– Customer review on 16/11/2011

have mixed feelings about this book but to explain why you need to understand a little of the background to the story. The Daisy Lane books are written in sequence so to have any sort of knowledge of the characters you should try to read them in order. Having read all of her books I have built up a good knowledge of these characters and what role they play in each others lives.

In her previous book Fatal Cut we met Daisy when she was with her lover Vinnie Endersby who is a police officer. She ends up having her son Jamie by him, but he ends up reuniting with his wife Claire. Daisy then falls into the arms of Roy Kemp, who although plays the role of a top Gangster in his area, has always loved Daisy. In this book we barely see Vinnie and the only references to her son Jamie are to highlight that he has clearly been born half human-half devil! I find it strange that there was no warning to this part of the story it has just appeared as if from nowhere.

In previous books we have met many characters who all have their place within Daisy's life yet they all seem to have had a personality transplant since last year. The main character Daisy was always a really strong woman who rolled her sleeves up and got things done. She appears a lot more crass and to be honest not quite herself in the latest outing. I don't know quite what has happened to her but she appears to have been written in a completely different light. Daisy's friend Vera was always a favourite character of mine but again in this book she has been written in a different way and seems to have lost her sparkle.

Having said that, don't let this put you off the book. Her first three books were amazing. Her fourth book I didn't think was as strong as the others but enjoyed it all the same. This fifth book is even less enjoyable for the character Daisy but what we do have is a five star read for the more prominent characters. I am hoping that when she publishes her next book, we start to see the life of Eddie, Daisy's eldest son. I almost feel that this was the author's intention in writing this book.

I wondered halfway through if the characters and story had just run out of steam. In saying that there were glimpses of June Hampsons brilliant writing and storytelling, I just think its time Daisy took a back seat and the author got her teeth into a new set of characters that focus on her son.

The story itself as a whole wasn't bad but wasn't great, if I were to rate it I would be giving it 3.5 out of 5. Based on the fact that the author is laying a great starting block for Eddie I would rate it 4 out of 5. I have previously compared June Hampson to authors such as Martina Cole and I stand by that. Her writing is brilliant and I love her books (even though this wasn't her best). If you haven't read her before but like people such as Martina Cole, Mandasue Heller and the like then maybe this will be your cup of tea too.