Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (8th June 2013)

5/5*

As I write this we’re on a train heading back to London, Waterloo. We have spent the last few days in Yeovil (featured in The Bridport Dagger) visiting friends.

Alison is another lovely author local to me. She has very kindly agreed to be the guest speaker at our Women’s Fellowship meeting this month, which I am very much looking forward to. I’m hoping Alison will agree to sign my books for me 😉

The Bridport Dagger hooks you in gently as the first few chapters set the scene and introduce us to the characters. It seems unlikely that the characters are linked in any way so straight away I found myself intrigued as to where the story would lead.

DI Christopher Timothy and his wife Pippa, from Staffordshire, are expecting their first baby and decide to take a relaxing holiday in Dorset before the baby is born. They hire a cottage from Beatrice Roper and all is well until Beatrice’s twin brother, Benedick, is found murdered. On the same night, in Ellesmere Port, Harry Greatorex is found dead at his bungalow and foul play is suspected. DI Timothy soon finds himself involved in the investigation which is far from straight forward. How can these two murders be connected? The secrets that unfold as a result of this investigation are quite shocking. I thought I had it sussed a few times, but I was totally wrong! It all made sense in the end though.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this murder mystery. I love Alison Lingwood’s writing, I find it a very easy style to get on with. If you like a good crime thriller with interesting characters and a captivating story line then I’m sure you will enjoy this book. It is the second of Alison’s I have read, so I have met DI Timothy before, but you could easily enjoy this as a standalone. I would highly recommend Portal To Murder though, if you haven’t read it already.

You can purchase your copy of The Bridport Dagger HERE

Description:

This is the second novel to feature DI Christopher Timothy. On the night upon which Chris and his wife Pippa arrive in Dorset on holiday, two deaths occur in separate parts of the country. With the holiday interrupted, DI Timothy works alongside an unknown team to investigate the local death. He has to delve back over forty years, and expose a further tragedy, in order to make sense of the mysterious events.

About the Author

Alison Lingwood was born in Cheshire in 1952. She is an ex-lecturer and retired businesswoman who lives in Staffordshire with her husband.

Links to Alison’s other books:

Portal To Murder

This is a story of the use and misuse of the internet. Angela is a bored, middle-aged spinster approached on the internet by an ex schoolfriend Kevin. Concerned that her boring existence will not hold his interest, she weaves a fabric of lies, becoming more and more obsessed with her fantasy life. But Kevin too is not who he claims to be, and the relationship between the two of them leads to death and destruction.

My review:

Brilliant! Excellent story, characters and setting! Definitely my kind of read. A good example of how easily the internet can be misused, but also how helpful it can be to a police investigation. Angela is an odd character, but I didn’t see the ending coming!

A Wild Kind Of Justice (on my TBR list)

When a survey is ordered on a building site over a defunct coal mine in north Staffordshire, part of a human body is unearthed.
Christopher Timothy, now a Detective Chief Inspector, is put in charge of the investigation, until murder comes calling too close to home, when it stalks through his property and touches an old acquaintance.

Stains Of Suspicion (on my TBR list)

Ben Hanchurch gave the shroud a professional flick, to reveal the face. For a moment they thought Clive was overcome with emotion, but then he said decisively, ‘That’s not my sister.’
So who is the mystery woman in the morgue? How and why did she die? And what has happened to Clive Boulstridge’s sister?
DCI Christopher Timothy, back at work part-time after an attack left him unconscious for months, comes into conflict with his partner as he tries to make sense of these riddles, and his new place within the team.