Title: Dead Embers
Author: Matt Brolly
Publisher: Canelo

Today I’m really excited to be a part of the blog tour for Dead Embers, the newest release in the DCI Michael Lambert series. Read on to find out what I thought, and see the bottom of the post for the other stops on the tour!

[Synopsis]

An explosive fire. A double murder. And that’s just the start…
When DCI Michael Lambert is called out to an apparent house fire, he knows it can’t be routine. Instead he finds the remains of a burnt house, a traumatised child and two corpses – one of whom is a senior police officer.
Lambert’s got other problems. Anti-corruption are onto his boss. His relationships is on the rocks. He can’t get over his ex-wife and he keeps blacking out.
But when a detective has been murdered the stakes are too high to get distracted. All is not as it seems. As the investigation continues Lambert realises he is getting drawn into something altogether bigger and more terrifying than he could ever have imagined…
Trust no one.

[My Review]

Dead Embers is an interesting, pacey crime-thriller that I hugely enjoyed. I didn’t know exactly what to expect from this book having not ready any others in the DCI Michael Lambert series, but having read this novel I now want to read the others and see if they live up to this one!
I often feel that what makes a great crime-thriller (in my opinion) is great characters and a well-crafted, clever plot. This has both of these – the people within the pages, both good and bad, are interesting and fun to read about. One thing I did notice is that, having not read previous novels, there were a lot of names to remember who’s who, but I can confidently say that you really don’t need to have read the previous two novels in the series. This can be read as a stand-alone novel, as enough is explained, but I guess starting from the beginning is always good if you have that option, eh!
Lambert is an intriguing Detective, with his rebellious, daring streak… as is the case with many Detectives in series like this, but I felt Lambert was particularly likeable, and not too perfect. It’s interesting to learn about his private life and marriage, and I liked that he makes mistakes but he still gets the job done! You feel confident that he knows what he’s doing, so there’s never really an element of worry for his safety, but that didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the story. In addition to Lambert, Matilda is another great character who  was really likable and I enjoyed reading about Tillman, too, with his often slightly mad moments!
Dead Embers jumps right into the storyline without much preamble, and continues moving quickly at a great pace that isn’t too fast but is never, ever slow. I really enjoy police procedurals anyway, and this obviously had elements of that but with added action and suspense – hence the ‘crime-thriller’ category!
There were some themes and parts which were quite eerie, with often disturbing imagery  which upped the tension, and twists and turns which keep the plot interesting. I don’t want to ruin any of them, so I’ll just say that this is a really enjoyable, fast-paced read with plenty of tension and intrigue – definitely recommended and a series I plan to read more of!

[Rating: 4/5]

Many thanks to the publisher, Canelo, and Faye Rogers for providing a copy of this novel on which I chose to write an honest and unbiased review.

Buy Dead Embers in ebook format from Amazon here.

About the author:

Following his law degree where he developed an interest in criminal law, Matt completed his Masters in Creative Writing at Glasgow University. He reads widely across all genres, and is currently working on his Michael Lambert thriller series. Matt lives in London with his wife and their two young children.

Find Matt here:
Website: http://mattbrolly.co.uk/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MatthewBrolly
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mattbrollyauthor/

Other stops on the blog tour: