Customer Reviews

Dead Before Morning

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The formula for detective novels seems to be to place two disparate characters together, call them partners and invent a vehicle on which to carry them and by this I don't mean the type of car. In the UK there have been many :Morse and Lewis,Dalziel and Pascoe, Dempsey and Makepeace, Tyler and Hunt. And in the USA who can forget the iconic duo Cagney and Lacey the first pairing of two women detectives on television?
Well I would like to add another pair of well deserved detectives to that grouping, not yet on TV but I feel sure it is only a matter of time. For years I have been a lover of crime fiction only recently discovering that Death Before Morning with its detective heroes Detective Inspector Rafferty and Sergeant Llewellyn is the first of many undiscovered gems. Using the tried and trusted formula of intelligent reasoning and hunches-gut feelings- these new pair take on a murder investigation in a private mental hospital. The only problem is that the victim is not a patient, or a member of staff yet is found dead inside a secure facility.
The police procedures followed in the book would convince anyone that they were written by an expert-one who had served time in that position- and the easy way in which the writer blends her two heroes suggests a long writing apprenticeship. It would be easy for me to reveal the plot but that might spoil it for some, I know it would for me so I finish off by saying, well done, well written and well worth spending a few pennies on. Highly recommended.

Dead Before Morning is classic crime-fiction from Geraldine Evans. The book starts out following our main character, Joseph Rafferty, along with his Ma. We follow Rafferty, and his partner Llewelyn, through their difficulties in dealing with a murder at a local sanitarium.

Rafferty is an interesting main character. In this debut novel, some of his past is exposed, but it leaves you wanting to learn more about it. Much of the novel is focused on the murder itself and finding the culprit(s) behind it, but I think that I would have liked to see more of Rafferty on a personal level. I would have liked to identify more with our main character, if I could have, and I feel that this would have come out with more scenes involving his personal relationships, especially the relationship with his Ma!

Ma was one of my favorite characters. I really would have liked to see more of Rafferty and the banter with his mother! She was highly relatable and made me chuckle on more than one occasion. Ma could have been utilized a lot more in the story, even if she wasn't in any way related to the murder that took place.

Llewelyn is Rafferty's partner. As an intellectual man, he provides some interesting comments during the case. He acts, mostly, as a sounding board for Rafferty and his ideas on the case. I don't know how clear it was if the two were partners or if Rafferty was his superior officer. The story takes place in the UK and I am unfamiliar with their police system, however, I enjoyed learning the ins and outs of a different culture while I was reading.

The murder takes place at a local sanitarium. A young woman is killed, her face brutally mauled, and Rafferty is called to the scene. The different suspects were all interesting in their own right and it made it fun to try and guess if they were involved or telling the truth. I think the problem was that any one of them could have committed the crime, despite Rafferty's preference of one singular person, and it made it a little less exciting when we found out who it truly was. I liked finding out the motivations behind the murder as they were figured out - it was truly interesting.

The last comment I would like to make on the story is that it was very well written and flowed nicely from scene to scene. I was definitely hooked into the story and needed to know who had committed this crime and why. I think that Rafferty is interesting enough to pull you into the next novel to see where he goes with his life and career.

This book had a hold on me from the start. It had everything a crime novel should have including so many twists and turns that I thought I had solved the mystery several times. Loved the twist at the end. Can't wait to get my head into Geraldine's latest that is sitting on my bedside table for tonight! Excellent!

I enjoy police procedurals and picked up this latest one by Geraldine Evans. The writing is seemless, the detective work believable. The mystery goes right to the end with lots of twists and red herrings. Wonderful characters. I especially enjoyed the relationship between Rafferty and his family members and would love to see more of them in the next book...some of these are incredibly fun characters. She could do a whole mystery about these people!

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Review is by RP Dahlke, author of $2.99 humorous mysteries, A DEAD RED CADILLAC & A DEAD RED HEART

If you like a good British mystery then you'll like Dead Before Morning. Detective Inspector Rafferty and his partner, Detective Sergeant Llewellyn are as different as two people can be. They both approach the murder of a young woman with two different styles although Sergeant Llewellyn always defers to his senior officer. This is the story of a brutal murder and how love and hate play pivotal roles. The banter between the protagonists can be funny at times but the game is deadly serious. Geraldine Evans' writing style is straight forward. You get the benefit of not only the dialogue but also their thinking. A very good and satisfying story.

This book got off to a good start but then got buried in minutia. Save your money and try another kindle book!

This is a well written novel that will keep you guessing until the very end. The style of the writer is simple, yet intriguing. At this price, it is real value for money too!