A young girl falls to her death from a night club. She was too young to be there, nobody seems to have seen her, and nobody has reported her missing. Who is she and did she fall or was she pushed?

Severn House and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you). It will be published December 1st.

Harry can feel Soho changing. There's a new group in town that's playing rough and demanding protection money. He's not sure who they are but it's not the old group. Not only that, there are new drugs on the street. Maybe that was why that young one thought she could fly...

As Harry and his girlfriend investigate, they get very close to the new bad guys. Harry has to ask her to move out so nobody hurts her. Harry's job is threatened. They still almost kill his girlfriend with a spiked drink.

These bad guys are really bad and they care only for money. They leave the dead behind as messages. Will Harry and his girl survive?

Playing with Fire by Patricia Hall is set in he 1960s in Soho in London and is a relatively easy paced crime novel.

The story feels authentic and the characters well developed with interesting backstories.

Whilst in the main I enjoyed the book I felt that the ending was a little too rushed and the book would have benefitted from being longer.

Overall a decent enough read

Soho in the 1960's and Detective Sergeant Harry Barnard has been called out to investigate a body having fallen from a building. Suicide, accident or murder. Meanwhile Barnard's girlfriend has been asked to find a missing female who has been attracted to London's musical scene. This is the first of the series that I have read and I found I couldn't really get interested in their lives, the characters or the plot.

The setting for this murder mystery is 'swinging' sixties Soho, and the buildings are well described from what i recall. DS Harry Barnard's first job was to investigate the death of a young girl who has fallen to her death from the top of one of those buildings. He is soon sidetracked by possible gangs intimidating businesses/people and I was quite impressed with this aspect. However, the references to the pop music scene (in it's infancy) were disappointing - there were far more groups than The Beatles, Rolling Stones and Kinks.plus Cilla was not the only female singer at the time! If this was done for authenticity then it was poor. As was the rather abrupt ending.
Harry Barnard ends up joining the new Drugs squad, I wish he had done a better job at the time as 50 years on it is still prevalent.. So some good, and some not so much. 4 stars should really be 3.5 in my marking system.

Thankyou to NetGalley, Severn House Publishers and the author, Patricia Hall, for the opportunity to read an advanced readers copy of Playing With Fire in exchange for an honest, unbiased opinion.
I thought the storyline was well written and with engaging characters. It was an intriguing and suspenseful read that I thought was enjoyable. 3.5 stars.
Well worth a read.

This is the seventh book in the Kate O’Donnell series and the second that I have read. The series features Detective Sergeant Harry Barnard and his girlfriend, photographer Kate O’Donnell.

It is 1964 and the location is the seedy area of Soho, London where clubs, pubs, restaurants and bars host prostitutes, criminals, drug dealers and other dubious characters and this is Harry Barnard’s patch; Kate also works in the area as a photographer. This pretty much duplicates the background of the proceeding book in the series.

Barnard is called to a new club in Soho where a young girl has fallen to her death from an upstairs window in the club. All the patrons of the club have disappeared and the manager is less than forthcoming. The girl cannot be identified, her face is badly disfigured by the fall and her bag and coat cannot be found. Meanwhile Kate has been contacted by her ex-boyfriend in Liverpool who is trying to locate his new girlfriend. Unsuccessful in an audition with Brian Epstein she has headed to London to seek fame and fortune as a singer, a la Cilla Black.

As the plot develops, Kate and Harry become more involved in their investigations. Meanwhile the Soho scene becomes more hostile, more secretive and more dangerous with violence, drugs and the emerging pop culture takes hold.

I did quite like the references to Soho and in particular the references to the Beatles and the mayhem that surrounded them and the phenomena that was Beatlemania. This established the plot in a very specific time and place, and I have vague memories of the clashing Italian, Maltese and local groups. What irritated beyond belief was the use of ‘la’ and ‘Whack’ – totally unnecessary in my opinion.

As for Kate and Barnard; funny old do! Is it really OK to go off to a party with dodgy characters without telling your other half, especially if you have been nosing around? But do you know what? I didn’t really care: not if they were doing the right thing or even if they definitely were doing the wrong thing? Just didn’t care about them enough – sorry. I even found the plot all a bit predictable. Barnard up against the powers that be in the police; running into an old friend who is now certainly a criminal and Kate obviously beautiful who catches the eye of all and sundry – yawn!

However, it is well written but it is a steady, not overly complicated plot that will satisfy followers of this series rather than more grisly detective stories and to be honest – there are plenty of readers avid for this type of fiction.

Thank you to the author, publishers and NetGalley for providing an ARC via my Kindle in return for an honest review.

This is I believe the sixth novel in the Kate O'Donnell Mystery series and although certain past incidents are referenced I as a new reader found no difficulty in quickly picking up the elements that related to the proceeding plot lines and gaining an understanding of the continuing central characters. This can certainly be read as a stand alone story. Set in the Soho of 1964 the book begins with Detective Sergeant Harry Barnard being called to the scene where a young girl has fallen to her death from the window of a nightclub.

Although suspicious the local police are distracted when another murder occurs that is linked seemingly to a new criminal fraternity intent on replacing the old and now fading gangland hierarchy. When other acts of violence take place the streets become a place of fear and tension. Ostensibly unconnected we have Kate O'Donnell's former boyfriend Dave Donovan contacting her seeking her assistance in tracing his present partner who has gone missing while in London in pursuit of a recording contract. Are all these occurrences somehow related and can the truth be uncovered when violence and intimidation is so prevalent on the Soho streets.

I really liked how the author captured the atmosphere and the thrill and sleeziness of 1960's Soho and how it personified the changes towards a more liberal or some would argue a more decadent society. Other faces of the time such as the slum clearance of housing in the East End, police corruption and the changing face of crime with the emergence of the organised drug trade are covered. The plot races along quickly and to be honest I finished this easily in one day. As not all the loose ends are tied up a further installment I'm sure is inevitable which will please many of the already devoted fans.

Thank you NetGalley and Severn House Publishing for the eARC.
London, 1964 and Detective Sergeant Harry Barnard is called to a Soho club where a young, underage girl has fallen to her death. Was she pushed? When he interrogated the manager, he's met with hostility. It seems nobody knows who the girl was and how she managed to get into the members only club. She might have come in with one of their members, maybe even one of the hot new musicians who are followed by hordes of young girls.
Soho, Barnard's patch, is surprisingly quiet and tense, no one wants to talk and soon the bodies are piling up.
Kate O'Donnell, Barnard's photographer girlgriend, is contacted by her ex, Liverpudlian Dave Donovan, whose girlfriend, a wannabe singer, left for London and Dave hasn't heard from her. He's worried and despite Kate's reservations, she reluctantly offers to help him.
I enjoyed the 1960's London atmosphere a lot, having spent time there, and the mention of all the great bands that were getting big then was a nostalgic trip into the past for me. Kate is a young woman in a 'man's 'job and constantly fighting off opinions from men who can't believe women can take photos, an unfortunate sign of those times. I like her character a lot, but it was a bit more difficult to take to Barnard, he seemed a bit curt and impatient in the beginning, but improved towards the end.
On the whole I loved the setting, the 1960's nostalgia and the increasing ominous feel of the burgeoning drug war. I will definitely look for more books in the series.