No More Lies

I love this series by Robert Crouch. I feel really engaged with the characters. This is the fourth in the series.

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Book description

Kent Fisher gets more than he bargained for when Detective Inspector Ashley Goodman enlists his help with a ten year old murder. She’s on a mission and needs a big case to put her career back on track.

And they don’t come much bigger than Miles Birchill, Downland’s wealthiest and most divisive resident.

Not for the first time, Kent has doubts about the case, forcing him to make choices. But who do you trust when everyone has something to hide?

Caught in the middle, he has no alternative but to solve the murder, unaware that his every move is being watched.

My review - 

Another mystery for Environmental Health Officer Kent Fisher. When a body is found buried on his father’s land, Kent feels that someone is trying to fit his father up for murder – and he has plenty of enemies. This book is full of humour and features a female detective I wanted to slap, as well as a dog groomer I wanted to hug. I love a book that affects me so much that I really believe in the characters. As for Kent – I want to pull his socks up for him! This is a brilliant follow-up to the first three books in the series and I’m dying to see how Kent’s private life progresses now.

About the author

Inspired by his love of classic murder mysteries, Robert Crouch wanted to create a fresh and contemporary whodunit to offer readers something familiar but different.
Above all he wanted to show that an ordinary person could solve a murder. Not that there's anything ordinary about Kent Fisher, an environmental health officer with more baggage than an airport carousel.
After reading No Accident, bestselling author, Tamara McKinley, believes ‘Agatha Christie fans will love it.’

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Just a thought -

[I] read books because I love them, not because I think I should read them. 
― Simon Van Booy

No Remorse

Third in this super series but you can read it on its own.

No Remorse

Amazon.com link

My review -

This is the third in the Kent Fisher series and there’s enough backstory here for you to read it as a stand-alone. It begins with a bang when an old man in a care home tells Kent that someone’s going to kill him. Soon after, he dies. That starts our hero off sleuthing. We meet a new love-interest, but Gemma, his old flame, still burns brightly. Kent teases the threads from an old story and puts himself in danger.

The thing I love about these stories is that there’s no dry police procedure. I know some people love it, but Fisher is an ordinary person, like us. It puts the reader at the heart of the mystery. The characters are strong and credible, and the author’s love for the Downland countryside shines through. I love this series. A completely different take on the thriller and mystery genre, and written by a man who doesn’t fall into cliché. I think this one is the best so far. Very enjoyable.

Robert Crouch

No Bodies is the second in the Kent Fisher mysteries - and just as good. Sharp and witty and a cracking read.

No Bodies

Amazon.com link

My review - 

Kent Fisher, is once again on the trail of a murderer. The problem is, there are missing women, but no bodies. Colonel Witherington, a local bigwig, has charged Kent with finding his missing wife Daphne, or bringing her murderer to justice. As the investigation progresses, Kent discovers links between the missing women and sets off to find justice. Meanwhile, he himself, or at least, his animal sanctuary, may be implicated in another tragedy. He gets in deeper, and doesn’t help himself by his attitude to his boss.

This is the second Kent Fisher mystery and follows directly on from the first, No Accident. I think you really need to read the first, as this would be confusing as a stand-alone. A little more explanation of who people are when they first appear in the book would help new readers. Having said that, this is equally refreshing, set as it is around the investigations of an environmental health officer, rather than a police officer. Kent Fisher is a warm, stubborn and occasionally hopeless character whom I couldn’t fail to warm to. The author handles his writing deftly and the story is very funny, witty and full of sharp observations. I really enjoy this series and look forward to more.

Robert Crouch

A new author to me but his debut novel has convinced me that I'll read more.

No Accident

Amazon.com link

My review -

I do love a book that’s different, and this one is, in buckets! At one level, it’s a standard murder mystery, but at another, there are no police in sight. The man of the hour, Kent Fisher, is an Environmental Health Officer. He’s investigating a suspicious death in which a vital guard has been moved from a machine. He suspects it’s no accident and digs up a whole nest of hornets as he follows his instincts.

I enjoyed this hugely. Kent is an environmentalist, keeps a money-draining animal sanctuary and longs for a lady he can’t have. There’s lots going on in this book, plenty of characters and you need your wits about you. There’s also, considering the subject, a great deal of humour, sometimes witty, sometimes sarcastic and it acts like yeast in a bread mix. Lightens it and makes it wholesome. I have a new fictional hero! I very much enjoyed this story and look forward to the next.