Review: Burned And Broken - Mark Hardie

Monday, January 23, 2017


Title: Burned And Broken
Author: Mark Hardie
Genre: Crime & Mystery
Price: £7.99
Publication Date: 04/05/2017 (paperback)

DS Frank Pearson and DC Cat Russell of the Essex Police Major Investigation Team uncover dark secrets as a burned body of a policeman is found on the Southend seafront. A young woman is searching for the truth regarding her best friend's death. The two cases seem unrelated, but are they?

Another crime book, another review 😉 I jumped at the chance of reading this book because I knew I'd love it! I was not at all disappointed and I'm more than happy share my thoughts on this book with you!

The prologue really sets the dark mood of the book as we read about what a policeman is feeling right before he starts to burn. I have to admit that at first I found a story a bit confusing as there are quite a lot of characters which are all relevant to the story. About 100 pages in, I started to get more familiar with the characters and the story just flowed. I struggled to put the book down! If I didn't have any responsibilities then I would've just read it in one go (although that probably wouldn't be very healthy!).

The characters of DS Pearson and DC Russel have such a fantastic relationship and I can't wait for another book with them! I loved to read about how they worked together and hopefully that will not change in the next book. I'd love to read more about their personal lives and really get to know them. I can't get enough of them! As to the other major characters, I think they have been introduced quite well and I like how each character developed throughout the book.

The novel is split into three parts. Part one starting with the narrative jumping four days back from the prologue meaning that we can read about the events leading up to the murder. The different perspectives in narrative are, in my opinion, what sets this novel apart from other crime stories. Also, the level of detail in this book is fantastic, it's really easy to picture the whole novel in your head.

If you've read my book reviews before you know that the book ending really sets what I feel about the book. Since I feel so positive about this book you can probably guess that this book had a great ending 😉 I was very satisfied with the outcome of the investigation and even though I had a gut feeling of who committed the crimes, it still surprised me as to how they did it. There was an epilogue which means no loose ends as Hardie summarised what happened after the investigation.

I never comment on these things because I try to 'never judge a book by its cover' but can I just say that I honestly love the cover of this book! It's a view of the Southend seafront and I just think it adds to the story because if you've never been to Southend then it will help you picture the story better in your head!

I contemplated giving this book a higher rating but I stuck with 4.5/5 because I was a bit confused at the beginning. I  heartily recommend this book as it is one of the strongest works of crime fiction I have read in the recent years. Hardie's writing is brilliant and it's hard not to want to read it, he's just got a way with words!

Rating: 4.5/5

The paperback version of this book will be released on the 5th May but it's available now to buy as an e-book and a hardcover book! Do have a look at it because it's a great story!


What do you think of this review? Do you think you'll check out the book?


Sylvia
xo

I am so thankful to be part of this blog tour and getting the opportunity of reading and reviewing this book!



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2 comments

  1. I really enjoyed this one too, a brilliant read! Great review :) Laura

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