I am delighted to share my review today for the latest book from one of may favourite authors. The Autumn Tree by Tony Forder is the latest in the DI Bliss series and boy oh boy is it a good one!

My thanks to Tony for my e-copy of this book and for a spot on his Blog Tour.

When dark desires have no limitations, anything is fair game.

After a young woman is found strangled to death, Bliss is called to the scene. When he learns that one of his business cards was found among the victim’s clothing, and he is told what was written on the back of it, Bliss is immediately troubled. The card was one of five he handed out to trafficked young women he and his team had previously rescued from a shipping container.

When he sees the victim, Bliss realises she was not one of those saved that day. So whose card does she have? Any why? And is it connected to her murder?

The murder investigation proves to be more complex and challenging than the team could possibly have imagined. But just as they think they have it figured out, they learn that depravity has no boundaries…

My Review…

Oh! I am a little speechless after reading the 8th book in the DI Bliss series. Wow! I never read the synopsis for these Bliss books as I have read every single book in the series. So I went into this one completely blind.

The author didn’t hold any punches with this story, it does have a theme that continues from a previous book, that being said you could, I suppose, read this latest instalment as a stand-alone. You would however be missing out on an outstanding series.

DI Jimmy Bliss is currently DS Bliss due to being demoted. This kind of gives the story an additional twist. Rather than being the team’s figurehead, he is now one of the floor guys is you like. The thing with Bliss and the rest of the team is the huge respect they have for each other and the closeness that has come with working together. The roles may have changed but the players are still the same, and there is an additional player who comes with strings!

A case is taken over by Bliss, this is due to a past case and why there are strings. The past involves people trafficking and the author has run further with the story in this latest book. This is one of the tougher stories I have read by this author, tougher because of the nature and content of the crimes involved. While the author does go into some detail, he does it in the context of the story.

The story involves such a complex case that has clues coming in left right and centre, all random and with no sort of order or focus. This is then made more complex when another case is also added to the pot. Realising that they have not got time on their side adds pressure.

The author has taken several threads and wonderfully woven them to create a very dark case for the team. Due to the closeness of the team, there is some banter and humour that does break the tension, not only for the characters but also the reader. It gave me a chance to take a big breath before continuing on several times.

The author absolutely knows the bones of his characters. As a reader I have to remind myself that they are not real people, they are characters. The author has given Bliss such a lot to deal with, but deal with it he has. Being an older character I was interested to see poor Bliss feeling his age, and dare I say contemplating his future.

This is one of the darker stories from this author and one that has a gritty and intense feel to it. Not for those who are looking for a cosy crime but one for the hard, crime thriller readers. A fabulous addition to the series and once again the author has left me wondering what will come next! One I would very definitely recommend, it was brilliant.

Check out the other stops on the Blog Tour…

Many thanks for reading my post, a like or share would be amazing 🙂 xx