It Was Her by Mark Hill @markhillwriter @millieseaward @LittleBrownUK #blogtour #ItWasHer #MustRead

I’m thrilled to bits to be kicking off the month of June with the final stop on the blog tour for It Was Her by Mark Hill today!

My thanks to Millie Seaward at Little Brown UK for inviting me to join and for my review copy!

Author : Mark Hill
Title : It Was Her
Series : DI Ray Drake #2
Pages : 448
Publisher : Sphere / Little Brown
Publication date : May 17, 2018

Twenty years ago Tatia was adopted into a well-off home, where she seemed happy, settled. Then the youngest boy in the family dies in an accident, and she gets the blame.

Did she do it?

Tatia was cast out, away from her remaining adopted siblings Joel and Sarah. Now she yearns for a home to call her own. So when she see families going on holiday, leaving their beautiful homes empty, there seems no harm in living their lives while she is gone. But somehow, people keep ending up dead.

Did she kill them?

As bodies start to appear in supposedly safe neighbourhoods, DI Ray Drake and DS Flick Crowley race to find the thinnest of links between the victims. But Drake’s secret past is once more threatening to destroy everything.

Will they catch her?

Well hello, Mark Hill, sir. Pull up a chair and sit yourself down at my table of go-to authors!

When I was invited to join this blog tour, I figured it was the perfect kick up the backside to finally read the previous instalment, His First Lie. Which I did a mere two weeks ago and it blew my mind. At that point, I said to myself “self, this is an author to keep your eye on” so my expectations of It Was Her were sky high and boy, did Mark Hill deliver or what?!

Now I know quite a few people mention they’re tired of the main protagonist being flawed, damaged and carrying a lot of baggage. To those of you who feel that way, let me tell you, DI Ray Drake’s story is that and so much more. Highly unique and original and brilliant! So my advice to you is not to treat It Was Her as a stand-alone. Start with the first book, immerse yourself into the characters’ background. And then, clear your calendar, grab a copy of this book and be prepared to be completely bowled over.

I am struggling really hard to put into words why this book is so fantastic. It just stands out from the crowd in the way that this isn’t your typical murder investigation. It goes way deeper than that with utterly amazing character depth and development. I expect my crime thrillers to be full of tension, gore and gruesomeness. I do not expect them to make me feel sad, to make me root for someone who may not necessarily deserve it or wish for a happy ending.

As the tagline says, nothing is what it seems. At various moments, I thought I had things figured out only to be proven wrong. There was no way I was ever going to predict the outcome and without giving anything away, it hurt. My heart broke, it left me reeling and I almost threw my book across the room due to the unfairness of it all. And yet, this is also one of the reasons why I love this story so much. Life isn’t fair and not everything is always wrapped up nicely with a bow.

I realise I’ve not mentioned anything about the plot. To be honest, everything you need to know is right there in the book description. Suffice to say this is one compelling and thrilling ride. I raced through the pages as if my life depended on it and could not put this book down. An utterly fabulous addition to the series and I’m bursting with excitement to see what Mark Hill comes up with next. Highly recommended!

It Was Her is available to buy!

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Bookdepository | Kobo | Wordery | Goodreads

I’ve been a journalist and an award-winning music radio producer. I worked for about five minutes in PR.

But I write now, which is just as well, because I love writing. It’s my dream job.

It’s nice to see you here, thanks for clicking.

If you enjoyed His First Lie or It Was Her, do get in touch. There are oh-so-many ways to do it!

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