Backlash – Marnie Riches Blog tour read 11/1/20

My thanks to Tracy Fenton of Compulsive Readers for inviting me to read for the blog tour – Backlash and been a great read and my first introduction to Marnie Riches, won’t be my last. Published on 9th January 2020 by Trapeze

Keep your enemies close and your neighbours closer…

When Private Investigator Beverley Saunders is tasked with going undercover, she relishes the chance to disguise herself as a cleaner in order to get close to Manchester bad boy Anthony Anthony, aka the infamous 2Tone. Anthony’s neighbours are suspicious of his wealth and sick of his anti-social behaviour, and Bev’s just the woman they need to find out what’s going on behind closed doors.

As Bev begins to infiltrate Anthony’s world, she soon realises she’s in danger – and this time, she might be too far in to get out. Alongside her sidekick Doc, Bev must fight to discover the truth – but when people begin to die, she is forced to wonder – is exposing Anthony worth risking her own life?

Our Author: Marnie Riches

Marnie Riches grew up on a rough estate in north Manchester which has inspired her crime writing. Exchanging the spires of nearby Strangeways prison for those of Cambridge University, she gained a Masters in German & Dutch. She has been a punk, a trainee rock star, a pretend artist and a professional fundraiser.

Her best-selling, award-winning George McKenzie crime thrillers, tackling the subject of trans-national trafficking, were inspired by her own time spent in The Netherlands. Dubbed the Martina Cole of the North, she is also the author of Born Bad and The Cover-Up – the critically acclaimed hit series about Manchester’s notorious gangland.

When she isn’t writing gritty, twisty crime-thrillers, Marnie also regularly appears on BBC Radio Manchester, commenting about social media trends and discussing the world of crime-fiction.

Wowsers, what a ride that was. Backlash is fast-paced and exciting, powered on by Bev Saunders – Private Investigator with her sidekick Doc providing the backup material and knowledge to help Bev right the wrongs.

Beverly is gritty and determined and won’t take no for an answer, her past and the fact she needs the money mean shes had to accept a job, she would normally have turned down. A neighbourly dispute between the Higson’s and Anthony Anthony AKA ‘2Tone’ – a burly landscaper and local community hero – who holds ‘fundraisers’ till all hours at his home in the quiet cul-de-sac in Little Marshwicke.

First Bev is driven off the road by a van that 2Tone is in and then the becomes ‘Gail’ and goes to clean for him, thinking that she can find out more being on the inside. This though, means she finds out too much and ends up in too deep. Shes got to get this right, not just for her sake, but for Hope, her daughter too, she wants to provide a real home for her and needs this case to go well to get the funds to do this.

Whilst all this is going on Mihal is trying to find the man responsible for selling him and his two brothers as human traffic to use as cheap labour in the UK. Hooked on Spice he and his brother get caught breaking and entering, his brother Brogan dies and Michal gets a prison sentence, which after 3 years, sees him back out in the open, set on seeking revenge. and looking for Constantin.

Bev is the type of person who says her thoughts out loud, she doesn’t hold back and this adds humor despite what is a serious and current subject, the world of ‘Spice’ is a dangerous one and for Bev its a dangerous path to be heading down. Her and Doc are great characters and make an intense duo. I like the role reversal of Bev being the one out in the field and Doc in the office as back up, coming to her assistance, as and when required, sometimes even before she realises she needs him.

A gritty and compelling read that you will find yourself struggling to put down as you race through the pages, to find what Bev is going to do next.