Firstly I would like to thank Bloodhound Books, Tony Forder and blog tour organiser Sarah Hardy for the ARC copy of Bad to the Bone in return for an honest review.

I’ve been reading a lot of crime fiction of late and have been incredibly lucky to be gifted some fabulous reads.

Bad To The Bone continued that trend with a story that sucked me in and thrilled me throughout. The writer Tony Forder with great skill led me down a narrative path to where I thought I would figure out the mystery at the heart of this novel, but he wrong footed me. Then he led me through a series of twists and turns, left agape at the final relevation.

Its a story about murder, criminals and the police, but its also a story about friendship, jealousy, corruption and secrets. Murder is portrayed as an act of self protection, a self indulgent act from the belief that one life has more worth than another. Not all murderers are crazy twisted psychopaths, some are people caught in a moment of madness, otherwise living normal lives. It’s a complex set of behaviours, that many simply can’t fathom out, Tony Forder can and does in Bad To The Bone. He will make you look around you at friends, colleagues, the man who fixes your car, even your neighbours and question what they are capable of. Anyone of the characters in this book could be the killer. I have met a few killers in my time and some leave you feeling chilled, while others make you take a step back and wonder how they, so friendly, so full of regret, could be guilty of such a crime! Tony Forder brings this across with great skill and an instinctive understanding of a killers motivation for his crime.

He has delivered a first class novel, full of characters who are complex, believable and who you want not to be the one capable of killing another. It is a story full of false turns, edgy and reeking of nerve tingling tension.

Review of Bad To The Bone

TONY J FORDER