It is my pleasure to be on the blog tour for “No Bodies” by Robert Crouch.  I would like to thank Caroline at Bits About Books  and Robert for allowing me a spot.  This is the 2nd in the “Kent Fisher Mystery Series” of books.  It is available as a paperback and as an eBook.  It is Independently Published.

Synopsis:

No motive. No connection.

Why would environmental health officer, Kent Fisher, show any interest in finding Daphne Witherington, the missing wife of a longstanding family friend?

The police believe she ran off with Colin Miller, a rather dubious caterer, and Kent has problems of his own when a young girl who visits his animal sanctuary is rushed to hospital.

When enquiries into Colin Miller reveal a second missing wife, Kent picks up a trail that went cold over a year ago. But he’s struggling to find a connection between the women, even when he discovers a third missing wife.

Is there a killer on the loose in Downland?

With no motive, no connection and no bodies, Kent may never uncover the truth.

My Thoughts:

When I first agreed to be part of the blog tour for this book  I was aware it was the second in a series.  Now I am kicking myself for not reading the first.  I will now never have the full experience of reading the first book, as some of the plots and outcomes follow through to the second one. Though this book did read as a stand alone very well , I urge anyone reading this post to download No Accident on their kindle, I honestly believe it will be time well spent.

It did take me a few chapters to get going with this, and to understand the characters as they have already been established in the 1st book, No Accidents (hint, hint), but once I got going I found an extremely addictive and intriguing story, a story that I could have dived straight into if, yes you guessed it, I had read the first book (I am still annoyed with myself about this).  So, Kent Fisher is an EHO (Environmental Health Officer) and is asked by a local counsellor, Colonel Witherington to look into the disappearance of his wife Daphne.  If you are wondering why the Colonel would ask this, it becomes evident if you read the first book (can you see a theme forming here?).  Kent and his co-worker and friend Gemma Dean, do as requested.  They combine their secret investigation into Daphne as well as doing their routine jobs.  What they discover as they are checking out fast food outlets, food providers and the like, are more puzzles and questions than there are answers, and much more than they originally bargained for.  Tempers are frayed and a past incident has never fully been resolved.

This book has so many plots and sub stories running along side each other, with the author putting many interesting and varied angles into this story, they kept me gripped from start to finish, and did not want to put it down at all.  The characters of Kent and Gemma have been very well developed, you realise that they have been friends for quite a while as the dynamics between them work very well.  There are some other really great characters that cover a range of personalities that gives a real enjoyment to the reader.

Robert has used a lot of his own knowledge from his days as working as an EHO, and has included procedures and protocols, all twisted around the plots to provide his own slant on this crime / mystery story.  It almost had a classic mystery feel to it at times, and it wasn’t until I read the author bio that I saw why.

I would definitely recommend this book to readers who like crime / mystery .  Also please read the first book as I am sure it will add to the reading of this story, it will give you a better understanding into the dynamics, characters and and previous story lines.  Though as a stand alone this one did read very well, but took me a few chapters to get a going, but once I did there was no stopping.

 

Author Bio:

  Inspired by Miss Marple, Inspector Morse and Columbo, Robert Crouch wanted to write entertaining crime fiction the whole family could enjoy.

At their heart is Kent Fisher, an environmental health officer with more baggage than an airport carousel. Passionate about the environment, justice and fair play, he’s soon embroiled in murder.

Drawing on his experiences as an environmental health officer, Robert has created a new kind of detective who brings a unique and fresh twist to the traditional murder mystery. With complex plots, topical issues and a liberal dash of irreverent humour, the Kent Fisher mysteries offer an alternative to the standard police procedural.

Robert now writes full time and lives on the South Coast of England with his wife and their West Highland White Terrier, Harvey, who appears in the novels as Kent’s sidekick, Columbo.

Links:

Author Website | Facebook Page | Twitter

Book Details and Links:

• Paperback: 375 pages
• Publisher: Independently published (17 Oct. 2017)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1549844121
• ISBN-13: 978-1549844126

To buy “No Bodies” from Amazon UK

To buy “No Accident” the first on the series from Amazon UK

Many thanks for reading my post.  If you liked it, give it a share.  Better still go and buy the books.