Buried Crimes (DCI Sophie Allen #4) by Michael Hambling

Buried Crimes (DCI Sophie Allen #4) Reviews

• 
  Linda Strong

  DCI Sophie Allen is the expert on violent crimes and murder. There are two small bodies, buried one on top of the other, a girl and a boy. Sophie has to investigate these deaths, which most likely occurred at least 20 years ago.
  
  It takes Sophie, as well as her team, to dig deep into family history. This crime affects the entire village of Dorchester … and who among them are holding back secrets? Who would have wanted these children dead?
  
  This is the 4th in this series, however, it reads very well as a stand-alone.
  
  The characters are growing and changing in each successive book. Sophie is not a spring chicken anymore, and she uses her criminal psychology background to solve the crimes that come her way. Rae is a fairly new team member. Formerly a man who is now a female, she runs into some problems along the way, but Sophie is her champion and Rae is very good at her job. DS Barry Marsh works alongside Sophie and is the perfect foil for her perceived roughness.
  
  All the books in this series have been well-written. The suspense is not overdone, but there’s always that question of who, what, when, where and most importantly, why. The author does a marvelous job of explaining it all leaving the reader very satisfied.
  
  Highly recommended.
  
  My sincere thanks to the author / Joffe Books / Netgalley who provided a digital copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.
  
• 
  Trina

  I received this arc from Netgalley.
  
  This was a huge disappointment. First of all the title of this book should have been 'Let's see how much we can talk about Sophie Allen's family'. Or 'The life of a transgender person at their job'. If I wanted to read all about a transgender person's ups and downs on the job, that's what I would have gotten. We don't need to be beat over the head with it. As it is, I have zero interest in that subject. Hopefully Rae will transfer to somewhere else in the next book. I'm overjoyed that Sophie has a wonderful, loving well put together family but can we solve this murder please? This next bit had me shaking my head. I'm not using names so I don't spoil it. Okay, a man has been found dead and it's established that he'd recently started dating. The woman has spoken with police and been fingerprinted. Her fingerprints turned up on the headboard, in the dead man's bedroom. Barry Marsh asks Sophie 'should we get her (the woman) to explain' why her fingerprints are on the headboard. What??!! Really?? Why the hell do you think they are there? If Barry had to work by himself, no crimes would ever get solved. By the time I got to 60% I was ready to toss this book. I kept checking to see how far I was from completing it, so that tells you how interesting it was. Those were just some of the things that annoyed me but I've wasted enough time on this book, so I'll leave it at that.
• 
  Bookish

  I absolutely love this series! It keeps getting better and better. I'm devouring them and cannot wait for the next one.
  
  The development of all the characters is done extremely well, the crimes are more twisty and turny and the settings are just as good as they've always been.
  
  I'm glad that Rae is still an important member of the team and hasn't been given the back seat treatment and I enjoyed the parts with Neil and his prickish behaviour and how they were dealt with. I can see him becoming a vicious and disturbing villain pretty soon.
  
  Patiently waiting for the next book as I write this.
  
  *Huge thanks to Michael Hambling, Joffe Books and NetGalley for this copy in exchange for an honest review*
• 
  Kathy

  Must back out of this series. I did get to 54% completion, decided this is not my kind of literature and went to final chapter to confirm I had it right without the pain of reading anymore tawdry details. Not your normal police procedural, or to put it another way...all that is abnormal is front and center. This is clearly what interests this author.
  
• 
  CL

  Two small bodies are found buried one on top of the other. DCI Sophie Allen and her team are called to investigate. As they dig into a crime that effects the entire Village of Dorchester they begin to uncover secrets some would prefer not be known. This is a steady read and can be read as a stand-alone story. Great read. I would like to thank the Publisher and Net Galley for the chance to read this ARC.
• 
  Ashley Gillan

  I want to start by saying that this book is the fourth in a series but I will be reviewing it as a standalone novel. It definitely can be read as a standalone; while there are some references to previous storylines the main plot itself is completely independent of any other books.
  
  So, to begin. The novel centers around the bodies of two young children which are found in a garden 20 years after the children's death. DCI Sophie Allen and her team are taxed with finding out not only who the children are, but what might've happened to them. Not an easy task 20 years after the fact.
  
  Well......I should start by saying that the mystery was very good. It was compelling and interesting to think about how a cold case could unfold. The mystery was also one of those that slowly unfolds before really slapping you in the face, which I like. It keeps you guessing.
  
  There were also some really compelling characters in the novel. There's a transgender detective, who is struggling to navigate social life post-transition. There's also a really interesting, mysterious woman at the center of the novel, who the author hints may appear in subsequent books.
  
  However, I was disappointed in this novel, overall. The ending just kind of happened. Like, one minute you're waiting for the climax of the last 200 pages, and suddenly they just kind of walk up and get the person to confess. Then it's over. Hurray? I was a little shell-shocked to say the least.
  
  The writing was also a little dry. The conversations felt very formal. Not like people would talk at all. That made diving into the novel a little harder, with the conversations not really drawing you in.
  
  Bottom line: I'd probably pick up another novel in this series, and encourage mystery lovers to give this one consideration, but it's certainly not among my favorites. Keep it for a rainy, boring day.
• 
  Susan

  The Freemans have recently moved to their new home, and decide to do some gardening, when they find two bodies buried under a bush. The time frame suggests that they have been there for twenty years. Its DCI Sophie Allen and her team's job to investigate.
  For me this series has too much personal details of the police interwoven into the story. As I don't really like the characters this creates a problem for me.
  A NetGalley Book.
• 
  David Stimpson

  Book No. 4 and they are getting better and better? Clever Stories and good Characters
• 
  Gill Chivas

  Still really enjoying this series! Highly recommended!
• 
  Nolene Driscoll

  I was given an ARC of this book in return for an honest review.
  
  I found this book to be a great read. I love Michael Hambling's writing style. It is easy to read, fast paced and suspenseful with lots of twists and turns. It had me guessing and changing my mind a lot about "who done it".
  
  Two children have been laid buried in a back garden for over 20 years. Why haven't they been missed?
  
  DCI Sophie Allen is given this cold case to investigate. Also on her team are DC Barry Marsh and Rae a fairly new member of the team who is a transgender. Not only has DCI Allen have to deal with the investigation but she also becomes embroiled in office politics, namely Rae's nemesis.
  
  This is a book I couldn't put down and thoroughly enjoyed. Kept me on the edge of my seat right until the end.
  
  Look forward to reading more by Michael Hambling.
• 
  Sheila Joyner

  I’m afraid this book just didn’t work for me. I’ve tried the previous books in the series (having bought the set) and I’ve struggled with them. I just don’t like Sophie. I’m binning the lot.
• 
  Marsha

  This the fourth in the series of eight Sophie Allen mysteries. I loved the first three. This one, on the other hand, not so much. Its premise is that to children were murdered 20 years ago, and now we have to figure out what happened. Aside from the fact that I find it impossible to believe that multiple jurisdictions would be able and available to spend so much time on a 20-year-old case, I find the entire thing more than a little suspect and unbelievable, and the conclusion of which is unsatisfiable.
  It seems for a bit that not everything is going to actually be answered, but it's sort of is in the end, but not conclusively so. There are still questions with proposed answers, but nothing is secured down. And being that that really is the case in life, I suppose that's okay, but it's sort of begs the question, "what is the actual point of the entire case?"
  On top of that, the last couple chapters just seem to be dragging and trying to solve those final questions but not in a satisfying manner. Overall, quite a disappointment – but I'm still looking forward to the next one. "One bad apple" and all that…
• 
  Susan

  The death of children is never an easy subject to read or write about. Having the deaths occur in the not-very-recent past isn't much of a buffer for emotions. DCI Sophie Allen works extra hard to uncover what happened to the small twins found buried in a family's garden. Unraveling their past ends up involving a myriad of other people, dead and alive, and along the way they find additional murders (maybe). The maze that Allen and her co workers go through to solve the mystery took the forefront in this book. Personal stories did not play a prominent role with the exception of Rae, who has successfully completed her transition from a man. I enjoy reading the overriding personal arcs as much as I do the individual mysteries. This one does not disappoint.
  
  A copy of this book was provided by NetGalley and Joffe Books in exchange for an honest review.
• 
  Sandra Hooke

  If you are a fan of crime fiction, Dorset and emancipated women then this is a really good book it’s part of a series and each book does stand alone but the background of the characters develops as the series moves along so best to read them in order.
  
  There are some cliches that spoil the substance of the books kindly father figures and nasty, vindictive superiors spring to mind and Sophie’s way of handling the latter smacks of lazy plot development unless it progresses into something harder and brutal in later books.
  
  However the overall plots are skilful and the power play between the sisters was fascinating and it wasn’t until the holiday in Weymouth that I had an inclination I may have been suspecting the wrong one!
• 
  AngryGreyCat

  Buried Crimes and The Beekeeper are this month’s reads over at book clubs on Goodreads. Buried Crimes was quite good. It involves a somewhat cold case, bodies are discovered buried in a garden and they had been there for quite a while. The crime centers around two children who slip through the safety net and no one knows what happened until their bodies are found in the garden of Finch Cottage. There is quite a bit going on in here as the case is investigated and connected crimes are discovered. The characters are not always what they seem and DCI Sophie Allen is a competent and sympathetic investigator.
• 
  Jean

  I think one of the admirable things about the DCI Sophie Allen Series is that Michael Hambling is inclusive and timely in quiet but effective ways. For instance, in Buried Crimes one of Sophie’s daughters learns about a potential female circumcision and the way the authorities would handle that is explored. Another example, is that one of the police assigned to Sophie is someone dealing with prejudice. This is a fantastic way to introduce readers to people and challenges that they might not have thought very much about.
  
  Not only are the books timely, they are carefully crafted and a pleasure to read. I recommend them.
• 
  Tony Hisgett

  This was a decent story but I didn’t enjoy it as much as the previous books. I still thought Sophie and her team and family were interesting, but the way the story developed didn’t grab me and I found the ending a bit of an anticlimax.
  I also thought more could have been made of the way Sophie handled her vindictive, superior officer.
  After finishing I noticed a few reviewers didn’t like Rae, I actually found the inclusion of a transgender officer interesting and definitely would not like the author to move her on.
  
• 
  M R B Davis

  Two bodies are discovered in a garden leading Sophie Allen to solve a crime committee 20 years previously. Logical detective work unravels a strange family history, not helped by the return of senior officer with issues. A treatise in how tragic circumstances can arise and the impact it has on people's lives.
• 
  MARTIN WITHERS

  Very good read.
  
  Delightful crime thriller,brilliantly written and moves at a fast pace. Good characters who seem very real and a tight plot.