Buried Secrets by Lisa Cutts

Buried Secrets by Lisa Cutts
Buy Buried Secrets by Lisa Cutts at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Crime
Reviewer: Sue Magee
Summary: A lot of books are described as being 'unputdownable': few actually live up to the billing. Buried Secrets is one of those rare exceptions and you really shouldn't pick this book up if you haven't got the time to spare. Top class crime from someone who really knows the business.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 432	Date: November 2017
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 978-1471153143
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You never know what goes on in a marriage: most people thought that Detective Inspector Milton Bowman had the ideal life. He had a beautiful wife and a house that had a mortgage which was smaller than most people's credit card bill. On the other hand, there weren't that many people who had a good word to say about him and when he was involved in a serious road traffic accident which left him minus a leg and with only a few hours to live, people were more worried about the extra work than saddened. When his wife's battered body was found in their kitchen, the idea that it was a murder/suicide seemed like the obvious answer.

It was DI Harry Powell who found Linda Bowman's body and it hit him hard. It wasn't that bodies were a shock to him - he'd seen enough of them professionally - but he'd known Linda, even had a bit of a soft spot for her, if the truth be told. And the trouble with this investigation is that so few people are telling the truth: everyone has something to hide, from Travis Bowman, son of Milton and Linda, and his friend Aiden who had a schoolboy bet about each other's mothers to DCI Barbara Venice who knows more than she's able to tell about who, exactly, Linda Bowman had been.

The first thing that I must tell you about this book is that you shouldn't start it unless you've got quite a bit of time on your hands because once you've got yourself involved in the perfect storm of dreadful happenings there is going to be no way that you'll put it down. There are a few reasons for that. Firstly, Lisa Cutts is a born storyteller: she knows how to grab your attention, and how to keep it. There was one point when I thought I wasn't following the plot, but I should have paid more attention: all was made clear in a stunning twist.

Then there are the characters. You're not going to warm to Milton Bowman and even Linda was hiding more than she was telling, but Detective Constable Hazel Hamilton, the family liaison officer is brilliant and you really sense that she and Harry Powell might have a future - only he was the person who discovered the body and no one could have been unaware that he had a thing for Linda Bowman. Did he do more than just discover the body? He can't have anything to do with the case and Hazel Hamilton can't discuss the case with him. It's even more difficult because Hazel knows more about Linda than the other detectives on the case, but has been asked to keep it to herself - and she certainly can't tell nineteen-year-old Travis Bowman.

The final reason why this is such a good book is that Lisa Cutts was a serving police officer with Kent police. She knows how the job really works and she's not afraid to tell us - to the extent that sometimes you felt as though you were standing in East Rise Incident Room. Sometimes the places you were standing were decidedly less salubrious. It's a brilliant read and I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag.

The first book in the East Rise Incident Room series was Mercy Killing but that - and Buried Secrets both work well as standalones.

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You can read more book reviews or buy Buried Secrets by Lisa Cutts at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Buried Secrets by Lisa Cutts at Amazon.com.

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