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Murder In Thrall
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Murder In Thrall
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Murder In Thrall
Ebook342 pages6 hours

Murder In Thrall

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

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Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this ebook

Scotland Yard’s most unlikely pair of detectives must hide a blossoming romance as they hunt for a dangerous killer.

An Irish redhead of humble beginnings and modest means, Kathleen Doyle is the antithesis of Chief Inspector Michael Sinclair, as known as Lord Acton, the brilliant but enigmatic lord with a knack for solving London's most high profile homicides. When a horse trainer is found dead at a racetrack, the duo’s investigation does little to deter the killer at large. Jeopardizing the case are their colleagues at CID headquarters, whose nosing into the nature of Doyle and Acton’s after-hours relationship threatens to lay bare the most classified information of all. As the murders pile up, Doyle and Acton uncover something far more sinister than they could have imagined. Now that they know too much, their partnership could be very brief indeed. . .

“Thrilling…Will keep you guessing until the very last page.”—Victoria Thompson, bestselling author of the Gaslight Mysteries

“It's been a long time since I encountered two characters this charming and engaging. I look forward to more of their adventures.”—David Morrell, New York Times bestselling author of First Blood and Before I Wake
LanguageEnglish
Release dateJun 24, 2013
ISBN9781617732973
Unavailable
Murder In Thrall
Author

Anne Cleeland

Anne Cleeland holds a degree in English from UCLA as well as a law degree from Pepperdine University and is a member of the California State Bar. She writes historical fiction set in the Regency period and contemporary romantic suspense. A member of the Historical Novel Society, she lives on Balboa Island, California and has four children. Her first novel was Tainted Angel.

Read more from Anne Cleeland

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Reviews for Murder In Thrall

Rating: 3.691780821917808 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

73 ratings12 reviews

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Nice start for what should be an interesting series. DC Doyle is assigned to Lord Acton's team at New Scotland Yard. Her perceptions of truths vs lies are sufficiently acute to make her a real asset during interviews. Early days on the team and investigating a seemingly ordinary killing at a racetrack, Lord Acton poses a rather unique question for her to ponder.Deaths multiply with no seeming connection and get even closer to The Yard when one of the forensic team is murdered leaving her office.Interesting protagonists and a good storyline are the strength of this book. I am looking forward to the next book in the series.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This was an audiobook and the reader did a fabulous job with Doyle’s Irish brogue making the character more enchanting. I agree with previous reviews of Acton's behavior as creepy, stalkerish and hovering. Doyle thinks that they are good for each other excusing his over-protective monitoring of her by gps, texting every hour and his showing up to see who she is having lunch with. Their relationship overshadowed the investigation where he (because of his brilliance?) figured out who was behind the murders. Have to say I did not figure out who was the murderer because of all the twists and red herrings.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    First-year Detective Kathleen Doyle is a plucky Irish redhead. Chief Inspector Michael Acton is a British lord turned cop. He's tall, handsome and enigmatic... to a fault. Acton selects Doyle out of the newbie squad to partner with him on a series of investigations because she always knows when someone is lying -- a trait that comes in handy when interviewing suspects and witnesses. Acton and Doyle are sent to investigate the murder of a trainer at a racetrack. Soon, new killings related to the first start unfolding, dragging the two into ever more perilous situations. But the real danger is the unlikely attachment that develops between the ultra reserved aristocratic Chief Inspector and his plucky working class sidekick... a relationship that will raise plenty of eyebrows -- and hackles -- among their colleagues at the Yard. This is the first book in the Scotland Yard series. Most of this book is about Doyle and Acton's relationship so the mystery seems to take a backseat. Hopefully, the first book is where the author is introducing the characters and the rest of the series will concentrate mostly on the plot of the mysteries. I did, however, found the characters a bit strange. One thing that bothers me about the book is the fact that Acton is obsessed with stalking Doyle in the beginning of the book and Doyle is so naive. I own the 2nd book and will read that one in order to see if the plots and characters progress in the right direction.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    It was an interesting mystery and I liked Kathleen Doyle, however Lord Acton is a stalkerish creep. I honestly didn't get the romance of it. Quite apart from the disparity in class and wealth, and yes this shouldn't matter but when she's Irish, living from paycheque to paycheque and a rookie and he's an English Lord with a lot more seniority and is quite wealthy. He follows her and basically doesn't take no for an answer. I didn't find it romantic, I found it troubling to be honest and while I might read more in the series I hope the author addresses the problematic issues as the series goes on.This is fairly classic abuser behaviour and I could see other people having problems with it, I didn't really see a build of romance but our views of the story are coloured by the voices telling it.Overall it was quite readable and while I had problems I did finish the book quite quickly
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I read the reviews of 'Murder in Thrall' at Amazon before buying the novel; the consensus was 'creepy' yet 'difficult to put down.' I totally concur.Set at Scotland Yard, it's a mystery novel depicting the search for a murderer; the team is a senior detective known throughout the force as 'Holmes' and a young female constable. But the book is as much a romance novel as a mystery. And that's where the 'creepy' element enters. I won't discuss it because surprise is a strong element of the story line.It's difficult to rate. It truly was difficult to put down. But I remain creeped out. It's the first of a series and I will read the next, but nevertheless, the premise makes me uncomfortable.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    About the Author: With a degree in English and law, Anne Cleeland writes historical fiction with settings in the Regency period and contemporary mystery series set in New Scotland Yard. Murder in Thrall is the first of a new series for her. She has authored two other books: Tainted Angels and Daughter of the God-King, both published in 2013. About the Story: Two of Scotland Yard’s detectives, Chief Inspector Acton and Detective Constable Kathleen Doyle have been working together for three months solving any crime easily. Doyle, an Irish girl of impoverished background is taken under Acton’s wing for more reasons than are at first apparent. She has a unique ability in reading the truth behind words. She can easily tell when someone is not telling the truth. Acton is a British lord and is known for his uncanny ability to solve high-profile homicides. Between the two of them they are an excellent team.Acton is physically drawn to Doyle and is unable to keep the relationship on a professional level. Doyle, who self-educates herself by learning new vocabulary words is trying to understand why he wants to move the relationship to a new level. He could have any woman he desired.A particular series of murders takes place, first a racehorse trainer gets murdered and shortly follows his girlfriend and other murders continue. Acton and Doyle work to solve the crimes. Are they done by the same murderer? What is the motive of the crimes? My Thoughts: The blossoming relationship between Acton and Doyle was very appealing and strange, which only made me, as a reader, need to keep on reading. The reader isn’t always privy to every detail when it happens which only makes the mystery more exciting. I loved the simplicity and directness of Doyle. She is a pleasure to get to know.I don’t want to write any spoilers, because I don’t want to spoil the story for you. I can say that it was highly entertaining, well-written and well-paced, with good character development. Close to the end of the book, you simply cannot put it down. So make sure that you plan on losing sleep or start the ending early on in the evening. I look eagerly forward to the next book in her series.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    *Book source ~ Many thanks to Kensington for providing a review copy in exchange for an honest review.Kathleen Doyle a 24-year-old 1st year Detective Constable with Scotland Yard is beyond surprised when the great and brilliant Chief Inspector Acton requests her presence for a murder investigation. Doyle’s not a bad detective, but her greatest strength is in interrogation. Call it intuition, a bit of psychic ability or whatever you want she can sense what others are feeling, so she’s practically a human lie detector. She and Acton never openly discuss what it is she can do, but he has no qualms in using whatever is at his disposal to close cases. And in the 3 months of working together they’ve closed an impressive number of cases. But does he have an ulterior motive for calling her from the lowest tier to the exalted ranks? And will they solve this next string of murders when it begins to look like one or the other of them is the next target?I liked the premise of this story and thought it would be a regular mystery with a murder or murders to solve before the end. What I got was so much more. Told from Doyle’s POV the inner workings of her mind are delightful. Her Irish way of speaking, her view of the world and how she thinks of Acton are all so fascinating that the book fairly flies along. On top of that, there’s Acton and his actions. Very unusual and mystifying. And finally there is a murderer running around killing people in a seemingly unconnected yet connected fashion and Doyle and Acton are hard pressed to link the murders together. The ending was a surprise. I didn’t see that coming. I loved this story and I’m looking forward to reading more stories featuring Doyle and Acton.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I generally have sworn off murder mysteries. But I have enjoyed Ms. Cleeland's books in the past and thought I'd shake myself out of the past for a bit. I'm so very glad I did! I opened this book yesterday morning and finished it last night. I didn't want to put it down. Nothing was rote - not the plot, not the characters, not the murders and most assuredly not the relationship between the two main characters.It's the start of a series and I'm crying in my beer (metaphorically) that the next one doesn't come out until July 2014! Acton and Doyle are a truly unique pair of investigators; he is brilliant and she intuitive and together they make a team that their colleagues don't understand. All is not perfect though - he does have some seriously creepy tendencies but she is so very engaging. She senses that he has secrets but knows that she can trust him.In this novel the slow building of character is done so well that you really get to know all of the players - both good and bad. Yet snippets leaving wondering paving the way for future installments. The book opens with a murder and Acton, a very established, high ranking Chief Inspector asking Doyle a very new Constable to help on a case. This leads to confusion from her colleagues, her supervisor and she also has no clue why he has chosen her. In the week that follows so much happens it's hard to keep up and maintain credibility but somehow it all works.I'll be looking forward to successive installments to see if Acton's stalkerish personality fades now that he and Doyle are a strong team. I do hope so - it's hard to root for a character that spies on his partner so thoroughly. I am hopeful that these two will be putting criminals behind bars for a long time.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I've wanted to read this book since I met the author at Left Coast Crime in 2016. Murder in Thrall sounded like the perfect read for me, and the rave reviews I heard from other readers only increased my interest. I'm sure that you've all heard it said that no two people ever read the same book. That's because we each have our own life experiences we bring with us each and every time we open a book. Well, my life experiences were not well suited to this book. Not at all.Murder in Thrall is told from Doyle's point of view, and she's an interesting blend of intelligence, intuition, and naïveté. This leaves DCI Michael Sinclair very much in the shadows... or at least I thought in the beginning that it did. In addition, the story isn't told in a linear fashion which may be confusing for some people. But I didn't get very far into the book at all before I realized that linear storytelling was the very least of my problems. Speaking of problems, I have one here: how to talk about what bothered me so much about this book without using spoilers. It's going to be extremely difficult.For one thing, I am a reader who doesn't care to read romances. Murder in Thrall is 85% romance and 15% mystery. That percentage just does not work for me. The characters' libidos need to take a definite backseat to the mystery. That does not happen here.Secondly, each chapter begins with what I thought was a glimpse into the killer's mind. It's a technique that's been used in several mysteries that I've read. However, those chapter headings were not from the mind of the killer, and when I realized the real speaker, I was profoundly shocked.If you like a book that's more romance than mystery, Murder in Thrall will be your cup of tea. If heavy overtones of stalking don't bother you, I do think you will enjoy this book. Having been the victim of a stalker, I just cannot recommend this book. Sometime in the future, I will read the next book in this series; it's got so many passionate fans that I just have to give it one more try. I have to let this book dim in my memory first.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The case itself was quite interesting, but I almost put the book away in disgust in the beginning at the subservience of the Doyle character; instead of seeing herself as intelligent or skilled, she wonderingly refers to a gift. But perhaps that was a red herring. Overall I enjoyed the story and looked forward to watching it unfold.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I generally have sworn off murder mysteries. But I have enjoyed Ms. Cleeland's books in the past and thought I'd shake myself out of the past for a bit. I'm so very glad I did! I opened this book yesterday morning and finished it last night. I didn't want to put it down. Nothing was rote - not the plot, not the characters, not the murders and most assuredly not the relationship between the two main characters.It's the start of a series and I'm crying in my beer (metaphorically) that the next one doesn't come out until July 2014! Acton and Doyle are a truly unique pair of investigators; he is brilliant and she intuitive and together they make a team that their colleagues don't understand. All is not perfect though - he does have some seriously creepy tendencies but she is so very engaging. She senses that he has secrets but knows that she can trust him.In this novel the slow building of character is done so well that you really get to know all of the players - both good and bad. Yet snippets leaving wondering paving the way for future installments. The book opens with a murder and Acton, a very established, high ranking Chief Inspector asking Doyle a very new Constable to help on a case. This leads to confusion from her colleagues, her supervisor and she also has no clue why he has chosen her. In the week that follows so much happens it's hard to keep up and maintain credibility but somehow it all works.I'll be looking forward to successive installments to see if Acton's stalkerish personality fades now that he and Doyle are a strong team. I do hope so - it's hard to root for a character that spies on his partner so thoroughly. I am hopeful that these two will be putting criminals behind bars for a long time.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I received this book in a Goodreads giveaway.

    I enjoyed the story and the characters. I agree with some reviewers that the relationship between the two main characters was a little strange but I like them both, which made it possible to look beyond the obsession of the DCI.

    I will definitely read more books in the series.