What a brilliant storyline!

“The storm was over. The rain had stopped. The flames that engulfed the big old house raged unhindered. Later, some claimed that the glow in the sky could be seen as far away as Taunton or Tiverton, every fourteen or fifteen miles from Blackdown Manor as the crow flies.” These opening lines had me hooked, and I thankfully had nothing to disturb me reading this book on an especially miserably cold winter’s day so could continue unhindered as I raced to discover what had caused this devastating fire.

The story starts with what appears to be a small fire. Unfortunately, the fire brigade cannot reach the building because of a fallen tree, and before the tree can be removed, there is a loud explosion, and the little fire the crew hoped to put out, turns into an inferno. They watch in horror as the blast completely destroys the house, owned by Sir John Fairbrother, CEO and Chairman of Fairbrother International, and Fairbrother’s Bank, the second oldest private bank in the UK.

Detective Inspector David Vogel, accompanied by DC Dawn Saslow of the Avon and Somerset Constabulary’s Major Crime Investigation Team head up the investigation as two bodies have been recovered These are identified as Sir John Fairbrother, and his nurse. The only survivor is George Grey. He and his wife live in the Gatehouse and are employed to manage the upkeep. He had gone to help Sir John, in the late stages of Parkinson’s Disease and his nurse escape from the house when he first saw smoke, but armed intruders stabbed him before he could reach them. He managed to escape and hide from these intruders.

DI David Vogel, DC Dawn Saslow and the rest of their team know from the beginning that this is not going to be a straightforward case. There are many clues, many suspects but almost an impossible barrier to work out precisely who plotted what and how they carried it out and of course, the big question, who is going to benefit from Sir John’s death?

A brilliant, well written, thoroughly convoluted plot that keeps you guessing right up to the final page.

Hilary Bonner thank you for giving me the most perfect storyline to keep me enthralled as I wave “farewell” to 2018. May 2019 bring another equally enthralling storyline for the two detectives, Vogel and Saslow together with their team, to solve.

Treebeard

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

David Vogel in fine form!

David Vogel has a new case that's puzzling indeed. The previous David Vogel mystery I read I found disturbing because of the subject matter. Wheel of Fire is not that.
In the last couple of chapters I thought I knew what was going on. I didn't know it all!
Edgy murder mystery that kept me on my toes.
Deserves a read!

A NetGalley ARC

Wheel of Fire, the second novel in the Detective Inspector David Vogel mystery series, is a highly entertaining and engaging police procedural from first line to last, and while I enjoyed the first book, this one far surpassed it. It definitely isn't essential, as in some cases, to have read the opening novel as the author alludes to many of the events that took place in that first book here, so it's very easy to catch up on previous happenings via Wheel of Fire. As with all of Ms Bonner's books, this is a well-written tale that moves at an ideal pace and features some truly unique characters.

Detective Vogel is one of my favourite ever creations in terms of police personnel as he is a geeky introvert much like I am. His tendency to hold computers in higher esteem than people is also something I can relate to, to a certain extent. Not only is he a vegetarian and teetotaller, but he has little of the baggage that seems to come with every damn detective in the genre, so I'm guessing that many hardcore crime fans will be receptive to this originality. Vogel and his strong, astute female partner, Dawn Saslow, make a formidable team despite being chalk and cheese. The ending is both satisfying and surprising and paves the way for the next instalment.

You could certainly do a lot worse than picking up one of Ms Bonner's novels, but this one is particularly accomplished. As a former chairperson of the Crime Writers Association, it is clear she is an established and well-regarded member of the crime fold and for good reason.

Many thanks to Severn House Publishers for an ARC.

Detective Inspector David Vogel's latest case involves possible arson and murder when wealthy Sir John Fairbrother, the head of a large bank, is found dead in his home. His home burned to the ground and the bodies of Sir John and his nurse are found. The prime suspect is his new employee, George Grey, who acts as Fairbrother's chauffeur and gardener, but has a suspicious story. Vogel and his partner Dawn Saslow dig into the case to determine who would have had the motive to kill an elderly man who is already very ill.

I enjoy British procedurals and I like DI David Vogel. He is different from many fictional detectives in that he is a vegetarian teetotaler who puts his family above everything. Although Vogel's wife and daughter are everything to him, the book focuses on his professional life and not interactions with his family. He and the serious, intelligent Dawn Saslow make a great team. They uncover more and more suspects as the case progresses and the body count keeps going up. There is a truly surprising twist to the case at the end that Vogel suspects, but I never saw coming. This was a great ending to a well-written book.

This is the second book in this series, but reads as a standalone, so new readers don't have to worry that they missed the prior book. I look forward to reading more books in this series.

I received this book from NetGalley, through the courtesy of Severn House. The book was provided to me in exchange for an honest review.

Was Sir John murdered? What a messed up family he had. DI Vogel, who has some issues of his own, is the lead in this well done procedural. I did not read the first book but think it was fine as a standalone as Bonner provides enough pertinent info, most importantly about what happened to Saslow. Regular readers of British police novels will recognize some of the interesting twists but all in all it's a good read. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

If You Didn’t Like Deadly Dance, Do Try Wheel of Fire

This is the second novel in the David Vogel Mysteries. If you were turned off by the first book in the series, Deadly Dance, this novel is a solid story that captured my imagination and could not put it down. I finished it faster than normal and even read late into the morning to complete it.

The novel starts with a terrible fire in the home of Mr. Fairbrother, CEO of the family international bank. The business and home go back to the 18th century. Mr. Fairbrother had been sickly and reportedly near death from Parkinson’s disease. He and his nurse died in the fire. Since the 999, British version of 911, call mentioned armed intruders and the Officer in charge of the responding fire unit suspected arson, DCI David Vogel was called in to investigate. With his partner DC Dawn Saslow and other members of his Major Crime Investigation Team (MCIT), they discovered that both of Fairbrother’s children were estranged from the father and themselves. Also, the long standing land keeper and his wife had been replaced abruptly. The new lands keeper was stabbed by the intruders on the night of the fire. He was taken to the hospital, but quickly left and disappeared. All of these events made Vogel view that this fire really looked like murder. The main storyline starts off from here and runs with intriguing twists and turns as Vogel and his team tries to figure out what happened, by whom, and why. The investigation expands to include London.

Within the B-story, the reader learns more about Vogel’s likes, dislikes, and the relationship with his now promoted boss at the London MCIT. Besides Saslow’s interaction with Vogel, more is revealed about her. Even though this novel is set a year after the first novel, she is still affected by the events that occurred during that investigation. Note that you do not have to read that novel first. This novel can stand alone and be your first read without any loss of understanding of the current novel.

Some readers object to vulgar language and sex scenes. There was very little use of vulgar language and not any sex scenes so there should not be any barriers to reading this novel unless you have an absolute zero tolerance. I do recommend reading this novel on a Kindle unless you are very familiar with nuisances of British informal language. I found with this novel that I had to use the Internet on the Kindle much more than usual to find the meaning of some words and phrases.
As this novel captured my imagination, read it must faster than usual, and I really enjoyed reading it, I rate this novel with five stars. I do recommend reading it even if you have not read the first novel first. Enjoy.

I have received a free kindle version of this novel through NetGalley from Severn House with a request for an honest, unbiased review. I wish to thank Severn House for the opportunity to read this novel early.

Wheel of Fire is the first Hilary Bonner novel I've read. I requested it from NetGalley based on the synopsis. While the story was intriguing, I felt that the execution was lacking. I see on GoodReads that the author has published several previous books, and I noticed that Wheel of Fire is the 2nd in the DI David Vogel series, so I'm surprised that (to me) the writing felt so flat. I realized fairly early on that I had missed the first novel in the series, as there were repeated vague references to some trauma suffered by DC Dawn Saslow. Hello, author, it's OK to actually give us a bit more background info! Thanks to NetGalley and to Severn House for the opportunity to read Wheel of Fire in return for an honest opinion.

A fire at Blackdown Manor results in the death of the two residents. But everything about that event is suspicious. DI Vogel and his team are called in to investigate.
I didn't really take to the main police character, and the outcome didn't really come as a surprise. It was enjoyable enough and I did finish the story though.

Wow, this book has everything, murder, fraud, dysfunctional family, and a very likeable DI Vogel.
The story starts with a historical home that was burnt to the ground. Two bodies are found within
the ruins and arson is suspected. It is fast paced and will keep you guessing until the end. I plan
on reading other books by Hilary Bonner in this series.
Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this thriller.