Choke Back The Tears by Mark Richards

Michael Brady looked at Sandra Garrity’s face. Grey skin. Bloodshot eyes open. Blue lips, her tongue protruding.

“Did you watch your husband die, Sandra? Or did he watch you die?”

Billy and Sandra were childhood sweethearts.
Writing their names on a lovelock. Fastening it to the end of Whitby pier. Throwing the key into the sea.
A lifetime together. A happy retirement in a peaceful hamlet on the North Yorkshire Moors. Until the day they were brutally murdered.

“Whoever did this – he didn’t do it quickly. And he enjoyed it…”

Billy was a fisherman, making a living in the cold, cruel North Sea. One night his boat went down. Two crewmen drowned. Billy survived. Are the families looking for revenge? It’s the obvious conclusion.
But why have they waited so long? Why have they killed Billy and Sandra? And why kill them in such a barbaric way?

“This isn’t a murder, Mike. It’s an execution. A medieval execution.’

Kershaw’s away, Brady’s in charge. The bucks stops on his desk. But at least Frankie Thomson is back to help him. For now… There are no clues. No motives. It’s a perfect crime scene. All Brady has is his experience and his intuition. And his small team is gettng smaller by the day…

Meanwhile he’s battling problems in his personal life. His daughter Ash wants to know the truth about her mother’s death. Brady can’t put off telling her any longer. He’s having doubts about everything. Even the memory of his dead wife.

The Michael Brady books are perfect for fans of J D Kirk, Jason Dalgleish, David Gatward, T G Reid – and anyone who likes characters you’ll come to think of as friends.

About the author

Once upon a time I had a business in financial services: nice suits, smart shirts, stripy ties. But always with a small voice inside me. “Let me out,” it said, “I’m a writer.”

I kept the small voice securely under lock and key but then – in 2009 – my brother died of cancer. It was one of those pivotal moments in life. I either let the small voice out and pursued my dream, or I forgot about it for good. So I sold my business, sent my stripy ties to the charity shop and started writing.

Now my time divides between writing for clients – copywriting, ghostwriting – and writing for myself.

In the spring of 2016 I suffered the latest in a long line of mid-life crises and invited my youngest son to come for a walk with me. That led to ‘Father, Son and the Pennine Way’ – the first of three books ostensibly about walking, but really about my ever-changing relationship with my son…

And now – in September 2020 – I’ve turned my attention to novels. ‘Salt in the Wounds’ in the first book in the Michael Brady series and, when that’s finished, I’ll look to develop two other crime series.

You can connect with me online at:

www.markrichards.co.uk

https://www.facebook.com/MarkRichardsAuthor/

Review

Mark Richards has done it again and produced an amazing Michael Brady book! It honestly feels as if these characters are my friends and due to growing up in Scarborough and visiting Whitby all the time, it feels as if I am also coming home. The location is key in this series and it is in fact another character so to speak and Mark gets it spot on. I always feel as if I can stand next to Brady in the scenes and that doesn't happen very often and thus makes this a very special series. This is the fourth the book in the main series and it is the best yet. You can pick this up as a standalone, however, I would recommend reading the whole series as it is brilliant!

Although the crime narratives in this series are always great what makes these books are the characters and the relationships between them. Brady is an open, compassionate man and his relationship with his daughter is just perfect! Then there is the team at work - he cares about all of them, especially Frankie and they make a force to be reckoned with. In a way I'm glad the romance aspect between them has been taken off the table as I believe that their friendship will make for a stronger bond.

In this outing we see Brady having to deal with the deaths of a retired local couple - Sandra and Billy. They have been brutally strangled and the killer took their time about it too. The only thing in the past is that Billy was the captain of a boat that went down and was the only one to survive. But why wait so long to enact their revenge if it was to do with that…

‘Choke Back The Tears’ is a gritty and witty return to the best crime books set on the Yorkshire coast! It was a slower burner of a case which meant we were able to linger over the details and ponder along with Brady. Richards has nailed his characterizations, his writing is maturing and is now one of my auto buy authors! I know I am in safe hands when I pick up his books.

Basically just go and read this one! Let me know if you do, you won't regret it.