Wednesday 10 May 2017

Book Review - Written into the Grave by Vivian Conroy - Blog Tour

Amazon UK
Title: Written into the Grave
Author: Vivian Conroy
Format reviewed: Ebook
Source: Netgalley
Publisher: HQ Digital
Publication Date: 10th May 2017
Rating: 5 Stars


Can fiction kill?
Vicky Simmons’s life was supposed to be relaxing after she moved back home to the coast of Maine, but instead of baking bread and gardening she’s been chasing down killers and it’s time to stop. Vicky is ready to slow down again and vows to start focusing more on her roses than solving crime.

That is until she reads the new serial in the paper over breakfast, describing a brutal murder that takes place on a cliff top road just above a beach. Only to find herself moments later, walking Coco and Mr. Pug, face to face with a dead body on the sand. The murder victim described exactly as he was in the story…

Once again death has come to Glen Cove and this time Vicky and her friends won’t stop until they find the killer before they get away with murder.

Easily the best book in the series to date. Was gripped incredibly early on and found the book to be full of action and red herrings, and kept me thinking the whole way through. 

In Written into the Grave you are transported to the heart of the action, within the first few chapters, and before you get to the real murder, I was gripped by Vicky reading out a part of a story serial in the newspaper that describes in great detail a murder being committed.  So when Vicky notices police action at the cliffs in Glen Cove, she can;t help but get a feeling that reality was mirroring fiction. 

On the surface it should have been a very easy crime to solve, until you start thinking and digging into the people potentially involved, at which point there suddenly are a whole range of potential suspects which could have the motivation for murder. 

What surprised me a bit was how fast Cash, the local police, starts to lean on Vicky for support with the case, going as far as to  ask for help and discuss theories with her, whereas in the previous two books in the series he seemed rather reluctant for any help at all. 

It's not just Cash that Vicky is helping with investigating, but also Michael who runs the local paper. The three of them seem locked in a weird triangle involving jealousy despite Vicky not going out with either man. 

This may be book three in the A Country Gift Shop series but it could definitely be read as a standalone, although if you want to understand the full depths of the Cash - Michael - Vicky conundrum, then reading the other books which are equally enjoyable would be a good idea. 

I was engaged in the story from the start and really enjoyed reading the book and seeing how it all panned out. I am marginally frustrated that Vivian Conroy managed to outwit me yet again for so far into the story, but loved trying to work it out. 

Thank you so much to Netgalley and HQ Digital for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.


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