James Hazel

Like a pesky bluebottle, the buzz about The Mayfly on Twitter was hard to ignore - not that I could ever ignore such excitement surrounding a new book! So like a moth to the flame I was powerless to resist The Mayfly and picked it up almost as soon as it dropped on my mat. What an intriguing book this is, I am certain that we have not heard the last of Charlie Priest and I, for one, can't wait to read about what he gets up to next.

I could probably write a whole review about Charlie Priest, yet I get the feeling that we have only just scratched the surface of his fascinating life. Charlie is an ex-policeman who retrained as a lawyer, he suffers from dissociative disorder and has a brother who is a serial killer. See - intriguing or what? Add to this a dual timeline with a post-war experimentation slant and I was lucky to finish the book without getting papercuts from turning the pages so fast.

Charlie aside, I absolutely loved his associate, Simon 'Solly' Solomon. Solly is an accountant - he likes numbers not people, which is pretty much how I describe myself - but oh my word, he is such an amusing character. He's completely OCD and I almost choked with laughter as he revealed his inner Sheldon Cooper (of Big Bang Theory fame). Like a typical accountant, he's forgotten about as you never see him arrive or leave and he's left to beaver away in a dark and dusty room, but he's always there to be relied upon.

I think it's always a worry with dual timelines that the reader sometimes feels as if they are reading two separate books. I felt a bit like that when I started The Mayfly as I couldn't see how these two stories were related or how they would ever come together at the end, which is why The Mayfly is so brilliant as it all slots together perfectly. James Hazel is a refreshing and exciting new voice in crime fiction and I'm already looking forward to more Charlie Priest adventures. Believe the buzz on this one, and make sure you catch a copy of The Mayfly.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.… (mais)

Ex-detective Charlie Priest left the Met ten years ago, retrained as a lawyer and now has his own small, specialist law firm, employing three trusted colleagues. As the story starts he and his team are in court to defend a libel case against The Real Byte, a small magazine which claims to have evidence, based on information given by Simeon Ali, an ex-employee of the charity, that the Elias Children’s Foundation, set up to help children affected by war, domestic violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation, has been diverting funds to a terrorist cell in northern Turkey. The magazine article also claims that Alexia Elias, the founder and CEO, was complicit in the diversion of funds, accepting bribes from the terrorist group, an accusation she vigorously denies. However, when Ali fails to turn up in court on the day the trial starts, and is subsequently found murdered, it becomes clear that with the star witness dead, the future of the trial is in jeopardy. Convinced by the accusations, and keen to ensure that justice is done, Charlie and his team must work quickly to investigate and try to ensure that the case isn’t thrown out of court. However, a second death means that their investigations expose something which is much bigger than the original investigation into the charity’s fraudulent activity.
Although this is the second book starring Charlie Priest as the main character (the first was “Mayfly”) I found that there were enough clues about his history to make this easy to read as a stand-alone novel. However, as he is such a complex character, with a complicated family history, there were moments when I did find myself wishing that I had read “Mayfly” first. His brother is a convicted serial killer, currently serving his sentence in a hospital facility for the criminally insane. He suffers from dissociative disorder, a condition Charlie also struggles with; it is one which exposes him to random, unpredictable episodes when he feels that neither he nor the world around him is real, when he suffers from terrifying hallucinations and out-of-body experiences. However, he feels that he is luckier than some other sufferers because, most of the time, he is still able to function and, frightening though the episodes are, they seldom last more than a few hours.
Although Charlie is the eminently likeable, main protagonist in this story, much of my enjoyment came from his interactions and relationships with colleagues and friends. There’s Georgie Someday, a newish addition to the team but, with her quick intelligence, she is already proving herself an invaluable member; obsessional Simon Solomon, brilliant as a forensic accountant but hopeless at the everyday niceties of social interactions; Vincent Okoro, a great bear of a man with a brilliant legal brain; friend and ex-colleague DCI Tiff Rowlinson, called upon to provide information and to share details about the police investigation; his on/off relationship with Jessica Ellinder, a woman he met when investigating the murder of her brother; Elinor Fox, a persistently determined reporter; his long-suffering sister Sarah; Tilly, his niece; his ex-wife, a senior police officer and last, but by no means least, his collection of lionfish – you’ll need to read the book to discover their significance! I loved the fact that each one of these characters (apart from Tilly and the fish!) is in some way flawed and yet their interactions are central to the compelling dynamics of the story.
The plotting is convoluted, it is sometimes hard to know who can be trusted and, although at times it does require a degree of suspension of disbelief, it is very well-paced, alternating between some high-octane action and periods of calmer reflection. With murder, torture and child abuse as central themes, there are times when the story-telling is very dark, but the author did manage to inject some wonderful moments of lightness and humour – something I very much appreciated! The theme of fraud and other misconduct in well-established charities felt particularly pertinent in view of recent scandals! Part of the story is set in coastal Norfolk and I enjoyed the way in which the author used the atmospheric nature of that part of the world to enhance the tension in the story.
I think this is a series it is going to be very easy to become addicted to – I have already ordered a copy of “The Mayfly”!
My thanks to Zaffre and Readers First for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.… (mais)

This is a creepy thriller that alternates between 2 time lines that link disturbing events in the present to a horrific chapter from the past.

In the present, DCI Tiff Rowlinson attends a gruesome scene in an isolated cabin in south Wales. So he’s more than a little surprised when British attorney general Sir Philip Wren arrives unannounced with a team from the Met. Wren doesn’t say much but 2 things are immediately clear. He is deeply unsettled by what he’s seen & has no intention of allowing Rowlinson to investigate.

In 1946 Col. Albert Ruck is tucked away in a remote english farmhouse with a handful of staff. His mission is simple: make his “guest” talk. In the messy clean-up following the war, he was charged with snatching Dr. Kurt Schneider from Buchenwald concentration camp. The good doctor is infamous for the experiments he carried out, specializing in modified poisons. Now he spends his days being interrogated in a barn & Ruck has some very specific questions.

Charlie Priest retired from the Met 10 years ago & became a lawyer. Now he heads up an exclusive firm with 3 carefully chosen associates. Vincent Okoro is a large, intimidating man with a brilliant legal mind. Simon Solomon is a geeky forensic accountant afflicted with a variety of ticks & zero social skills. Georgie Someday is the new girl, a tireless researcher & sharp as a tack. After Charlie is attacked in his home one night, all 4 of them will be affected by the disturbing events that follow.

That’s it for the plot, folks. The less you know going in, the better. But I’ll pass on some advice. Practice cringing……a lot. Oh, and if you ever get a letter with something lumpy inside? Maybe leave town.

Charlie gets caught up in the search for a killer & soon realizes that he himself has multiple connections to whatever the hell is going on. Former colleagues, missing women and something else…..the pervasive sense of something evil that has existed for decades. Tension builds with every discovery & as new characters are introduced, some of them will make you nervous. They’re a little blurry around the edges & you can’t help but question their motives. All you know for sure is there are people who will do anything to keep a secret safely hidden.

The plot is complex & the historical story line is just as compelling as the one set in present day. At about the 80% mark, I felt like I needed to take a deep breath before turning each page. There’s a whole herd of twists & each new piece of info sends you haring off after a fresh suspect. It’s a thriller with a capital T but what bumped it up to 4 stars for me was the main character.

Charlie is an interesting guy. He lives alone & tends to avoid social situations that require normal behaviour. Because even when he’s physically present, Charlie may not really be there. He has dissociative disorder & it’s a rather sneaky affliction. He can be in the middle of a conversation when an episode hits & suddenly he’s outside himself, watching as he flounders for something to say. At other times he may not recognize his own hand as belonging to his body. His memory of what occurred becomes spotty & time has an elastic quality. There’s a very good reason that he sometimes worries about his sanity but I’ll let you discover that for yourself.

Just a heads up. There is some gruesome content so if you’re a fan of cozies, step away from the book now. Actually, run. Personally, I think I’m going to hang around & see what Charlie gets up to in book #2.… (mais)