and intriguing, and some had surprising twist and turns. The investigation into the note writer’s death is subsumed into the Cane’s case thread. This novel employed traditional police tactics with minimum CSI short cuts. This is the type of novel that I enjoy. The main storyline is told by Watts, Judd, and Traynor. I didn’t have any trouble following the novel’s flow. Tension and, thus, the suspense were maintained by finding similar previous deaths and another current murder that indicated that the killer is still active and a threat to one near and dear to one of the team. My interest was captured quickly and maintained to the end.

The B-storyline in this novel is particularly rich. Each of the three protagonists has a thread. Traynor’s wife’s body was recently discovered. She disappeared ten years earlier. This has a profound effect on Traynor with his ability to function fully in the investigation and with his current partner. Watts had to deal with a new Superintendent, to walk a tight rope with Traynor’s participation, and keep his growing dissatisfaction with his current position. Lastly, Judd was acting strange more than the reasons she provided in her thoughts. That keep me trying to figure out what was her problem. The B-storyline threads added a richness to the novel as a whole and enhanced my reading enjoyment.

This novel was remarkedly clean for the aspects that will stop some readers. There are not any intimate scenes with just hints. As for vulgar and rude language, I only needed on hand to count them. For impious language I had to use my pointer finger from the other hand. Violence is portrayed both in the more edgy live and the less edgy after the fact. The level never was significant. Lastly, if you are not very familiar with British informal, I recommend reading on an e-reader with access to a good dictionary and Internet access to discover the meaning of some of those words.

Personally, I liked the complex old-style investigation. I also enjoyed the continuation the B-storyline from the previous novels. The only aspect that bothered me was Judd’s lack for advancement. She does have issues she believes that are holding her back. With her relationship with Watts, they should have been overcome. I did not find any undocumented references to events in the previous novels. If this is the first novel that you would be reading, you can start with this one. There is one loose end that normally is a rating killer for me, but this was not consequential in solving the case. Otherwise, I was happy with the ending. Lastly, I could not stop reading this novel and finished it faster than usual for me.

I have read the previous three novels in this series and one from a previous series. I have rated the author as a Must-Read. That rating was easily sustained by this novel. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel and am looking forward to reading any further novels by this author. If you are interested in this genre, I recommend reading this novel. I rate it with five stars.

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

This is the fourth book in this series by A.J. Cross. It's called the Will Traynor series, but I think DCI Bernard Watts and PC Chloe Judd are as much main characters as criminologist Dr. Will Traynor. Watts, Judd, and the rest of the team work along with Traynor on complex investigations. Traynor is brilliant, but troubled due to a trauma in his personal life. This affects his relationship with his girlfriend and sometimes his work performance. Watts is a great leader and Judd is willing to learn, although she is also recovering from a disturbing event. I like all three characters, as well as Detective Adrian Jones who also works on the case. Together, they help each other through the bad times and make great colleagues and friends. '

This team is called in to look into the death of a wealthy woman that was originally put down to natural causes. An anonymous letter has them taking a second look at her death and determining that it was murder. However, as the investigation progresses, it becomes more and more complicated. Multiple suspects were found and I was able to guess the identity of the killer. However, the method and the motive is so complicated that even after it's explained, I was still confused. I enjoyed reading this book, but I would have liked it even more if this part would have been clearer. There are also some unresolved issues at the end of the book on the personal front for some characters, so it will be interesting to see what happens in future books. 

I received an advance copy of this ebook at no cost from NetGalley and Severn House, but my review is voluntary and unbiased.

I thoroughly enjoyed this murder mystery. A woman arrives home by taxi and appears not to want to go into the house. She then dies, but, it’s natural causes…..then, a local gives the police a cryptic message and he too is found dead. What follows is a twisty tale of murder and intrigue within an affluent hamlet.

The characters are well rounded and interesting and there are red herrings galore.

An enjoyable whodunnit. Congratulations to the author on another excellent read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Severn House for the opportunity to preview.

Rich. Successful. Dead . . . The mysterious death of Marion Cane leads criminologist Will Traynor into a deeply challenging and disturbing new case.Marion Cane swapped a successful city career in New York and London for a quiet retirement in a wealthy village on the outskirts of Birmingham. So why was she found dead in her new home just a few months later?Marion’s death was thought to be due to natural causes, until an anonymous note leads Superintendent John Heritage of West Midlands Police to ask DCI Bernard Watts and PC Chloe Judd to make enquiries. But when they arrive in Newton Heights, one of the villagers mysteriously vanishes. Still reeling from his own devastating news, criminologist Will Traynor is brought in to assist the team with an increasingly complex and disturbing investigation. Can Traynor push his own demons aside to see through distorted versions of reality, dangerous secrets and dark lies in his pursuit of the truth?

This is a wonderful addition to this thrilling series!
Wonderful well written plot and story line that had me engaged from the start.
Love the well fleshed out characters and found them believable.
Great suspense and action with wonderful world building that adds so much to the story.
Such a thrilling read that I couldn't put it down.
Can't wait to read more of these.
Recommend reading.

I read a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest review.