It’s the perfect getaway. But the past will always find you…

When ex-cop Bill Robinson takes over The Inn by the Sea, all he wants is a quiet escape from the city.

But when a crime boss moves into town and begins terrorising Bill’s friends, he can’t just sit back and watch.

It’s not long before local criminals are turning up dead and The Inn comes under attack.

With the help of The Inn’s fearless residents, Bill must do everything he can to defend his town, his chosen family, and his home.

The Murder Inn by James Patterson and Candice Fox is the second book in a series featuring ex-cop Bill Robinson. It was only when I got to the end of the book and started writing this review that I realised it was part of a series as nowhere on the front cover was this mentioned, but to be honest it worked completely as a standalone, luckily.

The story has three main threads running through it. We have Bill trying to help one of the guests at the Inn, ex-soldier Nick who believes someone is out to kill him due to an incident that happened in Afghanistan during his military time there. A drug dealer in pursuit of a women and a friend of Bill’s who isn’t about to go down without a fight, and a mother and child on the run who have come to the Inn but who are they running from?

From the blurb, I did expect there to be more of a direct link between this drug dealer, the Inn and Bill but he kind of got dragged into the situation kicking and screaming but he also isn’t the kind of man to let a friend down.

The plot starts all mellow and relaxed, but as usual with James Patterson’s books all hell breaks loose and the full-on action and heart-pounding moments begin and don’t let up for many chapters. There are also quite a few twists I didn’t see coming, which I enjoyed.

Overall, I loved The Murder Inn and hope that Bill and the residents are back for round three, though I’m not sure how many times the Inn can be shot up!

James Patterson is one of the best-known and biggest-selling writers of all time. Among his creations are some of the world’s most popular series, including Alex Cross, the Women’s Murder Club, Michael Bennett and the Private novels. He has written many other number one bestsellers including collaborations with President Bill Clinton and Dolly Parton, stand-alone thrillers and non-fiction.

James has donated millions in grants to independent bookshops and has been the most borrowed adult author in UK libraries for the past fourteen years in a row. He lives in Florida with his family.