When I read The Puppet Show I knew right away that this was a series that I was going to enjoy and now that I have read Black Summer it has just proved it. This time Washington Poe is facing the possible end of his career when a case he had been instrumental in solving is suddenly reopened and he finds himself the subject of the new investigation.
When a woman claiming to be Elizabeth Keaton turns up at a pop-up police station, her father Jared Keaton immediately sets about getting himself released from prison and is determined to make Poe pay for his incorrect incarceration. Poe is certain that he didn’t get anything wrong based on all the evidence they had, however the new evidence appears to disprove this belief. When Elizabeth then goes missing again, all eyes are on Poe and the odds are not in his favour. The one thing he has going for him is analyst Tilly Bradshaw. Over time they have become friends and she will do anything and everything she can to prove his innocence.
There is a difference in Poe in this book, he doesn’t seem so sure of himself. He knows that even without the body of Elizabeth Keaton, based on the evidence they had at the time they got the right person, but her reappearance makes him wonder if they were in it together but why and what their end game was he has no idea. The problem he has now is that his gut tells him that he is still right, but the evidence almost certainly shows that he can’t be. Despite the backing of the rest of the team in the NCA including his boss, things are not looking good, and the DCI put in charge of the investigation has a grudge against him so will do all in his power to bring Poe down.
Tilly seems to have come out of her shell a bit more in this book and has now gained promotion and her own team. Way more intelligent that the average person even she is struggling to use her skills to disprove things and her frustration and the way she deals with it is more in keeping with Poe, so maybe his is rubbing off on her. What is evident though is her total loyalty to him and her determination to help her friend in any way she can.
Jared Keaton is a character that just screams evil, but his calm exterior and quick calculating mind are certainly a match for Poe and Tilly, and you are left wondering who will come out on top.
I really love the dynamic between Poe and Tilly, they are polar opposites, yet somehow they just work. It is their exchanges some of which will have you smiling are for me part of the reason this series is so good and had me barely looking up until I reached the end and I am looking forward to joining them on their next investigation

A brilliant read, so gripping. Some really good twists too. Looking forward to reading more from the author.

What a page turner.
The author has got the pace perfect in this novel.
The characters are charming and well developed.
A good read

Unfortunately I didn't start the series at book 1, but I really think Black Summer can be read nicely without any hassles as a standalone. I have no words to really do this book justice. I just couldn't stop reading it, nothing is as it seems from the start, full of many twists and turns until the very end. This book is highly recommended, really just do it!
TB

Washington Poe is back in this second in the series by MW Craven. He is a brilliant character and i thoroughly enjoy these books - a definite page turner, a stay up late into the night kind of book.
Elizabeth Keaton turns up at the police station - after her farther was convicted of her murder - but her body was never found at the time - and now she is alive - but she is supposed to be dead - is her father serving time for a crime he didnt commit - now Washington Poe has to jusitfy the conviction - but can he - she is sitting in his office ????
Read the book to find out what the heck has happened here and has he made a huge mistake

Absolutely enjoyed from start to finish, u didn't want the book to end. Highly recommended, if you like books that keep you guessing and on the edge of your seat.

I adored the first book in this series The Puppet Show - and so I was quietly confident I would enjoy Black Summer just as much.. but I didn't ... I actually enjoyed it MORE... as Simon Cowell might say.. I didn't like it... I LOVED it!

Black Summer follows on from The Puppet Show and whilst it can be read as a standalone, I personally always recommend starting a series at book 1 and therefore you get to know and understand the main characters, their back stories and follow their journeys through each book.

In this book we once again meet up with Tilly Bradshaw and Washington Poe and this time they are faced with a complex case that could put Poe in prison.  It's a fast paced cat and mouse game which puts these two fabulous characters in a race against time to solve the case and stop anyone else from being killed or Poe being arrested.

The relationship between these two characters is absolutely FABULOUS, the banter, the mutual understanding and respect, their loyalty to each other is a joy to read about.  Tilly Bradshaw is a breath of fresh air, a socially awkward computer geek who is often unintentionally tactless in her own unique and observational way but brings a much needed injection of humour to this dark and disturbing series.

There's not much I want to add to this review, except READ IT and if you haven't read book 1 - READ THAT NOW. 

Black Summer is a clever, witty, compelling, complex, action packed crime thriller which will keep the readers on their toes, turning those pages and being totally entertained from the opening paragraph to the final sentence.  LOVED IT.

An incredibly clever and enthralling read Black Summer is extraordinary and very original. I really struggled to put it down. It gets top marks from me.

Six years ago Elizabeth Keaton disappeared and her father was convicted of her murder. In the present day a woman walks into a police station claiming to be Elizabeth and tests confirm her identity – how is this possible? It is up to Washington Poe and his unlikely sidekick Tilly to resolve the mystery.

There are clever twists and turns in this novel with tantalising clues along the way. The characters are really well drawn and the narrative is excellent. If you like crime thrillers you will love Black Summer.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little Brown for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

An incredibly clever story line. Celebrity Chef Jared Keaton was given a life sentence for the murder of his daughter Elizabeth. Her body was never found and Poe gave the testimony that ensured Keaton was found guilty. 6 years later a young woman wanders into the library and claims to be Elizabeth Keaton saying she was abducted and has been held prisoner all this time. A blood test confirms her DNA is that of Elizabeth. How could Poe have been wrong? Has he made a terrible mistake and sent an innocent man to jail? The story intensifies with each chapter and I couldn’t stop reading. Highly recommended.

Absolutely loved this follow on book from M.W. Craven. The Puppet Show introduced us to Poe and Tilly, and I was looking forward to seeing how their interaction is growing. I wasn't disappointed and read this book in 3 days!
I love how Tilly is coming out of her shell and becoming a major character. Cannot wait for the third instalment - June seems so far away.

So gripping! Love the characters in this series, it's so well done! I couldn't stop reading. Definitely check it out!
thanks a lot to the publisher and NG for this copy.

I just love the Washington Poe and Tilly Bradshaw series. This is the second in the series and is every bit as good as the first, if not better. Poe and Tilly are faced with an impossible task when Poe is forced to wonder if he made a mistake earlier in his career when the ghost of a person he thought was dead comes back to prove him wrong.

Poe and Tilly as a partnership work so well together. Their interactions really make this series for me and I really can’t wait for Poe and Bradshaw Book 3 to be released

The Perfect Pairing......
The second Washington Poe novel and a superb follow on from ‘The Puppet Show’ where we first meet the perfect pairing of Poe and Tilly Bradshaw. Tautly plotted mystery at heart with a tense, swiftly moving storyline, twists and turns aplenty, leading to a fully satisfying finale. Engrossing reading.

I actually feel a little bereft after finishing this.

Like the previous book of Poe’s adventures this too had me hooked from the outset.

Between the ongoing storyline of the main characters and the many twists and turns, this had me enthralled.

Thoroughly recommended.

I have fallen in love with the characters in this series. They are so believable and relatable. The story line was gripping, throwing up so many questions for Poe about a previous case and conviction. The very lovely Tilly plays a major part again, sticking up for her pal Poe. Just read it - you will be hooked! I give it 6 stars!!

Earlier this summer I picked up a copy of M.W. Craven’s The Puppet Show on my kindle. Loads of book bloggers had been raving about it. Cpuld it possibly stand up to the hype? A serial killer on the loose, a dysfunctional pair of detectives, sounded right up my street.

And indeed it was. I stayed up entirely too late reading it, unable to sleep until I found out what was going on.

So now we have Black Summer, book 2 in the Washington Poe series. I missed out on the hardback release, but the same gang of book bloggers was raving about this one too (do they have no respect for my TBR pile?). I was delighted to be asked to join the blog tour, and sat down to see what our old friends Washington Poe and Tilly Bradshaw got up to next.

A celebrity chef who definitely killed his daughter, and went to prison for it. But then she turns up, quite definitely alive (if not particularly well). And it was Poe who put him in prison for the murder. Could he have been wrong?

And then she goes missing again, and the evidence all points in one direction. Washington Poe, what have you done?

*claps hands excitedly* Shenanigans afoot! I love shenanigans. Especially when they’re as clever as this.

Poe has to work out how someone who was most definitely dead is now most definitely not. And who better to help than Tilly Bradshaw, computer genius?

As with The Puppet Show, it’s the Poe/Bradshaw dynamic which gives these books an extra zing. But the story here is taut and will keep you turning pages and second-guessing yourself until the wee small hours. I loved the cat-and-mouse game between Poe and Keaton, the chef.

The Puppet Show was (and is) great. Black Summer is, dare I say it, even better. Roll on Washington Poe #3!

It’s taken me a while to get round to this review having come down with the dreaded flu over Christmas.
Firstly I’d like to say I absolutely love the characters Washington Poe and Tilly, together they make a very lovable duo and a bit different to the usual crime busting duos we usually read. It seems an unlikely pairing but one that works brilliantly, looking forward to future books featuring these 2 characters.
The opening of this book I found particularly brutal but very descriptive and it definitely pulled me in to continue.
The story about a dead girl turning up alive years later bringing into question Poe’s previous conviction of a particularly nasty character is the premise of the story.
It’s one of those books that had me up all night reading just so I could find out what was going on as unusually for me I couldn’t predict or guess what was coming. Twists and turns abound.
The story is very complex and brilliant and made me hold my breath more than once.
As with the Puppet Show this book is set in the wilds of Cumbria and as someone from the south who has no idea of what Cumbria is like, the descriptions put me right there in my mind.
I’d definitely recommend reading this book and the Puppet Show.

Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for letting me read this book!. I was so happy when I received this book, I absolutely loved the puppet show. I also absolutely love Poe and Tilly, and I was so excited to read on about them in this book and I was not disappointed. I loved their relationship in the first book and loved how their relationship grew in this book. I recommend reading the puppet show and this book to anyone even if they don't read crime books as these would be a great start into the genre.

Having discovered M.W. Craven earlier this year, I was so excited to find another of his books coming out in 2019. This one did not disappoint and right from the start you are hooked. The first chapter isn’t the most pleasant, but it throws up so many questions for where this story is going to go.

As with the last book, I so loved the characters of Poe and Tilly! Their relationship is so lovely and we really see them develop more as characters in this book too. Poe deals with his fair share of ups and downs but still manages to end up stronger in the end somehow, and so on the ball with his thinking!

I’ve read so many crime/thriller books over the years that it is harder and harder to find something unique and different. This book offers this in abundance and Craven uses Tilly’s intellect to touch on some very interesting concepts in the book. So many ups and downs throughout the book and twists aplenty! I read this over two days and would have read it quicker if I could have. Definitely worthy of 5 stars and up there are one of my favourite books of the year!

I loved The Puppet Show and put it straight in to my top three books read in 2018 so for me Black Summer, the second book in the Washington Poe series was one I had been waiting for!!

I love the team of Poe and Tilly and I was eager to catch back up with them, and delighted to see that they were again on top form in this story, they work brilliantly together and I love their interaction, Tilly is one of my favourite characters in all crime thrillers and I would love to give her a big hug, although I think she might just stand there looking awkward whilst I did it!

I loved this story, Black Summer is well crafted and it had me guessing right through to the end.  Poe finds himself in a lot of trouble in this book and I was really keen to see how it would develop, what would happen to him? Could they get it resolved?  Could Tilly rescue him?  There are twists and turns and oooh and ahhh moments a plenty as the story starts to unravel as you race towards the end which I though was superb and very well done.

The author has a brilliant writing style and he brings the area and his characters to life clearly drawing on his local knowledge to make it a genuine and believable series.  Personally I feel that this is fine to be read as a standalone, but I would recommend reading both books if you do get an opportunity as they are both excellent in their own ways. 

It is five stars from me, it is a cracking story, so well developed, plenty to keep me fully engaged and it is a truly addictive story - I adore Tilly and Poe and can't wait for the third book to be released in 2020, after the first two in the series it has a lot to live up too!!  Very, very highly recommended!!