Download PDF Confessional The Blake Harte Mysteries Robert Innes Ashley John 9781520590394 Books
Download As PDF : Confessional The Blake Harte Mysteries Robert Innes Ashley John 9781520590394 Books
Book 2 in the Blake Harte Mysteries! St Abra’s church is harbouring a dark secret. Several elderly parishioners have been found dead in the church’s confessions booth, all appearing to have suffered fatal heart attacks. But when another, much younger body is discovered in exactly the same way, Detective Sergeant Blake Harte must investigate how it is possible for the confessions booth to be killing off its occupants. Dark forces are at play, forcing Blake to believe it’s more than just tragic coincidence. Book 2 in The Blake Harte Mysteries series! A head scratching collection of impossible crimes featuring Detective Sergeant Blake Harte, set in the small picturesque village of Harmschapel. Police procedural with dark themes and romantic undertones. Are the deaths a punishment for the sins confessed, or are there ulterior motives in play? In a race against the clock, only Blake can discover the long-kept secrets and lies hiding in the shadows before they tear apart the sleepy village of Harmschapel.
Download PDF Confessional The Blake Harte Mysteries Robert Innes Ashley John 9781520590394 Books
"It's as good as the first book, even if the mystery seemed more predictable. (There are really only two characters who could possibly have done the deed, and Innes works so hard to make it look like one that the reader just knows it must be the other.) The romance between the two main characters moves at a snail's pace. And even though it's a murder mystery, there needs to be more sex. Not graphic, in-your-face hard-core porn, mind you, but enough sex to make me interested in the characters. I mean, I don't need to read books about guys that aren't having sex. I know all about that.
Looking forward to the next installment."
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Tags : Confessional (The Blake Harte Mysteries) [Robert Innes, Ashley John] on . <b> Book 2 in the Blake Harte Mysteries! </b> St Abra’s church is harbouring a dark secret. Several elderly parishioners have been found dead in the church’s confessions booth,Robert Innes, Ashley John,Confessional (The Blake Harte Mysteries),Independently published,1520590393,Fiction / Mystery Detective / Police Procedural,Fiction / Romance / Gay
Confessional The Blake Harte Mysteries Robert Innes Ashley John 9781520590394 Books Reviews :
Confessional The Blake Harte Mysteries Robert Innes Ashley John 9781520590394 Books Reviews
- I am a bit disappointed with the 2nd BH Mystery and not going to buy any more (unless by mistake). And this review stems mostly from a desire to balance the overabundance of 5-star reviews, and the claims of some really great/challenging mysteries. You see, I love mysteries (have been reading them for more than 40 years) and I enjoy reading M/M - so a combo is almost always welcome. And when the M/M is written by men it's often a plus because men really do have a slightly different "voice" than women. I was looking forward to this! I'd read the first one and even though some of the themes were heavy, the overall feel of the story was "mystery light" - not too heavy or too depressing a read. The major detractor had been the writing itself Lots of odd sentences, random capitalization, and bad grammar. I'd hoped that would improve in this 2nd book but it didn't, it got worse! The worst offender was the "was sat" - truly it grated on my nerves.
I gave this book two stars for the following reasons 1 for a nominally interesting mystery premise (closed-room-murder-lite), though I'd guessed the method right away - cinched by the priest-questioning scene shortly thereafter - and guessed the perpetrator by about 30-35% into it.
The second star I granted for some of the characterizations. Unfortunately only 1 of the MCs, Harrison, interested me, along with supporting staff Matti and Patil. However, if my not yet 30-yr-old son acted as petulantly and immaturely as Blake, I'd slap him upside-the-head and tell him he needed to grow up...
So to the major detractors
Let's start with the "MC romance" bit. I was OK with the fact that the two MCs hadn't automatically hooked up in a HEA at the end of the first book because, hey, that's life. Sometimes it DOESN'T happen. What wasn't OK was the fact that in the epilogue of book 1 (subtitled Nine Months Later), they meet up for the promised drink when Blake's BFF is in town. Then book 2 starts with Harrison "bemoaning" how the last SIX months have been a living hell since what happened with the parents, and how he hadn't really seen Blake in several months since that drink, and... wait! Did I read that wrong? No, no I didn't. Because shortly there after we're talking about how so much has happened in less than a year and OMG life ain't so beautiful. 9 months + let's say few (3) months = minimum 1 yr. Can we, please, make sure that we are aligning out book timelines? (This is really a pet peeve of mine.)
Then there's the conflicting details. I can't remember the exact scene because by that point I was considering whether or not to stop reading, but we're told something is of one color, for instance, then a few paragraphs later it's described as another color. Some is holding an object, and shortly there after, someone else is with no mention or even chance of it passing hands. Someone is in the driver's seat and then someone else gets in to drive. That kind of thing. And I'd have to stop, go back, and double check. Maybe it's just me, I create a mental movie when I read, and those continuity errors get my goat! (Hey now, that's another potentially interesting and under utilized character, Betty the Goat!)
Now, one of the big issues If you want me to suspend disbelief - I'm all for it. But this series is not a fantasy, future-fiction, or alternate universe so the total lack of accuracy here about how the Catholic Church operates is downright ridiculous. Did the author not even attempt to speak to a Catholic about how things works? I know lots of Catholics in the UK, there must have been someone he could ask. I can only assume that he wrote it originally as being some other religion (CoE maybe), then realized he needed the confessional (that's what it's called, BTW), and so switched out the religion. As for the easily researched, learned, acquired, or Googleable details
1) There are *NO* female priests (whether we agree with that or not). Period. Doesn't happen, not even in the UK.
2) Confession happens before mass not after, otherwise you can't 'take' communion.
3) Priests are never called vicar - that's a CoE term - it's Father Insert-Name-here. (So, either Father Tim or Father Croydon, depending on your familiarity with said priest.)
4) Confirmation ceremonies don't happen off-the-cuff, nor without extreme planning, so the "verger" (I'm going to assume that's an acceptable/applicable term for the role in the UK because I know it's used in CoE) would not have been up in the bell tower with his boyfriend at T-minus-10 minutes. And confirmations don't last only 'about 20 minutes' - even what in school we called 'a quick mass' takes 30 minutes.
5) While I'm not saying it's not possible, nor am I denying the innumerable instances of the break of the vows, HOLY COW! How many breaking of the vows of chastity can you reasonably fit into a single parish in a short novel with any level of believability?
It may be stupid stuff, but the frequency of flow-interruptions and the blatant inaccuracies really affected my reading experience. For the record, I did finish reading the book - I had to know how he was going to wrap it up, and I got the book for free thanks to a notification from BookBub, though I did pay for the first one. The covers are cool though... - I really like this series. The writing flows easily, the characters are believable and the stories are interesting. Even though I knew immediately who the culprit was, I was so invested in the lives of the characters, the mystery was not foremost in mind. When I got through this book there was a tease that a third book was coming out. I look forward to it. At the end of each of the two books in this series the author sets up a scene where the characters speak of their emotional and psychological state of mind as a result of what has transpired. These moments are truthful and welcome. While I like happy endings, sometimes it take awhile to get there. Blake and Harrison are working towards their happy ever after moment. They just haven't gotten there yet. Mr. Innes realizes there is some growing up that needs to happen before that comes about. I highly recommend this series.
- It's as good as the first book, even if the mystery seemed more predictable. (There are really only two characters who could possibly have done the deed, and Innes works so hard to make it look like one that the reader just knows it must be the other.) The romance between the two main characters moves at a snail's pace. And even though it's a murder mystery, there needs to be more sex. Not graphic, in-your-face hard-core porn, mind you, but enough sex to make me interested in the characters. I mean, I don't need to read books about guys that aren't having sex. I know all about that.
Looking forward to the next installment. - I really like these characters and the setting that they have been wrapped up in. The author needs to do some research on things (in this case religion) before including it because for me when I read a book I have to have believability. As I read this story what kept happening was me questioning the authors belief that the Catholic church allows female priests. It doesn't.
- Robert Innes writes a great whodunit that's is not only intriguing and suspenseful but also brings a smile to your face and at times causes you to laugh out loud. The Blake Harte Mysteries is like reading an episode of Midsommer Mysteries or maybe an episode of Masterpiece Theatre. Absolutely love them....Looking forward to the next book. Definitely recommend this book,this series and this author.
- Good mystery story set in a classic British village
Murders stack up and the cause and perpetrator remains illusive. Some intrigue too with a hunky police officer reluctant to try for a relationship with another handsome young villager. Dramatic and clever. . - I enjoyed this second book in the Blake Harte series. The murder mystery with people dying in the confession booth was interesting although I had figured out who the killer was early on (even if I didn't know exactly why the murders were happening). Harte's love life (or lack thereof) also makes for an interesting read. Hopefully he'll get some action in the third book.
- This one was hard to put down. I read it in 2 days with various chores interspersed. I found all 4 of Innes's books hard to put down but Reach was the best. I read it in one sitting. I not only did not want to put it down I couldn't put it down. Mr. Innes I am ready for the next ome.
