Echoes of the Past by Deborah Mailer

Title: Echoes of the Past
Author: Deborah Mailer
Publisher: Endeavour Press
Release Date: 30th January 2014
Genre: Crime, Thriller

Summary:
Tom Hunter has been in the police-force all his life, dedicating his life to solving crimes and catching criminals. After a serious heart attack and the death of his wife, he moves to the small, unassuming village of Coppersfield along with his daughter, Jess.

However, when Hunter looks into a series of unsolved disappearances; their haven is soon disturbed by creepy goings-on and supernatural beings.

Review:
When I started reading this book, I thought it was going to be a simple, crime/thriller. Oh no no, how I was wrong... Instead of being a simple crime novel, the plot incorporates ghosts too...

I am not saying the hybrid and merging of the two genres is wrong (as it has been successful been pulled by Ben Aaronovitch in the Rivers of London series- my review, of which, can be found here) but, in my opinion, it was just a bit too far fetched. I therefore think that there was too much going on at once and Mailer should have taken a clear path and defined her genre more. I mean, the plot would have been perfectly fine without all the ghostly beings and weird stuff...

Similarly, in my opinion, the plot was too predictable. I guessed the killer correctly about a third of the way through the book. A good crime/ thriller novel should keep the reader guessing until the last few pages, but, in my opinion, the clues Mailer left were just too obvious and leaved little to the imagination. Nonetheless, I did find it interesting how the plot panned out and found it interesting to find out how the killer was able to keep his cover for so long without being detected.

Rating: 3/10. Would make a good crime/ thriller novel...

You can buy Echoes of the Past for Amazon Kindle here.