Book Blurb
Three bodies, one suspect. That suspect is you… When the unidentified corpse of an apparent suicide victim is found hanging above a complex pattern of forty photographs of children, Detective Inspector Jonah Pennance of the Met’s specialist Sapphire Unit is brought in to investigate. A post-mortem reveals the suicide was murder, and Pennance realises he knows the man. But as the body count rises, all the signs point to a care home in Kent – a place that Pennance is all too familiar with. The problem is the only person connecting the victims is Pennance – and he has a solid motive for wanting them dead… Can Pennance prove his innocence? Perfect for fans of Ian Rankin, Stuart MacBride, and Peter James Blood Sentence is the first book in the explosive series featuring Detective Inspector Jonah Pennance.
BLOG TOUR REVIEW
Review for 'Blood Sentence' by Keith Nixon.
Read and reviewed for ZooLoos Book Tours, Keith Nixon and Gladius Press.
Publication date 28th February 2022.
This is the first book I have read by this author. It is also the first book in the 'DI Jonah Pennance Thriller' series.
I was originally drawn to this book by its eye catching cover and intriguing sounding synopsis and title. The synopsis stated that this book is 'Perfect for fans of Ian Rankin, Stuart MacBride, and Peter James Blood Sentence is the first book in the explosive series featuring Detective Inspector Jonah Pennance.' I am a huge fan of Ian Rankin and Stuart MacBride so am looking forward to seeing if this lives up to this statement. I must admit I was also biased due to the publisher being Gladius Press. I have yet to read a book published by Gladius Press that I haven't enjoyed. Hopefully this won't be the first... Watch this space! (Written before I started reading the book).
This novel consists of a prologue and 34 chapters. The chapters are short to medium in length so possible to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!
This book is based in London, England 🏴 and Wales 🏴 UK 🇬🇧. The bonus for me of books that are partly or fully based in the UK is that I live in the UK and have sometimes visited places mentioned in the book which makes it easier to picture. I actually recognised several places mentioned such as Marble Arch in London which I visited last year and Conwy Bay which was excellent to help me picture the scenes.
This book is written in first person perspective and the main protagonist is DI Jonah Penance. The benefits of third person perspective with multiple protagonists are that it let's you see the bigger picture of what's going on and you get to know more characters more, what they are thinking and what they are doing. It feels like you get to see the whole picture and not miss out in anything.
'Blood Sentence' discusses some topics that may trigger some readers or may not be suitable for others. I like to point this out ahead of time in my reviews so you can judge if this book is for you or not. In this book Keith discusses/includes child abuse.
This book is very well written with vivid descriptions that really set the scene for the reader. The cover and synopsis suit the storyline perfectly.
The storyline was intriguing, multi-layered and fast paced. I became completely invested in the storyline which took place over several locations. The plot was filled with murder, secrets, tension, suspense, mystery and everything you could want in a crime thriller. I enkoyed the storyline and thought the way thay Keith has linked the pharmaceutical world of medical research and woven it into a crime novel was fascinating. The fact that Keith has done his research shines through so a huge congratulations Keith, there is nothing worse than when an author includes a subject they know nothing about and haven't bothered researching as it completely spoils the storyline. The crimes themselves were unique and imaginative with just the right amount of gore. There are so many ways to murder somebody but I hadn't come across at least one of the methods used in this book in another one. There were several twists that I did not expect so another congratulations Keith. I have read so many crime thrillers that it is getting harder and harder to shock me but I was shocked on at least two occasions!! An absolutely fantastic start to what promises to be an addictive new series!!
It is always worrying when starting a new series as you have no idea who the characters are. It is very important for me to bond with not only the lead protagonists but strangely I find it important that I like the pathologist too. In this case the pathologists were Ingraham and Clough and I am pleased to say that I really liked them both and they both had fantastic memorable personalities.
The characters were all realistic, strong and well defined each with their own unique personalities. This is the first book in a new series so there were several new characters to meet. I nmwas completely invested in Jonah and although I didn't quite "click" with him immediately his character definitely grew on me. However, I liked both Simone and Hanson immediately along with both pathologists Ingraham and Clough. Evans was very blunt and although I wasn't a fan of his, his attitude did make me laugh a few times along with some of his interactions with Jonah. Overall there was a great eclectic mix of personalities and I'm looking forward to meeting many of them again in the next book in this series.
Overall an action packed explosive start to what promises to be an addictive series.
Genres covered in this book include Police Procedural, Crime Thriller, Contemporary Fiction, Mystery and Crime Fiction amongst others.
I would recommend this book to the fans of the above as well as fans of Ian Rankin, Stuart MacBride, and Peter James.
337 pages.
This book is just £1.99 to purchase on kindle or free on kindle unlimited (at time of review) via Amazon which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!
Rated 4 /5 (I enjoyed it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.
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About The Author
Keith Nixon is the best-selling author of sixteen novels and one million words in print, including the Margate based Solomon Gray series of over 250,000 copies in circulation and reached no.1 on Amazon in the UK, US, Canada and Australia.
Keith lived near the gritty seaside town of Margate, where many of his novels are based, for 17 years before relocating to the edge of the Peak District with his family where he lives today. Keith works in a senior sales role within a high-tech industry and has regularly travelled all over the globe.
His novels are published by Gladius Press and Bastei Lubbe (German)
Social Media Links
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/keith_nixon/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/knntom
Website: keithnixon.co.uk
Purchase Links
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