Every Word by Ellie Marney

Title: Every Word

Series: Mycroft and Watts #2

Author: Ellie Marney

Release Date: 1st June 2014

My Rating: 5/5

Blurb:

James Mycroft has just left for London to investigate a car accident similar to the one that killed his parents seven years ago...without saying goodbye to Rachel Watts, his 'partner in crime'.

Rachel is furious and worried about his strange behaviour - not that Mycroft's ever exactly normal, but London is the scene of so many of his nightmares. So Rachel jumps on a plane to follow him...and lands straight in a whole storm of trouble.

The theft of a copy of Shakespeare's First Folio, the possible murder of a rare books conservator, and the deaths of Mycroft's parents...Can Watts help Mycroft make sense of the three events - or will she lose him forever?

Sparks fly when Watts and Mycroft reunite in this second sophisticated thriller about the teen sleuthing duo.

In A Nutshell:

Loved it! Bring on book three!

My Review:

Every Word is Ellie Marney’s follow up to last year’s brilliant debut, Every Breath. After disappearing in the middle of the night without so much as a goodbye, Mycroft travels to London to assist his boss with an autopsy of an Australian car-crash victim. To the police, the case seems open and shut, with a confession from the victim’s girlfriend. However, Mycroft is convinced there is more to the story, with a possible connection to the robbery of a historical book at the victim’s workplace a few days earlier. The crash is also eerily similar to the accident that claimed the life of his parents seven years ago. Unfortunately, without evidence, Mycroft is having a hard time proving his theory, let alone finding the answers to his parents’ death.

It was never going to be easy for Mycroft to return to London and he is less than impressed when Rachel shows up at his hotel, preferring to keep her away as his life falls apart once again. Searching for the answers he has craved for the past seven years, and with so much at stake, emotions are running high and his behaviour becomes more unpredictable than usual. But his attempts to push Rachel away are futile and he slowly accepts that she isn’t just going to leave him to deal with his traumatic history alone.

Mycroft may claim Rachel is a genius but she’s still a little naïve when it comes to trusting strangers, despite what happened at the zoo in Every Breath. While Mycroft is busy with the police, she heads off on her own to discover more about the victim. Unfortunately she finds herself getting kidnapped when she gets a little too close to uncovering some answers. She puts up a damn good fight though!

While Mycroft will do anything to keep Rachel safe, his quest for answers means his concerns for personal safety do not extend to himself. Put these together and Mycroft and Rachel find themselves in more danger than they ever thought possible, receiving multiple beatings and broken bones when they inadvertently become mixed up with ruthless contract killers.

Every Word leaves us with ‘Moriarty’(Sherlock’s nemesis for those of you who are not familiar with the original stories) making an ‘appearance’ and a new piece of information to add to the mystery about what really happened to Mycroft’s parents, taking them one step closer to finding the truth.

There is so much more to this series than the dalliances with Sherlock Holmes mythology. There is action, mystery and intrigue, the usual teenage dramas, family dynamics (oh how I love the relationship between Rachel and her brother Mike), and yes, romance. Mycroft’s erratic behaviour would drive me crazy but he still makes me swoon and Ellie really knows how to write smoking hot make-out scenes!

I loved Every Word and found it hard to stop skipping ahead to see what was going to happen. I didn’t want to put it down and even though I loved Every Breath, Every Word has surpassed it. I can’t wait for Every Move which will be released March 2015.

Thank you to Allen & Unwin for this review copy.

For other stops on the Every Word Blog Tour, check out Ellie’s tour post.