Review ~ Blog Tour ~ The Death of Jessica Ripley by Andrew Barrett.

Jessica Ripley didn’t kill her ex-husband. But everyone thinks she did. After serving twelve years for his murder, it’s time to get her own back on those who put her inside.

During those twelve years, Jessy’s son, Michael, has turned against her. Whatever mercy Jessy had for her intended victims, just blew away.

CSI Eddie Collins is having a hard time watching his father enjoying life. He’s also having it tough in the form of two new recruits to his office. One is off his tree on drugs and the other wants his job.

And then the murders begin.Can Eddie trust the evidence, or is someone twisting it, desperate to get even? And who did kill Jessy’s ex?

Review

I would like to thank the author, publisher and blog tour organiser, for the ARC in return for an honest review.

I am a massive fan of Andrew Barrett’s writing and especially the creation of the character CSI Eddie Collins. Passionate about his work and finding justice for murder victims. He is a loner, grumpy and hard to work with. Therefore, I loved hearing that he was to feature in a new story.

Why did I enjoy this new instalment in the CSI Eddie Collins series? Like all the others, it’s packed with fabulous characters, great storylines, lots of twists and turns and oodles of tension. It’s one of the best thriller series going currently and I struggled to put this new novel down. From page one to the last page I was addicted to the story and revelled in being able to spend time with one of my favourite characters. Here we have the story of Jessica, put in prison for a crime she did not commit and she wants her own back. Pretty standard plot, but there are twists and turns in the story, that give it added layers of tension and making it both original and thrilling to read. What I found and loved was that my first impressions were upturned and I never saw the ending coming. There was so much going on that I was thrown curve balls at moments I thought I had it all sussed and I didn’t. The story went from one heart stopping moment and then did an about turn, leaving me feeling breathless and unnerved.

Then you have the wonderful, grumpy, flawed Eddie Collins. Andrew Barrett doesn’t allow him to stand still as a character, he develops him and makes him all the more human. We come to understand why he lives life largely alone, how his job affects his personal life and how life at home has shaped him. I love him, despite his sometimes-aggressive manner, because he is underneath all of that, a gorgeous caring person and really cares about the team he has and the cases he is investigating.

I would recommend this book to anyone and I can’t wait to spend time with Eddie Collins again.

You can purchase this book from Amazon

About the author

Andrew Barrett has enjoyed variety in his professional life, from engine-builder to farmer, from Oilfield Service Technician in Kuwait, to his current role of Senior CSI in Yorkshire.

He’s been a CSI since 1996, and has worked on all scene types from terrorism to murder, suicide to rape, drugs manufacture to bomb scenes. One way or another, Andrew’s life revolves around crime.

In 1997 he finished his first crime thriller, A Long Time Dead, and it’s still a readers’ favourite today, some 150,000 copies later, topping the Amazon charts several times. Two more books featuring SOCO Roger Conniston completed the trilogy.

Today, Andrew is still producing authentic crime thrillers with a forensic flavour that attract attention from readers worldwide. He’s also attracted attention from the Yorkshire media, having been featured in the Yorkshire Post and interviewed on BBC Radio Leeds.

He’s best known for his lead character, CSI Eddie Collins, and the acerbic way in which he roots out criminals, and administers justice. Eddie’s series is five books and three novellas in length, and there’s still more to come.

Andrew has recently discovered the delights of writing stand-alones, with one under his belt another under way.

Andrew is a proud Yorkshireman and sets all of his novels there, using his home city of Leeds as another major, and complementary, character in each of the stories.

You can find out more about him and his writing at http://www.andrewbarrett.co.uk/

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