Published by Canelo on 22nd October 2018. My thanks to the author and the publisher for the review copy and inviting me on to the blog tour. You can get your copy of the book:
The
case was closed. Until people started dying… The unputdownable first DI Ridpath
crime thriller from bestseller MJ Lee
A killer in total control. A detective on
the edge. A mystery that HAS to be solved.
DI Thomas Ridpath was on the up in the
Manchester CID: a promising young detective whose first case involved capturing
a notorious serial killer. But ten years later he’s recovering from a serious
illness and on the brink of being forced out of the police. Then people start
dying: tortured, murdered, in an uncanny echo of Ridpath’s first case.
As the investigation intensifies, old bodies
go missing, records can’t be found and the murder count grows. Caught in a turf
war between the police and the coroner’s office, digging up skeletons some
would rather forget, Ridpath is caught in a race against time: a race to save
his career, his marriage… And lives.
When a detective goes missing everything is
on the line. Can Ridpath close the case and save his colleague?
My Thoughts:
Where the Truth Lies is the first in the exciting new DI Ridpath crime thriller series and the first book that I have read by this author.
Set in Manchester, DI Ridpath is returning to work after illness, cancer in fact. His superiors deem that a stint in a desk job would help ease him back in. Swiftly seconded to the Coroner's Office, DI Ridpath is wondering what he has done to have this placement. Things take a turn though when a serious investigation draws him back in. Will this case takes its toll on DI Ridpath or will this be DI Ridpath back on the force proper.
I thoroughly enjoy this genre of police procedural/crime thriller and whilst it could be a little formulaic, in this case the placement of DI Ridpath in the Coroner's Office adds a different element to this genre.
As is customary with this type of book there are twists and turns aplenty but MJ Lee masterfully keeps the reader guessing and the pace and tension picks up as the book moves on. The plot was plausible and the characters believable and whilst Ridpath is desperately flawed I found him warm and likeable.
Where the Truth Lies is incredibly well written and although there are some gruesome scenes they were fitting with the overall landscape of the plot.
It is unclear whether this is the authors first foray in to crime fiction or not but I can confidently say Where the Truth Lies is a success and I look forward to reading more in this exciting new series.
About the Author:
M J
Lee has spent most of his adult
life writing in one form or another. As a university researcher in history, he
wrote pages of notes on reams of obscure topics. As a social worker with
Vietnamese refugees, he wrote memoranda. And, as the creative director of an
advertising agency, he has written print and press ads, TV commercials, short
films and innumerable backs of cornflake packets and hotel websites.
He has spent 25 years of his life working
outside the north of England, in London, Hong Kong, Taipei, Singapore, Bangkok
and Shanghai, winning advertising awards from Cannes, One Show, D&AD, New
York and the United Nations.
While working in Shanghai, he loved walking
through the old quarters of that amazing city, developing the idea behind a
series of crime novels featuring Inspector Pyotr Danilov, set in the 1920s.
When
he’s not writing, he splits his time between the UK and Asia, taking pleasure
in playing with his daughter, practising downhill ironing, single-handedly
solving the problem of the French wine lake, and wishing he were George
Clooney.
Twitter: @WriterMJLee
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