Mark Richards (@MRichardsWrites)
Reviewed by Matt Adcock (@cleric20)
“His had round my throat. Standing over me. Black, heavy shoes, dripping with water. ‘Say goodbye, Brady. Time to stamp on your f*&king face… ”
Here we are then - an all expenses paid trip to Whitby via Mark Richards’s new crime thriller - full title: Choke Back the Tears : A Yorkshire Coast Crime Thriller (Michael Brady Book 4) . I haven’t read books 1-3 but found that this was an enjoyable who/why dunnit which follows the investigation into the brutal murder of a retired couple.
DI Brady has been described as the ‘Yorkshire Rebus’ but he isn’t much of an action hero, a dodgy hamstring sees him limping about by the end. I’m not sure he’s the sort of chap I’d really wanna hang out with either but his is earnest in his quest to find out wha happened and bring the perp to justice. He’s only got a small team - police forces not having huge budgets these days I guess? and that rings true. The team are meticulous though and the dragnet slowly closes on who could be the murderers in a believable style - even if the showdown on a fishing boat isn’t the sort of stuff that will get Hollywood calling.
I liked how a lot of the book deals with Brady’s internal thoughts - in a kind of Manhunter way he mulls over the evidence aided by the plucky young Frankie who he has a fatherly regard for. Speaking of being a father, Brady has Ash his daughter to help prop him up - his being a widower, although he does have a faithful dog Archie for company too.
All in all Choke Back The Tears is a decent crime-em-up that will suit fans of the genre, and if you like it the good news is that there are 3 more you can go back and grab.
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Here’s the official blurb:
Michael Brady looked at Sandra Garrity’s face. Grey skin. Bloodshot eyes open. Blue lips, her
tongue protruding.
“Did you watch your husband die, Sandra? Or did he watch you die?”
“Brilliant. Brady is fast becoming the Yorkshire Rebus.”
Billy and Sandra were childhood sweethearts.
Writing their names on a lovelock. Fastening it to the end of Whitby pier. Throwing the key into the sea.
A lifetime together. A happy retirement in a peaceful hamlet on the North Yorkshire Moors.
Until the day they were brutally murdered.
“Whoever did this – he didn’t do it quickly. And he enjoyed it…”
Billy was a fisherman, making a living in the cold, cruel North Sea. One night his boat went down.
Two crewmen drowned. Billy survived.
Are the families looking for revenge? It’s the obvious conclusion.
But why have they waited so long?
Why have they killed Billy and Sandra?
And why kill them in such a barbaric way? “This isn’t a murder, Mike. It’s an execution. A
medieval execution.”
Choke Back the Tears is the fourth book in the Michael Brady series.
Kershaw’s away, Brady’s in charge. The bucks stops on his desk. But at least Frankie Thomson is
back to help him. For now…
There are no clues. No motives. It’s a perfect crime scene.
All Brady has is his experience and his intuition. And his small team is getting smaller by the day…
Meanwhile, he’s battling problems in his personal life. His daughter Ash wants to know the truth
about her mother’s death. Brady can’t put off telling her any longer.
He’s having doubts about everything. Even the memory of his dead wife.
Choke Back the Tears is the most personal Brady book yet.
He has to find the killer.
He has to keep his team together.
And he owes his daughter an explanation.
Michael Brady needs a friend.
But he doesn’t have one…
The Michael Brady books are perfect for fans of J D Kirk, Jason Dalgleish, David Gatward, T G
Reid etc…
Out of a potential 5 - you have to go with a Darkmatters:
ööö1/2
(3.5 - an effective crime tale with added Whitby sea spray!)
Get your copy of Choke Back The Tears here:
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