Warning - as well as a cracking crime to be solved, this book is a bit heavy on the interpersonal relationships between our trio. In fact, it goes above and beyond as it throws in another person just to make things even more lively! Which all means that, for that reason only, the main crime being wholly within this book, I would recommend you start from book one. I had to do just that, and I am really glad I did! This only other thing I am going to say about the relationship thing is that some of the curve balls - shocking!
So... the crime. This time it's just an assault. But a nasty one - shocking in the way it opens the book with a small child scared. Butler and West are called to investigate but there are so many things that just don't add up in the way it was executed and also, equally importantly, what didn't happen. Their only working theory is that it is to do with the husband, Andrew, who wasn't at home when his wife and children were harmed. He works, with his partner, in the development of VR software. So they start their investigation there. Soon coming up against brick wall after brick wall no matter who they talk to. Even knowing the man who did the initial assault gets them nowhere. And then Andrew is assaulted too and it all gets racked up a notch...
This was a bit convoluted but so very well plotted so I never got overwhelmed! We also have a lot of Butler/West/Smith love triangle going on, with the addition I mentioned earlier thrown in too... So there's lots going on personally which is probably why the case is all the more trickier to get to grips with.
I do like this series, even though I usually roll my eyes at the lovey dovey stuff. It seems to fit in well here and was initiated from the start so, if you don't like it, you have the choice to ditch early doors. I didn't and I am glad for that! It ramps the suspense up a notch to add to the intrigue surrounding the case being investigated which kinda works better than I am explaining!
All in all, Apart from being sad I have now all caught up and have to wait for the next book - I binged the four in just over a week - I was left, once again, wholly satisfied at the end. Apart from wondering how the author is going to start the next one with where she left the characters emotionally at the end of this one... (not a cliffhanger).
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for that chance to read this book.

I have read all the books in this series, this one was OK, but the others were better. The relationship between Freya and Robin takes over a little too much in this episode. The crimes are interesting with a couple of unexpected twists in the plot, the detection was well thought out and believable. The characterizations well portrayed .
All in all a good read , thanks to Net Galley & Canelo for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Book 4 in the Butler and West series is based around cybersecurity and software development. The plotting is clever and the characterisation is good. The romantic dynamics between the two lead characters slightly detracted from the plotting but that aside, I enjoyed the book. It's a good series which I always liked, but this is not my favourite, although I would recommend it and look forward to the next installment from the author. Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.

Immersive, Compelling…
The fourth in the Butler and West series provides another satisfying mystery and a continuation of a burgeoning partnership. The author has a knack for a credible storyline and equally credible characters and thus produces an immersive tale. Romance rather takes over in this particular episode but, despite that, a compelling and satisfying procedural still reigns. A worthy series addition.

Wow another brilliant book by this author . Great story and love the growing relationship between the two detectives. I stayed up well into the night last night to finish it as I wanted to know the outcome of Robin and Freya . This is a great series and I can’t wait for the next instalment. Highly recommend this book , 5 stars from me

WHAT?! No. How can it end like that?
This is one of the best police procedural books I’ve read of late.
The who done what and why kept me guessing,
The partnership Freya and Robin had was so well done.
I’m going to have to read more so I know what happens.
I received a copy via NetGalley and all opinions are my own.

3.5 stars rounded up

Butler and West #4

One spring evening, a mother and her children are brutally attacked in their home. The unprovoked and violent assault leaves DS Robin Butler and DC Freya West in the dark - the luxury items were left untouched and there is no apparent motive. The investigations only lead is Andrew Grace, the husband who was not at home at the time. He and his business partner have created unique virtual reality software - valuable and extremely dangerous in the wrong hands. robin and Freya are stonewalled by uncooperative witnesses at every turn but when a woman linked to the work of Andrew and his co-sounder is kidnapped, the need for progress becomes critical.

With so many twists and turns, my head was spinning. It's well written and I liked the authors writing style. The characters were well developed, likeable and frustrating. I enjoyed the personal stories. There's also a bit more romance in this book, but it could be a bit distracting from the main plot.

I would like to thank #NetGalley #Canelo and the author #LouisaScarr for my ARC of #SeenToBebelieved in exchange for an honest review.

A great story with so many twists and turns in it, the different threads running through invoke a variety of emotions too.

I really enjoyed this. It struck just the right balance between police procedural and personal stories behind the scenes. I liked getting to know the characters better and as the plot gradually unravelled, it was fascinating discovering what was really going on.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC without obligation.

I really liked the characterisation of Butler and West and I will look for further novels in this series.

The pace and plot of this book were great and I felt desperate to find out how it would end.

The writing style is really fresh for a procedural and I think this adds to the quality of the novel.

Having enjoyed the previous books in this series I couldn’t wait to read the latest offering.

Not only do we have yet another mystery for Butler and West to solve, but we also delve deeper into their private lives in this story. I love the way that the author explores more of the relationship between them, but constantly wondered if it would go the way I hoped it would.

I would love to see more from this series and can’t wait to see what may come next.

Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing a copy.

Seen to Be Believed by Louisa Scarr was my first introduction to the Butler & West series. While the crime/mystery story was interesting, there was a lot more romance in the book than I expected. It did affect my enjoyment of the story and it was distracting. If you are a fan of the romantic suspense genre, you may enjoy this book more than I did.

This was a police drama type thriller. Written in a different way then usual and I think for that reason that was why I enjoyed it.

I really enjoyed this book, but it did lack a certain wow factor that I look for when reading thrillers.

This was different from other books in this genre that I have read, but I really liked it for that reason. It is well written with a compelling storyline and well developed characters that I both liked and felt frustrated by in equal measure. I really enjoyed it.

Thank you for the ARC.
This was sweet for some reason. I loved Tiller. I loved his devotion to his code. My husband is a coder too. but he is not making anything innovative like Tiller is.
Anyway, I was really feeling for him and the dog.
I loved the cop romance. It was realistic. Life gets in the way sometimes.


Read if you like cop love stories, an interesting mystery, and a crime story where no one dies.

I quite enjoyed this but it was quite a world away from the other police proceedular/ thrillers I read. This felt like it had a fair amount of romance in it which wasn't what I was expecting. It does add more dimension to the story and will open up the book to a whole new genre of readers but for me, the romance angle took away from it for me. I have enough drama in my own love to start reading about someone else's lol. That said, it had a few good twists and turns and I liked the detail that was given for the police in estimation angle and it was just glossed over or everything solved in 2 mins with the same magic databases they have on TV shows so that was quite realistic and helped draw me in. And it also didn't go into too much police detail and bog it down an drake it boring so there is a fine balance and this book definitely found it! Be aware there is a fair bit of romance but other than that, I'd definitely recommend!

No. 4 i the Butler and West detective series and the police procedural is as good as in the previous stories. The problem is the developing relationship between the two main characters and this is a story about their romance - on, off, yes, no.. I suppose that, after three previous books, the author feels that she has to move the relationship on - to the detriment of the series in my mind. We'll have to wait and see how things pan out (although this murder was solved neatly). 3.5 rounded up.Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, from Canelo and #NetGalley. Thank you to the publishers, NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to preview and review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

I didn’t put this down until I finished.

Thank you Canelo and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. IYKYK, my reviews are always honest.

ONE SENTENCE REVIEW: 50% romance, 50% police procedural, 100% entertaining

SYNOPSIS

A mother and her children are brutally attacked in their home – but the lack of stolen goods leaves DS Robin Butler and DC Freya West thinking this was more than a burglary gone wrong.

MY OPINION

This was my first intro to Louisa Scarr and the Butler & West series. Although I'm a vet and starting a series wherever I please (because I live chaotically), I am confident this can be enjoyed as a standalone.

However, because I am unfamiliar with the series, I was a lil taken aback by how much romance was in this book. But I ain't gonna lie, I was here for it. The romantic tension between Butler and West is THICC AF and there were many times I was screaming JUST KISS ALREADY at my Kindle. Scarr's writing is also quite advance for the genre (no shade), so she was YANKING on my heart strings with her sparse but emotional prose in some of the scenes between Butler and West. Objectively speaking, the romance is a bit juvenile... They seem to be in the business of sabotaging any chance of love at any turn. And just when you think it's gonna work out... well, you'll have to find out yourself. Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't.

Besides the objectively juvenile yet enthralling romance storyline, the case was quite juicy. Scarr knew her stuff when it comes to software development and I felt like a big ole smarty pants for being able to follow along (I work in the cybersecurity industry). There were many twists and turns, none of which were over the top. She even got a lil deep with gambling addiction at one point. Everything stayed the course and was wrapped up neatly, but not TOO neatly, at the end. Stellar job.

One of my qualms with this book was flip flopping between different names for the characters; ie. Andrew Grace was sometimes called Andrew and sometimes called Grace in the same scene. And since my swiss cheese ass brain already struggles with remembering names, sometimes I picked this back up and went wait a minute who tf is Grace?? Oh.. yeah, Andrew Grace.

Other than that, this was a highly enjoyable and easy breezy read. Why yes I will be reading #5 and adding the rest of the series to my overwhelmingly long TBR because yolo. It's like when you're broke, what's another $10 spent???? Clearly I am a master of finances.

I will just say loud and clear for the Goodreaders in the back, THIS IS A ROMANTIC SUSPENSE POLICE PROCEDURAL. If you don't want to read about the does he like me, does he not like me drama between two grown ass adults, skip this. If you're like me who can got lost in some will she or won't she theatrics, you might enjoy it. But don't come at me saying this was childish. hoe I already said it!!!!

PROS AND CONS

Pros: well-written (showing vs. telling), juicy j case, great pacing, entertaining romance storyline

Cons: flip flopping between calling characters by first and last name or even nicknames made it a bit confusing at times (I'm also a dumbass though so take this was a grain of salt)