Today I’m delighted to be sharing my review of Fifteen Coffins as part of the blog tour. It’s written with thanks to Sarah Hardy at Book On The Bright Side for inviting me on the tour and to Tony J Forder for my copy of the book.

Blurb:

When FBI Agent Sydney Merlot returns to her home town in northern California to wind down her late father’s PI business, she soon finds herself on the wrong side of the aftermath of a high school shooting.

Sydney’s childhood friend – who is now county sheriff – plus the local PD, the mayor’s office, and most of the town’s inhabitants, are convinced the horror ended when the gunman was killed. Now they just want to be left alone to mourn. But Sydney has other ideas – and she is not alone.

While having to work through her own personal grief, Sydney is openly intimidated and receives anonymous threats. After discovering she is under surveillance, she begins to fear for her life. During her investigation she gains several allies, but as the days pass, Sydney doesn’t know who to trust, and which new friends might actually turn out to be foes…

Review:

I’m always a little nervous when one of my favourite authors introduces us to a new character, but in this case, my concerns were completely unfounded. Sydney Merlot is a fantastic addition to the fictional crime fighting world. She’s clever, determined and very feisty and I grew to love her very quickly. I do hope that she returns in a future book as I would love to see where Forder can take her.

Fifteen Coffins deals with the aftermath of a school shooting. I can only commend Forder for handling it so sensitively, as it is an issue which feels very relevant, given events in America in recent years, but it is extremely emotive. The school shooting has clearly affected the community of Moon Falls very deeply and there were times throughout the novel when I sympathised with all the characters.

As Sydney searches for answers, Fifteen Coffins becomes very tense. I was drawn into the plot very quickly. There are several strands to it and I really wanted to know what the resolution would be. The ending is particularly edgy, and the twist was one I had to talk about straight away!

Fifteen Coffins is available from Amazon.

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