*Turn A Blind Eye by Vicky Newham (384 pages) ★★★Turn A Blind Eye is categorised on Amazon as 'women sleuths', 'police procedural' and 'literary fiction'. It's less than 400 pages and it already has a fair few positive reviews from authors and reviewers. It's the first in a new series and the hardback edition is available now.
We follow detective inspector Maya Rahman as she is dealing with a family tragedy when the headmistress of her former school is found dead with an unusual note relating to Buddhism placed with the body. What follows is a race against time and the killer as a second body is found, the public are becoming more concerned and the threads begin to unravel.
I have read a fair few thrillers in the past couple of years and the vast majority seem to involve a straight white man so it's very refreshing and welcome to have an Indian female detective as the main character. The book itself is very realistic and deals with current issues such as racism, sexism and other topics around multicultural Britain today which was fantastic. I would say that there are some potentially triggering topics such as death/murder, religion, arranged marriages and suicide so keep that in mind.
The writing was great although I found that it was a little bogged down in conversation at times and the pace was realistic and therefore fairly slow. The thrillers I've read previously have the element of a quick, intriguing and page turning pace that is characteristic of the genre but this one didn't which does set it apart in a very crowded genre, however it made for a slower read.
Overall, I love the cover, the characters were interesting and the diversity and issues explored is very refreshing and needed within such a white male centric genre. The mystery of the deaths was compelling and I wanted to find out how the book would conclude. However, the only issues I have with the book is that the dialogue felt bogged down and sluggish at times; additionally, the pace for me is far too slow (mainly the first half of the book). Also the ending was a little rushed and I personally didn't understand the motive of the killer, there were many other options for the killer to take rather than committing multiple murders which took me out of the story. With that in mind, I'd still definitely recommend it as a slow burn but compelling murder mystery set in a refreshingly realistic portrayal of multicultural Britain.
Will you be picking up Turn A Blind Eye? Do you like crime/thriller reads?
Never heard of this before, thank you for the recommendation.
ReplyDeleteCandice | beautycandyloves.co.za
I'm not really into Crime anymore, I read so much of it as a teen but this does sound good. Great cover too.
ReplyDeleteJenny
http://www.jennyinneverland.com
I'm not one for Crime/Thrillers but this sounds good!
ReplyDeleteJoyce Lau
It's a shame sometimes you felt the dialogue was hard going, but other than that it sounds good x
ReplyDeleteI like the sound of this, and I like that it takes it further than just a crime thriller, and addresses other real life issues.
ReplyDeleteohh this one sounds right up my alley!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if this book is for me although its great to see books tackling some of these important issues.
ReplyDeleteI don’t really like slow paced books I like them to grab me right from the off and maybe slow down as they go on x
ReplyDeletethe cover really draws you in but I'm not so sure about the pace issues
ReplyDeleteI love a good crime thriller but it has to grip me x
ReplyDeleteNot my genre but another great review
ReplyDeleteThis doesn't sound like something I'd read but I might pass it on to my Grandmother x
ReplyDeleteI want to start reading more thriller/murder mystery books!xo
ReplyDeleteChar | www.charslittleblog.co.uk
Always love a good crime thriller & I agree with you that the cover is gorgeous too xx
ReplyDeleteThis sounds right up my alley. I am getting some initial DaVinci code vibes from it, which isn't a bad thing!
ReplyDeleteCrime stories really freak me out !
ReplyDeleteOoh this sounds like such an interesting read! xx
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