Blood on the Tide by Chris O'Donoghue - #bookreview

The tyres of a small Bedford lorry crunched across the shingle, the sidelights barely cutting through the dark; the engine, at low revs, making little noise. The vehicle coasted to a standstill, the engine was cut and the passenger door opened. Two shadowy figures crept quietly out and went to the back of the truck, one tall and broad, the other, short and slight, limping as he walked. Still maintaining silence, they carefully dropped the tailgate and started to manoeuvre a bulky object, wrapped in rough cloth, out on to the ground. With a low grunt from one of the figures, they lifted the dead weight, carried it to the edge of the quay and rolled it over the side...

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Blood on the Tide is a story of the sea and boats, murder and Nazis and takes the reader through post-war France and Germany.

When a gruesomely mutilated body trussed up in a distinctive fashion washes up on a lonely stretch of the south coast in the 1950s, DI Sonny Russell is soon struggling to unravel an intriguingly knotty puzzle. And as more bodies, similarly tortured, appear he begins to realise that, for some at least, the war is far from over.

A trail of intrigue leads him to Europe where he befriends a French detective and together they set out to track down the villains.

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I was fortunate to meet the author, Chris O'Donoghue, last year when he came to give a talk to my Women's Institute group. He was wearing a different hat and came to talk to us about gardening, but he also mentioned his books and I could not resist the opportunity to read the first in his DI Sonny Russell series.

Blood on the Tide has much to commend it. It is set during the 1950's, and the author has done a great job in evoking the atmosphere of the time. He has researched the period very well which is evident in his descriptions of both the time and place.

It is a very plot driven novel and it is quickly becomes apparent who committed the murders. However, it is the motivation behind these murders that the book explores and gives the reader an entertaining story to read.

It is a good introduction to the series and to DI Sonny Russell and his dog, Aggie. There is great scope for the author to develop Sonny's character in the subsequent books, and this one definitely left me wanting to know more about him.

There are five further books in this series and if you like post-war fiction with a crime element then you will enjoy this novel. It is also available on Kindle Unlimited at the moment. Happy reading.

ISBN:  978 1910693988

Publisher:  Boghopper Books

Formats:  e-book and paperback

No. of Pages:  292 (paperback)

About the Author:

Chris's writing is inspired by authors such as Val McDermid, Alan Hunter’s original George Gently novels. Matt Charman screenwriter of Bridge of Spies, has a copy of Blood on the Tide and the great Ian Rankin (who has read -and liked it) now has a copy of Blood on the Shrine.

He is active on social media and enjoys writing. He has had numerous articles published in specialist railway periodicals. He lives by the sea in East Sussex. In his spare time he also designs gardens, having won three medals at the prestigious Chelsea Flower Show

You can learn more about Chris at his blog https://chrisodonoghue.blogspot.com/

(Book courtesy of the author)