A book that stirs up emotions this one! Troubled children in a care home where they should be safe and be able to trust each other.
Heartbreaking at times with lots of twists and turns.
A sad but good read.

I love DI Eve Hunter and it's impressive how Deborah keeps writing every book as strong as the previous in it series. Great plot twist too!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for approving me for this book.

I felt the writing was done well in this book but there was just something missing for me and I couldn't get into it and enjoy it as much as I hoped I would.

Having never read this series before I had no expectations. All I can say is Wow what a roller-coaster of a book. Its a devastatingly dark thriller that had me gripped straight away and I still genuinely haven't got my my breath back. The previous books in this series were instantly placed on my must read TBR. If you like extremely dark thrillers then then this will be perfect for you.
#FromTheAshes @DeborahMasson

A brilliant book that should not be missed.

Another cracker in the series but can easily be read as a stand alone.

Full of suspense and drama. Lots of mystery and a proper page turner.

Had me on the edge of my seat more times than I could count.

Recommended 4 stars from me.

If I had to sum this book up in one word.. wow!

This is book no#3 in the DI Eve Hunter Series and wow does it start with a bang!

Set in Aberdeen the Granite City it starts with a harrowing case of an arson attack on Wellwood a private Children's Residential Home owned by Stephen Alderton. All staff and children manage to escape apart from one, an 11 year old boy who is found locked in the basement.

DC Scott Ferguson on his way into work witnesses a road accident where a young boy suffers life threatening injuries, DI Ferguson feels personally involved due to past traumas and pours all his energy into finding out who this boy is and how he ended up being involved in the accident. What is it in his past he is hiding?
His partner DS Jo Mearns is now tasked with handling the investigation into the care home near on single handedly whilst covering for him. Not easy when she is already stretched and stressed to her limit.

DI Eve Hunter and her team take on the task of finding out about the rest of the children residing in the home and the staff that work there. During their investigation huge debts come to light.. was this an insurance job gone wrong?

As I've now come to expect from this author the whole book was fantastically paced and the plot had me guessing the whole way through. Everything was intricately weaved together and tied in a big now at the end.

I really enjoyed the character development in this installment *no spoilers* and getting to know them a bit more personally.

Huge thanks to netgalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers,

This is book 3 of the DI Eve Hunter books and boy does it start off with a bang. Set in Aberdeen, Someone is putting a rag covered with fuel through the letterbox of a children’s residential home. Most of the residents and staff get out except for one 11 year old boy who is for some reason in the basement. Did the person who lit the fire know Lucas was down there? It’s a privately run children’s home, Stephen Alderton took over running it after his dad and the previous woman Sally Fields had passed away. What secrets does the house hold? Can Stephen Alderton be trusted?Why? Who? Those are the questions the team have to ask and work on. It starts on March 7th which is Eve’s birthday but no one knows.

On his way to the fire DC Scott Ferguson witnesses a young male knocked over by a van. The male is badly injured and Scott promises to stay with him. The problem is he starts paying more attention to this than the job he is supposed to be doing. What is bothering Scott about the children’s home? something clearly is. It seems like something personal, what secrets is he holding?

As the team dig deeper into the running of the home, they realise that Stephen Alderton is deep in debt. How? Something else from the past comes to light as the basement is investigated further.

This is a terrific read, I have followed the series since book one and the writing just gets stronger with each book. The character’s are likeable and the emotions feel real as you find out what has affected Scott from his childhood, things he has buried away, but they still haunt him. The vulnerability comes across really well, as he desperately wants to help the boy who was knocked down,who he eventually finds out is named Archie. Could the two cases be somehow linked?

This was engrossing from the minute you start to the very climactic end which will have you sitting on the edge of your seat. I personally can’t wait until book 4 in this terrific series.

I would like to thank #netgalley for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest, fair and unbiased review.

🔥 BOOK REVIEW🔥
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#FromTheAshes by #DeborahMasson

⏩for book cover & synopsis

Ahhh another series that just gets better and better…

What an excellent addition; I loved being back with the team and what a very good team it is too - every member felt just as strong as main character Eve and I loved that. The plot was gripping form start to finish, twisting and turning, keeping its secrets just out of reach until the end. Perfectly presented, easy to read and all tied up nicely at the end. What more could you ask for really?

I’ve loved this series from the beginning - would definitely recommend!

With thanks to the author, #transworldpublishers and @netgalley for allowing us to read this one early!

RELEASE: August 18th

-EMILY

@a the_book_girls_1

The long-awaited third book in the DI Eve Hunter series and boy was it worth the wait. This time Hunter and her team are investigating a fire at a kid's home that claims the life of 11 year old Lucas. With plenty of twists, turns and a whole cast of undesirable characters the team really do have their work cut out for them. Excellent, thanks to netgalley for the advance copy.

One of the best police procedurals.

I love the character and I love the writing-it being set in Scotland makes it even better.

The plot of this one makes it dark and I like that. As you learn more you start to question everyone.

A very readable, if horrific, story about a young boy found dead in mysterious circumstances after a fire at a children’s home. It’s is full of interesting dynamics and is told from different points of view over different time periods. I enjoyed it.

Thank you to Netgalley, Random House UK and Deborah Masson for a copy in return for an honest review.

I didn't realise this was the third instalment of a series so it was a little confusing initially.
I enjoyed the secrets within this book and the way the plot keeps you guessing throughout.
I do feel reading the previous two would have made it a bit easier to follow but I enjoyed nonetheless.

With this book being 3rd in the series I think I should maybe had read the first 2 books to get more back story. The story itself was good and fast paced and I liked the characters. There was a gradual unveiling of secrets which I enjoyed and kept me hooked

The fire in the Aberdeen children's home was shocking, even more so when it appeared to have been started deliberately. When young Lucas is not amongst the others the search discover him in a basement. The trap door was shut & close to where the fire began. This is not just arson but also murder. Eve Hunter & her team have a lot to investigate. En route to the home DC Ferguson witnesses a young man involved in a hit & run. Before losing consciousness he begs Ferguson not to leave him. Ferguson takes this very seriously, even neglecting his duties in this case, which became even more complex by gory discoveries in the basement. The children obviously know something, but they are a closed group & answers are hard to find.

This is the third in the series, although it could be read as a stand alone. I really like Eve & her team & how they are growing together. I'm already looking forward to the next one. Thanks to Netgalley & th publisher for letting me read & review this book.

Deborah Masson is back with another gritty police thriller set in her home town of Aberdeen. This time, DI Eve Hunter (previously seen in Out For Blood and Hold Your Tongue) faces the grimmest challenge presented to police officers all over the world - the death of a child. Lucas Fyfe - dead mother, drug addicted father and unfeeling grandmother - has been in care since he was little. When someone deliberately sets fire to Wellwood, a children's home, he is the one resident who doesn't make it out. Why? Because the body of the eleven year-old is discovered in the cellar, and the trapdoor which is the only access is concealed under a heavy carpet.

Literally from page one, Masson gives us another perspective - that of the presumed arsonist. We know it's a 'he', and we know that he was a former resident of Wellwood when it was run by the current warden's father, William Alderton and the sadistic Sally Fields. I find that the backstory narrative trope can be irritating when an author uses too many viewpoints and too many time frames, but here it is used with subtlety and works very well.

Eve Hunter's team consists of DS Cooper, DS Mearns and DC Ferguson, and the sparky dynamics between them provide an intriguing counterpoint to the investigation. Scott Ferguson is peripherally involved in a road accident on his way to work, but his obsession with the young man who was the main casualty starts to distract him from the Wellwood case. When a further shocking discovery is made in the cellar where Lucas Fyfe died, Ferguson's lack of attention becomes even more serious. We eventually learn why Ferguson feels compelled to be at the bedside of the young vagrant who was badly injured in the RTA, and it turns the case on its head.

Hunter and her team soon realise that the surviving children and the three adult staff of Wellwood are not telling all that they know. That much is obvious, but penetrating the veil of secrecy proves more difficult. With both of the original owners dead, and local Children's Services being very protective of the few remaining historic records of the children who were residents, the case seems to go round in circles, until Ferguson's with Archie, the young RTA victim, finally pays off.

Deborah Masson is a writer who enjoys providing her readers with the unexpected, and the finale of the novel, in the grim basement of Wellwood, is a prime example. Eve Hunter comes over as tough and uncompromising in pursuit of the bad guys, but her family background has left her with a strong streak of compassion, and when Scott Ferguson finally reveals his own secrets - and his link to the Wellwood basement - she is well-equipped to provide emotional support.

This novel is dark, cleverly plotted, full of well-concealed surprises and a master class in how to write a good police-procedural. From The Ashes is published by Transworld/Penguin and is available now.

I loved this and read it in one session.
This is definitely the best in the series, In my opinion.
The pace is just right as always
and the characters are believable.
For me, the storyline is very true to life so connecting with the characters really boosted the story.
The story is gripping, and although it is the 3rd in a series, it could be read as a standalone
Highly recommended.

Love Love Love!!
Go and get this book right now it was amaizng!!!
The story, the characters, everything was just so well written!
I don’t have much to say other than I really enjoyed this and definitely recommend reading it!

#FromtheAshes #NetGalley This is the third in the DI Eve Hunter series but it is perfectly capable of being read as a standalone. Dark and gritty, the storyline is very sad but well written. Fans of police procedurals, particularly UK based will really enjoy this. I look forward to reading more in this series.

‘From The Ashes’ is the third book in the ‘DI Eve Hunter’ series by Deborah Masson.

In the dead of night someone starts a fire in a home for underprivileged children in Aberdeen. The flames spread quickly, and one person doesn’t make it out alive. But the victim wasn’t found in their bedroom; they were discovered locked inside a secret basement underground. As DI Eve Hunter and her team search the blackened ruins, the case takes them into even darker territory. Soon Eve unearths a horrific discovery at the heart of the property – one that turns the whole investigation on its head. Everyone in this home has something to hide, but who has a secret worth killing for?

Although this book is the third book in a series, it’s actually the first one that I’ve read and if you’re a fan of police procedural books then the ‘DI Eve Hunter’ series is for you.

The story is about a fire that takes place at a children’s home and one little boy tragically dies. Whilst investigating this case, DI Eve Hunter’s partner DI Scott Ferguson sees an accident with a homeless teenage boy that’s left him in a coma and is determined to find out his identity.

This story is a terribly sad one, about a place where children are offered sanctuary and a second chance only for it to be cruelly taken away. And as DI Hunter delves into the dark and grisly history of the home, they discover murky secrets that were never wanted to be found. As well as the current investigation around the fire, the accident, there is also the inclusion of a back story about previous residents in the home and this is quite interesting reading as it’s seen from the perspective of an unknown person.

Set against the bleak and poverty stricken backdrop of Scotland, Deborah has written a taunt, police procedural novel that really tugs on the reader’s heartstrings, the death of a child, children without a home and this cleverly crafted plot line makes for gripping reading with regular twists along the way that hooks your attention.

Packed with tension, suspense and an underlying sadness throughout, ‘From The Ashes’ is a pacy thriller and great introduction to a new crime series.

You can buy ‘From The Ashes’ from Amazon and is available to buy from good bookshops.

In Kincorth, Aberdeen, Scotland, Wellwood Children's Home owned by Stephen Alderton, is on fire and DI Eve Hunter is in attendance. An eleven-year-old named Lucas Fyfe has died. But he was found not in the fire in his room, but in a secret underground basement at the bottom of a ladder. Eve investigates with colleague DS Mark Cooper. DC Scott Ferguson has his own traumas to endure when a road accident involving two vehicles and a boy suffering from life-threatening injuries takes him over when he feels personally involved after following him to the hospital. DS Jo Mearns covers for him.

Another dark, gritty and exceptionally well-written offering from Deborah Masson which I really enjoyed. The characters are well fleshed out, the plot is great and the denouement is nailbiting. This is book three in a series and I'm already looking forward to reading book four.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from Random House UK, Transworld via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.