Death of a Temptress

This was a recommendation from my wife who, after reading this one, went on to read the series. I enjoyed the read but I dont think as much of it as she obviously did.<br /><br />I believe that this is not only the first book of the DS Slater series but the authors first too. He did a good job of setting the various scenes and the description of the characters was clear and precise. I found no difficulty in picturing it all as I read.<br /><br />Like my wife, I enjoyed the lightness in the telling of the story and the banter between Slater and Norman and latterly Biddeford too, bordering on humour.<br /><br />Unfortunately, I have a couple of negatives. As someone who likes to try to work out who-done-it I would have to say that here that would be nigh on impossible and whether the method had indeed been on the TV or not, I did not find it believable.<br /><br />Overall my rating would be a 3.5 On balance I have rounded it up with the hope that my negatives will be dealt with in the next.

"Good opener for a series"<br /><br />If you want to escape for a day or two while on holiday this summer, then this one will be ideal. It has a light-hearted feel despite the subject matter, and rattles along at a steady pace. It ticks a few boxes; if you like police procedurals, murder mysteries, or thrillers then there's something in it for everyone.<br />I had to do a double-take when a well-known actress appeared as a main character ten pages from the end, but apart from that slip of the keyboard, the rest was more than acceptable.

2 stars sounds like it was terrible, but as the goodreads star rating says: "It was OK."<br />A quick easy read. Good detective elements. It's not a stand-out book, but it's digestible. I needed an easy read and this hit the spot.

Not exactly top class writing but good enough to want to try the next in the series. It helped that the victim was not the run of mill vamp but apparently friendly and kind and good to others..

I liked the plot and characters very much. However, the book was a bit too long and there were numerous grammatical errors and typos. In addition, on my Kindle copy, several times two sentences were superimposed on one another and I could read neither. In one instance, the author wrote a character’s last name wrong. It’s an indication of sloppy writing and editing. I will give one more book in the Slater and Norman series one more try to see if there’s an improvement.

<strong>Slater's a babe magnet..</strong><br /><br />And that's a good thing, cause he a lousy detective.<br />DS Slater is on administrative leave, because he was setup to take a fall. While on leave, his boss approaches him to do an investigation on a missing woman, whose case was closed months ago, just calling her a runaway. Procedural protocol is not a big thing in this book.<br />The missing woman turns out to have a double life. Deeply religious on weekends, high class hooker through the week. During the investigation, every woman Detective Slater meets either makes suggestive comments to him, or develops a crush on him. Slater also keeps saying how he can handle negative comments and insults, but on the contrary. He becomes aggravated and argumentative the moment his will is thwarted, so much so that he constantly jeopardizes the investigation. He is partnered with an aging detective who was also placed on leave through the fault of someone higher up, and sent to the north for three years. Everyone calls him knock knock Norman, (or something like that), because everyone thinks that all he does is knock on doors and interview possible witnesses. Detective Slater prides himself on paying no attention to gossip, yet surprise, surprise, he listened to the gossip about Norman, and is happy to be mistaken about him.<br />Norman crosses several lines, Slater continues to be a jerk, and I realized I was wasting my time waiting for a good story that was never gonna happen.<br />Results: I got through about three-quarters of this story before deciding to give it up. I will never like DS Slater. DS Norman Norman, (yeah, that's right. Sigh.) might be alright, but I don't like his use of questionable techniques to get information. Maybe in the UK you can get away with that, but in the states you'll find your case thrown out of court. <br />Make a detective that isn't so full of himself, doesn't cross any legal lines, and actually investigates the cases. Then I might actually enjoy the book.<br />

<strong>Complex police investigation!</strong><br /><br />DS Dave Slater is on suspension after a failed case, but he was just the scapegoat - he wasn't even in charge of the case.<br />Then he gets a call from his commanding officer, telling him to come to his office. Unsure if he's getting fired or what, he goes to the meeting.<br />He is given a case about a missing woman that the London SCU wrote off as a runaway and no further investigation needed. He was to work quietly with newly relocated DS Norman.<br />They soon find out that there is much more to this case than a simple runaway. It soon appears that there is something not right in their<br /> SCU and the DCI that got Slater suspended.<br />Very well written and keeps you wondering if they will ever solve the case.

I love a British Mystery so I excitedly jumped into this new to me series. It was not a I can’t put it down book. I tired of the two main detectives arguing and working it out repeatedly. But it did keep me guessing and the murder was unique.

I’ve never read any of Mr Ford’s books until now and I must say I think I’m converted! There were many things I liked about this book, beginning with the two main characters, Dave Slater and Norman Norman, also Steve, their younger ‘partner’. I also really liked their boss, Bob Murray. Any boss who knows and believes in his ‘men’ and gives them a big chance has got to be someone to like. I also appreciated the fact there was only one death; so often crime thrillers are littered with dead bodies. The story turned into something pretty unusual, with not only the death solved, but also other crimes came to light and were sorted to everyone’s satisfaction. I was also gratified that I worked out who the killer was before I read it, but not long before! Altogether and satisfying read and I shall be reading more of Slater and Norman’s adventures.

I came across this book via Bookbub, or Kind of Book and realised it was in my library when I purchased it a couple of years ago. I’m so glad I did! <br /><br />Whilst this has murder, conspiracy, corruption and a few other bits thrown in, it’s an excellent read. I just loved the characters, and can’t understand the reviews of some readers on Goodreads. <br /><br />I read an awful lot, and mostly ARC’s for publishers and authors alike, and this book was excellent. It wasn’t dark or menacing, but interesting and cleverly thought out, the plot was good, the characters were likeable, and I for one thoroughly enjoyed it. I loved the humour too, although I suppose some folk probably don’t understand it. In fact, I’ve bought the box sets and am making my way through them, that’s how impressed I am. I’m in number 3 now.