IT WAS HER

When I read Mark Hill’s debut His First Lie (previously titled Two O’clock Boy) I thought it was one of the best debuts that I had recently read and it had one of the most compelling openings lines. So I was really excited to read his second book, It Was Her and it certainly lived up to my expectations. Mark knows how to get the attention of his readers with captivating plots and characters.DI Ray Drake and his colleague DS Flick Crowley are still reeling from the events which took place at the end of the previous book. Ray is clutching onto his career which is threatening to pull apart at the seams after his secret was discovered. But he soon finds himself embroiled in a murder case when a couple, who have recently returned from holiday, are found dead in their home. And soon more bodies are found. It appears that the killer is targeting people in the safety of their own homes and Ray and his team fear that more bodies will be discovered. And what has the case got to do with the death of a young boy twenty years earlier?Mark Hill’s books are for you if you like your crime fiction dark and full of surprising revelations. What makes It Was Her really interesting is the relationship between Ray and his colleague, Flick. Unlike the rest of their team, Flick knows Ray’s secret and so there is tension simmering around them all the time as Flick is unsure if she should come clean about what she knows, which could potentially destroy both of their careers.The mystery at the heart of the book was really compelling. The characters that are central to this part of the plot were fascinating to explore and I really liked the depth that Mark gave them in his writing. There are some really well written scenes where I could feel the tension, and I had to keep turning the pages to find out what happens next. Creating tense scenes is certainly one of Mark’s strongest writing skills.I thoroughly enjoyed reading the second book in the DI Ray Drake series and it has left me eagerly awaiting the third.

I quite liked the first book in this series, The Two O'Clock Boy, so decided to give this a go. It's actually better than the first and a decent series is shaping up with DI Ray Drake and DS Flick Crowley.It's long, with two main stories running side by side as the 2 main police characters get their own, massive storylines. But I quite like this, although it does make the book meander off the main thread a bit.The main story takes place many years after a terrible accident befalls the youngest child in a family. The blame is given to a recently adopted daughter, who is sent back to her grim, foreign orphanage where she becomes hardened and bitter as she grows up. She is now back in Britain, breaking into beautiful houses to sample a taste of the lives lived within. Then the murders begin.This flows well enough and is easy to follow, though could have been a bit shorter if truth be told. I kind of guessed most of it, though DI Drake's back story is up in the air and there are many loose ends left for the next book to pick up.One thing I have to mention is the blurb on the back of the paperback is incorrect and uses the name Sarah when it should say Poppy. No major big deal, but I found myself referring back to it at one point and became totally confused, uncertain as to whether it was an error or an accidental divulgence of a major twist. Curiously, I also mentioned incorrect blurb when reviewing The Two O'Clock Boy. Not really good enough for a publisher to get it wrong twice.But if you liked book one you should like this more. If you haven't read book one I suggest you do so first as there is a lot to pick up on regarding Drake and Crowley.

I was quite a fan of Mark Hill’s debut novel His First Lie (previously titled The two O’Clock Boy). I loved the character of Ray Drake and the whole premise of that first novel, a delicious blend of mystery, murder and deep rooted secrets with a protagonist a little on the dark, damaged and moody side, just the way I like them. When I heard that its follow up, It Was Her, was available on Netgalley I was straight on it, ignoring all my other plans in order to read it. The question was, could this second book capture that same level of interest? Did it have the killer hook like the first book which kept me reading into the wee hours and had me all bleary eyed and barely coherent at work?Why yes, Yes it did. Now clearly, with Ray’s past being revealed in book one, this takes on an entirely different tone and for that very reason I would recommend that you read that book first as It Was Her contains significant spoilers for its predecessor which will ruin the reading experience if done the other way around. That said, if you do pick this one up first then you will know what is going on as there is enough recap for the uninitiated and the main bulk of the story, that of Tatia and her family, is very much a self contained story. Family secrets abound in this one and the twist in this tale, much like book one, is to separate fact from fiction – to determine the true cause of the evil within the book. Just where and with whom does the true fault lie.The central theme then? Well our protagonist, Ray Drake, is called to the scene of a brutal murder. A couple, just freshly returned from a wonderful holiday, struck down in their home in an apparent home invasion. He is back working alongside Flick Crowley, both having recovered from injuries sustained in the previous investigation, but with their partnership, their friendship, changed irrevocably, adding a delightful layer of mistrust and uncertainty to the pairing. Can they overcome their differences in order to work together to solve the murders? Only time, and around about 400 fabulous pages, will tell.Now this is a very complex story and not only are we faced with the murders in the present day, but also segments which take up back into Tatia’s past, memories from her adoptive bother Joel. Joel is a fragile and damaged young man but we don’t know quite why, what it is that has happened that has affected him so badly. Compare the both of them to their other sister, Sarah, and you have quite an unusual family dynamic. Troubled and disturbing, it certainly captured the imagination and the way in which the three interact, the trepidation they feel when finally reunited set me, as a reader, on edge. You know this is a situation where anything can happen and given the level of violence which has already occurred, I was waiting with bated breath to see where it may lead.The main story is tense, thrilling, dark and twisted but oh … I do love Ray Drake. There is something about him, a darker, more dangerous side than the one he shows his colleagues, which just makes him a perfect hero for me. It is on full display throughout this book, the uncertainty of his position leading to his darker side taking control on more than one occasion. And with good cause it appears as not only does he have to worry about the breakdown in his friendship with Flick, but it now appears someone else is on his case too.I love the way in which Mark Hill played the situation between Flick and Ray. Flick is a highly principled officer but her loyalty to Ray leaves her truly conflicted by what she knows. It makes for some great scenes between the two, conflict but also acceptance. I like that Flick gets to let her hair down a bit with a fellow ‘patient’ from her therapist, but from the very beginning I was struck with an overwhelming feeling of ‘what the heck are you thinking Flick’, and if, when, you read the book, then I think you’ll know why,And then those dying chapters, where everything is brought to a head. Tense action, an emotional confrontation and scenes which will bring the team right to the very edge, quite literally as it happens. When the full story is revealed I wasn’t completely blindsided, not like I had been in book one, but it was a very fitting end, skilfully played. And that very last scene. The threat, the promise. The agonising bloody wait for book three.I’ll cope.Just.Dark, tense, twisted and totally satisfying. Nice one Mr Hill. More please.

Mark Hill is an author I’ve only just discovered but he is fast becoming one of my favourite authors.The author is very good at creating very intriguing, fascinating stories which are very fast paced and near impossible to put down. He creates some very freaky, messed up children’s characters which seem so realitic that you feel like they could actually exist. I found myself racing through the pages as I desperately wanted to discover what was going to happen next.I enjoyed the main partnership between DI Drake and Flick. They seem to compliment each other when working together and trust each other despite events that occurred in the previous book. I still wasn’t sure if I trusted Drake as he still seemed a bit dodgy at times. I did also feel sorry for him though and wanted the case to be solved so he could gain respect again.The twist when it came was quite surprising and had me racing back through the pages. I love it when this happens as I read so many books that I can often guess bit I did guess wrong with this book.It Was Her is the second in the DI Ray Drake series but it can easily be read as a standalone as anything you need to know about the previous book is mentioned.Thanks so much to Millie Seaward and Little Brown for my copy of this book and for inviting me onto the blog tour. If you like dark, addictive, edge-of-your-seat thrillers you’ll love this book.

DI Ray Drake and DS Flick Crowley are back at work after the shared trauma of their last case. It should have brought them closer together but instead there's tension between them. There are things that Flick now knows, things she has seen that she can't un-see. Her knowledge makes Ray nervous. With one word she could destroy both their careers. But there are more important events that need their attention - the Goldilocks Killings. Homeowners are being brutally murdered in their own homes. This murderer wants more than just porridge.Like Hill's debut 'His First Lie', there are twists and turns galore in this book too. Past events illuminate the present for the reader while Ray and Flick struggle to make sense of the clues before them. But they must find the answer and quickly. Goldilocks hasn't finished yet - there are plenty more homes to visit.So, has 'It Was Her' measured up to 'His First Lie'? Honestly, I think it's better. From the opening scenes, the descriptions are sumptuous, the characters believable and the tension palpable. I was gripped throughout. When I first got the book, I read the opening five chapters on the train and nearly missed my stop. I then had to put it away to finish another novel but I was itching to get back to this one. It didn't even feel as though I'd had a break from it. If you love police procedural books and haven't read any Mark Hill novels yet, then I strongly suggest you start. If 'His First Lie' announced the arrival of Mark Hill in the Crime genre, then 'It Was Her' establishes him as a leading name here to stay.