6th Sep 2020 – White Tulip

PUBLISHERS BLURB

What starts with the gruesome discovery of a severed head on the Tube soon becomes personal for former DI Cal Drake. After one betrayal too many, Drake has abandoned the police force to become a private detective. He’s teamed up with enigmatic forensic pathologist Dr Rayhana Crane and it’s not long before the case leads them to the darkest corners of the nation’s capital and in dangerously close contact with an international crime circuit, a brutal local rivalry and a very personal quest for retribution. With the murder victim tied to Drake’s past, his new future is about to come under threat.

MY REVIEW

The Heights is #2 in the Drake and Crane series, but can also be read as a stand-alone.

Set in London, ex-DI Cal Drake and forensic psychologist, Rayhana ‘Ray’ Crane are now private investigators.

When a severed head is found on a tube train their investigation begins.

The victim may be Zelda, an informant of Drakes from when he was still a DI. But why wait until now to leave her head to be found?

Drake and Crane are also tasked with finding the missing girlfriend of a client. But how are these cases linked?

This is a dark and gritty thriller that shows the dark and sometimes seedy side of multicultural London. It has complex characters with all their faults and an utterly gripping plot. I can thoroughly recommend it.

Thank you to Random Things Tours for the opportunity to be part of this blog tour, for the promotional material and an eARC of The Heights. This is my honest and unbiased review.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Parker Bilal is the pseudonym of Jamal Mahjoub, the critically acclaimed literary novelist. He is the author of the Makana Investigations series, the third of which, The Ghost Runner, was longlisted for the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award. The Divinities, the first in his Crane and Drake London crime series, was published in 2019. Born in London, he has lived in a number of places, including the UK, Denmark, Spain and, currently, the Netherlands.

@Parker_Bilal | jamalmahjoub.com

PUBLISHERS BLURB

ARE YOU READY TO START THIS CONVERSATION?

Kamran Hadid feels invincible. He attends Hampton school, an elite all-boys boarding school in London, he comes from a wealthy family, and he has a place at Oxford next year. The world is at his feet. And then a night of revelry leads to a drunken encounter and he must ask himself a horrific question.

With the help of assault counsellor, Zara Kaleel, Kamran reports the incident in the hopes that will be the end of it. But it’s only the beginning…

Powerful, explosive and important, Truth Be Told is a contemporary courtroom drama that vividly captures today’s society. You will not stop thinking about it for a long time to come

MY REVIEW

Truth Be Told is a courtroom drama, it’s also much, much more.

It tells the tale of Kamran, a victim of male rape.

Kamran was an outstanding student in an exclusive boarding school, but after the assault his life begins to change drastically. He goes for specialist counselling with Zara and soon the court case begins.

I found this to be incredibly moving, it deals with the issues of faith, of consent, male rape and mental health, all in a compassionate and realistic way. An outstanding read.

Thank you to Sian at HQ Stories for the opportunity to be part of this blog tour, for the promotional material and an eARC of Truth Be Told. This is my honest and unbiased review.