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  • MY BOOKS
    • THE SECOND COMING
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    • PARANORMAL ALLEY
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    • BOOK REVIEWS
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  • PHILIPPINES
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GRANT LEISHMAN

the hermit of hisarya: a sam smith mystery (Sam smith mystery #5)

15/5/2020

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​Private Detective Sam Smith has become somewhat of a staple in my reading material of recent years. Author Hannah Howe has created a realistic, hard-hitting female lead who also is capable of compassion, warmth and humour. For me, she is the perfect private-eye. In Book 5 of the Sam Smith Series - The Hermit of Hisarya we see Sam leaving her beloved Wales for a "holiday" in Bulgaria, where she accompanies her psychiatrist fiancee who is attending a conference there for two weeks of rest and relaxation in the European summer. 
Of course, trouble and potential cases seem to follow Sam with unerring certainty and this is no exception for the Hermit of Hisarya. Sam and her fiancee are staying in a small Bulgarian village with the conference organiser, her husband, their son and the woman's elderly mother. When Sam discovers that the grandmother's father was accused of betrayal during World War II and sentenced effectively to the lonely life of a hermit far from his family, before later being executed by the communist regime, Sam is intrigued. The grandmother's adamant protestations that her father was innocent of the betrayal stir Sam's inquisitive nature and before you know it she is caught up in a web of intrigue from seventy years earlier, along with danger, violence, drugs and corruption in modern-day Bulgaria. 
Author Hannah Howe has a writing style that just sucks you in and carries you along on a twisting, turning, plot journey that makes putting her books down a difficult proposition. So much of this series revolves around the character of Sam Smith and each time I read one of the series, I discover new depths, new nuances and new experiences for this young woman. To me, that is the key to a successful character-driven series and Howe has this down perfectly. 
All the Sam Smith stories are stand-alone cases and can be read in any order. That being said, I would still recommend any new reader to start at the beginning and work your way through this superb series. I mean, why wouldn't you? Howe is a master of this genre and Sam Smith is an endearing and captivating leading-lady. I can highly recommend this read and indeed any of the Sam Smith series books from this uber-talented author.           

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Do pop on over to Amazon and tske a look at The Hermit of Hisarya plus the rest of Hannah Howe's extensive portfolio, here, on her Amazon page: 

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finding hope by mary crawford

13/5/2020

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Reading a Mary Crawford novel is a bit like coming home, for me. The characters that are spread across her different series are all related and inter-connected to each other and over the years I have invested quite a lot of empathy and emotion into the lives of these flawed but wonderfully drawn characters. Her latest offering, Finding Hope, part of the Hidden Hearts series follows this heart-warming trend. Its principal characters Nick Weston and Dr Dakota Crenshaw are not familiar to me but are surrounded by my old friends, all Crawford's wonderful and endearing characters.
Dr Crenshaw is a forensic genealogist, a DNA detective who uses science to try and identify bodies and track down killers. Dakota has experienced her own trauma early on in her life that has left her scarred physically, mentally and emotionally. When she begins searching for the identify of a two-year-old baby girl stuffed down a well in Tennessee, her science points her in the direction of one particular family, Nick Weston's who works for Identity Bank and the Cold Case Group. Nick has his own personal trauma going on after returning from active military service. Nick has been jilted by his long-time childhood sweetheart and fiancee and is feeling the pain of loneliness and rejection, himself. Despite Nick being a potential suspect in the murder of the little girl, the electricity between Dakota and him is obvious from the start. Can these two lonely individuals find each other amidst the suspicion and doubts created by the science Dr Crenshaw uncovers. 
Like all of Crawford's works, Finding Hope is a powerful expression of how love can overcome all manner of obstacles we may face. The beautifully written words of love, friendship, camaraderie, tolerance, and understanding just pour from every page of Crawford's work. I am always a sucker for a sweet romance but Crawford takes that to the next level with her wonderfully drawn, full, somewhat damaged characters that ooze self-doubt, angst and suffering yet are powerful and triumphant in their own areas of expertise. 
This is certainly not my first genre, as a reader, but it is one I come back to whenever I feel overwhelmed by the negativity of the books I've read. Crawford's gentle, loving, family of characters is just what a reader needs to remind him or herself that it is not necessarily as grim and as heartless out there as we are led to believe. Yes, we can all make stupid choices in life and we may have faced high hurdles in our journey but there is always love and the redemptive power of that love shines through all of Mary Crawford's wonderful books. In this genre she has no peer and I can make no higher recommendation than that. Another superb read from a master of flawed characterisation.       

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You can find Finding Hope, along with all of Mary Crawford's Extensive portfolio, here on her Amazon page: 

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