Under a Silent Moon by Elizabeth Haynes

Good morning, everyone! Today I'm pleased as punch to be a stop on the TLC blog tour for Elizabeth Haynes's latest, Under a Silent Moon.

When Polly Leuchars, a groom at Hermitage Farm in Morden, is found dead in her cottage, an investigation is immediately launched. Though she was found at the bottom of her steps, the death is anything but accidental. Blood is found throughout the cottage and Polly was obviously beaten. At the same time, another woman in Morden is found dead of apparent suicide. Her fingerprints are found in Polly's house, leaving the police no doubt that the two must be connected, the how and why are the job of DCI Lou Smith and the rest of the team assigned to OP Nettle.

Haynes rocketed to the top of my must have list with her debut Into the Darkest Corner. Her work as an actual police intelligence analyst no doubt inspires her twisted and unique story lines, and she can always be counted on for a tightly plotted tale that will keep me on edge throughout.

Under a Silent Moon was of course no exception, but this one is a bit different from its predecessors for a few reasons: first, it's the start of a new series, which means we can look forward for more to come in this vein. Second, this is a much more straightforward police procedural. She's even gone so far as to include charts and forms used in Lou's investigation. And finally, and this one is for readers of her previous books, this one is quite graphic in the sex department. In fact, the call out for this book should have been something along the lines of "Everyone KNOWS everyone in Briarstone and Morden!"

I really loved the idea that the reader has access to all of the necessary clues to figure this out. And yet, Haynes did keep me guessing. The real motive is not obvious and the killer eluded me throughout the book.

To see more stops on the tour be sure to check out the official TLC tour page here.

For more on Elizabeth Haynes and her work you can visit her here on the web. You can also like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.