Reviews

The Pick, The Spade and The Crow by Bill Rogers

mrsbear's review against another edition

5.0

The Pick, The Spade and The Crow was a thrill ride from the first page! I was not sure what to expect from the title but the description was right up my alley. How can I not be pulled into a book that starts with a live burial! Yes, you read right, the victim was buried alive.

The plot was fast moving and there are so many potential killers. I changed my mind numerous times while reading but I did guess it right before the author revealed who it was. I am happy that this is the first book in a series. I look forward to hanging out with the National Crime Agency gang again and getting to know D.I. Joanne Stuart better. Yes, she was a hard ass in the book but she had lots of reason to be that way. I took to her right away.

I think the ending was a wee cliff hanger and I will be keeping my eyes open for book two! If you like a good English mystery that moves at break neck speed pick up this book!

The book was provided by Netgalley free of charge for an honest review.

shai3d's review against another edition

4.0

I feel like celebrating because I managed to stumble into an enjoyable crime series at the beginning. It seems that I always manage to find them after multiple books have been published and then I end up playing catch up. Not this time around though and it is a definite bonus that this appears to be a series that I will be following.



This series is set in England and seeing the differences between their police department and the one we have here in the States was quite interesting. You can tell that their focus is more on the keeping the peace while avoiding violence whereas we are seeing more and more cases of police brutality here. Heck Jo isn't even armed with a handgun while she is on duty.



While there are definite differences, people are people no matter where they live. As a woman, she has to deal with the old guard who don't feel that females can do the job. And killer exist everywhere. I really enjoyed getting to know Jo who is a strong woman and a great character. Just watching her investigation was enough to keep me glued to the pages until the very end.



I also very much enjoyed a peek into the world of the Masons. Of course it was just a peek since they are such a secretive society as far as their rituals are concerned.



I do recommend this book to any of my readers who enjoy police procedural books as well as anyone who enjoys books set in England. I can't wait to read the next book in this series.

arathi's review against another edition

3.0

great storyline, thrilling - Jo was a likeable character.
I am happy I got this book, will read the rest of them in the series

Thank you to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for approving the ARC

emmycd's review against another edition

4.0

Generally, this was a really good book and was well written. I kept picking this book up and was absorbed by the story. I like the characters and think they are realistic.

Two things I didn't like:

1) It is mentioned that the main character was a victim of a serial killer (managed to escape) yet there is no link to her background to this story. Seemed irrelevant and just an add-on to make the character more interesting.

2) I hated the characters going over everything they had just investigated in the past couple of chapters. It got boring and was quite patronising.

avidreader999's review

4.0

Really enjoyed this - a pacey mystery that kept me turning the pages.

angrygreycatreads's review against another edition

3.0

The Pick, The Spade and The Crow was this month’s read at the Kindle English Mystery Club on Goodreads. This follows the story of SI Joanne Stuart new to the Behavioral Sciences Unit of a National Crime investigation agency. Jo is caught up in an investigation that has far-reaching implications and links to numerous missing men over a period of years. The Masons (not the stoneworkers) organization is explored as a part of the case. The first part of the book was slow and somewhat heavy-handed with all the introductions to the team members. The book did pick up steam in the second half and it ended well. The character of Jo was a strength of the book, as was the plot line. I was unclear as the “team” because they really didn’t seem to function as one. There is good here and it definitely improved as the book went on.

barnsey's review

4.0

Senior Investigator Jo Stuart is assigned to the National Crime Agency to hunt for the killer of a man recently unearthed in woodland outside Manchester. It's discovered he had been bound, gagged and buried alive some ten years earlier. When Jo finds links to other disappearances, she realises she must act quickly to prevent a further tragedy at the hands of a serial killer.

The Pick, The Spade and The Crow was an engrossing British police procedural novel with an engaging female protagonist. It was a fairly quick and easy read without in-depth descriptions of violence and murder. I felt the balance was just right; I was able to visualise the horror without the author needing to paint it in vivid colour. Links to Freemasonry and its symbolism were a good addition, despite having been somewhat overdone in fiction of recent years. Overall, I thought this was an enjoyable read that wasn't bogged down by its own self-importance.

Thanks to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

https://barnseybooks.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/the-pick-spade-and-crow-by-bill-rogers.html#more

prpltrtl946's review

4.0

Creepy killer!

These Brits, this one is dark. The characters are very well rounded, including the crazies. The story was complex and edge of your seat fun.

randomactsofwhimsy's review

4.0

I received the 4th book in this series in a Good Reads giveaway. I do love a good detective story and I was in the mood to start another after having just finished J.T. Ellison's lengthy Taylor Jackson series so I decided to start from the beginning with this, the first book in the series. I'm so glad I did! This was so well done and I'm excited to continue with the series. His description of the first burial site was fascinating. That scene alone could have bumped it from four stars to five in my opinion, however, I had to keep it at four stars for two reasons. First, what about the cat?! It was mentioned just enough throughout the book that I thought it would mean something in the end, but alas, no mention of the cat at all.... Second, I think the characters could have been developed slightly better, but since our main character is just meeting them for the first time, I hope the next books in the series will flesh them out a bit more along with the protagonist.