When I requested this book I didn't realise it was from a well-established series, but having said that it was quite easy to pick up and read as a stand alone. The story was quite readable and all action seemed to take place 'off-stage' so it came across as a cosy mystery despite all the dead bodies.
Many thanks to Netgalley/Margaret Duffy/Severn House Publishers for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

Good book. I did get lost a few times on who was in charge of which area and am still not sure who was in charge of who. But did like both Patrick and Ingrid as characters and did get caught up in their problems and was rooting for them to not get hurt and to find out who was terrorising them and get to the bottom of why it was happening. This book was a reasonably good read but didn’t make me want to go to the next chapter late into the night. I am not sure I would look to read another one lie this.

Lack of pace leaves me cold

I really struggled to read this book. The writing is stilted and lacks the pace that sets the tone for a thriller and the characters did not ring true for me. The plot is terribly convoluted and seemingly random people keep popping up. I am always keen to give any book the benefit of the doubt, but I cannot say much more than that the book was very disappointing.

Patrick Gillard and his wife Ingrid Langley become embroiled in a strange case that involves a change of identity relating to a man that tried to harm them in the past. The lack of pace makes this a really difficult read and I don’t have anything positive to say about this book.

Gillian

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of this book to review

Rarely has there been such a complementary pair as Patrick and Ingrid - intellectually and physically. Patrick Gillard, formerly of MI5, now working for the National Crime Agency, has a long list of enemies, some hopefully dead, but others who have apparently cheated the grave and now have plans to finish what they started.

The Patrick and Ingrid Gillard thrillers are twisty but believable tales, which have a strong human component. Patrick is disabled, but it doesn’t slow him down. (He has two artificial legs). Just as there are evil and weak characters, there are ones who are kind and funny. It varies, and the foibles of individuals impact the plot a great deal. One of the subplots of Stone Cold, Stone Dead, involve a pair of supposed lay readers attempting to intimidate Patrick’s mother into leaving her home. Through promise of funds and manipulation, various townspeople are convinced of the couple’s right to move in - despite their lack of references. Deception plays a major role throughout Stone Cold Stone Dead.

As always there is murder, action, and plenty of deception, as well as a healthy dose of familial support and love. Stone Cold Stone Dead is a good novel, but somehow it lacks the punch of Margaret Duffy’s other works. As Patrick takes on a new job as an insurance investigator, it seems clear that Duffy feels that she, as well as Patrick and Ingrid need some time to refresh.

4 / 5

I received a copy of Stone Cold, Stone Dead from the publisher and Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

-- Crittermom

Patrick Gillard and wife Ingrid Langley have received a request from MI5. An organisaton that he used to work for to investigate a man that they knew as Julian Hardy but now calls himself Mannering. Then Mannering's body is found.
I didn't take to any of the characters or the story, and think it would have been better to have read previous books in the series. I certainly can't recommend this as a standalone novel.

I hadn't read any of this series before, so had missed out on many events referred to throughout. The story was complicated with far too many characters and an aggravating style, being 'narrated' by the wife, who as another operative, inveigles herself into each situation for narrative purposes but meaning that really dramatic plot development takes place elsewhere and is understated as a result. The chapters are a little too long as well, making it quite a heavy read. Not likely to revisit.

I first started reading Ms.Duffy in 1988, reading quite a few of her earlier Ingrid Langley/Patrick Gillard novels, so I was looking forward to this latest addition in the series. It didn't take long to get into the pace of the book although I probably would have understood it better if I had read her later books before starting this one. If you are picking up this book I would suggest you read her previous ones first, as it just helps to understand all the characters better. Overall, I found that her earlier books were more interesting. I received this e-book from NetGalley in return for an unbiased review.

In 2017 I reviewed ‘Murders.com’ and I am sad to say that I didn’t really like the style. That said, I thought I would review this new book in the series.

Once again I found that the list of characters and the various organisations that Patrick and Ingrid were involved in rather confusing and it took quite a while before I had the characters in place. This was not helped by discovering the corpse (before he was a corpse, or course) had changed his name!

Amongst all the characters are Simon and Natasha Graves who present themselves to Patrick’s recently widowed mother with a view to ousting her from the Annexe to Patrick’s home. While enlisting the help of the neighbours they continue to pester our protagonists. In all honesty I found myself waiting for them to reappear as I found this aspect most interesting – I suspect because I just couldn’t believe that anyone could be so thick-skinned. As for the other characters – hmm! Ingrid was just as annoying as in the previous book, smug is just too mild to describe her. I might call her a bad mother as she seems intent on investigating anything and everything and seems to muster just about anybody to support the nanny in her duties whilst she is either off investigating, or pretending to write a book. I am not convinced that she is believable at all.

I do apologise Ms Duffy that I have not given a glowing review, but I did have a weird sort of fascination whilst reading. What I am sure of is that there will be very many people who will love this book because it is reminiscent of the Golden Age of Detectives – in my opinion.

Thank you to the author, publishers and NetGalley for providing an ARC via my Kindle in return for an honest review.

#StoneCold,StoneDead #NetGalley This was, I think, Book 20/21 in the Patrick Gillard/Ingrid Langley crime series and I feel I could definitely have benefitted from reading at least the more recent books. This is a shame as I don't always want to go back to the very beginning when I stumble on a crime series new to me and I prefer it if it can be more easily read as a standalone. That said, this was an intriguing storyline with lots of action and various twists and turns to keep the reader entertained. The writing style was easy to read although I did struggle initially to understand who was who in the, quite large, list of characters - this may have something to do with the fact that I hadn't read previous books. I enjoyed the fact that this was written from the perspective of Patrick's wife although I have to admit that I didn't really warm to her - as a mother she didn't really come across as hugely maternal, preferring to put herself in dangerous positions rather than looking after her children which included a small baby. I also didn't fully understand what her role in NCA was but again I suspect that this was covered earlier in the series. I did like the character of Patrick and also his friend James and loved the way they interacted with each other. Finally, I felt that the ending didn't fully convince me what had actually happened to "Sir Julian" and I found myself feeling a bit frustrated. Would I read others in this series - yes, particularly to get a better handle on the background information