Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

Haven't read anything by Ms Erskine before, but I will definitely make her one of my new go-to authors! I thoroughly enjoyed the book and recommend it to anyone who loves a good read.

A good up to date story of organised crime at it's worst. It is fiction however I am always amazed at the risks and violence that they undertake in pursuit of an illegal living. This is made more topical by the linking to Chernobyl following the success of the recent drama on TV. The story is easy to follow and on point the whole time - no complicated bios or flashbacks to contend with which in my mind is always good. There are one or two surprises and twists but in all it is a fast moving and exciting action adventure for Jaq Silver our chemical detective.

A thrilling read which kept me turning the pages, characters you care for and just brilliantly written. Great novel!!

Really enjoyed having a female action heroine in the form of Jaq. This is an action packed read, it never let's up at all. Tense and gripping. I hope Jaq will feature in more adventures. The chemical background was fascinating.

This is a brilliant well written thriller.
It is fast paced and although far fetched in places kept me totally engrossed.
I could read it again without any problem.

On the face of it, not normally a book I'd be drawn too but I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's a pacy, adventure/thriller that grabs you from the start. Jaq Silver is a kick ass heroine, if James Bond and Lara Croft had an adult love child, then I imagine Jaq would fit the bill nicely. She's an intelligent, older woman with a penchant for young attractive men - sounds like my kind of role model. If you want a gripping, location hopping tale, with an intelligent, well researched contemporary plot, then give this ago. It's an impressive debut and I'm hoping that it isn't the only adventure for Jaq Silver.

Jaq Silver is a scientist, a chemist working with explosives. She accidentally becomes involved with some dangerous people when she finds something in a delivery to her lab that she was never supposed to find. Jaq soon finds herself up to her eyeballs in danger with no way out, and doesn't know who she can trust.

The Chemical Detective is not a detective story. I thought when I started reading the book that Jaq would be a sassy scientist turned detective, but actually she has no idea what she's doing, other than being a good scientist. When trouble comes looking for Jaq, she does what any normal person would do and runs away. But, her scientific mind must find out what is going on and so she does all she can to uncover the truth.

The story is fast-paced at times and keeps going despite there being quite a few times it seems like the end of the road for Jaq. Although it is very far-fetched it is entertaining, and Jaq is an amazingly tenacious character who you want to stick with until the very end. She is a good protagonist because she was completely unprepared for what happened in the book and just did her best to make it through; she wasn't suddenly some superwoman with martial arts skills, it was a lot more subtle than that.

I enjoyed the book because it was unpredictable and inventive. It was certainly a good story even though it is not a detective story! I enjoyed the scientific aspects of the story as they added a bit of extra interest and I always like to learn something I didn't know before.

I would say that this is more of an action thriller than a detective story, but I still enjoyed it.

Dr Jaq Silver is a chemical engineer,who after checking a routine delivery fro, the Zagrovl company, identifies some discrepancies……

However, all evidence of this disappears and her alarm bells start ringing….and people start getting hurt.

This is a sexy, fast paced thriller, with a strong, independent female protagonist, a female Jason Bourne? With plenty of action and great writing it’s a thoroughly entertaining thriller.

Definitely a different take on the thriller category...a chase around many places in Europe and the former Soviet Union, led by Chemical Engineer Jaq Silver, attempting to solve inconsistencies in a shipment of chemicals sent to her workplace.. A book that, to be completely honest, started off slowly, but increased apace as the book progressed. Great detailed explanations of the myriad of locations represented in the story.

I was occasionally sipping diluted "la fée verte" whilst devouring The Chemical Detective only to learn that the botanical name for Wormwood was Artemisia Absinthium, enlightenment and entertainment from one novel! I digress. The Chemical Detective is a rip-roaring page turner. Twists and turns, many locations and a topic which is only too current. I was fascinated to learn of tracers put in bulk chemicals but considered the Tyche tracker, technology too far. It seemed to be an awkward melange of various technologies. Jaq and her phone…..apparently tracked very easily. When was the tracking software put on it? Network data wouldn’t have been readily available to Boris. What actually happened in the helicopter which put Jaq in hospital and Frank back behind his desk? A few questions but overall a great read.

This book follows Jaq. It is fast paced and well thought out. It is different from anything that I have read recently.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

A fun, fast-paced international espionage thriller as Dr. Jacqueline Silver (Jaq for short) who as a chemical engineer uncovers a sinister plot involving a multinational company. The book takes the reader on a journey from Teeside to Chernobyl as Jaq is targeted by the law for multiple suspected crimes she did not commit as well as the nefarious chemical company. Highly recommended.

Jaq is a Chemical Engineer working for a company in Slovenia, when she notices some discrepancies with a shipment of explosives she doesn't just sit back and let it happen, she goes of to investigate getting into bigger and worse situations. This is a high octane action thriller which jumps all over Europe in a race against time to stop the bad guys/girls. I finished it in two days, I just wanted to find the outcome.
One thing I will mention is that there is a lot of Chemistry/Chemical elements to this book and I really had to concentrate at times to understand what was going on. You will need to keep your wits about you! I also felt the ending was slightly rushed, the rest of the action builds up quite rapidly, but the ending seems to skip information (or maybe I missed it?) and I was left wanting to know more.

I love reading thrillers, and I love reading texts that make me think about issues. This book ticks both boxes.

The word ‘detective’ in this thriller’s title is more than a little bit misleading. Great title, but this isn’t a cosy crime, Sherlock-style sleuth story. Nope; imagine the Da Vinci Code with explosives instead of artwork and an industrial chemist replacing the academic art historian. Or think of any of the Ludlum thrillers in which the professional protagonist discovers a nefarious global conspiracy; is neatly framed by the nefarious bad guys, and goes on the run to reveal the nefarious truth and save his professional ass. That’s pretty much what you’ve got here…

…except that he is a she, and a pretty convincing polymath she certainly is. Dr Silver is smart, assertive, a little short on people skills and very long on accomplishment. She’s multilingual, an excellent skier, published research scientist, superb swimmer and a skilled motorcyclist with a sharp eye for a well-filled pair of ski pants. I would say that you don’t get too many women of that type but in fact I know several – and author Fiona Erskine wisely steers Dr Silver away from improbable feats of physical prowess in the hand to hand combat dept.

Instead we get a very clever expose of an all too plausible situation, one which rings big bells in today’s unstable geopolitical situation. Silver is bounced back and forth from Slovenia to Teeside, from the Lake District to Belarus, following a deadly chemical trail. She uncovers corporate corruption, board-level complicity, bad guys called Boris who inevitably attempt to kill her, handsome ski instructors who might just be too good to be true – and multiple missing people who asked too many awkward questions.

I massively enjoyed the minor detours – actually pivotal to the plot – into the world of explosives, isotopes and physical chemistry. Erskine makes the science a central strand of the story, and the scene in which Silver calculates the physics of falling from a cliff immediately became one of my all-time faves.

The nefarious dudes were a little less convincing, to be honest. The corporate slimeball rang every single sleazebag bell in the male chauvinist pig handbook and he would have been more credible, to me, if he were a little less obviously awful and a bit more insidiously attractive… in the way that slippery, sociopathic CEOs can be. Bad boy Boris was a bit overplayed, too.

This is also quite a long novel and I felt it was sagging somewhat around two-thirds of the way through. A couple of the setbacks and switch backs felt surplus to requirements; there was a bit of Bourne-esque running on the spot when I was keen to cut the chase and get to the rewarding bit of the reveal.

The ending was entirely satisfying, however, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Dr Silver. She should probably be recruited to some WMD-seeking NATO or UN taskforce for a future adventure – and if she is then I’ll definitely hit the download button.

7/10

A pacy thriller with twists and turns that flow through the narrative. And who wouldn't want to snowboard in to work - nice bit of wish fulfillment.

Thankyou to NetGalley. OneWorld Publications, Point Blank and the author, Fiona Erskine, for the opportunity to read an advanced readers copy of The Chemical Detective in exchange for an honest, unbiased opinion.
When I requested this novel to review, I honestly didn't know if I would like it or not.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that the storyline was amazing. I liked what I read. The plot was well thought out and written with great characters. Would definitely read this author again.

This is an unusual high octane thriller from Fiona Erskine, it has an all action scientist heroine in Dr Jacqueline 'Jaq' Silver with a complicated background professionally and with her family, and chemistry, and chemical elements, are a central thread throughout the book. Jaq left Teeside with her reputation under a cloud after a local incident involving the company Zagrovyl, who took over ICI, who originally hired her. Jaq had actually done nothing wrong but she now works for a research centre, Snow Science, in Kransjakabel in Slovenia amidst the Julian Alps. She is a chemical engineer, an explosives expert, working to keep people safe using technical expertise in managing avalanches. Jaq is a strong, fit and determined independent woman with a will of her own that makes her difficult to control. She gets caught up in a delivery with a mix up in the consignment, she takes samples but finds herself in a world of trouble, facing forces that question her competence, mental stability, have her in the frame for more than one murder, are willing to kill her to ensure her silence and threaten her friends.

Jaq moves through various locations including Teeside where she still has her flat, as she tries to find out more about a Dr Camilla Hatton, and meets the slippery Zagrovyl CEO, Frank Good. Jaq finds herself being followed, including a dangerous delivery driver, Boris, with a sideline in eliminating individuals for a strange and shadowy organisation. Jaq finds herself wanted by the British and Slovenian police, as she flees to Portugal and her complicated relationship with her mother. Given a key by a woman who knew her predecessor at Snow Science, Sergei Koval, a man who mysteriously disappeared, Jaq visits the site of the notorious Chernobyl nuclear disaster in the Ukraine, and finds herself drawn into the zone of alienation, a huge area that frankly will be unfit for human habitation for centuries, and which just happens to harbour other continuing hidden threats. With all the odds against her, disbelieved by everyone, Jaq is nevertheless determined to prevent an illegal global trade in chemical weapons and targets the spider that heads a deadly organisation.

Fiona Erskine writes an intelligent and compelling thriller with a charismatic central protagonist in the kick ass Jaq, a academic and a highly knowledgeable woman when it comes to her area of expertise. The scientific knowledge dripped into the narrative is authentic and done with a light touch courtesy of the author's background in chemical engineering. This brilliant thriller is for those looking for an intelligent and different take on the genre, and looking for a credible female protagonist in a field normally crowded with men. I am not sure whether Erskine in planning to give Jaq other outings, I certainly hope so. A wonderfully entertaining read, with plenty of suspense and tension, and I really appreciated the fascinating locations, particularly that of Chernobyl. Many thanks to Oneworld Publications for an ARC.

I really wanted to like ‘The Chemical Detective’, but I really, really didn’t. It has a fun compromise and an engaging and refreshingly different heroine, but the prose completely failed to grab my attention.

Let’s start with the good stuff. It begins strongly, with protagonist Jaq suspecting something is fishy with a delivery at her work. Jaq works as a scientist at a company that monitors and tries to improve the quality of the snow at a ski resort. She has the makings of a great heroine, intelligent, passionate and determined. She also takes time out from her investigating to have lots of sex with a younger man. The fact that she is an older woman was refreshing, especially in a book with a straight up thriller plot, but it wasn’t enough to save the book for me.

I was gripped by the first few chapters, but as the plot developed I found myself less and less engaged by it. Part of the problem is that while Jaq is interesting, there are also loads of chapters dedicated to Frank Good, the ruthless CEO of a mysterious chemical company that is wrapped up in the shady goings on. Frank is a far less interesting to read than Jaq, and I found all the detail on corporate life in his chapters really dull. At 432 pages the book isn’t exactly short, and I can’t help feeling that a shorter edit that focussed much more on Jaq would have been more fun to read.

To be fair, things do pick up later on, with a fairly gripping section set in the ruins of Chernobyl, but by then I’d pretty much lost interest. On paper, an international investigation into chemical weapons sounds like a topical and promising plot. In reality I’m afraid I found it implausible and not at all gripping.

I think there’s a really good book in here somewhere, and I’ll be interested to see what author Fiona Erskine writes next. Unfortunately, ‘The Chemical Detective’ is too long, too slow and too bogged down in unnecessary detail to really thrill.