Graveyard Bay

A thoroughly great read and my first from this author. The twists and turns are great along with the work and personal relationships between the main characters. I didn’t see how it concluded coming - a real page turner and I didn’t want to put it down.

Thanks to NetGalley and Poison Pen Press for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review

The fact that this is the third book in the Geneva Chase series and I am two books behind, wasn’t too much of a problem. There are enough references to the back stories, that you can piece together past events. And I genuinely don’t think that the info given will spoil reading the first 2 books if I do read them afterwards. That in itself is a great skill.

The main characters is a stereotypical investigative journalist, hard drinking, cynical sort of person who pushes further than they should, risking their lives. In this instance the journalist is a woman for a change. The other main characters, are well drawn and developed through the story.

Part of the story is that the paper Geneva works for has been bought, and the staff are all wondering if they will still have a job after the Christmas holiday. Kies does a great job creating tension between the old employees and the new owner, who has brought in a new editor. The new editor is,excited by the developing “Graveyard Bay” murder story, as if the torture and murder of two humans is nothing more than a promotional gimmick. It is in these situations that Kies’ background as a journalist shines through. As he obviously knows the workings and pressures of a newsroom.

This is not a book for the faint of heart. (Not many Crime stories are!) The author does hold back a lot of the detail of the gruesome murders, but there is more than enough detail to convey the message and let your imagination fill in the blanks Maybe this is more shocking, letting the reader decide for themselves what happened?

Overall this is a terrific story full of twists, tension, some horrific murders and a cynical but cheeky journalist. The book moves along at a good pace and is easy to follow despite the many different paths explored. I said at the beginning that this was my first book in the Geneva Chase series. It will not be my last.