Today I’m delighted to be taking part in the blog tour for Avenge The Dead. My review is written with thanks to Emma Welton of damppebbles Blog Tours for inviting me on the tour and for my copy of the book via the publisher.

Blurb:

Four friends with dark secrets. One killer out for revenge.

DI Frank Farrell and DS McLeod are tasked with investigating the brutal murder of a defence solicitor’s wife in Dumfries.

It’s been over a year since they left the town after an investigation robbed them of a dear friend. But now they’re back and must find a way to move on.

When the son of another defence solicitor is murdered, a strange tattoo etched on his body, the case takes them into darker, more disturbing territory.

It leads them back into the past – to a horrific fire in a cottage that took a woman’s life, to four friends harbouring dark secrets – and finally to a killer waiting patiently for revenge.

Review:

I only began reading the DI Frank Farrell series at the beginning of this year, but just like that, it’s become one of my favourite series. After the huge cliffhanger at the end of Perfect Dead, I was itching to be back with Frank and the team. Avenge The Dead is two years further along: Mhairi is now a Detective Sergeant and moved with Frank to Glasgow, but they have both returned to Dumfries to solve this very frustrating investigation. Neither Frank nor Mhairi are particularly happy to be back, but I enjoyed reading as they adapted to their circumstances.

From the prologue, it is clear that Avenge The Dead is very dark, and I was intrigued to see how this incident related to the events in the present day. There is a huge range of characters involved in this case: they all have dark secrets and I really enjoyed delving deeper into their lives. This means that Baldwin is able to explore issues such as rape, drug use and bullying, which all have relevance for modern readers.

As there are so many leads in the investigation, it does take some time for the team to work out what has happened, but this in no way spoils the pace of the novel. There is so much tension running through the novel that it is impossible not to be sucked into the story and I was swiping my Kindle furiously to get to the answers!

There are still a few plot lines that have not been tied up yet so I am looking forward to the next instalment in the series.

Avenge The Dead is available from Amazon.

You can enter the giveaway for copies of all three books in the DI Frank Farrell series (and some extra treats) here.

You can follow the rest of the blog tour here: