4 and 1 / 2 stars

I read the Kindle edition.

Big Jimmy Rae is a crime boss who runs drugs and prostitutes and hides behind the façade of being just a businessman, but he is a violent and intemperate man. He is very used to getting his own way by using both fear and extortion.

When one of his minions, Tam Whitlow goes missing at first Jimmy is angry, but little concerned about Tam’s welfare. When some of Tam’s body parts, including his head are thrown though his window at his home, he gets very angry. The fact that the police in the form of DS Marnie Hammond and DCI Reese are there at the time the bag came through the window doesn’t help at all.

Rowan Hall and her father John are missing. Rowan has been kidnapped and held for some unknown reason. His friend, Tom Conway, has come to town to try to find Rowan and john. He speaks with a young girl named Emma Winstanley who gives tom the name of the man who was holding her. Tom pays a brutal visit to the man.

The police respond to the report of a body in a field. The victim is one Dave Hamer. He has been beaten to death. The police interview a prostitute and learn that Hamer kept her prisoner, but young Emma had gotten away and is in a safe house; the same safe house where John Hall worked. John and his daughter Rowan have been missing for several weeks now. Marnie wonders if it was Hamer and his cronies who took John and his daughter.

Meanwhile, Tom Conway continues to follow leads until her gets the name of Jimmy Rae. He begins to gather intelligence on Rae.

It appears that the police and Tom are on the same trail. Did Rae kill or have killed Hamer for letting the young Emma get away? Did the mysterious Tom Conway kill Hamer? Did Hamer go back and kidnap John and his daughter?

Arnie Phelps, Rae’s attorney goes missing. Marnie and PC Bev go to his office to speak to him and find the place ransacked. Marnie and Bev then head to Phelps’ home. There they find DI >>>>> (who is next to useless, having already ignored the investigation into Rowan and John’s disappearance), who again is useless. DCI Reese reams him out, but to little effect.

The speed of the story picks up as Marnie meets Tom and they team up to locate Rowan. It all winds up on a dark and stormy night (no kidding), and all of the reader’s questions are resolved – well, mostly.

I’ve read Robin Roughley’s DS Lasser books, and this novel is just as fine as those are. It is well plotted and very well written. It reads linearly, that is to say one event follows another clearly and concisely. The short chapters make the book just fly by as the reader in engrossed in the action. I discovered that I liked DS Marnie Hammond. She is brave – fearless almost, but takes matters into her own hands perhaps a touch too much. The story gave a lot of information about her background (but not so much that it intruded on the story), but said nothing about her boss, DCI Reese. He is a cipher. We don’t even know his first name. It is a very good read, and I am anxious to go back and get the first in this series. Well done, Mr. Roughley! Keep writing!

I want to thank NetGalley and Bloodhound Books for forwarding to me a copy of this absolutely great book to read and enjoy.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Bloodhound Books for an advance copy of Cut the Threads, the second novel to feature DS Marnie Hammond.

The novel opens with gangster Tam Whitlow being dismembered alive by someone looking for information. When Marnie gets there with her boss, DCI Reese, they surmise it's gang related but as more bodies turn up they begin to suspect there's more to it. In the meantime soldier Tom Conway is home to look for his closest friend, John Hall and his daughter, Rowan, who have been missing for over a month.

I thoroughly enjoyed Cut the Threads which is more of a thriller than a police procedural as Marnie tears up the rule book in her hunt for John and Rowan. It makes for a tense, exciting read if violent, as the opening chapter proves, and full of bad language which, given the gangland setting is appropriate, but may not be for the faint hearted.

I have not read the previous novel in the series, Keep You Near, but I now have no need as the main elements are reprised in detail in this one because although Cut the Threads is a stand alone it has a thread which is definitely not cut and appears to run through these two novels and will be continued in the next as it's not fully resolved. Marnie joined the police to try and find out what happened to her sister when she was kidnapped in front of eleven year old Marnie's eyes sixteen years ago. Every novel adds a little to her knowledge but not enough to satisfy her. So, while the main plot is complete in the novel, Marnie's quest continues.

My jury is still out on Marnie. She is a good, smart detective, able to fathom out the motives behind the crimes she investigates fairly easily, but as soon as she gets a whiff of her sister, Abby, and the people involved in her abduction she turns into a cold blooded sociopath with vengeance on her mind. I can't envisage this split personality but perhaps that says more about me and my comfortable life than the deep hurt she feels.

I like the portrayal of the other characters from the gangsters with no loyalty and whose automatic response to adversity is violence to the inept DI Rogers and the extremely supportive DCI Reese.

Cut the Threads is a good, tense read which I have no hesitation in recommending.

Cut the Threads by Robin Roughley was hard hitting, fast paced and explosive straight out of the gate. It was surprising because when I started the book I wasn’t sure if I was going to like it but the more I read the more I got into it and enjoyed it.

Detective Marnie Hammond stars in this novel, the 2nd in the series. Also featured are nasty thuggish gangs, a kidnapping and a twisted solicitor. Marnie’s past haunts her, she struggles with flashbacks and this carries forward in how she handles the job. I hadn’t read the first book but I was still able to get the gist of Marnie’s past story and the horrific crimes that occurred. Because if this I would say that this book could be read as a stand-alone novel if like me you haven’t read the first book.

This is the first Robin Roughley book that I have read, and I really enjoyed it. There is a lot of swearing and liberal use of the “C” word all throughout this book, that didn’t bother me in the slightest, if anything it added to the menacing atmosphere, although I acknowledge some people might not like it.

I’m going to give this book 4 stars, I really did enjoy it and I am looking forward to the next one but it did take me a while to get into the book. For me the second half of the book was what kept me hooked, once “the woman” got involved in things I couldn’t put the book down I just had to know what was going to happen next.

This was a good solid second novel, bring on the third I am ready for Marnie’s next adventure!

Robin plunges the reader straight into the action, no holds barred in this story of a rather gruesome murder. Who is the man and why has been so brutally attacked? A world of extortion and a boss no one knows the name of. Kidnapped girls, a dodgy solicitor and rackets left right and centre, Fortunately DS Marnie has a strong stomach and nothing will put her off tracking down the perpetrators. Short snappy chapters keep the pace moving and there is plenty going on right from the start. Characters with depth that you take to -or not as the case maybe, but so well written that you could see this as a TV drama. Robin has the knack of bringing a story to life and characters you can believe in. This is a rather gory tale in parts with twists along the way yet handled so well. Marnie has her own demons. Will she ever put them to rest? Another wonderfully told story from the master of crime stories, every one has a depth so lacking in many others. I look forward to the next Robin Roughley instalment with baited breath.
(rest of links on publication/blog tour day)