Dead Wrong

Calladine and Bayliss, Book 1

By: Helen H. Durrant

Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble

Length: 5 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

First a shooting, then a grisly discovery on the common....

Police partners, D.I. Calladine and D.S. Ruth Bayliss race against time to track down a killer before the whole area erupts in violence. Their boss thinks it's all down to drug lord Ray Fallon, but Calladine's instincts say something far nastier is happening on the Hobfield housing estate. Can this duo track down the murderer before anyone else dies and before the press publicise the gruesome crimes?

Detectives Calladine and Bayliss are led on a trail which gets dangerously close to home. In a thrilling finale they race against time to rescue someone very close to Calladine's heart. If you like Angela Marsons, Rachel Abbott, Mel Sherratt, Ruth Rendell, or Mark Billingham you will be gripped by this exciting new crime fiction writer.

Dead Wrong is the first in a new series of detective thrillers featuring D.S. Ruth Bayliss and D.I. Tom Calladine. Tom Calladine is a single, 51-year-old detective inspector who is devoted to his job. His personal life, however, is not so successful.

Having been married and divorced before the age of 21 has set a pattern that he finds difficult to escape. Ruth Bayliss is in her mid-30s, plain-speaking but loyal. She wishes she had more time for the gym and a love life. She uses her demanding workload as an excuse not to try too hard with the men she meets. The series is set in the fictional village of Leesdon on the outskirts of an industrial northern English city. There is little work and a lot of crime.

The bane of Calladine's life is the Hobfield housing estate, breeding ground to all that is wrong with the area that he calls home.

©2015 Helen H. Durrant (P)2016 Audible, Ltd

Critic reviews

"An edge of your seat detective thriller which had me completely enthralled. Calladine and Bayliss are fascinating police partners. The end was both surprising and uplifting." (Beth Boyd)
"A must-read new police procedural that will have you gripped. The characters, setting, and plot are detailed and believable. Can’t wait for the next one." (Sarah Stevens)

Good enough to go forward in the series..

For the most part this was a good book, except that I hate when the serial killer’s deeds are pages and pages of his actions. I like books about serial killers but keep the descriptions of the killings out. I don’t want to read about him cutting the guys fingers off or disemboweling another guy. It’s just too disgusting for words.

Also, since this is not supposed to be romance I absolutely hate when an author writes a little in his or her book, only to have the hero, Tom Calladine, discussing what to get his girlfriend for her birthday, with his partner Ruth, and then crawl into bed with a reporter, Lydia, who was half his age. No matter what kind of book you’re reading 99.9% of women readers hate a hero who is acting like a manwhore.

It really did keep you trying to figuring out who the killer was. I was still trying to figure it out very late in the book, and I like that. Knowing who the killer is right off the bat is not for me, and I would never have guessed who the killer was in this book. Totally stunned.

There was no swearing to speak of, except the F-bomb. It was released 10 times. I found that rather odd. There were no sexual feelings whatsoever, and a sex scene that was real close to fade-to-black.

As for the narrator: No matter how good or bad the book was I would have listened to it. Jonathan Keeble is totally awesome; his voices and emotional reading is just spectacular.

The details of the murders were so gross

The Details of the murders were so graphic. I wasn’t expecting this. I like a good mystery but that was over the top. I had bought 3 books so I could listen to all 7 in the series. I had to continue to listen to see if I could make it through. Next time I will buy one book at a time.

boring

reads like a made for tv movie from the 1970's. not a very interesting plot. the ending was utterly implausible. descriptions of gore don't make up for the lack of any real story.

Did not like this book

The narration was terrible in an effort to change voices for different people it made some of them irritating and for me hard to listen to. Because of this I didn't really get into the story line.

Required Text

Jonathan Keeble's stellar performance isn't enough to save this (audio)book from its muddled plot, pacing issues, and poor characterizations.

Narration is fabulous!

I can listen to Johnathan Keeble read a phone book as they say...he has a fabulous voice and his accents are wonderful even his female characters are well done not over the top ridiculous as some male narrators do. The story was good and the introductions to these characters was a good start to getting know them. I will definitely go on to the next book in the series .

how dis these people become detectives?

they spend so much time second guessing themselves and are too self absorbed to detect anything.

Dead Wrong

I enjoyed this book, it was fast pacing and had a good ending. Looking forward to reading the next in the series. The narration was very good.

Charming

Not great literature, but nonetheless enjoyable. It has very charming flawed characters. Nice plot, too. Jonathan Keeble is a great narrator. I’ve listened to him with other authors as well - he makes the books he does even better than they may otherwise be!

Really liked this book!

I, for one, enjoyed this book, and the narrator even more! I think he does a great job with male, and female voices, which I find humorous, not offensive. I also didn't think the gory descriptions were in too much detail. I've listened to much harder descriptions by other authors. I'm prchasing the next book in the series now.
Audible addict,
in Santa Fe, N M

Not for Mark Billingham fans

What could Helen H. Durrant have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Not describe women as either "struggling with her weight" or a "stunner", and write grammatical English (a person is sitting, not sat).

What does Jonathan Keeble bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

An excellent job of bringing banal characters to life.

Any additional comments?

The storyline is obvious, the characters generic, and the writing is extremely poor.

disappointing

I thought the torture scenes were overly graphic...chilling to begin with...The they went on too long..became almost gratuitous and somewhat lost credibility

Couldn’t finish it

Really poor writing. Why is she so obsessed with women’s weight?
Reader’s portrayal of female characters makes them sound like men in drag.
Plot very banal and predictable.

Dead wrong

This book is not for the faint hearted, contains graphic and gruesome scenes. I did not finish it

Just not good

Didn't like any of the protagonists, didn't like the writing, didn't like the many references to weight as a means of describing people.
Narrator did his best in the circumstances.

Good start to a promising series

I never write reviews but felt the need to due to the misleading reviews of others. This book is not anymore gruesome or graphic than any other crime thriller. I read some reviews and half expected a police procedural version of the Saw films, get a grip. Good story albeit a bit samey but essentially that's all I want in crime detective series. Similar to Helen Fields, David Blake and LJ Ross that I've read prior to this. Also...the wonderful Jonathan Keeble does a great job again narrating. I'm happy to find another good series to get stuck into and onto book 2 for me

Calladine and Bayliss get their first hit !

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes.

What about Jonathan Keeble’s performance did you like?

Very well read by Jonathan Keeble and I liked the fact that you tell when he was portraying a female voice without him sounding too "camp".

Any additional comments?

I shall definitely be looking out for the next in the series.

Nothing wrong just formula

Nothing wrong just a formula. No twist was unpredictable. Not s bad version of the sane old story.

loved it.

easy to follower.
interesting story line
reader good at the doing the voices
would buy another book.

Easy to follow while doing other tasks

loved it. nice easy simple listen with a cheeky twist in it. will keep you wondering all the way through. can't wait to listen the other books