EXCERPT: MONDAY - Week 1
Sharon Giroux was starting to feel worried. She was standing in the front porch of her parents' bungalow in Blandford having rung the doorbell three times, and still there was no response. The bell was most certainly working. The sounds of the electronic chimes had carried clearly through the door, but no movement could be seen through the thick, patterned glass. She pressed her nose to the door and tried the bell one last time. Nothing. Sighing, she opened the zip on her shoulder bag and felt through its various contents to the smaller inner compartment, extracting the keys kept inside. Nothing serious could have happened to her parents, surely? Admittedly she hadn't seen them for two weeks, having returned from holiday with her own family only the previous day. They hadn't answered her phone call, made immediately after she and Pierre had put their two young children to bed, and that was strange. Her parents rarely went out on a Sunday evening, not with one of their favorite historical dramas being broadcast mid-evening. There had been no time to check on them earlier in the day, not with her own return to work and its incessant pressures. A GPs working life is one continuous log jam of problems that require immediate action, especially after a fortnight's absence.
Sharon turned the key in the lock and opened the door. 'Mum? Dad?' she called. There was no answer, no sound of movement. The air seemed slightly stale as if no window had been opened for days.

ABOUT 'TWISTEDCRIMES': Sylvia and Ted Armitage, a retired couple, attend the wrong funeral service by mistake. A month later their daughter returns from holiday to find them missing.

The police make little headway in tracing their whereabouts until their bodies are found in their car, abandoned in the middle of a copse in a tranquil nature reserve. They appear to have committed suicide, but some of the forensic evidence suggests otherwise. The police slowly make progress and find several links to a shady organisation that owns a string of bars, clubs and cafes.

When another body is found in the same area, DCI Sophie Allen must use all her investigative skills to unravel the connections between these very different victims. Some of the suspects are involved in shady deals and corruption, others are masking dark family secrets.

Sophie is joined by two new police officers, Rose Simons and George Warrander, who will transform her team.

MY THOUGHTS: This is a series I am enjoying playing catch-up on. But, IMHO, it is far better read than listened to. Narrator, Cat Gould, sounds like she is trying to jolly along a class of reluctant kindergarteners.

This is a well written addition to the series, but it does have a few minuses, for me anyway. So, let's get them out of the way first. The synopsis gives far too much of the plot away. It should have ended with the sentence: They appear to have committed suicide, but forensic evidence suggests otherwise. I feel it is all too easy to rely on 'organised crime' as a solution. Although, in the author's defence, he does demonstrate just how easy it is for ordinary people to become caught up and then ensnared in these organisations. The ending felt a little messy - I expected more. I had a few unanswered questions at the end.

On the plus side, there are quite a few twists and turns as the story progresses and the final one I certainly didn't see coming.

I like Sophie Allen. She is a kind and nurturing person, both professionally and personally. She is also very smart and resourceful, not afraid to turn to her mentors when she needs advice or wants to thrash something out. She is compassionate and encourages her team to be the best they can be.

While this is a series, each book is able to stand on its own. There are occasional references to past cases, but any information needed to understand the reference is provided.

⭐⭐⭐.6

#TwistedCrimes #NetGalley

THE AUTHOR: I write crime/mystery stories which are more than simple whodunnits, stories that probe below the surface. I want my readers to feel part of the world that I create in my books, to relate to my characters and to be catalysed into feeling an emotional response to the events that I describe. I’d better explain that I dislike gender stereotypes and the portrayal of women as victims. Be prepared to meet women engineers and scientists, along with men who are receptionists. Victims may be from any gender.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Joffe Books via NetGalley for providing a digital ARC of Twisted Crimes for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

The bodies of the Armitages, a retired couple with no apparent issues, are found in their car- but as DCI Sophie Allen discovers, there's more to the story. This is a well done procedural which can be read easily as a standalone, despite being the fifth in a series. Sophie's team is plagued by the possibility that someone is leaking info even as they find themselves in a very shadowy world of corruption and greed. No spoilers- it's a good read.

This book took me a long time to read. I found the plot and mystery to be very interesting, but the narrative to be very slow. There were a lot of characters and different points of view and the story got very confusing at times. Overall I enjoyed the book, but it was a very slow read for me.

An elderly couple go to the wrong funeral and end up dead. DCI Sophie Allen—my current police crush—eventually shows up to find out why. Though the reason for the initial crime seems ridiculously slight, there’s no doubt such things do happen. That reason also makes it more difficult for the police to solve it, giving the whole team a chance to shine.
Halfway through I realized that, other than the hike with her husband (which was really work-related), there hadn’t been anything about her family in this one. Considering the previous editions and especially the last few, it seemed glaring.
I love this series. Despite the seriousness of the crimes, it doesn’t take itself too seriously. The very last scene wasn’t necessary, but I’m glad it’s there. Also glad the bad guys got what was coming to them, taken down by women, and not just Sophie this time.

Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

This is the fifth novel in the DCI Sophie Allen series which don't necessarily need to be read in order. This was a brilliant mystery and you're never quite sure where the next twist is going to be. It is a fast read and despite the title, is not overly violent or gory. I think it's more of a cozy mystery.

Brilliant book. Excellent main characters and plot. I would recommend this book.

This book was a classic mystery. However, I thought it was a little predictable, There wasn't really a twist ending. In the end this was a very good read nonetheless

I thought that this British police procedural was well written and kept my interest throughout. It is book 5 in the DCI Sophie Allen series. I think that it worked ok as a stand alone, although there were references to incidents in previous books. There is very little violence and I would classify it as a cozy mystery.
The book opens with an elderly couple going to a funeral for an out of town friend. They arrive early and enter into another funeral service, where they are made to feel unwelcome. A little more than a month later their bodies are found in a remote part of a nature reserve. DCI Allen and her team work to find out what happened as they realize that their deaths, although made to look like suicide, was actually murder.
About halfway through the book, DCI Allen realizes that their is a mole in the police sabotaging her team. There are many twists and turns in this absorbing mystery, as her team puts together the pieces of a puzzle. I thought the ending resolved all the plot threads very well.
Two quotes:
Detectives--"Blackman and McCluskie-detectives from the Far Side. Don't you mean the Dark Side? No, I mean the Far Side. They're a joke."
The Investigation--"We have so many loose ends it's like a tangled ball of wool at the moment."
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me this book.
A solid 4 out 5 stars.

I love this series so very much!! I love the characters, the slow build, the way each and every moment means something but you don't know it right away, the continuation of the story line flows yet doesn't take anything away from each revelation. So very good.

This book got me a little confused in the beginning: I slowly realized there was a gangster side to this murder story, but in reality this is a gangster story with murder. It’s well written, though the characters translate as a great deal of shallow to me.This may be because there’s too many of them or because I didn’t read the other four Sophie Allen’s stories, I don’t know. Nevertheless, they’re pictured in a somewhat shallow way, having no relevant background to go back to or something of the kind. There are some mental insights, but I couldn’t relate to the characters at all.
In all honesty, the writing itself doesn’t feel very juicy, or rich – it’s just literal plain writing, and not even in a In Cold Blood style. Just plain describing of facts. This observation got me distraught and caused me a deal of difficulty to finish the book. For those who enjoy a good family mobster power scheme, this book is pretty ideal.
The story itself is interesting, but I don’t really care too much for organized crime or gangster family stories. Had I known Twisted Crimes was mostly about an investigation of it, this review may had been a little different, as well as my enjoyment.

This was a quick, exciting read. Entertaining from start to finish. I recommend this book.

Great mystery. Characters are believable and you care what happens to them. This is my second DCI Sophie Allen mystery and I will go back and read the first three books.
I recommend this to any one that enjoys mysteries.

Sylvia and Ted Armitage, a retired couple, attend the wrong funeral service by mistake. A month later their daughter returns from holiday to find them missing.The police make little headway in tracing their whereabouts until their bodies are found in their car, abandoned in the middle of a copse in a tranquil nature reserve. They appear to have committed suicide, but some of the forensic evidence suggests otherwise. The police slowly make progress and find several links to a shady organisation that owns a string of bars, clubs and cafes.

When another body is found in the same area, DCI Sophie Allen must use all her investigative skills to unravel the connections between these very different victims. Some of the suspects are involved in shady deals and corruption, others are masking dark family secrets. Sophie is joined by two new police officers, Rose Simons and George Warrander, who will transform her team.

Loved it!!!!

The book opens with an elderly couple attending the wrong funeral service. Some time after the service their daughter reports them missing and they are found dead in their car as a suspected suicide. However, the death seems suspicious and the plot twists and turns meeting some shady characters along the way. I was kept guessing as to who committed the crime, <spoiler> although at the very end we are still not actually aware of their involvement in the elderly couple's death. </spoiler>

I really enjoyed the plot unfolding before my eyes and the relationships between the characters.

I was not aware that this was part of a series, although it did

work well as a stand alone novel too. I will be looking out for the other books in the series though. Thank you to NetGalley and Joffe books for a free copy of this book.

Another strong instalment in the DI Allen series with the return of both police and criminal characters from previous books. Definitely best read as a series

Very good story,believable characters, suspenseful..unfortunately, the end,and I really mean the end ( last 10 pages or so)are a bit lame..

Highly recommend this book. very interesting storyline, and interesting characters. found it difficult to put down which is when i know ive found a good book

This is the fifth in a series of best-selling detective thrillers featuring DCI Sophie Allen, head of the Violent Crime Unit in Dorset, but the first I have read. Sophie reminds me very much of Anne Holt's Hanne Wilhelmsen. She's younger, but like Hanne she keeps a lot to her self, but also let her team run with clues and bring the info back to her, to formulate her theories. In this case, what appears to be a missing person case quickly turns into what appears to be a dual suicide. But is it? And why is an organized crime group involved? As the bodies pile up, the case gets stranger and stranger, and the twists and turns lead the reader back and forth on who the suspect is! I'm off to read the rest of the series!

If you are looking for a fantastic British police procedural, Michael Hambling’s DCI Sophie Allen mysteries are amongst the very best.  Each case is unusual and complex, but at the same time utterly believable.  His characters are extremely well developed, particularly Sophie and her team.  Twisted Crimes focuses on the puzzling murder of an elderly couple.  Not long after a mistake leads them to attend the wrong funeral, the pair are found dead.  Though it looks like suicide, the forensics clearly makes the case for murder.  Is the murder the act of a family member, or is it somehow linked to the funeral of the head of Woodruff industries, a business that walks the edge of legality.  A leak complicates matters.  One thing that I like about Hambling’s novels is that he can give readers a look into the opposing side without giving everything away.

Twisted Crimes is easily as good as its predecessors and will please Hambling fans as well as newcomers to the series.  The books do not have to be read in chronological order.

5/5

I received a copy of Twisted Crimes from the publisher and netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review

—Crittermom

Very good book with deep twisting plot and good characterisation. I enjoyed the plot finding out who killed and why.