The Harlech Beach Killings

A Snowdonia Murder Mystery, Book 2 (A DI Ruth Hunter Crime Thriller)

By: Simon McCleave

Narrated by: Deryn Edwards

Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

A murdered millionaire. A violent drug operation. Can a detective with a haunted past stop the next assassination?

Detective Inspector Ruth Hunter is still struggling to deal with her stress. So when the body of a businessman washes up on a secluded North Wales shore, the former London cop is anxious to prove she can lead the local investigative team and nail the killer. But as she digs into the dead millionaire’s business affairs, DI Hunter discovers a disturbing link to an infamous Liverpudlian drug lord....

Tracking down clues alongside a hot-headed partner, she worries his private vendetta could seriously jeopardize bringing the gangster to justice. And between botched raids, tight-lipped suspects, and a slew of cold case murders, she’s sure the criminal mastermind must have corrupt players in his pocket...Can Hunter take down the mobster before he orders a highly personal hit?

The Harlech Beach Killings is the second book in the suspenseful Ruth Hunter Crime Thriller series. If you like chilling police procedurals, true-to-life characters, and psychological twists, then you’ll love Simon McCleave’s pause-resisting thrill ride.

A murdered millionaire. A violent drug operation. Can a detective with a haunted past stop the next assassination?

©2019 Simon McCleave (P)2020 Simon McCleave

Another great book!

I’m so glad I found this series, it’s really excellent and I can’t wait to start the next book in this wonderful and exciting series. I want to know more about Sarah!

WOW

I do not normally review but had to as this story was wonderful!! I read & listen to books constantly for 40 years & when I picked the first book, it was a filler while I waited for another to come out…but now I’m HOOKED. I got caught up in this one for many reasons. I found my biological father last year…and was rejected. Of course, I didn’t kill him, he does have Parkinson’s though. It hurts to be rejected TWICE, but I did get a good Dad to raise me so I don’t think I’m homicidal. The storylines are phenomenal & the description of Nick’s alcoholism are so real, so very very real. Just WOW. And nothing like a major cliffhanger to leave a reader cursing at the author at the end!! Time to go start the next…

So disappointing

I thought I’d discovered a gold mine when I found Simon McCleave and his lengthy list of books that just seem to keep coming. What a huge disappointment to discover that his main character is gay. Why, oh why do authors feel compelled to do this these days? Simon McCleave, as good a storyteller as he is, feels wooden and unnatural when describing DI Ruth Hunter’s personal relationships. With the lesbian population being at maybe 5%, who is he writing for? I can’t relate to a main character describing her intimate relationships with another woman and neither can he. I wish these books had come with an LGBTQ tag or reference to save me time and money.

Cliche and Contrived

I was hoping to like this series but as I feared after the first book, the main characters can't pull themselves up by their own boot straps and are quagmired in tiresome woes that are self inflicted. Also, this story seems to be a compilation of pieces and parts from other books and movies. The "Abi" character is very much like the "Aaron" character from Primal Fear (1996 movie) at some points but components then also come from story lines of multiple personality/twins that was done to death in the late 90's into the 2000's. I also understand that the author may not have a very good grasp of the topographical area he is referring to. Apparently it would be impossible to see ferries from Harlech Beech going to Ireland, and Beddgelert is not in the shadow of Snowdon. I know that we need to allow for artistic license but I like police procedurals based in rural Snowdonia, Wensleydale, Scottish Highlands, etc... in part, for the scenery descriptions.

I really like Deryn Edwards' voice and I would definitely try other books where she is the performer.