One Bad Turn is the latest book in the DS Claire Boyle series. It works as a standalone but having read the previous books it allows you to get to know Claire more.

Dr Heather Gilmore finds herself caught up in a situation at work where she is held hostage by her childhood friend and that her daughter has been kidnapped. DS Boyle didn't expect a simple visit to her doctor to result in her being taken hostage too. But then it becomes apparent that maybe the hostage situation and kidnapping are linked. Claire is put in charge of finding the missing girl and discovering what happened between Heather and her old friend Eileen for things to take this dramatic turn.

A well written thriller with some nice twists and turns that will have you turning the page to find out what happens next.

Thank you to NetGalley, Quercus and Sinead Crowley for the chance to review.

One Bad Turn by Sinead Crowley is a deceptively twisty book, which I raced though eager to puzzle it all out. And of course I was racing against the mind of Claire Boyle, the detective sergeant whose mind was also racing and her sleuthing skills quickly outpaced me. I loved the book and so when Quercus Books asked me to join the Blog Tour, I was happy to jump on board, and help sing a song of praise for Sinead Crowley's latest offering.

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First Line of One Bad Turn by Sinead Crowley

"There was no need to think about where she was going; her feet knew the way."

My thoughts on One Bad Turn by Sinead Crowley

This book is mainly a police procedural mystery, but it has enough tension and action to also be classified as a suspense. It's the third book in the DS Claire Boyle series, but each would stand on their own, and I see no problems with reading them out-of-order.

Two things hit me about this book, and it was the same with the other two books in this series.

there is a very strong sense of setting. It captures life in Dublin, with all it's colour.
An engaging cast of characters. Some I liked, some not so much, but all held my attention.
My favourite character is still Claire Boyle. She struggles to balance her passion for her job, with her role as a mother and wife. Her mind is razor-sharp, and I admire her professional skills. However, she struggles to juggle it all. Her daughter is her number one priority, but she is also strongly committed to pursuing professional goals. It's so honest, and relatable.

I also enjoyed the satisfying reveal of the crime element in this book. It's told over two-time periods. The first one is a current time, and kicks off with the abduction of a girl. The other timeline is a flashback to the recent past, where events take place that are driving the present crisis.

I loved the blend of mystery, suspense, family life and all against the ticking clock. You can sense the element of danger, and the rising tension. Which resulted in me swiping pages quickly, with a sense of trepidation. The theme of a mothers love runs throughout the book, and a suburban crime story always gets under my skin. It's just far too plausible and likely to happen.

Big thumbs up.

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Who should read One Bad Turn by Sinead Crowley?

I'd recommend this to you if you like police procedurals that focus heavily on emotional storylines, and interesting characters. If you liked previous books by Sinead Crowley, I think you'll enjoy catching up with some familiar characters. Fans of Liz Nugent, Tina Seskis and Jane Corry should also enjoy.

Thanks to Quercus Books for giving me a copy of this book for review consideration. As always, no matter what the source of the book, you get my honest, unbiased opinion.

Lots more information about One Bad Turn by Sinead Crowley

If you enjoyed what you've heard so far about this book, why not check out some of the other Blog Tour stops.

One Bad Turn by Sinead Crowley Blog Tour Poster

This is an absorbing police procedural set in Dublin featuring garda DS Claire Boyle. As the first in the series that I have read, it works perfectly well as a standalone. Claire is married to Matt Daly and has a baby daughter, Anna. She has an appointment with Dr Heather Gilmore, and has taken Anna with her. Afterwards she overhears a woman, Eileen Delaney, threatening Heather, who she seems to know, with a gun and assaulting her. It appears that Eileen has lost her son, Alan, to suicide, blames Heather and she shows her a photograph of Heather's daughter, Leah, who she has abducted. Trapped in the surgery, Claire has no phone and is terrified that Anna's cries when she wakes up will put them both in danger.

This is a story of a friendship forged in childhood between Eileen and Heather, that has spiralled into hate and a need for revenge. We discover how it ended up this way as the story goes back in time to outline their relationship through the years. It is also a personal tale of the human consequences of the Irish financial recession partly triggered by those who peddled suspect financial schemes and were allowed to get away with it amidst the catastrophic fallout and the ruined lives of ordinary people. Claire and her gay police partner, Philip Flynn, dig deep to get to the bottom of what lies behind the hostage situation and find Leah. Leah is no ordinary damsel in distress, she fights hard to find a way out of her predicament. She was the last person to see Alan before his death when he turned up at a party she was throwing.

This is a story rooted in the contemporary political and financial issues in Ireland and how so many lives were reduced to misery and homelessness. Crowley has captured it well in the character of Eileen whose life become an increasing nightmare culminating in the loss of her beautiful son, Alan, leaving her with a grief she cannot get over. Juxtaposed with that is Heather's golden life of wealth, status, and power which she could not have attained without Eileen's help. There are the marital difficulties that Claire is experiencing and the challenges of caring for Anna when she so loves her job in the police, this feels so authentic. This is a great read which I thoroughly enjoyed reading. Many thanks to Quercus for an ARC.

Well there was a lot going on with this book.I had to keep my wits about me as the story went back and forward between past events and the story happening now,it filled us in on the back stories between the characters ,I must admit the present day situation was so well written and nerve wracking I couldn't wait to get to back to it to see how it would work out ,although reading the back stories was also very much a part of what had let to standoff at the doctors surgery.I liked the main police characters, I thought it was funny that the male gay police officer felt under pressure from everyone to make an honest man out of his boyfriend, and wasn't so sure having marriage equality was all it was cracked out to be because of this. I liked his character and that of his boss and the back stories were insightful and interesting not saying anything else as I don't want to spoil anything for other readers.I will say this book was well worth a read and I liked the pace of the book and the writing style as well as the story.Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC in return for an honest review.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Quercus Books from r an advance copy of One Bad Turn, the third novel to feature DS Claire Boyle of the Dublin Gardai.

Claire is visiting her doctor, Heather Sterling, when a woman with a gun bursts in and takes Heather hostage. It seems that the two women have a history Eileen Delaney, the woman with the gun, is determined to make Heather suffer. The reasons for this are rooted in their shared history.

This is the first novel I have read in this series so I have no reference points. The plot is clever and the pacing excellent with just enough snippets of information doled out at a time to keep the reader interested and keen to learn more. I wasn't, however, so fond of the format. The first half of the novel covers the hostage situation with many flashbacks in italics (my pet hate) to their shared past. The second half deals with the aftermath, again with italicised flashbacks. I prefer a more linear narrative so I skim read most of the flashbacks to get back to the action faster. Looking back from the end of the novel this was probably a mistake as these flashbacks are actually very cleverly drawn portraits of the characters through the situations they find themselves in. It's skilfully done.

Claire Boyle is a fairly stereotypical police officer, smart and dedicated and that's where the problems lie. Her husband thinks she puts her job before him and their daughter and she thinks he's being unreasonable. It'll be interesting to see where Ms Crowley takes it.

I enjoyed One Bad Turn and have no hesitation in recommending it as a good read.