No Good Reason

By: Cari Hunter

Narrated by: Nicola Victoria Vincent

Detective Sanne Jensen (not blonde, not tall, definitely not Scandinavian) and Dr. Meg Fielding (scruffy, scatterbrained, prone to swearing at patients) are lifelong best friends, sharing the same deprived background and occasionally the same bed. When a violent kidnapping stuns the Peak District village of Rowlee, both women become involved in the case.

As Sanne and her colleagues in East Derbyshire Special Ops search for the culprit, and Meg fights to keep his victim alive, a shocking discovery turns the investigation on its head. With the clock ticking, Sanne and Meg find themselves pushed closer by a crime that threatens to tear everything apart.

©2015 Cari Hunter (P)2017 Bold Strokes Books Inc

Awesome Series

Everything by Cari Hunter is fantastic! This series in particular is a really good read and Nichola does a wonderful rendition.

Fantastic!

This is the second book I have listened to by the awesome team that is Cari Hunter and Nicola Victoria Vincent and it's such a good listen. Cari Hunter has written a great crime thriller and once again Ms Vincent has read it beautifully with great characterisations. It is a credit to them both that the lead characters Sannah and Meg are so real and likeable as well as a brilliant portrayal of Sannah's police partner Nelson and the hapless Ned. Brilliant work and I can't wait for the next one!

Everything in this book is 5*, narration included

I am now an official Cari Hunter fan. Every book I read (or listen to, rather, lately), I am sure I am going to love. Not necessarily enjoy (they’re awfully grim), but love. Cari Hunter creates the most wonderful and relatable characters then proceeds to make them suffer every which way, whether it be in their past or in the present day, making them face the darkest side of humanity (or rather, from the few books I’ve read so far, of men). They’re everyday heroes, good people who can’t help doing the right thing.

No Good Reason begins with a woman escaping her kidnapper only to find herself in some sort of no man’s land, in the dark. She’s found half-dead by teenagers, whose calls for help are heard by Sanne Jensen, a police detective who, by chance, was on her daily run close by. At the hospital where the woman is flown, Meg Fielding, Sanne’s best friend and occasional lover, takes care of her.

I love a good police procedural when it’s well-written, and this one couldn’t be better. While the work might be tedious (door-to-door enquiries, searches in the moors…), the narrative never is. The pace is excellent, slow when needed, gripping at other times, with just the right amount of details for the reader to feel involved but not enough to be boring.

I also love the relationship between Sanne and Meg. It’s heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. They’re not a traditional couple, but they have more chemistry than the characters supposed to fall in love in many romance novels I’ve read over the years. If they weren’t so scared of messing up everything by making it official, they’d be relationship-goals all the way. They have everything: chemistry, love, respect. No wonder their dates with other people never lead to anything. Sanne is driven and smart, with great instincts. Meg is precise and meticulous at work, forgets everything outside of it (ask for coffee, you’ll get tea, that kind of forgetfulness). They complement each other ideally.

Everything in this book is 5*, the mystery plot, the twists, the characters, the writing. I listened to the audiobook, and Nicola Victoria Vincent‘s narration is perfect too. She’s great with accents, and her voice for Sanne when she talks to Meg breaks my heart a little every time, there’s something so genuine and innocent in it. I hate to state the obvious, even though it’s necessary sometimes, but a fantastic narration such as this one makes an already awesome book even better. Definitely 5*.

Atmospheric Dark Thriller Performed Perfectly

This was fantastic. First off, the setting of the mystery—the Peak District—lived and breathed as part of the story. Fans of setting-centered mysteries will adore that facet of this book. I cannot tell you how amazingly immersive this was, and especially having grown up in the north of England, it was like walking back in time, frankly. I picked this up after a recent visit to the very area in question, (I even took a walk along the Peaks).

The set-up begins with the discovery of a woman who has escaped capture, only to fall among the treacherous geography of the area. Detective Sanne Jensen and Dr. Meg Fielding are our heroines, and their characterization peels back in onion layers, piece by piece. They've been friends since their rocky childhoods, and sometimes more than that, but neither is willing to quite risk more than their odd, not-quite-defined partnership of support, caring, and—yes—sometimes sex. The relationship between the two women carries as much of the story as the hunt for the sadistic bastard still at large.

This dark story doesn't hold back any punches, many of which land squarely on the chins of the main characters. I really enjoyed this aspect: by the end of the novel, both characters are crossing the finish line mentally and/or physically drained, and that felt real.

I should mention I listened to this on audiobook, and I say that because the audio performer was sheer bloody perfection. Nicola Victoria Vincent blew me away. Accents, characterization, cadence, and pacing? Every step of the way, her performance had me drawn completely into the narrative. It's always a joy to listen to an audiobook done well, but it's even better to find an audio performer who is so good I'm bookmarking all of their other work.

I'll be picking up the next Dark Peak audiobook right away.

Wowsa

What made the experience of listening to No Good Reason the most enjoyable?

My first British murder mystery and I loved it. Great humor, lovely relationship, good angst. Pretty perfect all the way around.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Edge of my seat but not full throttle adrenaline until the end, as it should be. Great character development which made it even more enjoyable.

What does Nicola Victoria Vincent bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I read all the Harry Potter books and they were fun but I got so much more out of the story when I listened to Jim Dale perform them. Same in this case.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No.

Any additional comments?

So worth the time and financial commitment.

i love it

number 1 I absolutely love the story I love the mystery and the characters that are very easy to love some of them are assholes so I love that about



2 I'll guess I'll start with number 2 with kept throwing me off for the story and this is my sound stupid to whatever but it was never a mention of her service what I know it's a stupid thing but when I do know you be a cop store you know they can even though they carry guns a cop carry guns and carry guns but it was never mentioned what side of her body she carried her service weapon was it in on the left was on the right was in her lower back that she wear shoulder holster for none of that I just be kept throwing me out of the flow one dangerous situations Came Upon her and.

let match go to got her gun like that why didn't she do that or put yourself in the position with no cops and detectives are trained to draw their weapons very fast as fast as they humanly possibly can in order to stop or make the no suspect hesitate a lot of incidents throughout this book.

where her hurt her in her partner should have been drawing the weapon for caution or at least put their hands on it and put them in this position where they can draw it but it was never mentioned about the gun or even like if there was a one-sheet preferred or what is a silver weapon the same one we have here United States of America or do they use different types of models gun for London England law enforcement so there was just that just kept popping up and it was just like damn service weapon so without going on deep into that like I said it did get me out of the moment for a minute but it was still enjoyable to read


3 okay so this will be a talking about the case the case was fantastic I did not I kind of recognized the first twist after they caught the first suspect and you know things after that sort of kind of feeling place but I did not expect the other Twist on all of the case that did happen I also was expecting but there were so many twists in this case that I didn't see coming I won't spoil it because I never know a new reading might come along and do what I do re comments into being spoiled so again I'm not going to spoil it for anyone in the future to read but you know they were just the case was just really good it was really put together it was from beginning to end you know you never this the characters.

never stopped working on a case that never stopped talkin about the case if followed them home and it followed her home and it just it always invaded her life completely all of their lives there be no schedule got messed up there sleeping habits we came by their eating habits you know some of them hell she didn't even eat so like you can really see the realness of that and I actually enjoyed that very much just that she made it very realistic made it very human for these being a man and woman to go out here and do what they do and then she showed you the side effects of what they do and how that affects them on a daily basis even with a tough case like this one so I thought that was really



4 the romantic relationship between the two male to female characters is there an interesting it's a very interesting Dynamic most of my LGBT stories pretty much out of his own format with either you know a Butch carbs in a feminine you know character to go with it and enjoy the nice twist that she done here you know that the character is not the tallest it's not the strongest detective may not be the smartest but what she has she makes up for it she's athletic I mean you run 8 miles in your very athletic very good shape but she did she's not she doesn't stand out too much as far as like people talking about her looks, that happens a lot in the LGBT story I guess in the stories which I'm cool with that I enjoy those stories very much with the butch in the aspect of it those are my go-to stories anyway so but I enjoy this relationship is right off the bat feel the chemistry between both of these women and it was very fascinating from the reader mannerisms there the history is fascinating to me their childhood and how after all these years he's wanted managed to now and still be friends and rely on each other.

but they're on that borderline where they want to be something more and is afraid to cross that line because they're free to lose one another when I enjoy the relationship with the you know the male character where are the characters that she have I think her relationship with her partner is a very special one he has her back she has his and it shows you know he respects her because she earned his respect and heat he knows if she's good at what she does so I really enjoy their Dynamic to and you can see the respect that people have one another you know that's my thought on that it's



5 detective lady I guess you could say if you're going here thinking that she going to be some version of detective Rizzoli smash with Xena kind of story that's not what this is about I'm not saying she's got a badass in her own right because she is up with their approach to her and how she does her job is definitely different from what Rizzoli would do what she does have connections with like Rizzoli word or Olivia Benson where she connects with the victim she felt for these women and she wanted to bring Justice to those who wanted to find it so she got very attached to this case and wanted to solve it to the point where she was doing some things that was not healthy for her they had the car should be reminded at hey look you only human he got to step back and got to relax and come after some fresh eyes so.


I thought that was very similar to how Olivia does things how Rizzoli handle certain cases that really touched her in in both TV shows but this this character is our own character She Doesn't Remind me of no Olivia or Rizzoli anyway it just that there was little bit of things I did pop them into my head so if that's what you're thinking is death to have his own twists like I said she's not the tallest she's not the strongest but what she does have she makes up for those attributes and I think it's nothing is pretty cool for that


5 character development and growth I think was done very well he'll even the bad guys were developing away where you like damn that just sick you know like he got issues so it was fastening to see that this is the very driven plot story is very focus on the characters the job how that job affects the people around them in themselves and I think she did it really job she made you feel for these women that were hurt and victimized by the by this bad guy and she made you feel for the good guys because they're trying so hard but they're coming up with nothing and like I said before it was just really good to see England London is definitely a part of the story I've never been there I'm from the United States born and raised so coming into the store was difficult for me the lingo and the way they talk to one another culture all that stuff is different for me so when I bought this the first time it was hard for me to read it because again I'm not from there I don't understand most of it.

I felt like I was missing the meaning behind a lot of certain words that was sad because I'm not used to them being said that way but outside of that you still easy for me to keep up with everything and to appreciate the work that was done it raining and also the voice actor that the read the book did an amazing job I loved her accent I love the fact that she was able to change her voice from man and woman and I was able to tell between it if the person was a smoker she was able to kind of mimic what a smoker voice would sound like so I thought that was just like really good on that what's truly and more I read


now the girls childhood backstory is definitely interesting they come from poverty they come from broken homes I won't go into too much detail cuz some of it is kind of for shouting and on about where they come from and how hard they work to get to where they are I know the second book will go a little bit into family relationship with them and who they're hopefully still close to who are not close to but I love the fact that these girls was able these women I'm sorry it was able to stay friends throughout their whole entire childhood to adulthood and kind of got like one foot in one foot out and they're committing to their fact that they are in love with each other or the fact that they want a real relationship either one another so I look forward to seeing that too I want to go ahead and bought book 2 and 3 I do hope maybe they'll be able for in the future I will look forward to reading something like that outside of that thank you very much for the story I appreciate it you're amazing writer

Great Story!

A very entertaining read! My biggest issue had to with the break neck speed of chapter changes. They were pretty jarring and sudden. I'm hoping the next book's audio is edited a little better.

Thoroughly enjoyed it!

The story got my attention right away, and firmly held it throughout. Enjoyable character relationships, as well as relatable conversations. Happy to have found this author. Well done! Am on to the next book!

page turner

fantastic plot. Ms. Hunter weaves masterful stories. I personally like the Northern UK setting, colloquial terms and the narrator's accent. I felt like I was listening to the author herself.

Auto-Buy Author/Narrator Combination

Cari Hunter and Nicola Victoria Vincent have sealed the deal with this effort and have become an auto-buy author/narrator combination for me. As soon as I finished this audiobook I purchased the next two in the series.

While the crime investigated is gruesome and heart wrenching there is plenty of levity and geniune affection between characters to balance it out.