Black Money

Luke Sackville Crime Thrillers, Book 2

By: S J Richards

Narrated by: Samuel James

Length: 8 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

Black Money’ - money that is made from illegal trade or criminal activity.

Ex-DCI Luke Sackville could not have predicted the challenges he would face when he joined Filchers, a business outsourcing company, as their Head of Ethics.

He and his team are catapulted into helping MI6 thwart the activities of an international terrorist organisation. Initial suspicions centre on money laundering, but when women are abducted and bodies start to turn up it becomes clear there is a lot more at stake.

The risks are high and there is danger at every turn as the tendrils of the organisation reach into the home lives of more than one of Luke’s team.

Black Money is the second in the Luke Sackville crime series. If you like a team you can root for then you’ll love this thriller. Perfect for fans of JD Kirk, LJ Ross, JM Dalgleish, David J Gatward and Alex Smith.

©2023 S J Richards (P)2024 S J Richards

An enjoyable, unique 4 1/2 star read

Black Money: A Suspenseful British Crime Thriller (Luke Sackville Crime Thrillers Book 2), my second read from British author S J Richards. An enjoyable crime thriller without being focused on the police. Those TNT television watchers of The Closer will like these books with the quirky characters. “I received a free Audible copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review." The gifting of this book did not affect my opinion of it. I look forward to reading more from this author, I have to get Fog of Silence: A Gripping British Crime Thriller (Luke Sackville Crime Thrillers Book 3). (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 - July 24, 2018.

Hooked on Luke Sackville

I really enjoyed the cast of characters and their growing camaraderie in this 2nd Luke Sackville book. Each individual’s job position & personality bring life to the novel. The great narration helped me truly relate to each unique character.

This plot involves a mult-layered set of crimes to solve. Although the civilian company is the initial focus of the mystery, many different angles surface throughout. This makes the intrigue escalate and kept me hooked right up to the end. Luke leads his team through it all with skill but isn’t shown as perfect - resulting in him becoming one of my favorite sleuths. He’s a combination of ex-detective, cool boss & conflicted family man.

If you like the jargon of a UK crime novel/mystery and colorful characters this one is for you. I’m hooked & ready for future adventures in this series. Thanks so much S. J. Richards & Aubrey Parsons for another fantastic work of fiction.

Great story and performance

Anyone who loved the first installment of the Luke Sackville series by S.J. Richards will love this second book revisiting the ex-cop turned ethics enforcer and his ragtag team as they try to save the day.

If you love a good crime thriller with an intriguing twist, Richards will deliver. He has created something unique. We often ex-police sleuths set up as private detectives or security workers. We also see journalists or bakers or similar professionals somehow solving crimes better than the bumbling cops. But Richards has taken these two tropes of related, but different genres, and made something new. Maybe it’s a cozy crossover, but I don’t think that’s what it’s supposed to be.

We have Luke, our broken, brusque, but loveable ex-cop leading the pack of misfit, but equally delightful team of new investigators through this strange corporate world. Not one of them is experienced in investigations, but somehow are all better than the cops. As both a cozy mystery and a thriller fan, it’s the sweet spot in the middle I love! And the sometimes dark humor with which Richards weaves his tale absolutely delights me. Outside of the occasional cozy mystery, I’ve never seen a crime/mystery writer that offered such comedy.

Like so many other reviewers, Josh is probably my favorite. I enjoyed his new friend Mandy this go around. I really hope we’ll see more of her in the future. But I also really loved getting to know some of the other characters more this time around.

The entire storyline this time was absolutely fascinating, and terrifying. How easily either thing could happen to any female presenting person. Especially in the world of rideshares and food delivery, the next generation might be more trusting than previous ones. It’s definitely something we have to consider while raising the world’s children.

I can’t wait to read the next one and see what the group will get up to next. As far as the audio performance, I much perferred this one over the first one. I had to look up who narrated both of them, because they had a similar sound, but I was pretty sure it was a different person. I can't really put my finger on why I preferred this one, but I did. I believe Mr. Parsons did a fine job on the first one, but I just slightly preferred Mr. James' work. Either way, I enjoyed listening the story and Mr. James brought it to life so well. I especially felt that he did a great job in his ability to give each character a distinct voice. Josh sounds so different from Luke, but he had no problem showing that.

If you love a good crime book, especially one with great twists and sometimes dark humor. This book does cover some very dark and disturbing topics, so please be very cognizant of the content warnings.

Content Warnings: Kidnapping, Child Abuse, Sexual Assault, Nonconsensual Prostitution, Human Trafficking, Murder, Violence, Torture, Infidelity, Parental Death, Child Death, Spousal Death,

dull of suspense and quite emotional

another belter of a book. I have to say I slightly preferred the voice of the narrator of the first book, but I suppose it's just a quesrion of getting used to it.
I reallu recommend this.series and can't wait for the next instalment

Ready for round two…

This is the second book in a four book series featuring ex-DCI Luke Sackville. The storyline is right out of today’s headlines, and the characters are very relatable to the point of familiarity. Like running into them on a daily basis. I also love the fact that I don’t guess who the killer is until the end, which makes the book even more compelling.