I must firstly apologise for the amount of time it has taken me to provide a review of this book, my health was rather bad for quite some time, something that had me in hospital on numerous occasions and simply didnt leave me with the time I once had to do what I love most.

Unfortunately that does mean I have missed the archive date for many of these books, so It would feel unjust throwing any review together without being able to pay attention to each novel properly.

However, I am now back to reading as before and look forward to sharing my honest reviews as always going forward. I thank you f0r the patience and understanding throughout x

Great read. Didn't want to put this down. Brilliantly written from beginning to end. I really enjoyed this and found myself absorbed in reading.

I like crime thrillers set in small towns and communities, that sense of everyone knowing everyone else's business and having long held grudges can be really powerful. 'The Night Caller' made the most of that, with Lucy a local police officer investigating the murder of the town's school teacher Lisa , Lucy has her own bridges to build with her old friends and neighbours, following her husband's arrest for fraud
Well thought out and has enough twists and turns to leave me wanting more throughout
I'll definitely read more from the same series

Very cleverly written and if you like Midsomer Murders you will like this. It wasn’t my usual kind of crime book but I did like it. I would read more by this author too.

This is Book 1 in the DS Lucy Golden series and what a great start !! Great storyline which kept you guessing right to the end. Looking forward to reading book 2 to see how the main characters develop

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Readers who also enjoy British cop dramas, think #MidsomerMurders or #Vera, will recognise the three act structure of #TheNightCaller by #MartinaMurphy. The opening scene, the finding of a corpse in an Irish bog, the detailed and thorough investigation, the personal or familial side story and the satisfying conclusion when the killer is arrested.

I would definitely recommend this to most people as it isn't overly graphic or shocking. The characters develop well, the story is interesting and the writing is solid. I'll definitely be looking for the next in the series.

This was such a clever plot full of drama and intrigue and kept me engaged right from the start to the end. A great thriller that I would highly recommend

I love a police drama, and I really liked DS Golden, who is a very different take on the damaged, grizzly detective that is so often seen.

Working on a battered body on the beach, an investigation in to a murder of a loved schoolteacher, who wasn't all she seemed.

A great read

On Doogort East Bog, Achill Island, a body is found. The close community is stunned to learn that it's Lisa Moran, a popular teacher who disappeared two days earlier.

DS Lucy Golden is assigned to the case. For her, it's personal. As an Achill native, she knows that sometimes great evil can lurk in plain sight. Having moved back from Dublin, she has spent the last ten years trying to prove herself to her colleagues after her husband was jailed for fraud. This is her chance to put the past behind her. Her teenage son Luc's behaviour, however, is increasingly troubling and Lucy doesn't have time for distractions.

When another body is found in an abandoned property on the bog, with links to a murder 20 years ago, the stakes are raised - but a pattern is emerging. Can Lucy put the pieces together? Or will her family crisis mean the murderer claims his next victim?
Definitely recommend

I'm a sucker for a detective thriller, but of late found myself uninspired by the tropes of troubled, single and often childless detectives who drink too much in city centre pubs and go against their superiors and colleagues. Although Lucy Golden, the main character and primary narrator in this book, is undoubtedly troubled she has different reasons. She tries to balance being a good mother to her teenage son with detective work and I found her, and her partner Dan Brown, to be two very likeable characters.

I actually liked the fact there was no dysfunctional romance between Lucy and any other characters, something often found in detective thrillers. This book explores different types of relationships, such as her relationship with son Luc and her own mother and although not a parent myself, I found this refreshing and wholesome.

The plot itself contained some unoriginal themes (I won't go into detail here as I don't want to spoil it), but what made this book gripping was the setting. The description of the bog in remote Achill was something I could really feel as I was reading and kept me hooked.

There are also lots of twists and turns in the story, not just relating to the murder investigation, but also Lucy's personal life and I think this sets the scene for sequel (hopefully).

I found the Irish dialect to be entertaining, it took a little getting used to at first but once I did it really gave depth to the characters, whose accents I could hear as I was reading!

If you're looking for a gripping page-turner detective thriller steeped in the atmosphere of the remote Irish bog then you'll love this book.

Lucy and Dan are working on the case of a woman’s body that has turned up battered and bloodied. The victim is a cherished daughter but it seems she also has a nastier side.
Can Lucy and Dan work to catch the killer before he strikes again.
I really enjoyed this. The writing was engaging and the characters were fantastic. The differing Irish dialects and the glossary of terms was helpful as well.
Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Beautiful Achill Island, most Irish people know how wonderful it is there. A body is found in Doogort Bog there, a quiet community and local police couple Lucy and Dan (who are from here and recently moved back from Dublin) are investigating the case.

The stunning words of Achill, mixed with this fast paced, reeling story of murder is an odd but wonderful combination in this book!

What an amazing first novel, I could not put this down

I'm happy I read this book because I discovered a new to me interesting author.
This is a gripping and highly entertaining story that kept me hooked and guessing till the end.
Interesting setting, a solid plot full of twists and turns, well developed characters.
Can't wait to read another book by this author.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

What a well plotted and page turning thriller, this was very fast paced and kept me guessing right to the very end.
Loved the storyline which twisted and tuned in all the right places.
Looking forward to another adventure with Lucy Gordon and the rest of the guards hoping this will become a regular series
Highly recommended read

The Night Caller introduces us to DS Lucy Golden (and DG Dan Brown) who has a point to prove when her husband is unveiled as a psychopath and imprisoned for fraud. Sometimes darkness stalks the most beautiful places, and this investigation will take everything she's got. Set on the remote Achill Island in Country Mayo, Ireland, when a woman’s unidentified body is discovered in Doogort East Bog on the island, Lucy and her partner Dan are called in to help with the investigation primarily because Lucy grew up on Achill and knows the area extremely well. The local community is tight-knit and rocked to the core by the idea that a brutal murderer could be living among them in an area of stunning natural beauty with so many places you could successfully hide or remain in plain sight. The remains are soon identified as those of Lisa Moran, a young and well-respected teacher who disappeared only two days prior. After beginning to look into Moran and her life, it becomes clear there was more to this woman than initially met the eye; that goes for her untimely death, too. There may be a connection to a decades-old murder but before this avenue can be explored, another body is found suspended in the mud.

Can Lucy, ably assisted by Dan, manage to balance her domestic issues regarding her husband, her teenage son and her traumatic and challenging past with the pressure of the murder enquiry and the hunt for a wanton killer? This is a compulsive and absorbing police procedural and hopefully the beginning of an Emerald Isle-based series. There are plenty of thrills, twists and turns, and it's fast-paced and suspenseful with an impeccably concealed perpetrator and obscured motive. The narrative exudes tension and despite being Murphy’s first foray into crime fiction she knows exactly how to pull the wool over your eyes, grip you from the start and ratchet up the tension to palpable proportions before it culminates in an explosive finale. Though primarily told from Lucy’s first-person perspective, we are also treated to the disturbed killer’s thoughts illustrating his warped psychopathology and state of mind. Murphy has woven the shocks and reveals strategically and the police must turn back the hands of time in order to unravel the reasoning behind the murders. All in all, an enthralling thrill ride with credible and engaging characters and a keen sense of time and place. Highly recommended.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group for an advance copy of The Night Caller, the first novel to feature DS Lucy Golden and DG Dan Brown, set on Achill Island, county Mayo.

When a body is found in Doogort Bog on Achill Island Lucy, as an islander, and her partner Dan are asked to join the investigation. The body is Lisa Moran, a young, popular teacher who disappeared three days earlier. Then another body is found and Lucy and Dan are soon digging into the past for answers.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Night Caller, which is an engrossing procedural with a well disguised perpetrator and motive. I understand that this is the author’s debut in crime fiction, although she is published in other genres under a variety of names. I’m impressed with her ability in a new to her genre and really liked her skill in building interest throughout and the tension engendered as the final showdown plays out.

The novel opens with The Captain living his first murder and then skips to Lucy and her first person narrative of the investigation. The Captain makes the odd appearance throughout the novel but never really adds much of value, apart from the usual psychopathic thoughts. The investigation is much more interesting with reveals in strategic places, several suspects and some solid police work. The reason for it all lies deep in the past and while not overly complicated it takes most of the novel to unravel it. I found it compulsive reading. The only disappointment was the ending, which was not clear enough in its explanations for me and required assumptions from the information given. I think this reflects reality, but I’m allowed to want no ambiguity in fiction.

I really like Lucy and Dan who appear as a fully formed partnership from the start. They work well together and have an easy style. I liked that the secrets from their pasts are revealed in a natural way during conversation and I loved the problem Lucy is having with her teenage son, Luc, which seems both catastrophic and everyday at the same time.

The Night Caller is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.

A Community Stunned…
Achill Island, a beautiful place, a close knit community. When a body is discovered on Doogarth East Bog the community is stunned and then shattered to find that it’s Lisa Moran, a well liked teacher on the island who had disappeared two days prior. Another body is soon found on the bog throwing the commiunity into panic. Achill native DS Lucy Golden is assigned the case. Can Lucy juggle her own considerable demons together with the murder enquiry to try to catch a killer? Tense, well written suspense with a good sense of place, a pacy plot and credible characters.

An OK police drama about a serial killer and the Irish police detective hunting him.

DS Lucy Golden is assigned to a murder enquiry and she's juggling her work with her teenage son and her challenging past as she left Dublin due to her husband being convicted of fraud.

I found it to be an OK read and am grateful to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to preview.

When the body of a woman is found brutally murdered, DS Lucy Golden is called in to investigate. But it seems there is more to the death of this young woman than meets the eye, and as the pieces of the puzzle fit together, DS Golden will have to keep her wits about her to apprehend the killer.

A good solid suspenseful story which was made for a gripping read.

I really enjoyed this,and I think mainly due to our two main characters.
They come with a lot of issues and history (the best always do) but it never feels like it's being rammed down you.

An interesting crime that becomes a bit creepy when connected to something in the past,and a bad guy I didnt see coming.

Good little page turner.