Alison Bruce Books In Order

Publication Order of DC Gary Goodhew Mystery Books

Publication Order of Ronnie Blake Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Alison Bruce is a critically acclaimed mystery, history and romantic suspense author and editor. Allison is the youngest of five children by 11 years. Thus, she grew up as an only child, and had no contact to the other children. This in turn made it extremely hard for Allison to form relationships. She became extremely shy that it even ended up affecting her social life. However, according to Allison, this shyness is what fueled her story creation abilities. At the age of twenty years, Allison, decided that it was a high time for her to change her attitude about life, thus she decided to be a little more aggressive and outspoken. While growing up, Alison had no desire to be an author. She eventually began creating fictitious scenarios and people. When she completed her education, Alison had no idea of what she wanted to do. Thus, she stumbled across so many jobs before settling on IT about ten years ago.

Apart from working as an It technician, Alison has also worked as dress maker, dancing instructor, taxi driver and on Saturdays Alison worked as a paint sprayer. On Mondays, she used to dress as Andy Pandy. She also worked as a CD electroplater at United Kingdom’s first ever CD pressing company. When she began writing, Alison was greatly influenced by her father and mother. Her mum loved to watch crime TV shows such as Strasky and Hutch, Columbo and Charlie’s Angels all of which played a bigger role in shaping up Alison’s creative mind. On the other hand, her dad loved crime fiction novels. Whenever he was not reading, Alison would grab one of his books and start reading.

Allison has hinted that she currently has five future books in her head. One of the books is set in Hawaii in the year 1961. In this book, Hawaii had just recently become the 50th state. It was also one of the world’s most exotic place. With the pacific war still being fresh in the mind of the islanders and also the influx of new comers, Hawaii was the ideal hunting field for a detective who is looking for a fugitive. Despite being an author, Alison also likes to read. Currently she is reading Cath Staincliffe’s Witness and Steve Mosby’s Bleeding. She is also a big fan of Harlan Coben. Allison is currently married with two children. When not writing, Alison loves to spend her free time with her children, Lana and Dean. She also from time to time loves a game of pool and poker.

The Silence

Libby is currently studying her A-levels. She lives away from home in a student share house, which was arranged by her father. Her childhood friend, Matt is also a member of the house. Matt and Libby have been extremely close ever since they were young. This sense of closeness that they have was brought about by a shared loss. Libby’s older sister, Rossie, were found dead after apparently falling from a bridge onto a busy road. They died after they were ran over by a long distance lorry. Due to the grief she has, Libby decides to live the life of her older sister. She takes the same subjects that she did and also works hard to attain the grades that her sister did. Later on Libby is able to link up with one of Rossie’s friend with whom they share memories. She also shares her doubt about Rossie’s death.

Matt once again suffers another loss and this time he loses his mother. Shannie, Libby’s and Matt’s housemate go missing. A few days later her body is found dead. This time around, it is clear to see that the death was not accidental. Initial investigation points out that it was suicide. However, DC Goodhew wonders as to whether it was just a co-incidence that so many people were dying around, Matt and Libby. Gary also later on discovers that he had a personal connection with Sophie. This story talks about the impact of sudden death both on families and individuals. It also illustrates beautifully, how people respond differently to sudden death, especially a young person. Most of these people’s reactions is mostly favored by their experiences and personalities. The Silence is a great book by Alison Bruce.

Cambridge Blue

The book begins as a body is found in the river. Cambridge Blue is the first novel in the DC Goodhew mystery series. How this body is related to the story is something that the author leaves the reader guessing. We are soon introduced to Alice and Richard Moran, who are the sibling owners of a plastic surgery clinic. The author also introduces their assistant Laura Spence together with her friend Victoria. There are some unsettling dynamic forces between these people. Since the author introduces these characters in glimpses, Laura appears to be Richard’s lover. However, how exactly is there volatile relationship? Moreover, what exactly is Alice’s seemingly strange role? Tensions eventually build up, leading to fatal results.

The remaining part of the book is narrated from Gary’s point of view. Gary is a young and newly qualified police detective, who is extremely close to his grandmother. He also comes from Cambridge, thus he knows a number of people who are involved in the crime. As a matter of fact, he does not hesitate to exploit his relationship with those suspected. Goodhew is not only young, but also extremely talented, single, bright, handsome and has also been presented in an uncritically admiring manner by the author. Despite the fact that he annoys his boss from time to time, Gary still does what he wants. This includes anonymously leaving exceedingly important crime evidence at the boss’s desk. Impressed by Gary’s skills, Marks decides to pair him up with a colleague, Kincaide.

Upon conducting the investigation, Gary begins to put the pieces together, though Kincaide focused more on non-work related issues. If you are willing to go into the author’s universe, then this series is a must read. Alison has done a great job by taking the action at her own pace and also has not insisted so much on realism. With that said, this is a great start to a series.