Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

Murder at the Music Factory by Lesley Kelly (The Health of Strangers 4) is one that you need to have read the books that come before it in the series as I did feel unsure of multiple things.

We're following the North Edinburgh Health Enforcement team as this series is set in a world where a pandemic has happened (The Virus), and the team is making sure that people go to their monthly health checks.  This series was started in 2017, and so it wasn't one trying to use current events!

There are ex-wives, former music stars, students and a rogue agent who is threatening to shoot a civil servant every day, so lots of action. There's a lot of references to previous events in the series, but the characters were good, and I could see that if I had read the series from the beginning then I would enjoy this book.

Murder at the Music Factory was published on 23 April 2020 and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow Lesley Kelly on  Twitter .

I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to  Sandstone Press

I enjoyed this book, although from reviews I gather it's one in a series! Can be read standalone and I enjoyed it but think knowing a bit about the back story would help.

Seems quite prophetic given the circumstances the world is in at the moment but 'the virus' underlies the whole book rather than being its main focus.

The characters were a gang of misfits and I enjoyed reading about them. Would read more!

I was very happy to pick up the next installment in the Health of Strangers series although it was a bit too close to real life! The Edinburgh based, Health Enforcement Team are back chasing up those who have missed their virus health check as well as deviating away from the task in hand and doing a bit of their own detective work, which you know is unlikely to end well.

It was good to catch up with the team, particularly Bernard who while being a pain in the neck most of the time really is a loveable character. His ex-wife drops a clanger and things don't seem to be going past first base with his new girlfriend.

The race is on to find ex-colleague, Bryce and some other crazies who are threatening to shoot people each day in connection to a top secret investigation. Again, a thrilling read with lots of humour (even though it's closer to real life than fiction!) Would highly recommend.

I don't know if this is a dystopian or a description of our future but I know I liked it.
It's a gripping and entertaining novel with a well crafted plot and an interesting cast of characters.
I think it's better to read the series in order even if I had no great issues with the characters or the plot.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

In “Murder at the Music Factory” Lesley Kelly continues the story of the Edinburgh-based HET team as they search out people who are not in compliance with the government-imposed testing regime following a major virus epidemic. I hadn’t read the preceding books but was easily able to follow the story whilst perhaps not being entirely sure why one “baddie” was feared so intensely.

The action starts dramatically with an assassination attempt in the opening chapter on a Monday morning and leads to an investigation by the most unlikely of characters in the team. As the week progresses, the HET team-members follow up on a number of leads to identify the most likely suspects. By the end of the week, after some clever detective work the criminals are identified and ready to be taken into custody - or are they?

Murder at the Music Factory is an entertaining and amusing thriller!!