Today I am so excited to be reviewing Dirty Little Secret by Jonathan Peace and published by Crime Publishing Network. Thank you to Zoe-Lee from https://zooloosbookdiary.co.uk/zooloos-blog-tours for organising this tour and to Jonathan Peace and Crime Publishing Network for a copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.
Synopsis
Ossett, West Yorkshire. March, 1987.
A town of flower shows, Maypole parades and Sunday football games. But behind all the closed doors and drawn curtains are hidden truths and shameful lies.
Discovering the body of a young girl dumped into a phone box at a local beauty spot, WDC Louise Miller’s first case as detective in her hometown is made harder by the sexism and misogyny of small-town policing. But her four years on the force in Manchester have prepared her for this and along with ally WPC Elizabeth Hines, the pair work the case together.
As their inquiries uncover the town’s hidden secrets, psychologist Karla Hayes offers insights into the troubled psychological problems of the victim, revealing dark truths that could lead to the identity of the killer.
But when a second girl goes missing, Louise realises that some secrets should stay hidden.
Including hers.
My Thoughts
I love being introduced to a new crime/detective series so was really excited to dive into Dirty Little Secrets and it didn’t disappoint.
The opening chapter was really jolting and it went straight into the story with no holds barred. It was definitely not for the feint hearted but it certainly had me hooked and I was desperate to find out how it linked with the main plot.
WDC Louise Miller is a fantastic character. Working in a world of misogyny and sexism she is fierce and retains her dignity and professionalism whilst dealing with some pretty gross acts and comments. Set in the 80s things were very different then despite it being such a short time ago and I was a young girl, in Yorkshire at that point and even then, I remember being so annoyed and angry at how things were regarding men and women. Louise was such a determined character. Determined to rise about the sexism, having to work twice as hard to achieve and determined to be a good detective. I’m glad she had Hines and Hayes watching her back and support her (and visa versa).
Ossett is a picturesque and quaint Yorkshire town and, on the outside, appears to be picture perfect but as the murder investigation unravels, it becomes clear that behind closed doors there are more sinister secrets being kept. The plot moves quickly and I enjoyed the lack of technology available to solve the crime – relying heavily on instinct, intuition and good detective work to solve it instead. There are a few surprises on the way and this book has some very dark moments.
A fantastic start to a new detective series and I cannot wait to indulge in book 2.
Author Bio – Jonathan Peace
Jonathan Peace is a husband, cat-dad and author of the WDC Louise Miller novels.
A Yorkshire lad at heart, Jonathan sets his novels in a fictionalised version of his hometown of Ossett during the late ’80’s and ’90’s. His first crime novel, DIRTY LITTLE SECRET, book one of the WDC Louise Miller series, landed him the Peter James Bursary from the Crime Writers’ Association, resulting in a full membership to the CWA.
He is currently writing the second in the series.
Follow him at:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JonathanPeaceAuthor/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonathanlpeace/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JonathanlPeace
Pre Order Link – Direct from Crime Publishing Network – https://www.crimepublishingnetwork.com/product/pre-order-dirty-little-secret-by-jonathan-peace/
Herding Cats 
Thank you so much lovely for this post and for closing the tour xx
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A pleasure. Can’t wait for more.
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