If you’re taking a long car ride or enjoy listening to audiobooks whenever the mood strikes you, this is a great one to queue up. I read it in print as well, and it lent itself well to audio form.

About the Book

Abductions and murder are not what ex-DCI Luke Sackville expected when he left the police after tragedy struck his family.

Luke’s return to the workplace was meant to be a soft landing but when a woman vanishes after being accused of taking bribes, he is assigned a disparate team and tasked with tracking her down.

Their search becomes more urgent when her disappearance is linked to the death of a second woman. When a third goes missing the hunt becomes a race against time. Luke’s return to work presents him with the most challenging case of his career as the murder victims mount.

Murder and intrigue are peppered with humor in this fast-paced crime thriller set in and around the beautiful city of Bath in the southwest of England.

Taken to the Hills is the first in the Luke Sackville crime series. If you like a team you can root for then you’ll love this page-turner. Perfect for fans of JD Kirk, LJ Ross, JM Dalgleish and David J Gatward.

My Thoughts

First, we’ll discuss the book itself. You can get my full review of the story in my first review here. But in general, I thought it was one of the funniest thrillers I’ve ever read. That remained true in audio form. The writing and the characters offered comic relief in just the right places to make a darkly comedic story that was thrilling and kept me listening and wanting more. Which is good, because it’s billed as a series. And I like that it’s available in audio because I frequently have more time to listen to books than I do to read them these days. I’ll listen while doing chores, or sometimes I enjoy crocheting or knitting at night while listening to books. That way I don’t have to choose between my two hobbies.

I mentioned in my first review that I enjoyed the ensemble of characters. I forgot to mention the first time that I really enjoyed Josh. He really stood out as an unsung hero and underdog of sorts. I really look forward to seeing his progression in future books. I’m always one for the sidekicks though. I have a weakness for them. Always have. So I shouldn’t be surprised there. But I liked all of the main ensemble of characters. The author was also really great at writing the villians as well. Even before we knew who they were I really disliked some of them. And there were some red herrings, which is great in a thriller. I especially enjoyed being able to guess until the end. While it’s becoming more common, it’s still not often that a writer completely stumps me right up until the end. I can usually sort of guess.

As far as the audio aspect of the book, the narrator wasn’t my favorite. Sometimes I click immediately with a narrator, and it’s smooth sailing. Other times it’s a nightmare and I can’t wait for the book to end – or I have to switch to eyeball reading. This was somewhere in between. I didn’t love him, but he hit his stride somewhere after the first five percent of the book and we settled into a rhythm.

I am so grateful to the author and Love Books Tours for including me in this tour, and I can’t wait for the next installment. If the author has any other books I’ll definitely be checking those out. If not, I’ll be (probably not-so) patiently waiting for the next adventure in this series.

Who’s It For?

If you’re a detective novel lover, this is a great read. This is the start of an exciting new series with a great detective in the lead. He is unique, has his quirks, and his specialties. His supporting team is awesome, his family is great, and he has a sweet pup.

Content Warnings: Kidnapping, Abusive Language, Adult Language, Partner and Parent Death, Murder, Suicide, Hostile Workplace Environment, Sexual Assault, and More

About the Author

(From the Author)

Let’s get one thing straight: my name’s Steve. I’ve never been called ‘SJ’ but Steve Richards is a political writer hence the pen name.

I was born in Bath and have lived at various times on an irregular clockwise circle around England. After university in Manchester my wife and I settled in Macclesfield before moving to Bedfordshire then a few years ago back to Somerset. We now live in Croscombe, a lovely village just outside Wells, with our 2 sprightly cocker spaniels.

I’ve always loved writing but have only really had the time to indulge myself since taking early retirement. My daughter is a brilliant author (I’m not biased of course) which is both an inspiration and – because she’s so good – a challenge. After a few experiments, and a couple of completed but unsatisfactory and never published novels, I decided to write a crime fiction series as it’s one of the genres I most enjoy.

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