A truly brilliant standalone in this mystery series, with an absolutely mind-blowing twist.
A young woman passes out on the streets of a quiet village… unfortunate, but surely not a serious incident. That’s until Yorkshire police discover the terrible truth.
The victim has had her kidneys removed. Inevitably, she doesn’t survive the ordeal. Who could even think of doing such a thing, let alone carry it out? That’s what Detective Stewart Gardener and his team will have to determine. Yet even if the cops find the perpetrator, they’ll be faced with someone who has a trick up their sleeve to escape being held accountable for their actions.
Will a cruel killer once again escape justice?
Impunity is the first book that I have read in the DI Gardener series, although it is the tenth released. Sadly I just didn’t have the time to go back and read the previous nine beforehand, although I would love to, and hopefully will, get the chance to do so eventually! I enjoyed reading Impunity as a stand alone story and am really grateful for the opportunity to do so as part of the #blogtour.
I’m not giving away any spoilers when I say that the crime in this story is very unusual – a young woman has died following removal of her kidneys – not something that comes up too often in crime writing! As someone who has worked in a transplant centre quite a few times and still finds the process absolutely fascinating, I found the blurb irresistible and had my mind racing as to how this had taken place! I very much enjoyed how we got into the main storyline almost immediately, sometimes it can be a little tiresome waiting for ‘the incident’ to occur but in Impunity we are introduced to our victim within a page or two so can get stuck in straight away. The writing is nicely paced and there is time to explore the backgrounds of the victim and potential suspects without feeling rushed. Indeed, there is almost an absence of progress despite their best efforts! I really liked how this story has brought us a very different sort of crime investigation – they say there is nothing new under the sun and that is true, so it must be challenging for authors to come up with novel plot lines! It is a comparatively short read but brings plenty to the table for the reader without overcomplicating things. As with other crime reads, I found myself read between the lines, at times adding two and two to make anything but four, and working hard to beat the pages to their conclusion. Of course I always find myself adding too much value to parts of the story and sending myself off on a wild goose chase but that’s the fun of this genre and what makes a great read!
If you are looking for a new crime series to get your teeth into, or recommend to a friend, I think Ray’s books would be a great shout. As I’ve said, I have only read Impunity but if they are all as enjoyable then this is going to be a lovely series to relish and savour!
About Ray Clark: Ray Clark is an award-winning, Yorkshire born author, and creator of Northern Crimes – a series of gritty, murder mysteries set in and around Leeds, featuring detectives Gardener and Reilly, and published by The Book Folks.
Influenced by Graham Masterton – and a grandmother who didn’t mind the young Ray watching gory horror films – Ray began his career as a writer in 1995 with a book about Masterton published with an introduction by Peter James. Since then, Ray has penned two supernatural thrillers and several collections of cross-genre short stories before moving on to police procedural fiction – with a slice of horror – in his Northern Crimes series.
Over the last forty years Ray has also spent considerable time in the music industry working both in the UK and Europe as a guitar vocalist and with a number of bands.
These days, Ray divides his time between writing books and working live on the music scene, while also helping to raise money for the Oesophageal Patients Association, a charity he feels quite close to.
You can find out more at via:
Website: https://thebookfolks.com Insta:@the_book_folks
Twitter: @thebookfolks
Facebook: http://facebook.com/thebookfolks Blog: https://thebookfolks.com/blog/
Ray Clark’s Twitter: @T1LOM
Ray Clark’s website: https://northerncrimes.net
Pre-order your copy at:
UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C5DDXT3G US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C5DDXT3G CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0C5DDXT3G
AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0C5DDXT3G
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