Nocturnal Book Reviews

By far this is my favorite book by Anne Cleeland right now. In fact, it's so awesome I want to either re-read it or get my hands onto the next book in series which will only be out in summer next year.

If I was attempting to describe this book I would have said it's an unholy mix of Peabody (a secondary heroine from In Death series by Nora Roberts) and Sherlock (the brilliant character from the newest BBC adaptation) with a pinch of Ben Aaronovitch' Peter Grant series.

This is a classic mystery with a Sherlock-type detective inspector, Lord Acton, in modern London investigating a series of murders. What is unexpected in this book is his rookie assistant, Kathleen Doyle and a fantastic romantic story which tramples the whole investigation by its emotional impact.

I've said it before that Anne Cleeland excels in a sly, quiet, non-showy romance in her books. The romance in Murder in Thrall is superb.

Acton and Doyle are both social misfits with their own unique gifts which keep them aside from the rest of the crowd, so the interactions between them are not what we would call socially acceptable and they do not follow an expected pattern of behavior. But, my God, their conversations of a very few words and their actions towards each other cut me to the bone! I can't quite put my finger on what exactly snagged me, but I LOVED this couple and I would say they were one of my favorites this year.

I understand that not everyone would savor this type of quirky writing, but Anne Cleeland is totally my author, and I highly recommend her to you, my dear readers.