A gritty novel, well plotted and gripping. It's the first book I read by this author and I think there's a lot of potential and the author is a good storyteller.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

2.5★s
Shattered Dreams is the second book in the Inspector Sharma Thrillers series by Kenyan-born British author, C.V. Chauhan. Leicester Police Detective Inspector Rohan Sharma is called from a summer day off to view an unusual find in Charnwood Forest: the body of a man in full scuba diving gear.

But before he can drive off, a beautiful young woman, heavily made-up and dressed in a pink shalwar kameez begs him to help her and her friend, claiming to be Afghan refugees being held prisoner. She’s clearly afraid, and runs off before he can do anything but hand her his card and tell her to contact the local police station.

The scuba diver, with traces of salt water, but seventy miles from the sea, is a puzzle that takes some solving, and before that happens, the headless, handless body of a young woman is found in the river. Rohan is fairly certain it’s Hasina, the young woman who asked for his help. He’s inclined to think the cases are linked.

As they wait for identification of the bodies, Rohan is distracted by thoughts of his sister Maya, kidnapped by home invaders when he was five, something for which he still carries guilt. And his elderly African Grey Parrot, Fernando seems to be out of sorts, perhaps depressed, pining for his African forest?

Once the diver is identified, the French police get involved: Rohan liaises with Detective Nicole Laurent about a gang they believe are importing drugs, trafficking young women for the sex industry, and money laundering through the purchase of Mesopotamian and Egyptian antiquities. The South Asian Mr Big is believed to be a wealthy businessman in Leicester.

A cruel and ruthless killer in their employ is leaving bodies of witnesses and potential suspects with grisly mutilations: a woman known as the Scorpion, whose resemblance according to rumour, in looks and circumstances, to Rohan’s long-lost sister has him worried.

Chauhan’s descriptive prose really evokes the atmosphere, the flavours and aromas of Leicester’s multicultural Golden Mile, and this is one thing that saves this novel from a lower rating. He gives the reader a very dramatic climax with gunplay, explosions, crashes and a desperate attempt to prevent a fall, and readers will need to have their disbelief suspenders firmly in place for the resolution.

Even the least astute reader will have guessed how the scuba diver died while Rohan and co are still standing around the body: no mystery there, nor any lateral thinkers! And Rohan is lamentably slow on the uptake with Nicole’s suggestion for Fernando’s mood. There are a few loose ends, some continuity issues, and some of Rohan’s inexplicable choices make for glaring plot holes.

Rohan’s directing Grace to complete various tasks gets very repetitive, and much of the dialogue is dull. Sadly, even the delightful Fernando’s sometimes enigmatic, sometimes cheeky quips won’t generate sufficient interest in Rohan’s future antics to continue with this series. A less-than-stellar execution of a decent concept.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Sapere Books

The dead can speak, if you ask them the right questions.

🌟🌟🌟

Detective Sharma is caught amist in major crime series when a body lying on the ground is found, of a man in full diving gear. A second body is discovered, this time in the local river. It is a naked woman, with her head and hands missing.

The question is, are these two body connected? if yes, then detective Sharma is sure, major scandal is happening.

I love the fact that the detective has a parrot that talks and has more sarcasm than anyone else in the story. I love Fernando. Also I loved the fact that the protogonist was concerned enough to care about Fernandos depression.

Along with medical terms and general knowledge just enough to know the case, the author very cleverly put together murder with a smuggling mafia. To be honest I was not expecting the mafia turn, but I was surprised in definately a good way.

There is a paragraph in the book, that actually appreciates the work that by the postmortem doctors, and i personally feel this is very sensitive of the author, as their job is so tedious and disgusting at times, but they still do it.

Easy writting, fast paced.
Recommended for lovers of action packed suspense.

Second in CV Chauhan's DI Rohan Sharma crime series set in the vibrant and diverse community of Leicester, it is my first read of what turned out to be a welcome and thrilling surprise of a novel. Sharma is a divorced from his wife, Faye, and has 2 children, 13 year old Yasmin and son, 9 year old Karan, his closest and long term best friend is his depressed grey parrot, Fernando, shedding feathers and not eating. He has eclectic musical tastes that includes Bollywood songs and opera, and is haunted by events from when he was a child at Navasha in Kenya where his 3 year old sister, Maya, was abducted. Sharma is called out to what is described a strange death scene, but a young frightened woman, Hasina, stops him, claiming to be in danger, and giving him a statue, she runs off.

He arrives at the oddest of scenes in Charnwood Forest, a decaying and decomposing, impossible to identify, body in diving gear, but the sea is at least 70 miles away. He investigates with his new DS, Grace Nicholson. Before long, Sharma finds himself at the harrowing and horrifying murder of a woman from Afghanistan whose head has been cut off, but the guilt ridden Sharma has reason to think it might be Hasina. Could there possibly be a connection between the 2 deaths? Sharma finds himself collaborating with a French detective in Paris, Inspectore Nicole Laurent, and it she who deduces the shocking truth of how the body in diving gear ended up in the forest. Sharma finds himself conducting the most dangerous of inquiries that turns global as he encounters more murders with a similar MO.

Chauhan writes gritty, hard hitting, and disturbing crime fiction, packed with oodles of tension and suspense, that will have you turning the pages as fast as possible, with a narrative that takes in the sordid world of human trafficking, the drug and sex trade, money laundering, the arms trade, working with Interpol, and where the Panama Papers are pertinent, and so much more. For me, one of the highlights is the author's authentic depiction of the colourful multicultural communities of Leicester, the Golden Mile, and includes Asian culture, music, the aromas of delicious spicy foods, restaurants, sari and gold shops. If you have yet to acquaint yourself with this series, I would strongly urge you to do so, I particularly adored the wit and charm of Fernando! Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

I really enjoyed this read, set in Leicester and featuring DI Sharma. The characterisation is very good and I liked the interaction with the team and insight into the personal life of Rohan. The plotting is clever and interesting and the story is told in the first person. This is the second book in the series but can be read as a stand alone. I would recommend this read, it's just a bit different to others in the genre. Very enjoyable. Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Sapere Books for a review copy of Shattered Dreams, the second novel to feature DI Rohan Sharma of Leicestershire Police.

Rohan is leaving for a crime scene when he is accosted by a young woman asking for help. She runs off before he can get any details other than her first name, so he heads to the scene where he is met by a bizarre sight, a dead body in full diving gear. Then a second body is found, a naked young woman missing her head and hands. Rohan is shaken as she looks like the girl who accosted him.

I thoroughly enjoyed Shattered Dreams, which is a serious police procedural with some light hearted humour supplied by a parrot. It has twists and turns, a complicated plot and some personal tragedy for Rohan making it a well rounded and absorbing read.

The novel is told in the first person from Rohan’s point of view and it works well, because of the way the plot is structured. The novel is set around the time of brother’s day, which I assume is an Indian tradition, so his sister Maya, who was kidnapped as a three year old, is on his mind. This allows for the gamut of emotions he feels to be aired naturally and neatly leads into her having a role in events. It also gives the reader insight into his character and the lonely life he leads as underlined by the fact that he considers Fernando the parrot to be his best friend.

The plot is interesting. It starts out as a murder enquiry and eventually branches out into a serious, multi country investigation involving all sorts of crimes. I was gripped by the way the investigation unfolds and how a series of small pieces of information lead to a much bigger whole. It’s clever. Oh, and I absolutely loved the explanation of how a diver was found in a wood 70 miles from the sea. Priceless (and true apparently). I must admit that I got a bit confused by the ending and had to re-read it to work out where all the characters slotted in, mostly because there are two characters with the same name.

Shattered Dreams is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.

Good book! This book had a bit of everything! It had suspense, intrigue, murder, mystery, A bit of a who done it, great police work and a few crazy twists and turns! The storyline was very interesting and kept me glued to my Kindle! I definitely recommend reading this book as it was well worth reading! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!