In the dead of night, 72-year-old Miriam Narracott is found wandering on Exmoor, holding a knife and covered in blood. Inside the family farmhouse lies the body of her adult son, Gabe.
CSI Ally Dymond is on compassionate leave, but when approached by the new DI, recently arrived from London and eager to have Ally’s keen eye and local knowledge on the case, she finds herself being drawn back in.
With their only suspect Miriam unwilling – or unable – to talk, the team must dig into the family’s history to uncover a motive. Instead they find evidence that Gabe was involved with a criminal network, suggesting a completely different chain of events. But if Miriam isn’t the killer – then who is?
The gripping second novel in the CSI Ally Dymond series.
Thank you to HQ Stories for very kindly sending me a proof copy of Slaughterhouse Farm.
After reading Breakneck point last year which I absolutely raved about and reviewed with a 5-star rating, I was super eager to get started on the follow up, Slaughterhouse Farm.
We meet our brilliant lead character again, CSI Ally Dymond, in her Devon village where she and her daughter Megan are still recovering from the attack that happened in Breakneck Point. (If you don’t know then you really need to buy and read book 1 in the series! )
Ally is on compassionate leave and is questioning herself as to whether she returns to role as a CSI for Devon & Cornwall Police Force. With her daughter nearly dying after a brutal attack, and still recovering, as a Mum she is putting her daughters welfare first, all be it with Megan getting stronger everyday, Megan is starting to get fed up with being wrapped in cotton wool.
I love the way Ms Munro has woven so much emotion into what is a crime fiction novel, its done with such prowess, and certainly shows another side to anyone working with the Police Force. The dynamic between mother and daughter is wonderful and I loved this part of Slaughterhouse Farm.
The plot is fast moving and easy to follow, but not so easy that I guessed the outcome! The cast of supporting character’s is really well written and they fit in perfectly with the storyline.
I’m not going to give anything away, but this is an explosive crime fiction novel that’s full of surprises, some good and some bad!
As a follow up and book 2 in the series, Slaughterhouse Farm is excellent and Ms Munro is a hugely talented author. At 406 pages long, I read Slaughterhouse Farm in 2 days, I could not put it down!.
A must for fans of crime fiction series that hit the police procedural mark plus the realistic emotions of people whose lives are affected by crimes.
My rating – 5 stars!
T. Orr Munro was born in Hampshire to an English mother and a Greek-Armenian father who later moved to Devon. After university she trained as a CSI, then became a secondary school teacher. She changed career at 33 to become a police and crime journalist. She has since returned with her family to live in North Devon, the setting for Breakneck Point. Her time as a CSI provided much of the inspiration for the novel, shining a light on what happens behind the crime scene tape.
Thank you so much Tina for being a guest on my blog, it is a huge honour!
JW: I’d like to start by asking, have you always wanted to be a writer? And where did the idea of Breakneck Point come from?
TOM: Yes, I have wanted to be a writer for as long as I can remember. I wrote my first ‘book’ at 14 which was a terrible plagiarised version of a novel I’d just read! Until I wrote Breakneck Point, I had always seen myself as a potential YA novelist. It was a friend who got me thinking when they asked me that as someone who’d been a CSI and then a police and crime journalist for twenty odd years, why had I never written a crime novel?
JW: Did you base Ally Dymond, the lead character in Breakneck Point on anyone?
TOM: No, she isn’t based on anyone, but I would say she shares a few qualities with one of my sisters including that strong sense of pursuing something because it is the right thing to do even though it could cost you.
JW: Who would you like to see playing the part of Ally Dymond if Breakneck Point was turned into a TV series or movie?
TOM: I think Eve Myles would make a great Ally Dymond.
Eve Myles
JW: As a child growing up, were you an avid reader or was television your thing? Do you have a favourite childhood book or television programme?
TOM: I grew up in rural Devon in the 70s when television wasn’t on 24 hours a day and children’s programmes took up a small part of the schedule, so television was far less significant than it is now. Both my parents were huge readers and passed their love of books onto their children. I would look forward to the weekly mobile library visit with far more anticipation than any television programme. I loved Enid Blyton’s Secret Seven books.
JW: Which book, that you read in 2022, has been your favourite?
TOM: I’ve read some great debuts this year, but the one that stands out for me is The Storytellers by Caron McKinlay (out in May) which I had early sight of. It’s a grab-you by-the-scruff-of-the-neck-and-not-let-you-go-kind-of-book about three women who find themselves in the afterlife where they must face the reckoning of the relationships they had when they were alive. It is a bold, dark, witty tale.
JW: Who do you most admire?
TOM: My grandmother. She was orphaned as a baby during the Armenian Genocide of 1915. She faced enormous hardship in her early life, but she survived it all and went on to create a family that she adored and meant the world to her. She had a steely spirit, but she was incredibly warm and generous, and she loved to laugh.
JW: What do you consider your greatest achievement?
TOM: My children, although it’s an ongoing project!
JW: If you could go back in time, to one historical event, to witness it, what would it be and why?
TOM: I’d like to visit The Globe on the opening night of A Midsummers Night’s Dream. I love Shakespeare and I’ve seen several versions of this play, but I’d love to see how it was originally produced and to experience the atmosphere of an Elizabethan theatre.
JW: What is something you are passionate about aside from writing?
TOM: Greece. I spend a lot of time there and just love it.
JW: If you could invite 4 people to dinner, living or dead, who would you invite and why?
TOM: Robin Williams who I first saw in Mork and Mindy and just thought he was the funniest person I’d ever come across. A brilliantly inventive comedian, he’d keep us entertained, but he always struck me as a nice guy too. Charles Dickens because I’m endlessly fascinated by the era he was writing in and would want to know more about that thin veneer of Victorian prosperity and propriety that masked incredible poverty and deprivation. Elvis because I love live music and go as often as I can, but I was too young to see Elvis. I would ask him very nicely to sing Only Fools Fall in Love. Gerald Durrell because I adored My Family and Other Animals and he’d regale me with brilliant tales of growing up on Corfu which I first visited and fell in love with when I was ten years old.
Robin WilliamsCharles DickensElvis PresleyGerald Durrell
JW: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
TOM: The best piece of advice I was ever given is “that it is better to do something than to regret not doing it.”
JW: What’s next? What are you currently working on??
TOM: I’m currently writing book 2 in the CSI Ally Dymond series. I’m also working on my grandmother’s memoir.
Breakneck Point introduces the character of Ally Dymond, a tough, but flawed Crime Scene Investigator (or Scenes of Crime Officer) consigned to minor crimes in a North Devon backwater after blowing the whistle on corruption. I hadn’t read many novels that had a CSI as their main protagonist and as I used to be a SOCO many years ago (long enough ago that it was more Sherlock Holmes than CSI Miami!) I decided I would write one. I am a massive fan of urban crime, but I specifically wanted to set Breakneck Point in North Devon. North Devon is area that is very close to my heart. I grew up there in the 70s and had what I call an ‘Enid Blyton’ upbringing in a tiny village called Wembworthy. I now live in Barnstaple with my own family. It is as beautiful as the postcards show you, but I wanted to write crime a novel that shows the reality for many, of living in a rural area, a reality that is often at odds with those stunning views. I hope Breakneck Point will be the first of many novels featuring Ally Dymond that I’ll be adding to my author page. Thank you for reading. I’d love it if you followed me on Twitter @Tinaorrmunro or Instagram @tinaorrmunro I also run a blog called Cocktails With My Characters (www.cocktailswithmycharacters.com) where authors drop by the imaginary Tequila Mockingbird Cocktail Bar to give us the inside line on one of their characters. You can also find us on Twitter @cocktails_my and instagram @cocktails_with_my_characters. Join us for a Gin Eyre (sorry!) and chat.
CSI Ally Dymond’s commitment to justice has cost her a place on the major investigations team. After exposing corruption in the ranks, she’s stuck working petty crimes on the sleepy North Devon coast.
Then the body of nineteen-year-old Janie Warren turns up in the seaside town of Bidecombe, and Ally’s expert skills are suddenly back in demand.
But when the evidence she discovers contradicts the lead detective’s theory, nobody wants to listen to the CSI who landed their colleagues in prison.
Time is running out to catch a killer no one is looking for – no one except Ally. What she doesn’t know is that he’s watching, from her side of the crime scene tape, waiting for the moment to strike.
Breakneck Point is a dazzling read. I absolutely flew through the book over 2 days. The writing is exceptional and very easy to read. I loved the lead character of CSI Ally Dymond, in the first chapter we find out that she is a straight down the line employee of Devon Police, and this sets the stage for a thrilling plot and a feisty storyline involving Ally.
The plot is SO good ( I refuse to give anything away!) but let’s just say that it had me on the edge of my seat and at times shouting “NO” at Ally Dymond, yes she’s one of those characters!! A great cast of supporting characters that don’t confuse the reader but make the plot and story sing!
And let’s not forget the descriptions of the settings for this book, they were wonderful and made me feel like I was really there on the beach in North Devon!”
This will be the first in a new series, I believe and I shall look forward to reading the second book. If you like taught, anxiety-ridden thrillers with so many red herrings that I did not see the end coming, then Breakneck point is for you. I must also say that I saw the book cover and just knew I would love this book, so full marks to the marketing team!
A fabulous 5 star read.
My debut crime novel – Breakneck Point – is due to be published 14 April, 2022. Breakneck Point introduces the character of Ally Dymond, a tough, but flawed Crime Scene Investigator (or Scenes of Crime Officer) consigned to minor crimes in a North Devon backwater after blowing the whistle on corruption. I hadn’t read many novels that had a CSI as their main protagornist and as I used to be a SOCO many years ago (long enough ago that it was more Sherlock Holmes than CSI Miami!) I decided I would write one. I am a massive fan of urban crime, but I specifically wanted to set Breakneck Point in North Devon. North Devon is area that is very close to my heart. I grew up there in the 70s and had what I call an ‘Enid Blyton’ upbringing in a tiny village called Wembworthy. I now live in Barnstaple with my own family. It is as beautiful as the postcards show you, but I wanted to write crime a novel that shows the reality for many of living in a rural area, a reality that is often at odds with those stunning views. I hope Breakneck Point will be the first of many novels featuring Ally Dymond
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