Beneath The Ashes by Jane Isaac
Genre; Crime (police procedural)
‘A smart, intelligent and tightly woven police procedural with real depth of human emotion at its heart.’ Rebecca Bradley, Author of Shallow Waters
An intense and gripping narrative style, perfect for fans of Gillian Flynn, S. J. Watson, Holly Seddon and Sophie Hannah
The floor felt hard beneath her face. Nancy opened her eyes. Blinked several times. A pain seared through her head. She could feel fluid. No. She was lying in fluid.
When a body is discovered in a burnt-out barn in the Warwickshire countryside, DI Will Jackman is called to investigate.
Nancy Faraday wakes up on the kitchen floor. The house has been broken into and her boyfriend is missing. As the case unravels, DI Jackman realises that nothing is quite as it appears and everyone, it seems, has a secret.
Can he discover the truth behind the body in the fire, and track down the killer before Nancy becomes the next victim?
My thoughts:
You might notice a certain person’s name in the blurb above, so I can’t get away with saying I don’t know Jane. I feel really quite honoured that she would have my name featured so prominently like this. So thank you, Jane!
But, yes, what I’m quoted as saying above is quite true. This is a great book – as are the previous books of Jane’s and the first Jackman book – that not only takes you through the police investigation but does it in such a way that you are emotionally invested and can’t help but keep turning the pages.
To be honest, I’m a little bit in love with Jackman. I don’t know if it’s something to do with his name, but he does remind me of Hugh Jackman. He’s a strong man who knows what he’s doing and is in control of things. He has a dog – who doesn’t love the image of a man and his dog! – and he has a really warm heart, one that sometimes confuses him. And there’s even a section in here where he gets to be quite *heroic. *sexy.
I was lucky enough to read this very early and the blurb is true, everything is not as it seems and this does keep you turning the pages because it’s really confusing as Nancy is scared and confused, little can be ascertained about her missing boyfriend. Circumstances just aren’t as they seem.
Jane does a brilliant job with the plotting for this, keeping all the different strands going without dropping any and then pulling them all together neatly right at the end in a brilliant climax.
You’ll enjoy this if you like a solid police procedural with a clever mystery and a handsome detective with a good heart.
With thanks to the author and publisher for my copy.
This does sound like a good read, Rebecca. So nice to have a detective who’s not a fatally-damaged alcoholic who can’t interact with others. And the plot sounds interesting, too. Glad you enjoyed it.
He’s a great detective to read, Margot. And I love Jane’s writing.