Goodreads

Release date: October 16, 2018

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Publisher: Bloodhound

Blurb:

What if you were being stalked and no one believed you?

What if you were abducted in broad daylight?

What if you were chained to a bed and held captive in a cellar? What would you do?

Mackenzie Crawford screamed.

What if your wife went out at night and wouldn’t say where she was going?

What if she admitted she had a lover?

What if you came home one day and discovered she’d left?

What would you do?

Derek Crawford went to pieces.

What if a woman with an alcohol problem disappeared?

What if there was no evidence of a crime?

What if her brother asked you to help?

What would you do?

In Glasgow, DI Andrew Geddes put the case to the top of his list.

What if someone you loved was in harm’s way?

Review:

Over the last few years I’ve become quite the fan of Mullen’s work, he has two other series that follow private investigators and this standalone was quite the departure from his previous novels. It’s more of a domestic thriller, it follows several members of the same family and asks some unique questions, such as what if you went missing and no one was even worried? What if it was almost expected, what if no one is even looking for you because they don’t realize that you’re actually in danger? The thought alone terrifies me and made for an interesting premise.

Although the plot of this one was different from the authors previous books his easy, casual writing style still shines brightly and just always works so well for me. Each chapter is about one day from the lead up to when Mackenzie goes missing all the way until the end. Super vague, I know but saying more would be a spoiler and trust me, you don’t want me to spoil this one. None of the main cast of characters was particularly likable, but they were authentic, we all know people just like them in real life, bad behavior and all. I was pleasantly surprised by the appearance of Andrew Geddes who first popped up in the Charlie Cameron series, I just always love when authors cleverly bring old characters into new books and he was an excellent addition to the story.

This does have less action than in his other work, it examines the dynamics between a dysfunctional family and then in each of their three separate marriages and that never fails to fascinate me. Mullen is one of those writers that just gets better with each book and he was already good, I’m a firm fan and will continue to follow his career closely.

In Harms Way in three words: Smooth, Intriguing and Unexpected.

Overall rating: 4/5

Thanks to the author for my review copy.