Book Review: The Lock | Andrew Barrett

Before I begin, I want to thank Sarah Hardy at Book on the Bright Side Publicity for the invitation to participate in this blog tour! This is a dark, action-packed crime drama flirting the line of horror. Truly, a fascinating and gripping read!

My Review

Dark, graphic, and spotted with surprising moments of humor, Andrew Barrett’s novella The Lock should not be read alone at night! From the first scene, it is truly hard to put this one down. CSI Eddie Collins is a mix of bold, humorous, and impulsivity—the perfect lead to carry us through this story!

I’m going to keep this short because this needs to be SPOILER-FREE for readers to fully enjoy it! Seriously, I was reflecting on what to say and there are so many devious twists here that I can’t even begin to know how to talk about the plot! So I’ll start with what we know.

CSI Eddie Collins is on the scene of a crime. While he is waiting for the crime scene technicians to come remove the body, he notices something strange. A noise, in the cellar… And then there is the mysterious looking key in the hands of the dead man.

Eddie feels pressed for time. Is it possible there is someone in the basement? The noise doesn’t sound particularly human made, but he can’t just leave it without investigating.

So Eddie goes in the basement. But what he finds in the basement he could have never been prepared for…

This book moves at LIGHTENING speed and it is positively haunting! Barrett has a way with graphic imagery that adds a lot of richness and a bit of horror to this book. There’s just enough humor to keep things light when they go to truly dark depths. I wondered if I really should be laughing? But it is the sort of nervous laughter that is needed to remind myself I am not in the cellar, I am home in bed with no mysterious noises!

I loved the rich details around the forensics in the case. Actually, the author Andrew Barrett is himself a CSI, and the details around the investigation and what Eddie notices and the clues he puts together are quite fascinating. I think fans of forensic science will really enjoy this book! But, you know, make sure to keep the lights on…

About the Book

I’m Eddie Collins, a CSI. This is the story of how I saw a dead man die.

I was finishing up at a sudden death in an old house, waiting for the body snatchers to arrive, when I heard a noise from the cellar.

I had time to kill, so I went to investigate.

Turns out I wasn’t the only one with killing on his mind.

If you like fast-paced crime thrillers with a forensic slant, raw emotions, and characters that reach out of the book and grab you by the throat, you’ll love Andrew Barrett’s CSI Eddie Collins series.

To find out what’s in that cellar, buy The Lock today.

About the Author

Andrew Barrett has enjoyed variety in his professional life, from engine-builder to farmer, from Oilfield Service Technician in Kuwait, to his current role of Senior CSI in Yorkshire.

He’s been a CSI since 1996, and has worked on all scene types from terrorism to murder, suicide to rape, drugs manufacture to bomb scenes. One way or another, Andrew’s life revolves around crime.

In 1997 he finished his first crime thriller, A Long Time Dead, and it’s still a readers’ favourite today, some 120,000 copies later, topping the Amazon charts several times. Two more books featuring SOCO Roger Conniston completed the trilogy.

Today, Andrew is still producing high-quality, authentic crime thrillers with a forensic flavour that attract attention from readers worldwide. He’s also attracted attention from the Yorkshire media, having been featured in the Yorkshire Post, and twice interviewed on BBC Radio Leeds.

He’s best known for his lead character, CSI Eddie Collins, and the acerbic way in which he roots out criminals and administers justice. Eddie’s series is four books and two short stories in length, and there’s still more to come.

Andrew is a proud Yorkshireman and sets all of his novels there, using his home city of Leeds as another major, and complementary, character in each of the stories.