Published By: The Book Folk
Pages: 191
Released On: 07/02/2023
A mysterious death and a world of problems for a retired cop
On a walk up the moor near Ilkley in Yorkshire, ex-detective Henry Ward and his loyal terrier Tessa stumble across the body of a young man, who is clearly deceased.
Probing further, Henry decides that if the bag of drugs in his pocket is anything to go by, the lad has been up to no good.
Despite resistance from the officer in charge – curt ex-Met officer DI Kate Barnes who’d rather Henry kept out of her way – Henry pursues his own line of inquiry. So much for thinking he’d retire in a quiet countryside cottage and leave his troubled days as a DCI in Bradford behind.
But quickly Henry finds himself ahead of the local police. Yet old and tired, with a bad hip, and possibly terrible judgement, is he really cut out to track down a killer?
MURDER ON A YORKSHIRE MOOR is the first in a series of detective mysteries by Ric Brady, look out for the second, BUTCHER ON THE MOOR, and the third, MISSING ON ILKLEY MOOR.
*****
Thanks to The Book Folks for the gifted proof and a spot on the book tour in return for an honest review.
If you want a book that gets right into the thick of it, this is the one to choose. There’s no preamble as such. We meet Henry Ward instantly and within the first chapter, we’ve got a body. And it doesn’t let up until the very end.
I mean, I won’t lie, it’s all a tad unrealistic. No-one would allow a civilian (even if they once were in the police) to interfere with a murder investigation. But that seems to be the common thing with these cosy crime novels, and It’s not always a bad thing. As long as you can accept that this is a slight fantasy, then you can enjoy the ride, because it is a rollercoaster of a ride.
I’ve read a number of crime novels recently and there’s a little worry that they would all become a bit samey and blur into one, because surely how many variations can there be. But luckily they’ve all had a little bit extra to stand apart and this is the same.
I really enjoyed it. I don’t like to say I was surprised, as that sounds like I don’t believe in Ric’s writing. I didn’t know his writing, so didn’t have any expectations. But either way, it was a really fun, entertaining, and thrilling story.
I liked Henry Ward. He’s the main character and he steals every single scene. He’s not a particularly old man, late 60s perhaps, but he has this aura of an old man who lives alone and just trots around, and I mean that in a good way. He’s just a really lovely, sweet man, full of depth, with a good heart and a passion and I thought he was written really well. There’s a number of other characters, friends, neighbours, strangers, but they all exist to revolve around Henry. And they all work perfectly against him. And I always love a dog character.
There are twists and turns and secrets and surprises and shocks. It’s really very good and I’ll definitely try to get hold of the next in the series. I could easily see this as a TV series. I obviously won’t spoil the ending, but what I will say is that it had my mouth fall open. It’s so brilliant, and really sets you up for the sequel.
Books By Your Bedside 