Every word by Ellie Marney

Every series, bk. 2. Allen & Unwin, 2014. ISBN 9781743316511.
(Age: 15+) Highly recommended. Mystery. James Mycroft has gone to London without saying a word to Rachel Watts, who worked with him to solve the mystery of the murder in Every breath, the first in the Every series. Rachel is not happy especially when she finds out that James will be investigating a car accident, very similar to the one in which his parents had died many years before. She knows that he will need her support, so using her reward money, she hops on a plane and flies to London, where the couple immediately find themselves surrounded by danger as they investigate the accident and the theft of a priceless copy of Shakespeare's first folio.
Readers will enjoy the vivid descriptions of the trip to London, the crime scenes and the grisly police procedures and will be holding their breath during the intrepid Rachel's adventure with a gang determined to find out where the folio has been stashed.
Told from the point of view of Rachel, the reader gets a really good feeling for the type of person that she is, starting from the opening scenes where she is starring as an intrepid roller skater, to the caring girlfriend who knows that Mycroft will need her support in London, facing the memories of the death of his parents. She is brave and intelligent and together the pair use their considerable brain power to work out the mystery. Their romance has some steamy moments as well, but never overwhelms the mystery and action.
Every word is certainly not a 'cosy' mystery but rather a chilling thriller. There is violence and gore and the book is not for the faint hearted. The plot in this book is brought to a satisfying conclusion, and once the pair are back in Australia, the seeds for the next book are planted so that the reader is eager to read the final outcome.
Pat Pledger