Misplaced Loyalty

Meredith & Hodge Novels, Book 1

By: M K Turner

Narrated by: Lee Beddow

Length: 14 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's Summary

When it seems that all is lost, and you have no hope, you need someone to look after your best interests. Be careful, misplaced loyalty can prove fatal.

Detective Patsy Hodge has left her old life behind to start a new job with Bristol CID. She attends a suspicious death with her new boss: straight-talking, no nonsense Detective Inspector John Meredith. Within days the body count begins to rise, as victims, old and new, are discovered to have died by lethal injection. Assisted suicide or euthanasia? Meredith calls it murder.

There is an attraction between the two detectives, who circle each other, but both Meredith and Hodge are carrying an enormous amount of emotional baggage, and soon their pasts threaten to overwhelm their future. As the investigation gathers pace, tension mounts within the team, and someone takes an unhealthy interest in Patsy, threatening her life, and she no longer knows who to trust.

Misplaced Loyalty is the first book in the Meredith & Hodge series. If you like great storytelling, surprising plot twists, and compelling characters, then you are ready to meet Meredith & Hodge. Get up your copy of Misplaced Loyalty today.

©2012 Marcia Turner (P)2019 Marcia Turner

Entertaining

Misplaced Loyalty is an entertaining book with a surprising ending. The large number of characters introduced in this first book in the series was a little daunting but the story flowed well. The narrator brought Meredith to life.

Wow, I really enjoyed this.

This is a very easy listen. The story never dragged and the few times I thought I knew where it was going there was anew twist thrown in. This was very well written and very well read.

Misplaced Loyalty

This was a really good whodunnit. Kept me guessing to the end.
The relationship dynamics were done well and I will definitely listen to book 2.

A must listen

When I first saw this I thought it was going to be a mystery thriller, what I did not realize was that it is set in Bristol, England. I usually don't listen or read mysteries that are set in England, I prefer to watch it on TV. However, I am glad I picked this book up because I loved it. The story doesn't just concentrate on the murder mystery but the characters themselves and I really liked it. Yes, there were times I felt like slapping Patsy for what she would do and say and there are parts that I found hard to believe but I gave it five stars because I did not figure out who did it, which is saying something and the author had me hooked from beginning to end. Not only that but the 14 hours of audio flew by and I did not want it to end.
I noticed that not everyone liked it but it all depends on your taste.
This is what my husband would call raw drama, if it was made into a TV series because it is realistic to human behavior, the characters are not black and white.

There is profanity but I liked how the author only used it when necessary, I did not cringe when one of the characters curse. There is a sort of sex scene but it isn't graphic and innuendos with mild violence.

Slow start but worth sticking with it!

The start us so slow that I nearly called it quits - really glad I stuck with it as I think it was a great story and look forward to the next one.

Romance or crime novel?

The problem I have with this book is the fact that this seems to be more about the characters developing relationships - a love triangle - really, then it is about them solving a series of deaths. And, of course, it almost seems that Patsy, the love interest, is so irresistible to both of them, as well as the subject of jealous anger of one of the female officers who is in love with Meredith, one of the men who wants Patsy so badly. Add to that a stalker of either Patsy or Meredith, and you really don't know how the writer puts a plot together for figuring out who the killer is. I get that this is the first book of, what seems to be a series, so we are being introduced to characters, but I would say that this relationship should have developed over a number of books, especially, since Patsy had just moved from a different precinct because of similar problems - she was having an affair with her superior officer. And once again, she's attracted to her superior officer. 

So the problems Patsy is facing, besides being the only person on the investigative team of half a dozen or so officers to actually seem to be finding any clues, or making any progress on the case, is a stalker who knows who she is immediately upon moving into her new home in a new city, and is able to get into her house and move things around, to one of her suitors being arrogant, possessive, and jealous (who is a good candidate for the stalker), to a jealous co-worker who is in love with their boss (who could also be a candidate for the stalker), and falling in love with her boss and having another workplace relationship which she seems to have fallen into the moment she walked into the new station. And, conveniently, her boss breaks his leg early on in the book, which allows Patsy to move into his house (that and the stalker)

There are bits and pieces of actual crime investigative work, as Patsy ties a series of suicides together. I have to say, the killer came as a surprise, and in some ways justified the depth of characterization/romance that this book seemed to be.

The narration was fine, enjoyed the voice.

A twisty turning mystery that doesn't disappoint

I'd read an ebook copy of this story and liked it enough that I wanted to hear it told. (I'm a huge audiobook fan and prefer audio over print most days.) The narrator did a fabulous job bringing these characters to life. The story itself deftly blends the mystery with a romance and makes both work. Even though, having read the book previously, I knew 'who done it' I still enjoyed how the clues rolled out and while I didn't guess who the murderer was the first time through, the clues are all there and it all makes sense.

OMG this is a roller coaster read!!!

I am hooked on this series for sure. M K Turner created a novel with all kinds of suspense and the fun part is it is a police crime procedural and it's full of amorous pursuits. This is a page turner..there is not a dull moment in this novel. It is full of twists that make the end a surprise and I should known moment. The characters are amazing. There are lots of strong personalities both male and female which is refreshing and part of what keeps the action moving a the nice pace it does through this novel. Lee Beddow does a great job of bringing the characters to life the narration in this audio book.

So, So, Bad

I did listen to the whole thing, because I wanted to know whodunnit -- what it murder or assisted suicide? Is the stalker the same person as the murderer? Is there an accomplice? BUT the characters in this cop novel have the emotional maturity of 14 year olds; they spend more time thinking about who is sleeping with whom than about who might be a killer.
I enjoy a good Hepburn-Tracy sparring match; I don't object to some love interest in my crime stories. But really, if there were crime in my neighborhood, I would not trust this bunch of hormonal, uncontrolled yahoos to solve it. I lost all respect for the lead female bc of her attitude toward her boss. (No spoilers, but among other things she abets his functional alcoholism.)
Was hoping to find a new series to enjoy. NOT.

Fascinating

Thoroughly enjoyed listening to this story. The narrator was so easy to listen to and understand. The content kept me wondering what would happen next.

I might be a bloke but I still feel pain.

At almost fifteen hours, this is a long book but one that holds the reader's attention throughout. Misplaced Loyalty is a British police procedural set in Bristol, where a rash of apparent suicides seem to have a common element: death by a lethal morphine injection. They could well be assisted suicides, illegal, yes, but often compassionate, until some of the bodies have bruising suggestive of not being a death desired by the victim.
The investigation is led by DI John Meredith, a good detective but with less than admirable attributes, hard drinking and overly fine of the younger ladies and greatly admired by his colleague, Tanya Jennings. His team had recently been joined by very capable and upwardly mobile Patsie Hodge who, to Tanya's disgust, seemingly had attracted his attention in more than a professional capacity. All of the characters are fully functioning, fleshed out people, very real, if somewhat annoying at times. And their stories run alongside the pursuit of the case, with Christmas thrown in as a bonus. The story is intriguing with various red herrings laid down to distract both police and reader, with an ending which was most unexpected. Narration throughout by Lee Beddow is good: no fieworks, just good, solid delivery, nicely paced and intoned, and with character voice definition. He is pleasant to hear and has clear renunciation making his reading easily understood. A nice, solid performance.

I very much enjoyed this book, the first in a series of Meredith and Hodge mysteries, and look forward to reading more. I was very fortunate in being freely gifted with a complimentary copy of Misplaced Loyalty, at my request, by the rights holder, via Audiobook Boom. Thank you so much. M.K.Taylor has now been added to my list of authors to watch for in the future and I can recommend this to all who enjoy British police procedural with well developed personalities in the writing. And fans of the who-dun-it? This is a!so a romance, and I personally usually dislike this; but it was far from being of the smootchy kind : this one was fun. A good read. And a striking cover.

I was still listening at 1 am ...

At nearly 15 hours I initially was a little daunted, expecting it to take me 3 days or so to listen to … it actually took me two days.

I was drawn in in the first chapter and it demanded my attention till the last.

Misplaced Loyalty is a police procedural story, set in Bristol (UK) that follows the investigation of an ever increasing number of apparent suicides by morphine overdose … or are they assisted suicides, or murder.

The investigation is led by DI John Meredith and his team, as their professional and personal relationships develop.

The narration by Lee Beddow was excellent, with good pace and characterisation, through his voice the characters came to life. You cannot ask for much more.

Throughout the book there are several red herrings that develop in your mind only to be disproved in subsequent chapters. The twist in the tail in the last few chapters however was superb.

I look forward to listening to the subsequent books in the Meredith & Hodge series. I am still wondering who the stalker is – I have some ideas, but I am sure all will be revealed at some point …

Full Disclosure;
This book was given to me for free at my request in exchange for an unbiased review.

An excellent thriller which kept me in the the of my seat

What an excellent storyline. Highly recommended. This will keep you guessing. I loved the characters of Meredith and Hodge. They feel real and you begin to believe these are real lives you are involved in. An excellent who done it. Well narrated as usual.

A really good mystery

A solid crime/mystery with a bit of romance.
There were a couple of twists at the end which made things very interesting although I did find the 'surprise' villain a cliche as this type of character is, more often than not, the culprit in the end.
The narration is excellent.
I liked the main characters and I look forward to listening to the rest of the series.

I voluntarily reviewed an audio review copy.

Found this book very hard to stop listening to

This is the first MK Turner book I have listened to and it certainly won't be the last. The story was well written and the narration excellent - which made the characters come to life. Overall very enjoyable.

Great book

I really enjoyed this book. The story keeps you captivating the whole way through. The narrator did a great job with bringing the characters to life. It's a great crime story with interesting ending. The first one in the serie and it did not disappoint.

Enjoyable crime story

This isn’t the type of crime story I usually listen to as I favour some of the big name American authors. This book took me a while to get into and sort out the main characters. Having said all that I actually really enjoyed the story and after a short break I look forward to the next one in the series

Great

It's good! I've listened to a few different styles of books on audible and this one I've managed to keep listening. The narrator is very easy to listen to. The chapter length is good too. Great storyline. Not too many characters to keep track of. I love Meredith! He's a charismatic nightmare! Patsy will need to watch herself!

Great listen

Had this series in my library for a while and only got round to listening to them at the start of the year. I love to listen to book series together when I can and this one certainly hasn’t been a disappointment.

The story is excellent and narration really good, I’ve been put off by certain narrators in the past who’ve dampened what could have been great books but I thought the narration and story in this instance complemented each other brilliantly.

Hooked

I really wasn't sure to start with but I stuck to it and oh my days I was hooked. Definitely left me wanting more.