The Gorge

Detective Louise Blackwell, Book 3

By: Matt Brolly

Narrated by: Danielle Cohen

Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

A chilling attack. A missing child. And a twisted killer driven to the very brink.

DI Louise Blackwell is still reeling from her brother Paul's murder when she is brought back from enforced leave and tasked with solving a strange new case - the slaughter of wild sheep at Cheddar Gorge, a place shrouded in mystery and folklore.

When a man is brutally attacked with a machete on the clifftop and a young girl disappears, Louise realises that the horror is just beginning. Rumours of a mythical presence near the gorge are spreading fast, and why is a local environmental cult resisting all attempts to solve the case? With the investigation into Paul's death about to be shelved and her bereaved niece to care for, Louise is under pressure - and running out of time. Can she find the girl and catch the kidnapper before her worst fears come true?

Drawn deeper into the dark and shocking truth behind the crimes, she soon finds she isn't the only one with secrets to hide.

©2020 by Matthew Brolly. (P)2021 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Excellent book and narration!

This series has been a pleasure to read! D.I. Louise Lewis has had more of her share of challenges & tragedies in her life that has forced her to overcome many things both professionally and personally. Her success on the job is well earned & does not come easily, especially when a previous Colleague set her up by instructing her to shoot an unarmed suspect which almost cost her the career she worked hard to achieve. This evil Detective has been attempting to undermine her all the way. Although the superiors believed her, it’s difficult to prove. In spite of all of this, she has solved some major cases. This case was very confusing &all over the place, resulting in the 2 children being taken, and thankfully both returned. Her brother's murderer was revealed also, despite her nemesis attempting shelf the investigation. I am eager to see how this is going to come to a head between them!

I expected better

There is a lot of alcoholism in the book so if that might be a trigger, be aware.

The third book in this series still has DI Louise Blackwell heading a team of detectives in the west of England. Unfortunately, Louise still spends a lot of energy obsessing over her brother’s death, a former colleague now her superior, and her guilty feelings about her family. The case they’re working on is interesting. I was hoping, though, that the character of Louise would have moved on from the angst in the first two books.

The narration of the audiobook was well done.

Characters not developing

This is my last in this series. I keep waiting for characters to develop more, Louise and ANYBODY else. My optimism probably made me go one installment too far. It throws me because the character exploration and development is better in Brolly’s Michael Lambert series.

On the characters: over the course of 3 installments, Louise stays exactly the same and is becoming annoying. She spends A LOT of time hand-wringing and navel-gazing. Same as previous — she feels the need to be focused on her family issues and focused on her case, talks about these competing demands and the guilt they produce INCESSANTLY. The only character more annoying than Louise is her mother - who comes across as completely useless. She’s always calling Louise (during critical case times, naturally), with blown out of proportion home crises and then won’t actually talk to Louise about what is wrong.

I would have loved it if sometimes, instead of having another go at Louise’s navel gazing, we could have heard more from/about some of the other, recurring but flat characters.

The actual “whodunnit” or case plot was interesting, which made me at least finish the book. But oh my. No more Louise for me!

Good Series

I really enjoy this series. DI Lousie Blackwell is a believable character, as are her actions and language. Each book takes on a new case, while continuing to follow Lousies family. The narration is perfection. I recommend this series to anyone.

good read

This book was a good read. My issue was the repeat of how the detective and her former colleague had a run on and she nearly lost her job while be for promoted. Other than that, the story was easy to follow and suspense was thrilling.

Enjoyed

It kept my interest. I enjoyed listening to the book. Looking forward to the next book.