“Monsters exist, but they are too few in number to be truly dangerous. More dangerous are the common men, the functionaries ready to believe and to act without asking questions.”
― Primo Levi


The Mayfly begins with the discovery of a badly mutilated body in a cabin, deep in the woods. This very much sets the scene for the horrifying events that follow.

Our protagonist Charlie Priest is a an ex Detective Inspector turned successful lawyer, who we meet in the aftermath of a break-in at his home. Charlie is viciously attacked by someone who clearly believes that Charlie has something belonging to him. When Charlie's attacker is found dead the next day, he finds himself entangled in a web that's so intricate that there's a danger that he may never get out of this alive.

The story shifts between the early days of post war Britain and the present, and involves the interrogation of a former Nazi concentration camp doctor. It's intriguing to see how the author pulls these dual timelines together to create a cracking read. I'm not always a fan of dual timelines but this one worked perfectly. There are some great characters, not least Charlie - although he has dissociation disorder, he's extremely smart, astute, and has a great sense of humour that I loved. The fact that he also has a serial killer brother ( now residing in a high security mental health unit ) puts an unusual spin on the storyline.

What a fantastic start to what is to become ( I understand ) a long running series. James Hazel has announced his arrival on the literary scene with balloons, whistles and bells! It was utterly compelling with intelligent narrative and a unique and a gripping plot. Watch out for James Hazel, I think we're going to hear lots of good things about him in the future.

*Thank you to Netgalley and Bonnier Zaffre for my ARC in exchange for an honest review*

Its hard to believe that this is a debut novel... brilliant!

Priest is an ex police offer turned lawyer - plagued by a serial killer brother and suffering from a disociative disorder Priest is an interesting, well developed character who is also extremly likeable. Alongside his 'sidekick' Georgia, Hazel has created a great hero in what I hope will be the first in a long series.

A man is found brutally murdered just a day after he tried to kill Priest - Priest the faces a difficult decision when just days later the mans family asks for Priests help in finding out who killed him.

The reader is then taken on a rollercoaster ride which flips from the modern day and Priest investigating a shadowy group of people and then back into WWII, the nazis and their experiments on their prisoners.

There are lots of twists and turns along the way as well as some truly breath-holding suspense! Its an easy read which is hard to put down!

Cant wait for the next Priest book!

I would like to thank Netgalley and Bonnier Zaffre for a review copy of The Mayfly, an exciting adventure set in and around London.

Charlie Priest used to be a policeman and now he is a successful fraud lawyer. He lives a quiet life so is surprised to be attacked in his flat and told to hand over a flash drive he doesn't have. He could live with that if the man who attacked him wasn't found dead the next day in a particularly nasty way with Charlie's business card in his pocket.

The Mayfly is a compulsive read. It has enough pace and tension to keep you turning the pages to find out what is coming next. The information release is also judicious, just enough at a time to make you want more but not enough to guess so you have to keep reading. The plot is pure hokum but addictive hokum so again you keep reading to find out where Mr Hazel is taking you. Needless to say I read it one sitting, giving up some sleep time to do so.

I'm not normally a fan of split narratives but the occasional chapters about the interrogation of a former Nazi doctor in 1946 give the reader much needed information and food for thought as to how they fit in. It works well and I commend the author on his inventive and unusual plot - it's hard to believe this is a first novel as it seems so assured.

Charlie and his team are a very likeable bunch of misfits, Charlie with his dissociative disorder and serial killer brother, Solly the accountant with his OCD and possible autism, Vincent the barrister with his flamboyant outfits and Georgie the associate with no social life but they work well together and are very loyal. It makes for great reading and I'd love to meet them again.

The Mayfly is a hugely entertains read which I have no hesitation in recommending.

'A mutilated body discovered in the woods.
A murderous plan conceived in the past.
A reckoning seventy years in the making . . .’

The Mayfly is the debut novel from James Hazel and is the first in a new series featuring ex-cop turned lawyer, Charlie Priest.

Just published by Bonnier Zaffre, The Mayfly is a crime novel with a very intriguing historical twist. With the next novel, The Ash Doll, due out in Summer 2018, James Hazel is an exciting new writer to watch out for.

‘A sanctuary built out of love and innocence, defiled in the most grotesque manner’

The Mayfly opens up with a stomach-churning scene of horror that immediately pulls the reader into the story. A body is discovered in an abandoned summer house in South Wales with injuries inflicted that are beyond the worst nightmares of most.

The scene is quickly cordoned off and Sir Philip Wren, the Attorney General, gets summoned to this site of horrors.

‘It’s happening again.’

A chilling statement that has lots to reveal.

Meanwhile, London lawyer Charlie Priest is at home when an unexpected guest comes knocking.
Charlie Priest is the main protagonist of The Mayfly. An ex-cop turned highly successful London lawyer, Charlie works closely with a select team of employees at his practice, Priest & Co.

‘Priest had spent eight years of his life excelling as a policeman before he committed what his former colleagues judged to be the ultimate betrayal by becoming a lawyer. As if the natural mistrust that existed between law enforcers and law manipulators wasn’t enough, Priest had rubbed salt in the wound by making an awful lot of money in the process’

Charlie has always been very selective of his clients, dealing with cases where he can only guarantee success. He is a high-achiever with an excellent record but Charlie has his faults. A condition known as ‘Dissociative Disorder’ has plagued Charlie all his life. Over the years he has grown used to it’s warning signs and has the coping mechanisms now in place to deal with it.

One rather persuasive new client is pharmaceutical giant Kenneth Ellinder. The Ellinder’s are an extremely wealthy family and money is no object as they seek to uncover the reasons as to why their son was murdered. Initially, Charles is slow to take on the case, after already being the victim of a very recent assault, but circumstances soon change as Charlie finds himself fighting for his survival against an evil that has it’s roots in our history.

Buchenwald Concentration camp. Germany 1945, the American troops witness the horrors of the Nazi regime following the emancipation of the camp.

‘Thousands of them crammed into spaces designed for a few hundred at most. Stripped naked except for loin cloths. Freezing. Dying. Their bodies had shrivelled through malnourishment to such an extent that they barely resembled human beings anymore. The walking dead…'

With the onset of the Nuremberg Trials, Nazis are gathered up and interrogated to reveal the barbarity of the atrocities inflicted on the victims of the camp. These were heinous acts of inhumanity that still impact many in today’s society.

The depiction of the camps is excellently portrayed by James Hazel but The Mayfly is not a book that remains in the annals of history. As a reader, you are taken through the decades as the ripple effect continues it’s way through generations.

The Mayfly is not a book for the faint of heart. There are very gruesome scenes throughout that will make you question humanity and the levels of violence that can be inflicted on one by another. The book does have a romantic element in it though so this does water down the intensity of the horror to some degree.

Charlie Priest is a great new hero in crime fiction. James Hazel has created a flawed individual who has his own personal demons to carry which makes for a very intriguing character.

The Mayfly is a very talented and unbelievable debut. With book 2 in the series, The Ash Doll, coming out next summer, I expect James Hazel will be a name recognised by many in the future. One-to-watch…..

Just the high octane thriller I was seeking! It was a cleverly written story. One that reminded me of the game Clue. It literally had me drawing at straws trying to figure out whodunit and motive till the very end!

The mayfly by James Hazel.
It's happening again.
A mutilated body discovered in the woods.
A murderous plan conceived in the past.
A reckoning seventy years in the making . . .
Charlie Priest, ex-detective inspector turned London lawyer, is hired by influential entrepreneur Kenneth Ellinder to investigate the murder of his son. But Priest is no ordinary lawyer.
Brilliant, yet flawed, this case will push him, and those closest to him, to the edge. Priest traces the evidence back to the desperate last days of the Second World War.
Buried in the ashes of the Holocaust is a secret so deadly its poison threatens to destroy the very heart of the establishment. With more victims going missing, Priest realises that not everyone should be trusted.
As he races to uncover the truth, can he prevent history from repeating itself?
Fantastic read with brilliant characters. Had me on the edge of my seat. Could not figure out who it was. 5*. Netgalley and bonnie zaffre.

The Mayfly by James Hazel

It’s not your typical situation and neither is Charlie Priest your usual lawyer. When Charlie is asked by wealthy entrepreneur Kenneth Ellinder and his daughter Jessica to investigate the horrifically brutal murder of Ellinder’s son Miles, Charlie can’t help thinking that the death might be his fault. The night before, Miles had violently attacked Charlie in his own home, prepared to kill him for something he believed to be in Charlie’s possession. Charlie had nothing to give him and now the man is dead and the manner of his death is a clear warning of what is to come. Shortly afterwards Charlie’s godfather, Attorney General Sir Philip Wren hangs himself, leaving a note addressed to Charlie. And then it’s discovered that Sir Philip’s daughter Hayley is missing. Suddenly the hanging looks less like suicide and Charlie is caught in something that is spiralling out of control.

And this is all at the beginning of this wonderful novel, The Mayfly. The plot that follows is brilliantly clever and complex. More than that, it is extremely tense, with a grip of iron. But what holds it all together is the fabulous and captivating character of Charlie Priest. This is a man who caught my attention from the very beginning and the more I learned about him, the more I loved him. He has a medical disorder that makes him stand out from other people but he also stands out for his extraordinary family background. I’ll say nothing about this except to say that it is brilliantly handled. Charlie is a man we want to get to know. He is deeply interesting. This is a novel that delves deeply into character and motivation.

Charlie isn’t the only draw in The Mayfly – his associate, lawyer Georgie Someday, is utterly adorable and keenly intelligent. Charlie’s other associate, ‘Solly’ Solomon is also a favourite of mine and I love how Charlie deals with him. The three make up the most marvellous and strangest of teams and, as a result, The Mayfly stands out on a crowded crime fiction shelf.

The Mayfly takes us to some dark and dreadful places. The gory horror of the deaths isn’t easy to read but it isn’t gratuitously done. This is a story and a crime with its roots in the Holocaust and that is not a subject to be treated lightly. The evil from those days might survive in elements of this novel but so too does the determined pursuit for justice of good men and women.

James Hazel writes so well. This book might be dark in places but it is also witty and full of heart, compensating to some measure for its violence and the sheer evil of its villains. It’s an exciting book, packed with intrigue, and the pace is matched by the quality of the plot. The Mayfly launches a new series and I am hooked.

Fast paced, gritty, and full of intrigue, The Mayfly lived up to my high expectations and left me wanting more. It had my attention from page one and kept me devouring it until the very end.

The characters are well crafted - Charlie Priest is a great new protagonist, not your typical Detective. In fact, he's not a Detective at all anymore - he used to be, but is now a lawyer. He's brilliant, bold, and a bit of a maverick, making him a great character to read about. His assistant, Georgie, is a bit annoying at times but overall she's rather likeable; she's sweet and fairly naive but has the same brilliant knack for picking up on things that others (apart from Priest, of course) wouldn't think to notice, and they work well together. Then there's Priest's family - a story in itself really!

I love the WW2 element in this. Well, I shouldn't say 'love' as such, because it's rather horrible and disturbing, but I found it very interesting nevertheless. I love reading and watching anything to do with World War 2, so this element definitely interested me. Kurt Schneider ( I couldn't resists looking him up) seems to have been based on a real person, and the story seems - to me, anyway - really well researched.

The story moves along at a good pace without being too fast. The switching between different narratives, and indeed different time frames, can take a second to readjust to - who's speaking, which country are we in, which year? - as is always the case with those kinds of narratives, but it's easy enough to work out what's happening despite lots of names and people cropping up!

I felt towards the end of the novel there was a little big more cheesiness included, particularly with some of the romantic relationships, which I didn't like as much. However despite this I felt that James Hazel's writing was really great. He uses just the right level of description, and I feel that The Mayfly is really well written - so I'd highly recommend this novel, and am eager to read future books in the series!

2017 is certainly shaping up to be another great year for thrillers and The Mayfly is another great addition to the genre.

Charlie Priest used to be a detective inspector but he defected to the other side. No he didn't become a criminal. No it was worse than that from a police perspective....he became a lawyer. And a very good one. So good in fact he is hired by an extremely rich and influential family to investigate the brutal murder of their prodigal son. He soon finds that the investigation leads him to a conspiracy and cover up that goes right back to Nazi concentration camps and puts him and those closest to him in great danger.

That's a pretty poor description of this novel but if I say more I'll give too much away! What I can say is Charlie Priest is a fantastic creation. I would describe him as a mash up of Sherlock Holmes (the Cumberbatch version) and Cormoran Strike. He's the centre of a story that flits between the present and 1946, bringing together post World War II intrigue and modern day political and financial machinations with a brutal series of murders. These different threads are drawn together seamlessly to deliver a novel packed with mystery, intrigue and action. There are many great books due this month but you must make sure this is on your to buy list if you like thrillers even just a wee bit. In my opinion it's a must read.

Thank you Netgalley for a digital ARC, provided for an honest review.

There was something about The Mayfly that attracted me, even though it doesn't really fit in with my tastes. I don't like books where the main character is "ex-police turned lawyer/journalist/PI" etc, but the fact that this was to do with a secret society and it drew in links back from history made me too intrigued to not request it.

Charlie Priest is our main character, he's a successful lawyer, after being a successful Detective Inspector and he's troubled (like they always are). Priest's brother is a serial killer and he has dissociative disorder, but despite this, he's stellar at his job and he's a bit of a laugh. Priest certainly is an interesting and likable character, so no doubt I will check out the next in this series, just to revisit his character.

In terms of the plot, you can tell this was really well researched. The plot, as a whole, is pretty unique, and the ties to WWII and the Nazis was definitely the reason I picked this one up, so I felt a little let down that there weren't that many flashbacks to that era and there wasn't an awful lot of explanation as to how and why the secret society was born. Don't me wrong, it doesn't just leave you up in the air, it does explain, but it could have been developed and done better.

There is no doubt that this book is fast paced and keeps you on your toes. The first half of the novel, I flew through. The second half of the book then pulls in some romance and things begin to get a little cheesy. From the feelings felt by the characters, to conversations, there were a couple of eye-roll moments, but it wasn't all that bad.

While I thought the plot, the crimes, the victims and all the rest, was good, it did get a little confusing at times. There were so many paths being drawn into this one investigation that I got a little lost at some points, and for this reason, guessing the "bad guy" can be tricky... but really, it's very easy.

Overall, this was an enjoyable book. If the romance parts were removed, this could have been a 5 star read for me, because that would have taken away all the cheese. This is a good 4 star read for me, and like I said, I will definitely look into the next book in this series.

The cover is what first caught my attention, but it was the blurb that sealed the deal. I mean, a psychological thriller AND a connection to WWII? That's basically combining two of my favorite genres and simply irresistible. This story mosty definitely didn't disappoint. I actually didn't know that The Mayfly is the first book of a new series, but now now I've finished this story I will be looking forward to see more of Charlie Priest in the future. The Mayfly reads almost like a private detective story, but Charlie Priest is actually a lawyer instead (and ex-cop). Charlie has a lot of flaws and a messed up personal life, but his character didn't feel like a cliche at all. In fact, with a serial killer for a brother and his dissociative disorder Priest scores top marks for being an intriguing character. The plot itself is fascinating and I loved the chapters that went back to events set just after WWII. The references to the Holocaust add a whole different level to this story and really made The Mayfly stand out for me. There were quite a lot of twists and while I expected some things to happen, I didn't guess the full truth until the very end. I could have done without the love triangle and romance scenes in general though, although it's just the love triangle itself that didn't add anything substantial to the plot. Also, some of the things that happen can make you doubt the credibility of it all... For example: how did they manage to go on for years without being catched? But those are only minor complaints about what is still essentially a highly entertaining rollercoaster ride.

A disturbing book of torture to find God.

A mutilated body found in the woods.
A murderous plan conceived in the past.
A reckoning seventy years in the making.

Charlie Priest, ex-detective inspector turned London lawyer, is hired by an influential entrepreneur to investigate the death of his son, but Charlie is led into a far darker and complex case than just a wrongful death.

Wow! What a book, I was hooked from page one and didn’t put it down until I had finished it. Dark, gory and compelling, the book switches from the past to modern day but is easy to follow. Charlie suffers from a debilitating problem which can manifest at any time which adds to the edge-of-your-seat drama.

The characters are all good but Charlie and Georgie are two excellent and likeable people which makes you want to help them and keep them out of danger.

I cannot wait until the next book. I will be reading it!

Helen

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

First things first: This book was FANTASTIC. If you're a mystery/thriller fan, you need to check this book out. OK, now on to the details.

I don't want to give too much away because the reveals are great, and you're going to want to stay up late reading.

The book follows Charlie Priest, a former cop turned lawyer with his own issues. But despite his flaws, he's a fantastic investigator, who is attacked by a strange man one night in his home. The next day, the man is dead - killed brutally - and the victim's family wants to hire Priest to figure out what happened. The answers lie deep in history, from the horrors of Buchenwald in 1945 and a remote farm post-war, all leading to to the present day. Priest must fight to figure out what is going on as the body count rises.

The elements of the book are blended really well, creating an atmosphere that just screams "thriller." This book combines dark history, creepy families and just enough gore to make you want to sleep with one eye open. Figuring out how all the pieces fit together is a great challenge and I did not figure it out before the ending.

The scenario presented in the book is just real enough to really scare you, which also adds to the fun. The characters are fantastic; well written and flawed, but with enough character to like them. I think this is the start of a new series, and I'm ecstatic to see them again.

Overall, I throughly enjoyed this book. It is one of my top reads so far this year.

Highly recommended.

I really enjoyed this book. The plot was good, the characters believable and it was a compelling read. The plot was full of surprises right up to the very end. I liked that the chapters alternated back and forward in time, I would definitely read another book by this author. I want to read more about Charlie Priest.

I enjoyed The Mayfly! While it didn't blow me away, it was a compulsive and engaging read. I liked the characters, and the plot was interesting. Funnily enough this is the second book I've read recently to feature Buchenwald which is an odd coincidence. The dual timeline works well, but I found the jumping between characters to be a bit confusing at times. However, it's a good read. A little gory, and with plenty to keep the reader guessing!

Absolutely loved this book, a real page turner and I didn't want to come to the end.

I received a copy of the book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I would like to thank the author, James Hazel, and the publisher, Bonnier Zaffre, for the opportunity.

Ever since I finished reading The Mayfly I've been trying to come up with something to say about the book, to form an opinion about it and to figure out how to express my feelings about it but I can't. Yes, it does include controversial/dark topics, yes I do wish I hadn't read it before going to bed because of how immersive the reading experience was. Will I read the following books or anything else the author writes? Most definitely. I can't stop thinking about this book since I finished, I have told every single one of my friends about it, I have a lot of different and conflicting feelings about this book. I think all that just goes to show how memorable and well written the book was and is probably a better way to talk about this book than anything else I have to say on the specifics of the plot. Additionally, throughout the book I could tell there was a lot of work and research that was put into writing the book and that the author really seemed to know what he was writing about, the characters were smart (but not unbelievably so) and had a lot of layers and depth to them, and even when I thought I had put all the pieces together I found there were still things that I didn't quite catch on my own.

An interesting story with a good ending. I enjoyed the tale as it unfolded.

Graphic, creepy and so enthralling! This takes you from the Nazi concentration camp to modern day in a story that is effortlessly interweaved. I was hooked, and read this in one sitting!

Utterly brilliant book! This was addictive and I couldn't put it down. I really did enjoy this and have already recommended it to others