Rosie’s Book Review Team #RBRT A Brutal Trade by @FaithMortimer #Bookreview

Today’s first team review comes from Luccia, she blogs at http://lucciagray.wordpress.com

Luccia read A Brutal Trade by Faith Mortimer

My Review

This was my first Diana Rivers book, and it will not be my last. I enjoyed meeting an amateur sleuth, who is not afraid to be brave and place herself at risk during an investigation.

A brutal murder shocks the residents of Cyprus, as Diana Rivers and her ex-fiancé, Chief Superintendent Adam Lovell, and local police officer, Sergeant Yiannis Loukiades, investigate the disturbing murders, and hunt down the merciless killers, until they finally discover the motivations behind the atrocious mutilations, and the culprits.

The crimes are horrendous, so the villains are very dangerous and malevolent indeed. The sleuths, at first are slow at understanding what is happening, which makes the first third a little slower, as the reader guesses what the clues mean before the detectives do so.  However, the second part is gripping, as the investigation is picks up and the chilling story unfolds the all the way up to the exciting finale.

Although it is set in idyllic Cyprus, it is not a beach read. The title says it all. This is not a novel for the fainthearted. The crimes depicted are very upsetting and ultimately, although as with most crime novels, the murder is finally solved, nevertheless the type of immoral law breaking described is far from eradicated. The abuse of undocumented immigrants, human trafficking, and organ theft, especially perpetrated on women, is an ugly business, which will exist as long as someone is able to benefit financially from the poverty, cruelty and ignorance of others.

As Diana says at the end of the novel, ‘This wasn’t the end, it was just the beginning. She would carry on with the fight. So God help her.’

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com