I was discussing with some of the ladies in my book group last week and we were all in agreement that we’ve been introduced to some fantastic new (to us) authors through doing book tours and this is one of them! In fact, after reading this I’ve nominated the first book in the series as the September read for our book club so that we can introduce Deborah Masson to a whole new group of people.

As you can probably guess from the fact I want us to read the rest of the series, I really enjoyed this book.

I seem to have a lot of “tartan noir” on my reading list at the minute and Aberdeen is a brilliant, dark and gritty backdrop to this novel. I don’t know what it is about Scotland, it’s such a picturesque nation but at the same time the cities are always portrayed as grey and brooding. Maybe this is just a reflection of the books that I read.

This story is told from multiple perspectives; Eve who investigating the fire and the body that has been found, DC Scott Ferguson who is hiding a secret and neglecting the investigation while he concentrates on a child who has been run over; and that of the perpetrator

I spent much of the novel not understanding how all of the strands would pull together and be related to each other but they do, they all come together brilliantly, through a series of twists and turns that I didn’t see coming.

This book gripped me from the first page. This is a well written police procedural story which showed the human side of police officers and how their own past reflects their feelings when investigating incidents.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

𝐌𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬:

This was the third instalment of the DI Eve Hunter series; an engaging and brilliantly written thriller. 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐞 was one of my 2021 favourites but I completely missed the fact there was a second book.. (of course I did), so I need to go back and read 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝. (Despite being book three, this could definitely be read as a standalone.)

Told through multiple perspectives, in dual timelines, this is a multi-layered plot, following both the current mystery of the arson at the children's home in Aberdeen, and the eerie and heart-wrenching discovery in the home's basement. I partly suspected the overall culprit, but was thrown by plenty of other clever twists and turns, and was kept guessing throughout. (The culprit's motivation was questionable in my opinion, but I'm just a fussy thriller reader!)

I read this in two sittings - the fast pace matched with Masson's gripping writing style, and some stunning characterisation made for a quick, fun read. I'd really recommend this series if you don't normally read police procedurals as they are such easy and immersive books.

𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐫: Thank you to both the publisher and author for my eARC in return for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.

From the ashes by Deborah Masson.
DI Eve Hunter Book 3.
A fire is started in a home for underprivileged children in Aberdeen. But a body was discovered locked inside a secret basement underground. DI Eve Hunter and her team search the ruins. But who has a secret big enough to kill for?
A brilliant read. Loved it. Couldn't put it down. I love Eve. I do hope there is more to come. 5*.

This is the third outing in the DI Eve Hunyer series but can easily be read as a stand alone.

It's Eve's birthday, not that she celebrates the event due to her past. When she gets a call from DS Scott Ferguson saying that there's a fire at the local children's home but whilst Ferguson is on route a young man is run down and has suffered life threatening injuries.
Now you wouldn't think that the two cases are connected but this is where Deborah Masson writes her magic.
There are some very disturbing scenes in the book that made my heart ache but have been written brilliantly.

Really excellent book, great read, tense and suspenseful as expected from Deborah Masson. I’m really enjoying the DI Eve Hunter series. Highly recommended.

This is the first book i read in this series and - WOW - it starts with a bang and never stopped keeping me on the edge and turning pages.
It's a dark and twisty story, a well plotted thriller that brought me to very obscure places. I liked the fleshed out characters who are hiding secrets, the setting, and the tightly knitted story.
Can't wait to read another one by this author.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

A burning rag, into a pool of petrol, destroys much of a Children’s Home and causes the death of one of the residents. Murder or unintended consequence? That is the first question, DI Eve Hunter and her team have to answer. There will be others. The child, an eleven year old boy, had somehow become trapped in an underground ‘storage' space, which was out of bounds to the children. It quickly becomes apparent that the Home is a loving and caring refuge, despite the poor quality of the fabric; a far cry from its existence under its previous owners, some thirty years ago, when it had been a place of desolation and cruelty for its residents. That earlier existence become relevant when a further disquieting discovery is made. The team are initially hampered by DC Ferguson being more concerned about a boy injured in an RTA which he had observed and attended on his way to the fire. This, apparently random, side story does allow a lot of Ferguson’s traumatic childhood (and some of Eve’s) to be explored, which will eventually bleed through to the main investigation, of course.
This is a fairly linear police procedural, with a few minor twists along the way. As such it isn’t a very challenging read and the solution to the mysteries was not very difficult to deduce. The pace is quite pedestrian until the dénouement, when it does pick up and a certain amount of tension and jeopardy is created. An important part of any detective story is the criminal’s motivation and I’m a bit dubious about the explanation here. This is the third DI Hunter novel and will attract followers of the series, but it hasn’t persuaded me to join them.
I would like to thank NetGalley, the publishers and the author for providing me with a draft proof copy for the purpose of this review.

This is book three of what is shaping up to be a cracking series featuring DI Eve Hunter so, do yourself a favour and, if you haven't already, go back and start from the beginning...
We start with a nasty one. A fire in a children's home. Set deliberately. Most get out but the body of one of the children, 11 year old Lucas, is found in the basement.
But, if this wasn't a dark enough start. Once Eve and her team start to investigate, it all takes on another level of devastating. Also spitting out a whole host of motives and suspects. Pretty much everyone has a secret, it's just going to be a task working out whose secret is worth killing to keep...?
Eve's team have to work smart on this one, But one of her team is caught up in a road accident on his way to work which distracts him somewhat. Meaning that things get missed and the investigation stutters and slows. I found this to be quite an effective way of slowing things down, as well as providing a side-investigation for DC Scott Ferguson and a bit of an eye opener to his backstory.
The main plot was both interesting and intriguing and kept me on my toes throughout. With secrets, lies and duplicitous behaviour aplenty from pretty much the whole cast of suspects, Eve and her team really did have their work cut out for them trying to pare it all back to discover the shocking truth.
All in all, a solid addition to a series now firmly on my watch list. Roll on next time... My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book.
Good read but not as good as some of the other similar books that I have read this year. It didn't grab my attention as much.

This isn’t the first book in the series but it can be read well as a stand-alone. I didn’t really connect with the characters at first, possibly because it was the third in the series so it took me a while to get into. The story was good though and it did keep me guessing right up until the end

This is the first time I've read a book by Deborah Masson and it will definitely not be the last! What an absolutely brilliant read and as a bonus, it's set in Scotland!
I love her style of writing and the twist, in the end, was a humdinger!

A children's home is set alight and the 11-year-old Lucas lost his life but why was he locked up in the underground basement? DI Eve Hunter and her colleagues are investigating this horrific crime but soon things go from bad to worse when an old oil drum is found with something shocking inside. There is also, on top of it all, something going on with DC Scott Ferguson whose head is not in the game. Why did the accident that he witnessed affect him so much?

I loved every minute of this read and can't wait to get my grubby paws on more books from this author!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK, Transworld for the ARC in exchange for my honest review

Having read the first two in the DI Eve Hunter series, I was once again excited to get back into Eve’s world of crime scenes, and I was not disappointed!

Deborah Masson continues to build upon a world I have come to love, gripping readers from the opening line of the story. While Masson delivers with an immersive plot which has all the twists and turns you could ask for from a thriller, what truly stood out was the time taken to intricately weave those moments of intimacy where we delve into the trauma and heartbreak of children placed under the system, It adds a beautiful emotional layer, which is often absent within similar novels of this genre.

It is clear that Masson has done a lot of homework to deliver an authentic, yet original, story which is well-paced but also places an accelerated pressure on the characters compared to previous entries because of added scrutiny, and difficulties posed by the media in the story. The multiple narration through time periods keeps the plot fresh and interesting, while the exploration of themes around abuse and neglect makes this a much grittier entry in the series.

Masson continues to flesh out the secondary characters, with particular close attention to Ferguson this time round. While this book is part of a series, it could easily be read as a standalone without the need for prior background context. That being said, I would definitely recommend reading Hold Your Tongue and Out for Blood as they were cracking stories and contribute considerably to overall character arcs!

I thoroughly enjoyed ‘From the Ashes’ and would like to thank both Netgalley and Random House UK for giving me the opportunity to read it. Masson has certainly crafted yet another solid and thought-provoking sequel that continues to tick all the boxes you want from the genre.

This was a really good read and I read it in 3 days.

The blurb reads

"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?"

This novel sounded right up my street and it did not disappoint me at all. This is a series of novels featuring DI Eve Hunter, and I love reading about this character. I find her complex and interesting. I really enjoyed how this novel unravelled and it really kept me guessing. The children's home that is in Aberdeen has an extremely dark and awful past and DI Eve Hunter and her team have to unravel this mystery. Quite heart-breaking at times and tough to read but a very good and captivating novel by author Deborah Massons.

Thanks to Deborah Massons, NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me a copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

This series is rapidly turning into one of the best in contemporary crime fiction. Deborah Masson is a fine writer and Aberdeen serves as an excellent setting for her novels. Eve Hunter is an interesting cop, well portrayed and with an intriguing back story, and the plot in From The Ashes grips from the start. A fire in a children's home leaves one child dead and the number of possible suspects growing by the minute. There are revelations galore and a surprising denouement. Superb!

WOW, I loved this book from the moment I picked it up. Its part of a series about DI Eve Hunter. I hadn't read the previous 2 novels so this can be read as a standalone.

The Characters were all relatable and you felt sorry for the kids from the childrens home.

Well written and the story had me hooked. At times it was harrowing but it all helped lead to the dramatic ending. I loved the fact that it was based in a city I love, Aberdeen. So I could envision where they were. Im now off to read the other 2 books in the series.

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House for the ARC Copy of the book. My review is my own opinion.

The third in the DI Eve Hunter series, and once again a fair read. The climax, though, was set up in a way that seemed highly unlikely (a cop wouldn’t just go off like that without keeping their colleagues in the know, or even wait for backup). Anyhow, the killer was someone I hadn’t guessed, so that was a decent reveal.

This is an excellent murder story but at times it can be harrowing too – children in care, victims of desperately sad circumstances or parental neglect or abuse. Very real, very well depicted by Deborah Masson and the plight of some of the youngsters in the story will not be quickly forgotten.

DI Eve Hunter and her colleagues are not immune to the tragedy they are called to investigate. A fire at a children’s residential home is a difficult situation – kids with no stability and very few possessions are forced from the place which should be their haven and all signs are this was arson…they have been targeted. But more upsetting is that one of the children didn’t get out the house in time. Trapped, alone and nobody heard him calling for help.

The death of a child has tensions running high amongst her team and when the press come sniffing Eve knows some of the details of the fire and the young life lost are going to light up newspaper headlines and make her task even more challenging.

Somewhat hindering her investigation is the fact one of her team is not focusing his full attention on the fire. An accident in the centre of Aberdeen has left several damaged cars, one shaken up police officer and an unidentified young man fighting for his life after being hit by the vehicles. Who is the mysterious injured man? Why is he not carrying any identification and what can be done to help him?

But the majority of the story is centred around the residential home for the children. It’s been a home for vulnerable children for many years and as we read deeper into the book we discover the previous owners were not the nicest of folk, the children fearful of their guardians and resorting to sneaking around behind their backs to keep secrets. The story of these former home residents are told in flashback form and it further amplified the desperately sad situation the children in care can sometimes find themselves in.

An arsonist needs to be caught, a killer identified and Deborah Masson juggles this right cast brilliantly. There are secrets to come out and it may destroy some lives if they do – but a child is dead and Eve Hunter is not going to rest until the killer is found.

Emotive, powerful and perfectly paced I really enjoyed this one.

DI Eve Hunter #3

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 located in a secret basement underground. As DI Eve Hunter and her team search the blackened ruins, the case takes them into even darker territory.

The pace is steady throughout and it kept me guessing all the way through. DI Eve Hunter and her team are called out to investigate a fire at a children's home where a child's body was found in the basement. The firefighters also find the remains of a woman and foetus. Is there a connection to the two deaths? This is an emotional read. The story is descriptively written and fully describes the vulnerability of the children within the care sector. It has also been well researched. The plotline is gripping and held my attention throughout. Everything was woven together seamlessly with no loose ends left hanging.

I would like to thank #NetGalley #RandomHouseUK #TransworldPublishers and the author #DeborahMasson for my ARC of #FromTheAshes in exchange for an honest review.

Wow this book was brilliant from start to finish . It was gripping fast paced and very addictive . I loved the storyline some sad and some had me laughing. Highly recommend