Reviewed by annieb123 on
Laid In Earth is the 6th mystery in the Josef Slonský procedural series by Graham Brack. Released 25th Nov 2019 by Sapere books, it's 217 pages and available in ebook format.
This is an exceptionally well written and engaging read. I was previously unfamiliar with the author and hadn't read any of the earlier books in the series and had no trouble following the story or keeping the characters straight. I admit I struggled with some of the names (they're Czech), but the author is very adept at making the more important primary characters distinct enough that it wasn't a problem. The plot is intricate and very well constructed. I found the discussion of the cold war era really interesting and it seemed to be very well researched and believable. For a book written around a sometimes brutal and dark political period, I was surprised and delighted with the amount of humor. There were several places in the dialogue which surprised a giggle out of me (not easy to do). Captain Slonský himself is likable, loyal, honest, and intelligent. It was engaging to watch him and his team follow the disparate fragile threads to the resolution.
The language is relatively clean (PG rated, a few damns and bloodies, nothing worse). There is no graphic violence.
The ebook version includes an interactive table of contents. I've grown very fond of books with interactive content lately. Possibly worth noting for Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book (and the others in the series) are included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free. It's always fun to find a new to me author and series to read. I would recommend this one to fans of procedurals. I'm looking forward to more from this author.
One of the better reads I've enjoyed this year. Five stars. I shall read the earlier books very soon.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
Reading updates
- Started reading
- Finished reading
- 27 November, 2019: Reviewed