Book Description
What if someone you love is a serial killer?
DCI Eric Shaw, leading a forensic team at Scotland Yard, together with DI Miriam Leroux from a Murder Investigation Team, is investigating the death of a known offender. Killed by two gunshots: one to his neck, execution style, but preceded by another to his groin, implying a more personal motive.
Shaw’s attention at work is often distracted by a young forensic investigator, Adele Pennington, who is a beautiful woman over two decades his junior. However, his attraction to her is unreciprocated.
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the London police, an anonymous blog describes the details of a very similar crime. The author of the blog signs herself as Mina, like one of the victims in a case Shaw investigated many years ago.
Twenty years ago Eric saved her.
Who will save him now?
Meet DCI Eric Shaw . . . and his pupil.
This book is written in British English.
A different translation of this work was previously published by Amazon Publishing (2015).
Set in today’s London between 2014 and 2017, the Detective Eric Shaw Trilogy has as the main character a detective chief inspector leading a forensic team at Scotland Yard that is facing a crucial period in his life. Excessive dedication to work caused his marriage to fail and turned him into a cop ready to break more than one rule to satisfy his obsession with bringing criminals to justice.
His already precarious balance is undermined by a series of murders that seem related to a cold case involving a person he cares for.
The border between investigation and crime becomes blurred in a story that isn’t exactly about finding the culprit, but rather observing how the main character decides to react to his shocking findings.
A note from the author
Although I have included some real information about the organisation of police forces in London, I nevertheless took full artistic licence concerning professional positions of numerous employees, as well as the logistics and procedures utilised by the Forensic Services and Murder Investigation Teams of London’s Metropolitan Police (e.g. some officers carrying weapons) in order to better adapt them to the plot.
BLOG TOUR REVIEW
Review for 'The Mentor' by Rita Carla Francesca Monticelli.
Read and reviewed for Zooloo's Book Tours, Rita Carla Francesca Monticelli and Anakina publishers.
Publication date 30th November 2022.
This is the first book I have read by this author. It is also the first book in 'The Detective Eric Shaw' series.
I was originally drawn to this book by its eye catching gorgeous cover and intriguing sounding synopsis and title.
This novel consists of 15 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 🏴 , 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 have actually visited and had holidays in England on several occasions so am looking forward to seeing if I recognise anywhere that Rita has based the book on.
This book is written in third person perspective and the main protagonist is Detective Eric Shaw The benefits of third person perspective 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.
'The Mentor' discusses some topics that may upset 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 Rita discusses r@p3.
Love, love, loved this book!!!! Absolutely gripping edge of your seat page turner with an explosive twist!!
This book is extremely well written with vivid descriptions that really set the scene and put you in the storyline. The cover and synopsis suit the book perfectly.
What an absolutely explosive to start to what promises to be an addictive series!! The storyline was captivating and addictive from the first page until the last and I was completely invested in it. It was absolutely rammed full of lies, deceit,revenge, murder, tension, twists, suspense and everything you could ask for in a page turning psychological thriller. I just could not put this book down and finished it in one sitting. I was absolutely mind blown by the twist as I was sure I knew what was going on but Rita proved me completely wrong. A HUGE CONGRATULATIONS RITA!! It is getting harder and harder to shock me after reading so many psychological thrillers and crime books but you didn't only manage to shock me but proved me completely wrong too!! There was a perfect amount of gruesomeness which is always a bonus for me!! It is also intriguing and thought provoking and had me questioning whether I wanted the killer caught or not and if the victims deserved what they got. Personally, I think they did but everyone will have their own opinions on what they think should have been done. Every time I kept telling myself one more chapter the one I was in ended at a point where there was no way I could stop reading so I absolutely devoured it in one sitting!! I loved the insight into the forensic investigation side of crime and police work which was absolutely fascinating!! I cannot wait to get stuck into the second book in this series which is called 'Syndrome' and I am off to read now!!
Do not start this book until you have cleared your schedules as you will not be able to put it down!!
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 also any characters that may make repeat appearances during the series too.
The characters were all realistic and strong and I was completely invested in them throughout. I love the fact that we got to see what was happening from the Killer's point of view and to know why they were doing what they were doing. It is very rare that you see a storyline from the "bad guys" point of view so this was a unique experience. It is also very rare that I feel sorry for them and agree with what they are doing not wanting them to be caught but Rita managed it in this explosive page turner!! I really enjoy it when you do get to see from the Killer's perspective as it helps the reader understand them more making them more realistic to the reader. I really liked Eric Shaw and thought he was a strong leader for his fantastic team. I also love that he is not a by the book DCI which makes him a memorable character. I also loved getting to know his DI Miriam who is a great character and made me laugh on several occasions with her French swearing which I had fun translating!! . I won't say anymore as I don't want to spoil it for future readers. Regardless of what I thought about who, each character worked perfectly to make this page turning psychological thriller!!! I cannot wait to meet them all again in "Syndrome"!! Keep your eyes peeled for my review for that coming soon!!!
Congratulations Rita on a huge success. Welcome to my favourite authors list!! Here's to your next success 🥂!!
Overall an absolutely unputdownable psychological thriller that will keep you up at night on the edge of your seat with a pounding heart and make your jaw drop with the explosive twist!!
Genres covered in this book include Murder Thriller, Suspense, Crime Thriller, Psychological Thriller, Suspense Thriller, Police Procedural, Serial Killer Thriller, Mystery, Thriller and Psychological Fiction amongst others.
I would recommend this book to the fans of the above as well as fans of Mark Edwards, Cathryn Grant, Teresa Driscoll, Freida McFadden, Daniel Hurst, K. L. Slater, Mark Edwards and anyone looking for an explosive psychological thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout!!
214 pages.
This book is just 99p to purchase on kindle and £9.99 in paperback (at time of review) via Amazon which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!
Rated 5/5 (I LOVED it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.
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Author Bio
Rita Carla Francesca Monticelli is an Italian science fiction and thriller author.
She has lived in Cagliari (Sardinia, Italy) since 1993, earning a degree in biology and working as independent author, scientific and literary translator, educator and science communicator. In the past she also worked as researcher, tutor and professor’s assistant in the field of ecology at “Dipartimento di Biologia Animale ed Ecologia” of the University of Cagliari.
As a cinema addict, she started by writing screenplays and fan fictions inspired by the movies.
She has written original fiction since 2009.
Between 2012-2013 she wrote and published a hard science fiction series set on Mars and titled “Deserto rosso”.
The whole “Deserto rosso” series, which includes four books, was also published as omnibus in December 2013 (ebook and paperback) and hit No. 1 on the Italian Kindle Store in November 2014.
“Deserto rosso” was published in English, with the title “Red Desert”, between 2014 and 2015.
The first book in the series is “Red Desert - Point of No Return”; the second is “Red Desert - People of Mars”; the third is “Red Desert - Invisible Enemy”; and the final book is “Red Desert - Back Home”.
She also authored three crime thrillers in the Detective Eric Shaw trilogy - “Il mentore” (2014), “Sindrome” (2016), and “Oltre il limite” (2017) -, an action thriller titled “Affinità d’intenti” (2015), five more science fiction novels - “L’isola di Gaia” (2014), “Per caso” (2015), “Ophir. Codice vivente” (2016), “Sirius. In caduta libera” (2018), and “Nave stellare Aurora” (2020) - and a non-fiction book titled “Self-publishing lab. Il mestiere dell’autoeditore” (2020).
“Il mentore” was first published in English by AmazonCrossing with the title “The Mentor” in 2015 and then republished in 2022.
“Affinità d’intenti” was published in English with the title “Kindred Intentions” in 2016.
All her books have been Amazon bestsellers in Italy so far. “The Mentor” was an Amazon bestseller in USA, UK, Australia, and Canada in 2015-2016.
She is also a podcaster at FantascientifiCast, an Italian podcast about science fiction, a member of Mars Initiative and of the International Thriller Writers Organization.
She is often a guest both in Italy and abroad during book fairs, including Salone Internazionale del Libro di Torino (Turin Book Fair), Frankfurter Buchmesse (Frankfurt Book Fair) and Più Libri Più Liberi (Rome Book Fair), local publishing events, university conventions as well as classes (University of Insubria), where she gives speeches or conducts workshops about self-publishing and genre fiction writing.
As a science fiction and Star Wars fan, she is known in the Italian online community by her nickname, Anakina.
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