Hold My Hand by M. J. Ford @MJFordBooks @AvonBooksUK #HoldMyHand #Crimefiction #Crimethriller #BookReview

Avon Books 2018

Book Description

HOW LONG DO YOU HUNT 

FOR THE MISSING?

When Josie Masters sees a boy in a red football shirt being led away by a clown at a circus, she tries desperately to alert the crowds whilst his terrifying parents panic.  But it’s too late.  Dylan Jones has disappeared…

Thirty years later, Josie is working as a police officer in Bath.  The remains of a child’s body have been found – complete with the tatters of a torn red football shirt.  Could it be the boy she saw on the night of the circus?  Or is it someone else altogether?

And then another child vanishes…

I was delighted to be invited to be part of the Instagram Tour for this book, always a fan of crime fiction it wasn’t a difficult decision to make and Thank You to Avon Books for my copy.

This book has a great premise, a missing child, led away by a clown at the circus, the only witness a child themselves who grows up to be a police officer.  The plot was strong with parallel investigations regarding the remains of the child found and the currently missing child.  Jo Masters finds herself seconded into the investigation of the missing child and back on her childhood turf.  While there were parts of this book where I guessed the direction we were going, that was fine, we’re alongside the police investigating right?  The ending wasn’t as I predicted and was a shocker.  Brilliantly done and this coupled with the clown element (Killer Clowns anyone?) made for a thrilling read.

There were some aspects of the story whereby I had to ‘suspend my disbelief’ but again in fiction there can be some artistic licence right?  The main character Jo I found to be abrupt and rude at times which irritated me, but then people / police can be like that and I recognise that as the source of my irritation.  Told in the third person narrative throughout and always from the point of view of Jo Masters, she is the protagonist, the star of the story.  There was enough characterisation here to support the well rounded plot and overall I found this to be a pretty decent piece of crime fiction with a truly impressive conclusion.