I really felt the environment and the suspense in this crime novel set in Birmingham. Nice plot, believable characters and nice tempo. I will pick up the other in the series!

Thank you Joffe Books for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

*thank you to Netgalley, Chris Collett and Joffe Books for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*


2 stars.

Well this was me giving this author a third chance after reading another of her books a while back that was also 2 stars from me and anther of her's I did like enough to give it 3 stars. But unfortunately this wasn't a hit for me. The writing style isn't for me and I found it distracting. I didn't like the main characters either and found it hard to connect with the story. It wasn't badly written just isn't my style.

I loved this book it really had me captivated unable to put it down. It was dark and twisty and had me hanging on to every word wanting to know what was going to happen next. A really great great cant wait for the next one in the series. A big fat 5 stars from me.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. This book was slow off the mark but once it got going it gathered speed and was worth the wait.

I love discovering new authors and Chris Collett is one such author. ‘Innocent Lies’ is actually the second book in the series featuring D.I Mariner. The first book ‘Deadly Lies’ was released earlier this year. I haven’t read the first book yet but I fully intend to accidentally on purpose buy it because I loved this book so much and I just know I will love the first one.

D.I Mariner is a bit of a complex character. He is an old school detective in that he wants to catch the villains but he sometimes bends the rules to enable him to apprehend the perp. D.I Mariner seems to dislike people in authority and he doesn’t take it well when his superiors tell him to focus on the disappearance of a young girl called Yasmin, who is from a middle class Muslim family rather than on the disappearance of a young man called Ricky, who is from one of the working class areas of the city. D.I Mariner knows Ricky of old because he had dealings with Ricky when Mariner was in uniform. Mariner feels that Yasmin’s disappearance is being prioritised by his superiors because it looks good on the old equality statistics. It emerges during the investigation that Yasmin is not as sweet and innocent as she is initially made out to be. D.I. Mariner is a man of a certain age, who has been around the block a few dozen times and his work appears to be one thing that keeps him going. He has problems with relationships although he does disappear every so often for a quickie with a local lady. Mariner does not find it easy to talk about his feelings and to a certain extent he keeps his feelings hidden. It’s certainly true to say that D.I. Mariner is a loner, who dislikes people and socialising and he would rather walk in the countryside on his own. I suppose you could say that that is where he does his best thinking. As a character, I initially found him hard to warm to but eventually I did warm to him and at times he has a wicked sense of humour. I can’t say the same for his superior D.C.I Fiske, who I could quite cheerfully have smacked around the chops several dozen times with a wet flip flop and a wet fish. What a twit he is.

The D.I. Mariner is a new series to me and I eagerly opened the first page. I became so wrapped up in the story that before I realised it, I had actually read a third of the book. It was as if I had become addicted to reading ‘Innocent Lies’ and my Kindle came everywhere with me. The pages of the book were turning that fast that it was almost as if the pages were turning themselves and before I knew it I had finished the book, which I was so disappointed about because I was enjoying the story and the writing style that much that I just wanted the book to continue. Granted the pace of the book was a bit slow to start with but once the action started, the story gathered pace. At times I felt as though I was living the story and that I was actually an invisible member of the team. On more than one occasion I found myself tutting at certain actions as well as arguing with the book. To me the sign of a good book is when I start interacting with the book itself (I know it’s fiction) as the story just seems so real. Me tutting at and shouting at the book got me some strange looks I can tell you. I usually have the attention span of a gnat and I am easily distracted but not with ‘Innocent Lies’. Once I started reading, I shut out all other noise and just concentrated on the book, excluding all other distractions. There were several twists and turns in this story, some of which I saw coming and some of which I wasn’t expecting. ‘Innocent Lies’ certainly kept me guessing.

In short I absolutely loved reading ‘Innocent Lies’ and I can’t wait to read more from the D.I Tom Mariner series. In the meantime I will go and accidentally on purpose buy ‘Deadly Lies’ so I can see how the series began. I would recommend this series to anyone. I award this book a solid 5* out of 5*.

The second book in the series but also a stand alone read. A bit slow to start with and I was half way through before I really got into the story. two missing teenagers and another well written story from Chris Collett. It is well worth persevering until the end. An improvement on the first book and good character development of Knox and Mariner. I would read the next in the series. Thank you Net Galley for my copy. I reviewed on Amazon, Goodreads and Facebook.

I did not read the first book in this series, but it wasn't totally necessary as a prequel to this one which is fine as a stand-alone. It was a little slow to start, but once I got into it, I really liked it. There are two kidnappings being investigated and they appear not to be linked as the victims are from very different backgrounds. As the main character, DI Tom Mariner delves more into the cases, many twists and turns soon show that they are linked. It seemed impossible initially but as the story progresses and more is revealed, things become more clear with somewhat of a surprise ending. Liked the writing and the story. A little slow but enjoyed it for the most part. Will definitely go back and read the first book in this series as soon as I have time. Thanks NetGalley!

4 stars

Two people have gone missing. One a fifteen-year old boy who is a troubled teen and the son of a woman DI Tom Mariner knows and has helped in the past. Mariner begins to investigate, when his boss DCI Gavin Fiske calls him in and takes him off the case. Instead he is given another missing person case. He is furious because a young woman from a “good” family – and a politically sensitive one - is taking priority over a troubled teen.

But as Mariner discovers, seventeen-year old Yasmin Akram is not what she seems. She is hiding some big secrets from her parents.

After a surprise in the plot, and a tragedy, Mariner begins to get the idea that the two cases may be related. Are they? More surprises occur and the plot deepens.

This book is full of surprises and the plot has surprising twists. It is both well written and plotted. The suspense begins almost immediately in the story and continues, languidly at times, to the exciting conclusion. I’m not sure I like DI Mariner as he seems a little off-putting at times. This is a good police procedural. It is better than Chris Collett’s last book.

I want to thank NetGalley and Joffe Books for forwarding to me a copy of this good book to read.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Joffe Books for a review copy of Innocent Lies, the second in a series of police procedurals featuring DI Tom Mariner of the Birmingham police in the early 2000s.

Tom is waylaid by Colleen Skeet telling him that her 15 year old son Ricky is missing. Having known the family for years in a professional capacity Tom promises to do all can to help but his boss acting DCI Gavin Fiske has other ideas and wants him to concentrate on the disappearance of another teenager, Yasmin Akram whose middle class parents are more articulate and have more clout than Colleen. With both teenagers appearing to have disappeared off the face of the earth and a boss who is happy to jump the gun and to conclusions in the pursuit of early success Tom has his work cut out for him.

I thoroughly enjoyed Innocent Lies as I like a good procedural with a slow unraveling of facts and one discovery leading to another. Under Fiske's direction it's all about Yasmin and poor Ricky hardly gets a look in. Ms Collett does a great job of slowly revealing her secrets and different aspects of her personality, the dutiful Muslim daughter, the rebellious teenager etc. although the cultural differences between these two worlds are not explored in any depth.

The plot is absorbing with plenty of twists, turns and surprises and had me glued to the pages throughout although I thought some of the theorising came over more as padding than strictly necessary to the plot. The third person narrative and linear timeline suit this kind of novel and come as a welcome relief to all the shifting point of view and timelines that are so prevalent nowadays. It is a pleasure to get your teeth into Tom's point of view and be able to stick with it without distraction. I particularly liked the ending of the novel where the perpetrator and motive came as a surprise when a late flurry of information makes everything clear.

I must admit that I find Tom Mariner a bit of a strange character and hard to warm to. He is a solitary person who enjoys walking in the countryside rather than socialising. I suspect that he is friendless apart from his current girlfriend, Anna but even there I find his behaviour odd and it hints at a very unappealing, controlling nature. Despite this he is a smart detective and good at his job. I find some of his thoughts very amusing, especially on the subject of his boss.

Innocent Lies is a good read which I have no hesitation in recommending.

DI Tom Mariner is contacted by a woman she knows. Her teenage son is missing and although he's taken off before, mom firmly believes something bad has happened.

Just as he gears up to start an investigation, his superior pulls him off that case and assigns him to another missing person .. this time a teenage girl whose parents are more politically involved.

Yasmin's parents have been targeted before and the powers that be are concerned this is a racially motivated kidnapping ... or worse. But Mariner and his team find that Yasmin had been withholding a lot of secrets from her parents ... and her absence may be something entirely different.

This is second in a series and does well as a stand alone. Full of twists and turns, this crime thriller is well written and highly suspenseful. There are lots of different characters, but the author has done a bang up job of keeping them easy fit into the story.

Mariner is not a complicated man. He's not materialistic and loves to walk .... helps clear his mind when he's got a puzzling case. He lives for his job and cannot conceive of doing anything else with his life. The author has added some personal issues that make him more credible.

THIS IS A REVISED EDITION OF A BOOK FIRST PUBLISHED AS “BLOOD OF THE INNOCENTS.”

Many thanks to the author / Jill Burkinshaw /Joffee Books/ Netgalley for the advance digital copy. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

Before starting this book I saw it was the second DI Mariner book, but decided to give it a try nevertheless.

The story had a reasonably slow start, although a girl quickly went missing, not much else seemed to be happening at first and I wasn't so pulled into the story and in fact ended up starting another book and finishing that one before I went back to this story.

In the end, it was a good crime story with twists and turns, but perhaps 3,5 stars not 4.