Being a massive fan of Stephen Booth’s Ben Cooper and Diane Fry series I was very intrigued to read this stand alone book.

Chris Buckley 32 is approached by Samuel Longden who claims he is a distant relative of Chris. He has been working on a project and wants Chris to help, Chris is reluctant at first until Samuel dies in suspicious circumstances and he is offered a large sum of money to get the book published that Samuel was working on.

Chris discovers many secrets from his family who he did not really know. But there are people out there that will stop at nothing to stop to conceal these secrets.

This family drama has an interesting blend of history, including the canal restoration that gave the book a different angle. There are plenty of twists towards the later part of the book that had me hooked.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for a review.

A rather different read than his other books but a good read none the less, set with 2 mysteries one in the 1800's and the late 1980's it deals with a missing canal engineer and the present Buckley family member trying to solve 2 deaths

A rather drawn out read but worth perservering

Drowned Lives was enjoyable but I felt there was something lacking. I loved the ending but at points in the middle I did feel a little bored.
3/5, an average thriller in my opinion.

This is completely unlike any of the authors previous work. His attention to detail in the story is noticeable and the main character takes a while to figure out. He isn't perfect and all the better for it.

Really interesting storyline although felt a bit too much like a cosy story to me but that might be intentional to expand his readership from his other stories

Thanks NetGalley for the free copy

Set mainly in Lichfield in the Midlands this is about Chris Buckley and canals in the area. Chris is an about to be redundant council officer who is finding himself rather short of money. His parents have both died now and his life seems to be going nowhere. His divorcee neighbour has other ideas though and so does the strange old man he meets at a canal restoration project. Chris is making a bit of money from freelance journalism and is covering the project. The old man wants Chris's help to investigate an ancient family rift which has canal connections. Chris is not that interested and then the old man dies.

I liked the opening of this book - it created a good atmosphere. We follow Chris as his life changes and becomes increasingly complicated due to the old man's request for help. Chris as a character is somewhat depressed and the canal history makes for a rather bleak background. Initially I found the story simple and it had a haunting quality which drew me in.

I did enjoy this book until about halfway through. However the very bleakness and depressed nature of Chris's life and personality began to irritate me. Sometimes I felt like simply shouting at him - often things I would probably not put in a review! Nevertheless the story as a whole kept me engaged combining history with family troubles.

BUT - and there often is one - I found the balance of my interested shifted and Chris's flaws seemed to dominate. In addition the family mystery started to become something that did not hold the same appeal as earlier parts. There came a point when I simply wanted it to be over I'm afraid. The writing here is fine and I guess the pace is ok too. However, for me, Chris's character and my irritation with him (!!) left me fairly uninterested with the outcome.

There is no question others will like this story. The basic idea of a family feud over generations centred on the canal network is very good. The location, descriptive writing is fine. However, while I enjoyed the early parts, overall this didn't deliver what I'd hoped for.

A murder mystery set in 1999. A family history full of secrets and lies. Lots of twists and turns. A little disjointed in places and found the main character Chris to be rather annoying. This is my own personal opinion. I am sure other readers will enjoy it more. Just not for me.
I would like to thank the author, Little Brown Book Group UK and Netgalley for the ARC in return for giving an honest review.

An historical mystery story set in 1999. It's an unusual story which involves the unravelling of a family history. Towards the end there are plenty of twists, as you would expect from a Stephen Booth book.
There's quite a lot of historical detail and I found the canal restoration element very interesting.
Unfortunately, I found the story not very convincing and at times rather far-fetched. In addition, the character of Chris tended to frustrate me. He lacked the appeal of Fry and Cooper.
This stand alone novel is reasonably entertaining but if you're expecting something similar to the standard of the Fry and Cooper series, you will be disappointed.

Stephen Booth writes an intricate, complex, and richly detailed family drama and mystery that spans two centuries right up to the 1990s, set in Lichfield, Staffordshire. 32 year old Chris Buckley is a PR council officer, soon to be made redundant, business partner in a new internet venture with Dan Hyde, and freelance journalist. He is a socially awkward man, a loner, who shuns any emotional entanglements, who feels no particular attachment to family or the past, he is the sole remaining Buckley with the recent death of his parents, and is focused on the future. He is writing a story on the Water Recovery Group (WRG) intent on uncovering a part of the long lost Ogley and Huddersfield Canal, and the protests against a proposed road that endangers the project when he meets the elderly Samuel Longden. Longden claims to be a long estranged family friend of the Buckley family in the past.

Samuel is obsessed by and speaks of family feuds, betrayal, and murders that goes back to the 19th century, of the ruined reputation of William Buckley, the first engineer on the canal, of betrayal and of wrongs that need to be righted. He wants Chris to get involved in his project and gives him a huge bundle of his research that include family letters, and other documention. The only trouble is that Chris has little interest in it, until Samuel dies in suspicious circumstances that bring the police to his doorstep. His dire financial circumstances force him to take on the project and write a book. He finds himself letting his neighbour, the divorced Rachel to help him, help he needs as he is so poorly equipped for the task. Chris discovers he is far from the last family member as he meets Frank Chaplin, and Caroline Longden, Samuel's daughter and a whole host of characters enter his life. As he continues to cover the progress of the WRG, who have managed to snag the interest and support of MP Lindley Simpson, he finds there are forces who will do anything to prevent him digging into his family's past, with his home burgled, his life is in deadly danger and he has no idea who he can trust.

Booth's real strengths in this compulsive read is his attention to detail and his stellar creation of Chris, a man that I found hard to get a handle on and didn't like at the beginning, I wondered if he was possibly autistic. However, as the narrative progresses we learn precisely why he is not keen on family or other people, his traumatic childhood and the emotional damage it wreaked on him. We follow Chris as he stumbles through his family history, all at sea when it comes to making astute judgements of people, but slowly he begins to let people in his life, connect with his family and understand family is not always about blood. All this even has him perhaps considering that a future that he thought was impossible could be his. I found this an excellent read, but it may not be for everyone, some might find the depth of historical and other details a little too dry for their tastes and Chris's character too difficult to invest in. I loved it! Many thanks to Little, Brown for an ARC.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for and advance copy of Drowned Lives, a stand alone set in Lichfield.

In 1998 Chris Buckley is approached by an old man looking for help. The man is Samuel Longden and he claims to be a long lost relative, but with other problems on his mind Chris brushes him off until Samuel is killed. This sets Chris on a quest to finish Samuel’s history of the family.

I quite enjoyed Drowned Lives because it is well written and rich in detail but I found it hard to work up any enthusiasm for the Buckley family history as it didn’t really interest me. I learned more about canals than I ever wanted to know but if you have an interest it is very informative.

The novel has two mysteries, one set in 1800 with the mysterious disappearance of William Buckley, resident engineer at the Ogley and Huddleford canal, and the present day one where Chris tries to unravel both Buckley and Samuel Longden’s deaths. They are both quite convoluted and long drawn out with the latter having a fairly idealistic, unbelievable and disappointing solution. It is told in the first person by Chris Buckley with some strange dreamlike episodes from the past and several of William Buckley’s letters to a friend interspersed throughout.

Chris Buckley is an interesting character in that he seems unfocused. At 32 he still doesn’t seem to know what he wants and seems to drift through life. What that means is that he doesn’t have the intellectual rigour for the investigation, taking people at face value and jumping too quickly to conclusions. It adds interest to the read as the reader only has his viewpoint to go on.

Drowned Lives is a well written novel with a good thread of mystery through it so many readers will enjoy it. Unfortunately it didn’t appeal to me.