Deadly Decision by C G Penne – Book Review

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Arson causes a devastating house fire in a village on the outskirts of Cambridge resulting in the tragic death of an eminent professor and his wife. Their son is never found despite extensive searches by detectives, one of whom is DS Jack Allan. Although the mystery remains unsolved, there are two theories. One that kidnapping is involved though no ransom was ever received by the grandparents or two, that the son was responsible for the fire. Either way, the case went cold.

Five years later, the now DI Jack Allan together with his colleague DS Julia Szymanski, face three equally perplexing mysteries with a possible connection to the cold case.

As the investigations progress Allan and Szymanski find themselves faced with a terrifyingly sinister plot involving kidnap and murder.

Deadly Decision by C G Penne is a contemporary UK police thriller featuring Jack Allen as an all action detective who is supported by a small but loyal team.

The text was easy to read and the book kept my attention throughout. Penne gives a fair measure of detail and action that is easy to follow. The synopsis gives little of the main plot so I cannot go into much detail but I can tell you that I found the method of the crimes interesting even though the motive is vague.

Sadly I found the character of Jack Allen unconvincing. I appreciate that to avoid having too many characters and making things too technical, it is necessary for the protagonist to get more involved than they would in real life but Allen does far more than one would expect of his position. In fiction we accept a little rule bending but he frequently threatens potential prosecutions with his actions during the passages in France being the most unrealistic.

Of course, stretching reality can work if the text is written with humour or tongue in cheek but C G Penne’s formal style of writing is neither of these.

The book ends with a teaser leading us to a sequel, Game, Set, Match, which is already available to pre-order.

Deadly Decision was not for me the perfect read but to her credit C G Penne has priced the Kindle version at a give-away price of 99p so why not give it a try. I have awarded three stars.

C G Penne has published three short story books, ‘Never Assume’, ‘It Started with the Milk…’, and ‘Hidden Intent’. Her three full length novels are entitled ‘Raw Heritage’, ‘Climatic Crisis’ and ‘Deadly Decision’.

Her latest novel ‘Deadly Decision’, the first in the DI Jack Allan murder mystery series, was published on 12 December 2024. Game, Set, Match is the second in the series and is available for pre-order. The novel will be published on 26 September 2025.

Likes: Writing, reading, playing bridge, dog-walking, travelling

Dislikes: Sushi, call centres

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