Title: Harlequin (DS Jason Smith #5) by Stewart Giles
Date Published: 5th September 2015
Genre: Police Procedural
Description:
From #1 best-selling author: Stewart Giles comes a new addition to the popular Detective Jason Smith series.
The circus comes to town and children start to disappear.
Detective Sergeant Jason Smith is persuaded to return to work after three weeks of a marijuana induced haze. Forced to endure the leadership of a new DI, the fulsome Bryony Brownhill, Smith is faced with the most difficult investigation of his colourful career.
When the children who vanished are found murdered in various parts of the city, all clues lead to the circus grounds, but Smith and his team are met with a sinister silence everywhere they turn. Smith digs deeper and discovers the cause of this silence; the chain of events that led up to the vile murders that have shattered the hearts of the people of York.
This is an edge-of-your-seat thriller with an ending that you won’t expect.
If you like Police Procedurals, then this is a series you won’t want to miss.
THE SETTING
York is a historic walled city in North Yorkshire, England.
At the confluence of the River Ouse and Foss, York is the traditional county town of the historic county of Yorkshire. York Minster and a variety of cultural and sporting activities make it a popular tourist destination.
THE DETECTIVES
DS Jason Smith is an Australian who was sent to York to live with his Grandmother when his sister disappeared from a beach. He has suffered many losses in his short life and is now a dedicated detective. He is a bit of a loose cannon he has his own way of doing things and that doesn’t always mean following orders and procedures.
DS Thompson is of the same rank as Jason, but he doesn’t have the same support or success. He and Jason have a love/hate relationship which brings a bit of humour to the series. Thompson is old school and thinks his age should give him respect and privileges, but life doesn’t work that way for him.
DC Erica Witton is Jason’s preferred partner they work well together and share a bond. She isn’t always appreciated by Jason, but they care about each other and that brings a different dimension to the series.
What readers are saying about Occam’s Razor:
‘Excellent and truly chilling murder mystery.’ – Maggie May
‘Another compelling detective thriller in the DS Jason Smith series.’ – Kindle Customer
‘A great writer and a great cast of characters inhabit these books. Well worth the time taken to read them.’ – Amazon Customer
‘What a fantastic book as the ending was not expected. This book is very hard to put down, really good storyline’ – Helen Green
‘What a great book had to keep reading it could not put it down I would look forward to read some more.’ – Peter Goulding
BOOKS BY STEWART GILES
DS JASON SMITH SERIES
Book 0.5 – Phobia
Book 1 – Smith
Book 2 – Boomerang
Book 3 – Ladybird
Book 4 – Occam’s Razor
Book 5 – Harlequin
Book 6 – Selene
Book 7 – Horsemen
Book 8 – Unworthy
DC HARRIET TAYLOR SERIES
Book 1 – The Beekeeper
Book 2 – The Perfect Murder
Book 3 – The Backpacker
Review:
Jason Smith has been off work for three weeks after the events in the previous book, Occam’s Razor but is drawn back by the kidnapping of a young boy from his house under the watchful eyes of his parents. When his body turns up and yet another child goes missing, the clues lead to the circus but the people there refuse to talk. Can Smith get to the bottom of the case?
So I’m carrying on my binge read of the Smith series with the fifth one, Harlequin, (you can read my review of the previous book Occam’s Razor here) and I would highly recommend to read a couple of the previous books just because you may miss out on a bit of the story.
Can I just take a moment to just say how creepy the cover of Harlequin is? I’m so glad now I’ve finished it, it will no longer be glaring at me from my kindle!
Like all the Smith books, there’s plenty of action packed into it’s pages and never a dull moment. This one stands out a little from the rest as I found it a little disturbing and after reading it, I’ll probably never look at clowns the same way again (a bit like when I watched IT earlier in the year).
Have you ever read a book that you just want to give the character a good shake? I feel that way about Jason Smith. In some ways he’s matured, like not arguing for the sake of it but in other ways he’s still the same self destructive person he always was. Like smoking marijuana on duty, I don’t care if he’s a great detective, I wouldn’t want anyone who was high as a kite being anywhere near a murder case!
I enjoyed the new edition of DI Bryonny Brownhill after the promotion of Smith’s friend and long time supporter DI Chalmers. She’s tough as nails and seems to be trying to rein in his behaviour, which is a bit like trying to herd cats to me, but it makes an interesting dynamic within the book.
Harlequin is a fast paced police procedural, that may at time bend the rules of believability but is a really entertaining read.
About The Author:
After reading English at 3 Universities and graduating from none of them, I set off travelling 
around the world with my wife, Ann, finally settling in South Africa, where we still live. After Ann dropped a rather large speaker on my head I came up with the idea for a detective series. DS Jason Smith was born. Smith, the first in the series was finished a few months later. 3 years and 8 DS Smith books later, Joffe Books wondered if I would be interested in working with them. As a self-published author, I agreed. However, we decided on a new series – the DC Harriet Taylor Cornwall series. The Beekeeper hit the shelves and hit the number one spot in Australia. The second in the series, The Perfect Murder did just as well. The third in the series, The Backpacker I have self-published and is now available.
Links:
Website: www.stewartgiles.com
Twitter: @stewartgiles
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stewart.giles.33
You can join the Stewart Giles reader club by completing this form https://mailchi.mp/a64f6de4c541/sgreadersclub
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