#BlogTour – #BookReview of #MexicoStreet by Simone Buchholz @ohneKlippo @FwdTranslations @annecater @OrendaBooks #RandomThingsTours #ChastityRiley

I’m thrilled to welcome you today to my stop on the blog tour for Mexico Street, third book in the Chastity Riley series by Simone Buchholz, with translation by Rachel Ward. Thank you to Anne Cater and Orenda Books for giving me the opportunity to read and review this wonderful book.

About the book:

Hamburg state prosecutor Chastity Riley investigates a series of arson attacks on cars across the city, which leads her to a startling and life-threatening discovery involving criminal gangs and a very illicit love story…

Night after night, cars are set alight across the German city of Hamburg, with no obvious pattern, no explanation and no suspect.

Until, one night, on Mexico Street, a ghetto of high-rise blocks in the north of the city, a Fiat is torched. Only this car isn’t empty. The body of Nouri Saroukhan – prodigal son of the Bremen clan – is soon discovered, and the case becomes a homicide.

Public prosecutor Chastity Riley is handed the investigation, which takes her deep into a criminal underground that snakes beneath the whole of Germany. And as details of Nouri’s background, including an illicit relationship with the mysterious Aliza, emerge, it becomes clear that these are not random attacks, and there are more on the cards…

About the author:

Simone Buchholz was born in Hanau in 1972. At university, she studied Philosophy and Literature, worked as a waitress and a columnist, and trained to be a journalist at the prestigious Henri-Nannen-School in Hamburg.

In 2016, Simone Buchholz was awarded the Crime Cologne Award as well as runner-up in the German Crime Fiction Prize for Blue Night, which was number one on the KrimiZEIT Best of Crime List for months.

She lives in Sankt Pauli, in the heart of Hamburg, with her husband and son.

Mexico Street is translated from German by Rachel Ward.

My Review:

Although Mexico Street is the third in the Chastity Riley series by Simone Buchholz, it is the first one I’ve read. I think it reads very well as a standalone but, that being said, this brilliant third instalment has definitely given me a thirst to read more of this impressive series in the future.

Mexico Street is completely different to anything I’ve ever read before, written in a very unique style that I have to admit took me a few pages to get into. But once I did the story grew wings, drawing me into the world of public prosecutor Chastity Riley, criminal gangs and an illicit love affair that made my heart hurt.

Chastity Riley is a character unlike any other. With her outspoken manner, bad habits and hardened outer exterior, you could be mistaken for thinking that there’s no more to her personality than the harshness you first see. But there’s also a softer, vulnerable side to her that made me fall in love with this strong female character who’s obviously been through so much in her life.

Along with a memorable cast of supporting characters, Chastity is investigating a series of arson attacks on cars across the city. But then one night, on Mexico Street, a car is set alight with someone inside it, turning the investigation into a murder case. Aided by Stepanovik and his team, Chastity begins to uncover a disturbing story of corruption, criminal activity, family politics and immigration. Add to that an illicit love affair that will break your heart and what you have is a vivid, dark and atmospheric portrayal of a Germany that will take you by surprise.

There is an underlying black humour woven throughout Mexico Street that prevents the story from slipping into an unrelenting darkness, with Simone Buchholz’s top notch writing drawing you in and keeping you reading right up until the final page has been turned. Skilfully translated from its native German by Rachel Ward, this is a fantastic, surprising and addictive read that I would highly recommend.

Mexico Street by Simone Buchholz is available to buy now: Amazon UK

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