Book Review-Missing-Girl-at-Frozen-Falls

Missing Girl at Frozen Falls

by

Leslie Wolfe

(Kay Sharp #5)

 

Missing Girl at Frozen Falls is Leslie Wolfe’s fifth book featuring Detective Kay Sharp and her partner Eliot Young. Together they have just commenced work on a missing person case.  A pretty young girl has been reported missing when Kay receives word that someone wants to surrender to her and her alone.

Intrigued she returns to Mount Chester police station only to discover it is her ex-husband.  ‘Ex’, because he is a cheating piece of goods and a cop with the San Francisco Police Department, who has been charged with the murder of his wife Rachel who was Kay’s best friend until they began an affair while Kay and Brian were still married.

Kay takes Brian back to San Francisco to get justice for Rachel, where he will face his colleagues who have charged him with murder on seemingly scant evidence.

During her time in San Francisco Kay decides to visit Rachel’s mother where Brian and Rachel’s daughter is staying, only to discover that eight-year-old Holly is missing!

All the while Kay is in San Francisco, Eliot is working on their Mount Chester missing person case and unknowingly discovers a connection between the two.

Missing Girl At Frozen Falls is probably the most complex and personal case of Sharp’s career to date.

Missing Girl At Frozen Falls is another of Wolfe’s enjoyable page-turners.

I have rated

Missing Girl At Frozen Falls

as a solid four star read.

***

At the time of writing my review

other Goodreads readers had awarded

***

Missing Girl At Frozen Falls

an average of 4.60 stars

from 1,124 ratings and 91 reviews.

***

Missing Girl At Frozen Falls

 can be purchased online at

Booktopia, Fishpond and Amazon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Book Review-Stories-Untold

Untold Stories

by

Leslie Wolfe

Leslie Wolfe’s Stories Untold, was overlooked by me for several months because, my interpretation of the title said it was a book of short stories of which this reader is not all that fond.  Upon closer inspection I noted that it was not sort stories, and have, therefore, just finished reading Untold Stories.

I a nut shell, Untold Stories is about a war veteran (DJ) and his plot to commit suicide, so bad is his Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.  He settles on a time of death then enlists Doctor Angela Blackwell to be his witness to his state of mind over a six month period.  After meeting DJ Angela decides to save him.    The question is, does DJ want to be saved? Is there anything in his life that is worth living for?

I enjoyed Stories Untold, perhaps because I was in my teens during the sixties when National Service (in Vietnam) was mandatory for healthy twenty year olds.   Although I was called up my health precluded me from going into the armed forces let alone to Vietnam.

Stories Untold is again something different to Wolfe’s usual homicide fare however, I feel sure that Leslie Wolfe fans will find Stories Untold enjoyable.

I rated

Untold Stories

 as a four-star read.

At the time of writing my review other

Goodreads readers have rated

Untold Stories

an average of 4.30 stars

from 998 ratings

and 92 reviews

***

Untold Stories

is available online

at

  Fishpond and Amazon

Unavailable:       Booktopia

~~~~~~~

Book Review-The-Girl-You-Killed

The Girl You Killed
by
Leslie Wolfe

Leslie Wolfe’s latest offering, The Girl You Killed, was presented in a slightly different manner from any of her previous work, and in my opinion, it is this difference that contributes to The Girl You Killed being one of her best.

Andrea and Craig Brafford appear to be a happily married young couple. The only thing Andrea is missing is gainful employment. Every time she applies for a job she doesn’t get past an interview. Craig plays the dutiful husband as she grieves her lost opportunities. Craig has his own plans for Andrea’s skills.

Then Andrea discovers she is pregnant and she expects support and joy from Craig and again she doesn’t get the expected. Far from it. The only thing she develops is severe morning sickness…morning sickness that develops any time of the day or night. In fact, the only time she doesn’t suffer morning sickness is during a week in the Caribbean.

Not many months later Craig is on trial for murdering his pretty young wife.

Fans of Leslie Wolfe will find The Girl You Killed a real page-turner.

 

I rated

The Girl You Killed

as a solid

five star read.

***

At the time of writing my review

other Goodreads readers had awarded

The Girl You Killed

an average of 4.53 stars,

from 618 ratings

and 64 reviews.

***

The Girl You Killed

is available online

at

Booktopia,  Fishpond and Amazon

~~~~~~~

Book Review-The-Angel-Creek-Girls

The Angel Creek Girls

(Kay Sharp #3)

by

Leslie Wolfe

Leslie Wolfe’s third Kay Sharp offering The Angel Creek Girls is the best of three, Kay Sharp books, so far.  Set in and around her hometown, Mount Chester during a monsoonal type downpour.

Cheryl and her two youngest daughters are anxiously waiting for sixteen-year-old Julie to return home so that they may leave their Mount Chester home.  Julie’s return home that evening is followed by another visitor which in turn leads to a murder and a kidnapping.

Shortly after Sharp and Elliot Young commence their investigation; Young is tasked with another case where he finds a body alongside a busy road.   Are the two connected?  All forensic evidence washed away in the continuing deluge chances of finding the killer are slim.

Detective Sharp soon declares that there is a serial kidnapper operating in and around her hometown with kidnappings dating back over fifty years.  Needless to say, she is not that popular when her superiors hear her assertion.

Kay pulls some strings and soon her assertion has some legs.  But, is it enough to secure a conviction?

I think The Angel Creek Girls has more twists and turns than in any other book reviewed in 2021.

I will also re-state that The Angel Creek Girls is the best, of the three Detective Kay Sharp books, so far.  I hope there are more in the pipeline.

I rated

The Angel Creek Girls

as a solid

five-star read.

At the time of writing my review other

Goodreads readers have rated

The Angel Creek Girls

an average of 4.46 stars

from 818 ratings

and 84reviews

The Angel Creek Girls

is available online

at

Booktopia,  Fishpond and Amazon

~~~~~~~

Book Review-The-Girl-They-Took

The-Girl-They-Took

(Tess Winnett #8)

by

Leslie Wolfe

We often send children to school functions thinking they will be safe. That was mother Miriam’s thoughts when she left seven year old daughter Paige, backstage with other children and teachers at the school’s play.   Within 45 minutes Paige had been kidnapped and Miriam was left unconscious in a broom cupboard.

The Girl They Took, the eighth in the Tess Winnett series, has Tess specifically requested to solve the kidnapping of the District Attorney’s daughter, Paige.

Two botched ransom drops, organised by a blow-in junkie and the paedophile kidnapper, only serve to exacerbate Mother Miriam’s hysteria.  The other kidnapper is against asking for a ransom as he is working for someone who has no ransom agenda and he is doing his best to keep Paige safe and sound.  Why?

Meanwhile Father District Attorney appears to show little or no interest in his daughter’s disappearance.  He seems to want to carry on as usual.   Again…Why?  You will have both of these questions answered when you read the book.

The Girl They Took has Winnett at her most subdued with most of her time waiting for ransom calls and trying to subdue distraught mother, however, it did show another side of Tess Winnett.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Girl They Took and recommend it to all Leslie Wolfe/Tess Winnett fans.

I rated

The Girl They Took

as a solid

four star read.

At the time of writing my review other

Goodreads readers have rated

The Girl They Took

an average of 4.45 stars

from 236 ratings

and 26 reviews

The Girl They Took

is available online

at

Booktopia,  Fishpond and Amazon

Not available Booktopia or Fishpond: July 10, 2021

~~~~~~~

Book Review-Beneath-Blackwater-River

Beneath Blackwater River 

(Dr. Kay Sharp #2)

by

Leslie Wolfe

Leslie Wolfe’s second Kay Sharp novel, Beneath Blackwater River is off and running from page one with little or no back story to bog down the flow.

Beneath Blackwater River sees Leslie Wolfe at her best again.   To date I have read all of Wolfe’s series and the first book in each series is the hard read which I can only attribute to the back story content needed to introduce characters.

A teenage runaway, a kidnapping, a teenage murder victim, a bent cop, and a wealthy family provide the main ingredients to keep pages of Beneath Blackwater River turning into the wee hours of the morning.

The main to question to be answered, other than whodunit, is how a seventeen year-old murder victim’s DNA could match that of an unsolved kidnapping some 14 years earlier?

One of these conundrums questions I figured out long before Dr Kay did.  However, as the end drew nigh there were more twists and turns than one could possibly hope for in a mystery novel.

Beneath Blackwater River moves along at a cracking pace.  While Kay Sharp #1 was good, Kay Sharp #2 was/is an excellent read.  I am certain that all Leslie Wolfe fans will be delighted with this latest character in her repertoire.

I rated

Beneath Blackwater River

as a solidstar read.

At the time of writing my review other

Goodreads readers have rated

Beneath Blackwater River

an average of 4.58 stars

from 384 ratings

and 63 reviews

Beneath Blackwater River 

is available online

at 

Booktopia,  Fishpond and Amazon

Not available Booktopia: May 16, 2021

Book Review-The-Girl-From-Silent-Lake

The Girl From Silent Lake

(Dr. Kay Sharp #1)

by

Leslie Wolfe

Leslie Wolfe’s latest offering, The Girl From Silent Lake featuring FBI profiler Kay Sharp, began with a bang followed by several chapters during which characters and their back stories were introduced.  I felt that these chapters impacted significantly on the first, by slowing the flow considerably.  Fortunately, after character introductions, the pace of The Girl from Silent Lake increased with each chapter.

FBI profiler Kay Sharp leaves her ‘glamorous’ job to return to her home town of Mount Chester after her brother, at his first court appearance, is given six months jail time for what is little more than a push and shove bar fight during which he was severely provoked into throwing a punch.

Sharp has barely unpacked when she is visited by Elliot, a member of local law enforcement.  A grave and body had been discovered at Silent Lake; the work of a serial killer according to Dr Kay Sharp, our FBI heroine.

From here the pace of The Girl From Silent Lake increases with each chapter culminating in a nail biting climax during which…..

You will have to read The Girl From Silent Lake to find out.

I rated The Girl From Silent Lake as a solid four star read.

I’m looking forward to the April 23, 2021 release of the next Kay Sharp novel, Beneath Black Water River (Sharp #2).

I rated

The Girl From Silent Lake

as a solidstar read.

At the time of writing my review other

Goodreads readers have rated

The Girl From Silent Lake

an average of 4.54 stars

from 237 ratings

and 88 reviews

The Girl From Silent Lake

is available online

at 

Booktopia,  Fishpond and Amazon

Book Review-The-Backup-Asset

The Backup Asset

(Alex Hoffmann #3)

by

Leslie Wolfe

While not publicised as a sequel to Devil’s Move (#2 in the Hoffman series)  The Backup Asset follows hot on the heels of Devil’s Move.

Alex is still obsessed with the Mr Big of her previous case to the point that her work colleagues begin to worry about her ability to continue. And when she is asked to work on this next case she does not realise how close it will/bring her to her Mr Big.

In what appears to be another Cold War, Alex finds herself undercover in a company making parts for a revolutionary weapon which the United States is about to install on its warships.

Meanwhile, in Russia, key military leaders have been ordering apparently random incursions on land, sea and air in order to destabilise the security of its enemies.  One of these incursions included infiltrating the company building this new weapon and stealing the plans for said weapon.  The manner in which Russian spies have infiltrated nearly every aspect of American life is quite fascinating.

I first read The Backup Asset in autumn 2019 and enjoyed it as much in 2020.  The Backup Asset is a fast paced read

I rated

The Backup Asset

as a solid star read.

At the time of writing my review other

Goodreads readers have rated

The Backup Asset

an average of 4.17 stars

from 1,044 ratings

and 50 reviews

The Backup Asset

is available online

at 

Booktopia,  Fishpond and Amazon

Booktopia and Fishpond have only a small range

of Leslie Wolfe’s books which does not include

The Backup Asset

Book Review-Mile-High-Death

Mile High Death

by

Leslie Wolfe

(Tess Winnett  #7)

Mile High Death begins at a cracking pace and in true thriller style we know who the villain is.   It is now just a matter of our master sleuth, Tess Winnett catching said villain.

Mile High Death is book 7 of the Tess Winnett series, although the last three have only been novellas.  Still we can live in hope that 2021 will bring us a full length Tess Winnett novel.

Although I thoroughly enjoyed Mile High Death it is a novella and I am not a great fan of novellas/short stories.  However, a Tess novella is far better than no Tess.

Imagine being offered a ride home in a private jet.  Naturally you need to be female of a particular build to receive that offer.   The down side of such an invitation is that after being viciously assaulted there is a 10,000 feet high step to negotiate after being pushed out over the ocean.  It is with some dumb luck that one body is recovered out in the middle of the ocean.  By the time Tess catches our villain there will be many more.

At the time of writing my review other

Goodreads readers have rated

Mile High Death

an average of 

4.40 stars

from 15 ratings

and 6 reviews 

 I have rated 

Mile High Death

a  solid
read.

Mile High Death

can be purchased

online at 

Amazon

I purchased my edition from Amazon. 

It appears

Mile High Death

 is not available

at Booktopia, and Fishpond 

 

Book Review-Girl-With-A-Rose

Girl With A Rose

by

Leslie Wolfe

(Tess Winnett  #6)

Girl With A Rose is book 6 of the Tess Winnett series.  Although I thoroughly enjoyed Girl With A Rose, it is a novella and I am not a great fan of novellas/short stories.  The Tess Winnett character lends herself to write so much more than a short story.  However, a Tess novella is far better than no Tess.  I just hope Book 7 is the real deal….a novel.

It is a well-known fact in our family that I would have liked a daughter.  We have two wonderful boys.  However, after reading several books featuring teenage girls, Girl With A Rose, being the latest, two rowdy boys have been easier to raise than some of these girls.

It’s good that Tess was free when fifteen year old Kaylee went missing.  Was Kaylee going to become another victim of a drop dead gorgeous psychopathic serial killer not known to police or public?   Would Tess be able to find and safely return Kaylee to her mother without the help of Alice, Kaylee’s best friend and the governor’s daughter?

I love the Tess Winnett character and really hope she can star in another novel.  As with all short stories, or novellas, this one ended rather abruptly.

As I never award a novella five stars Girl With A Rose will have to be happy with a four star rating.   However, fans of Tess Winnett and Leslie Wolfe will thoroughly enjoy Girl With A Rose.   If you happened to be reading a Leslie Wolfe review for the first time and like the crime genre why don’t you give Tess a try?  I stumbled across Dawn Girl while surfing through Amazon and  Girl With A Rose was my sixteenth Leslie Wolfe read.

At the time of writing my review other

Goodreads readers have rated

Girl With A Rose

an average of 

4.53 stars

from 107 ratings and 20 reviews 

 I have rated 

Girl With A Rose

a  solidread.

Girl With A Rose

can be purchased

online at 

Amazon

I purchased my edition from Amazon. 

It appears

Girl With A Rose

 is not available

at Booktopia, and Fishpond