‘Ruthless Crimes’ by Michael Hambling

Synopsis

TWO VICTIMS WITH NO PASTS

A man is found stabbed to death on the Southampton morning commuter train.

But why can’t Detective Sophie Allen’s team find out anything about his history? And why was he staying in a house that seems to be owned by a government security unit?

Then there is another stabbing, this time in a refuge for abused women. And again, Sophie can find very little about the victim’s life.

HOW DOES ALL THIS CONNECT TO DESPERATE MIGRANTS ARRIVING ON THE BEACHES?

The Dorset-based detective team discovers duplicity that reaches to the top echelons of government in this twisting tale of treachery, tragedy and hope.

My Review

‘Ruthless Crimes’ is the ninth book in the bestselling series featuring Detective Chief Inspector Sophie Allen.  I haven’t quite caught up with all of the books in the series but I have read a few and I thoroughly enjoyed reading them.  I read the synopsis for ‘Ruthless Crimes’ and it certainly sounded like a read and a half.  I thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘Ruthless Crimes’ but more about that in a bit.

I was drawn into the story from the synopsis alone and starting to read the story just sealed the deal as it were.  I found it nigh on impossible to put this book down for any length of time.  There was that much going on in the story that I feared I might miss something if I put the book down.  To say that reading ‘Ruthless Crimes’ became addictive is a huge understatement.  I would pick the book up only intending to read a couple of chapters to fill in the odd half hour but I would become so wrapped up in the story that I would read way more than a couple of chapters.  I was intrigued by the story and I had to keep reading to see how the story concluded.  I soon got to the end of the book and I had to say farewell to DCI Sophie Allen and her team.

‘Ruthless Crimes’ is well written but then I have thought that to be true of all of the Sophie Allen books that I have had the pleasure of reading and reviewing.  In Sophie, Michael has created a strong female lead character who is impossible to dislike.  In fact I took to Sophie Allen so well that she began to feel like a friend.  He grabs your attention from fairly early on and he entices you into the story.  ‘Ruthless Crimes’ has a few different strands to the story but the strands tie up and feed into the main story.  I thought that I might get confused with who is who and which bit of the story they fitted into, but I needn’t have worried because the different strands interlinked well and the story flowed seamlessly.  This was one of those books that gripped me from start to finish and I was on the edge of my seat throughout.  Michael certainly knows how to keep the readers guessing.  At times, reading this book felt like being on an at times scary and unpredictable rollercoaster ride with more twists and turns than you would find on a ‘Snakes & Ladders’ board.

In short, I thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘Ruthless Crimes’ and I would have no hesitation in recommending this book to other readers.  I will definitely be reading more of Michael’s work in the future.  The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.