It’s summer and Frost has had a great time reading some recent crime novels.

Angela Marsons, who lives with her partner, Labrador and swearing parrot has written a corker:

Silent Scream, a D.I. Kim Stone novel.

D.I. Kim Stone does not excel at people skills, it must be said, but her sidekick Bryant invariably saves the day at that level. However it is Kim who takes her team to the edge of what is allowed, and strays over in order to get to the truth of things. In doing so her past is revealed and explains her own demons. Though this novel has sold a million internationally as an ebook, this is Silent Scream’s first outing in print. Well worth reading, with a good twist at the end. I almost got ‘who dun it’ but not quite. Clever.

Brenda Novak has set Her Darkest Nightmare in Alaska, a place I’d love to visit, so on that level I enjoyed the novel.

But I was also gripped by Novak’s writing and taut plotting. Not sure I could work with psychopaths as Dr Evelyn Talbot does, but she has learnt to live with fear, after being targeted and tortured by her boyfriend as a teenager.  Not one to read at bedtime perhaps unless you’ve locked all the doors and windows, and looked under the beds, all of them. But I am a bit of a wimp. It’s one that stays with you. This is the first in a new series from this New York Times bestselling author.

Christopher Farnsworth’s Kill File’s opening sentence made me laugh. I quote:

I know what you’re thinking. Most of the time, it’s not impressive. Trust me. 

 Oh, I do, I do, if I go by what I  read a great deal on social media. Thoughts put down unfiltered…

This contemporary thriller has its foot down all the way, and believe me, it’s driven by an expert:  great writing, interesting and refreshingly original concept. John Smith, the main character, has a special gift/curse, he can access other people’s thoughts. It is something John Smith has put it to good use in the past, only to find that his latest investigation lands him in deep water. I really liked this, bit like being on a roller coaster. Well worth taking on holiday.

Anna Smith’s Kill me Twice is a well trodden path, that of secrets threatening to destroy lives from the sink estates of Glasgow to the corridors of Westminster in another case for Rosie Gilmour.

Those who are already fans won’t be disappointed and it should gather in new ones as Rosie ducks and weaves to expose the truth of a presumed suicide – which wasn’t, and there’s sexual abuse too, linking powerful figures across the nation.

The Last Thing I remember by Deborah Bee is intriguing. Frost has already reviewed this, but I thought I’d have another look, and it stays crisp, the tension sharp, and all this right up to the last page.

This is a debut thriller from the Creative Director at Harrods with TV rights already optioned by Alan Moloney’s Parallel Films. I  concerns a mugging victim who can’t move, or speak.

I have a friend who has been in just such a state: struck down by a virus she has been aware, but trapped inside her body. Fortunately my friend is recovering, but this is the clever plotting behind The Last Thing I remember.

Sarah has been mugged, and can hear, but not move, or speak. She has to piece together her life by listening to the people around her. Kelly is in the waiting room. She’s just a kid, a schoolgirl, but why is she there? Questions, questions, but slowly the picture is put together.

I really liked this concept. It isn’t an easy one to manage, but Bee’s done it, easy peasy.

Silent Scream by Angela Marsons pub by Zaffre

Her Darkest Nightmare by Brenda Novak  pub by Headline

Kill File by Christopher Farnsworth pub by Zaffre

Kill me Twice by Anna Smith  pub by Quercus

The Last thing I Remember by Deborah Bee pub by twenty7