No body, no motive, no name…so who did she kill?

When wealthy divorcee Stephanie Kuler asked a private detective to investigate a murder, he told her to go to the police instead. But when she told the rest of the story, he took the case.

#AbsentVictim @DavidRo02674885 @hobart_books @Zooloo’s Book Tours @zooloo2008 #ZooloosBookTours #blogtour

There was no body, no reason to kill and no name for her supposed victim, but she knew she was the murderer. Solving the mystery meant jail for her and a headache for him.

Premonition, false memories, deja vu…the mind playing tricks or reality distorted through time?

The unmissable new thriller from David Roy explores the dark side of memory and its impact on us all.

My Review

A very different book I have to say, but entertaining and totally unique. Wealthy divorcee Stephanie Kuler hires a private detective (the narrator whose name is never mentioned) to investigate a murder which she claims to have committed. However, there is no victim to name, no body, and no date when it took place, or where.

Sometimes it is a brilliant murder mystery, while at other times it is a way for the author to put forward his own, sometimes controversial, views:

‘The news was full of stories of protest, the rhetoric of BLM given over to a struggle with anyone whose views might differ. It was peaceful protestors versus right-wing thugs, The press and television media had created the story they wanted and now it was just a case of ensuring the protagonists acted it out for them.’

He says how Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela never resorted to these tactics. Then he mentions Brexit, but I never really got whether he was pro or anti. I got the impression maybe pro, but he didn’t seem like a Brexiteer.

There are also lots of references to the Troubles in Northern Ireland where the book is set. Once again the narrator can be very politically incorrect, particularly in his view of the types of people who do, or believe, certain things.

But the main thread running through the whole book is that of the pandemic. It is set during the first year of lockdown, pre-vaccinations and even pre-masks. And Boris and co on TV every night giving us instructions on what we must do to stay safe. Little did we know who would be the worst rule-breakers later on. Everyone is social-distancing, in theory, though there are plenty who don’t.

Then there is Billy, also ex-army like our narrator and his ‘Billy-isms’, his strange way of speaking. Zombies (a bit of a Billy obsession) are ‘a fig roll‘ of his imagination, he says Gongle instead of Google and that he was waiting for some fish to come home to roost. There are also the names he uses for everyday objects such as the interweb machine (computer), corporate transport module (bus), linked corporate transport module (train) or individual transport module, ITM for short (car). Sometimes I have to admit, I didn’t get the relevance.

I loved the narrator’s comedy take on things. It was just like the banter I have with my younger son, my one daughter-in-law and a colleague at work. Others often don’t get it. In the book only Stephanie’s friend Georgina is totally on his wavelength and I really enjoyed their interactions.

A highly recommended, interesting read.

Many thanks to @zooloo2008 for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the Author

David Roy was born in Bangor, Northern Ireland in the mid ’60s. After a number of years in the army he left a life in uniform to read for a degree, ultimately qualifying as a secondary school teacher.   He is the author of many books, the first written in 1994 as an account of his service in the first Gulf War. His book ‘The Lost Man’, the first of his Ted Dexter adventures, featured on ITV ‘The Alan Titchmarsh Show’; where it was shortlisted in The People’s Novelist competition. 

As well as being a soldier, David has been a dishwasher, a teacher, a civil servant, a security guard, a welfare assistant and an ambulance crew member. He is married and now lives in the north of England with his wife and two daughters.

Follow him at:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bigdaveroy/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DavidRo02674885 

Buy Link – https://geni.us/PYFx