Burned and Broken is a detective/thriller novel, set in Southend, Essex. It is written in three parts. Part one opens with a badly burned body found in a car, that has just been identified as Detective Inspector Sean Carragher. We are then taken back four days, leading up to his death. During these four days, we are introduced to Donna, who has just come out of the care system. Donna’s friend Abigail has recently been found dead. The police don’t believe that it was murder, but Donna doesn’t agree and sets out on a mission to discover the truth, with the help of her little friend, Malc. It is also during these four days that it is revealed that DI Carragher was under investigation for corruption. DS Cat Russell, his partner, has also found herself under investigation, as the leading officer on the case doesn’t believe she didn’t know what her colleague was up to. In part two we are taken back to the present day, where DI Frank Pearson and DS Cat Russell, are investigating the death of DI Carragher. It is during this time, that the two cases may just find themselves entangled, but how? The book is an interesting thriller that held me captivated. It is a complicated story, with lots of twists, and how the two cases were joined really did surprise me. The characters had depth to them, and were likeable, and I often found myself sympathising with some of them. Its by no means a fast-paced thriller, though it’s a thriller that delves deep into the plot, and not race along. It will keep you guessing until the very end, and then shock you with the verdict. This is a sure-fire debut, and I can’t wait to see where Mark will go with a sequel.

A burnt out car containing the body of DI Sean Carragher is found on the Southend seafront. His burns are so bad his colleagues can’t even recognise him. What’s more, DI Carragher was the subject of an ongoing internal affairs investigation, which leads the team to many more questions than it answers. DS Pearson and DI Carragher’s ex-partner, DC Catherine (Cat) Russell are tasked with leading the investigation. But the more they dig, the more they realise that they didn’t really know their colleague at all. And what about young Donna? In a care home until it was forced to close, now living in her on flat and spending her days obsessing over the death of her friend. Donna knows who killed Alicia, now all she has to do is prove it to the right people. She knows it wasn’t an accident, no matter what the police reports said. It’s down to DS Pearson and DC Russell to discover who murdered their colleague before the body count rises… I loved DC Cat Russell. I felt incredibly sorry for her as the realisation dawned that she didn’t really know Sean Carragher at all. This person who she felt was a friend (and someone to look up to) had let her down repeatedly. Her regular interviews with internal affairs and DS Pearson’s discovery that Sean and Cat couldn’t have been together when Cat claimed they were, made for uncomfortable reading. I wanted to love Frank Pearson but there was something….missing for me. He’s the type of character that I normally, immediately like but it just didn’t happen this time. Donna made me feel incredibly sad. This is obviously a character with deep psychological issues and I really wanted to warm to her but I’m afraid all I could feel was sadness. I wanted someone to spot that she was on the edge of a precipice and help the poor girl. I struggled with the author’s style, having to re-read many sentences several times over to try and understand what was going on. As I neared the conclusion I found myself enjoying the story more than I had previously. So much so that when I came to one of those ‘read on for a sneak peek at the author’s next book’ sections that I did actually read on. Mainly to check that the next book also featured DC Cat Russell (and DS Pearson). Would I recommend this book? This is a difficult one. I did enjoy it and I know that others will absolutely love this book and see things which I have missed. But on the whole, I’m not sure. It’s a good police procedural but there are so many GREAT police procedurals out there that it’s a hard one to call. Three stars out of five. I chose to read and review an ARC of Burned and Broken. Many thanks to Clara Diaz at Little, Brown for providing me with a copy. The above review is my own unbiased opinion.

An interesting plot but one that I feel would have worked better as a TV show - it didn't flow very well for me and seemed to jump around too much. The first third had me tempted to give up but it did improve, quite significantly but it still didn't work for me. I think there was potential there and am interested to see how things improve with a second book, but definitely reminded me of an episode of some gritty 90s cop show like Cracker. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

If you want a book that begins with an horrific scene then this is it .. in at the deep end with a gruesome death in a burning car. To add to the drama it appears the victim is a police officer so all/any investigation will be given the priority the force show when one of their own is involved. This is a debut from this writer and shows considerable promise. The characters all have depth and some of the subject matter is quite difficult to deal with. Donna was raised in care has a traumatic backstory and is desperately trying to prove her friend Alicia didn’t die as a result of an accident. Sean Carragher (victim) is also being investigated for corruption, intimidating witnesses etc so there are a few folk who could be responsible for his demise. His ex-partner DC Cat Russell is trying not to appear guilty by association as she explores the case. Along the way there are several people who could possibly tie this all together. A tale woven fairly cleverly and I liked the interactions between Cat and DS Frank Pearson. They both have their own issues to deal with and that adds a sense of realism to the story. I was intrigued by the start, got a bit confused during some of the overly descriptive lengthy middle parts, got a touch annoyed at the constant mention of mints but it all came together for a satisfying ending. I did appreciate it being set in the UK, no specifics on location really but definitely a gritty background. If you are in the mood for a crime thriller give this a go and I would happily read another by this writer to see how he progresses. Burned and Broken is a very strong title which suits the book perfectly. I was offered an ARC by Clara at Little Brown and read voluntarily. All opinions are my own.