'Every Move' Every #3 by Ellie Marney

 Received from the Publisher 

From the BLURB:

The sequel to Every Breath and Every Word.

After the dramatic events of London, a road trip back to her old home in Five Mile sounds good (in theory) to Rachel Watts, with her brother Mike in the driving seat. But when Mike picks up his old buddy – the wildly unreliable Harris Derwent – things start to go south. Back in Melbourne, Rachel’s ‘partner in crime’, James Mycroft, clashes with Harris, and then a series of murders suggest that the mysterious Mr Wild – Mycroft’s own personal Moriarty – is hot on their tail. When tragedy strikes, Rachel and Mycroft realise they’ll have to recruit Harris and take matters into their own hands…

‘Every Move’ is the third and final book in Ellie Marney’s ‘Every’ mystery YA series.

I didn’t want to read this book – not because I wasn’t excited for it, and I certainly wanted to catch up with James Mycroft again … No, I didn’t want to read this book because I knew it was the last we’d be reading of Mycroft and Rachel Watts, and I didn’t want their adventures to end. But, it was Arthur Conan Doyle who wrote; 'What object is served by this circle of misery and violence and fear? It must tend to some end, or else our universe is ruled by chance, which is unthinkable.' And I suppose after all that Mycroft and Watts have been through in this series, they deserve a rest now, huh?

Certainly, ‘Every Move’ is set deep in the aftermath of second book ‘Every Word’, and the horrifying London events that see Watts and Mycroft now distant and uncommunicative. Rachel in particular is suffering post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the form of nightmares, sleepless nights and a new, frightening awareness of the world around her and the danger she and Mycroft have found themselves in. Adding to Rachel’s woes are the fallout from her London trip with her family – her mother in particular is expressing her fear for Rachel’s safety through anger and hurt, not entirely without justification … but it’s taken so much of a toll on Rachel, that her brother Mike drives them out of the city and back to their country home in Five Mile for a reprieve.

It is while home in Five Mile that Rachel and Mike catch up with one of his old friends, one Harris Derwent whom Rachel describes as; ‘sun-bleached, Driza-Bone-wearing, dickhead, tearaway.’ Harris wants to follow in the Watts’ footsteps and get out of Five Mile, so Mike offers him a lift into the city and their spare couch to crash on, much to Rachel’s dismay.

Meanwhile, Mycroft is following new leads, based on evidence gathered while in London – these threads will take him dangerously close to finding out who killed his parents, and why – but at what cost to him and Rachel?

I’ve got to say, this book is high-adrenaline and high-emotion. There’s a lot that needs hashing out – particularly between Watts and Mycroft, Rachel and her family – and while no stone is left unturned, Marney isn’t afraid to break reader’s hearts and leave them gasping with every page-turn. I don’t feel like I can say a hell of a lot about the nuts and bolts of the story, except the pacing is exquisite and the whodunit marvellous … the end will leave your heart racing and mind reeling.

But onto the really good stuff that drove this series – the characters – and I’m thrilled to say that Watts and Mycroft don’t disappoint. The characters we first met back in 2013 feel like they’ve come full-circle in this finale, and Marney really does give them room to shine and reflect on their past adventures and ramifications of those adventures. I particularly appreciated that Rachel is given time to grapple with her PTSD following the events of London, and Marney really does explore it with infinite patience and compassion. 

Mycroft and Watts’ romance has always been such a tender counterpoint to the oftentimes brutal crime-thriller aspect of the series, and I was delighted to find that their last dance is a damn good one for the emotional outpourings;

 ‘Covalent bonds are a type of molecular bond formed by the sharing of a pair of electrons between adjacent atoms,’ I recite. 

‘Yes! Covalent bonds are about the strongest molecular bonds in biochemistry, right? So you’ve got this molecule, it’s very strongly bonded ….’ 

Mycroft is close enough now that I can feel the warmth of him through his white shirt. He slips one of his hands into one of mine, and holds our joined hands high. Our fingers twine together, and some of the heat in his palm radiates out into my body. My stomach starts to do gravity-defying things again, and my cheeks flame. 

His voice has gone low. ‘But then the molecule comes into interaction with other molecules, where it can be affected by something called dispersion forces …’ 

‘Dispersion forces. Uh-huh.’ My heart is hammering. 

‘… also called London forces.’ 

‘You’re shitting me.’

And while this was an end, there was one new addition to ‘Every Move’ that bought a surprising freshness to the finale – in the form of new character Harris Derwent. He’s a tough bloke on the outside, but with an all-too believable back-story that had me thoroughly in his corner. And while he is coming to this series literally at the eleventh hour, I couldn’t help but feel like we haven’t seen the last of him either … at least I hope so.

I’ve loved this series from the start, and I’m so happy to see that it’s gone on to enjoy great success overseas. It introduced us to a fantastic new voice in Aussie YA, and even though I’m sad to see the last of Watts and (especially that delicious) Mycroft, I can’t wait to see what else Ellie Marney has in store for us.

While this series started out as the perfect read for fans of Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, it quickly became a must-read in its own right as a gutsy and exhilarating crime-thriller for readers young and old.

5/5

'Every Word' Every #2 by Ellie Marney

Received from the Publisher

From the BLURB:

Rachel is still getting used to the idea of Mycroft being her boyfriend when he disappears to London with Professor Walsh. They're investigating the carjacking death of the rare books conservator, which appears to be linked to the theft of a Shakespeare First Folio from the Bodleian Library. Worried about similarities between the conservator's accident and the death of Mycroft's own parents, Rachel follows Mycroft to London ... and straight into a whole storm of trouble.

When we left them in ‘Every Breath’, Rachel Watts and James Mycroft had narrowly escaped death and come out the other side stronger and with the tentative beginnings of a romance.

When we next catch up with them, Rachel is still grounded for her part in uncovering a homeless man’s killer (and risking her life in the process), but has been permitted to compete in her latest sporting craze – roller derby. Mycroft has taken a job/internship at the coroner’s office, and both of them are finding ways to navigate their newfound relationship amidst Rachel’s grounding and her mother’s concerns about Mycroft as a suitable friend, let alone boyfriend.

When a news story comes out of London, about an Australian ex-pat being murdered in similar execution-style to Mycroft’s parents all those years ago, hell breaks loose. Mycroft jets to London, supposedly as coroner’s aid after the deceased man’s Australian family expresses a wish for a national presence during his murder investigation. But Rachel knows better. She knows Mycroft’s obsession with his parents’ deaths, and that he’ll go to any lengths to follow a lead – no matter how dangerous.

Thanks to the reward money Victoria Police provided her recently, Rachel tags along with her brother’s girlfriend at the London-leg of her European vacation. She intends to catch-up with Mycroft, and be there when he inevitably starts suffering from the old wounds he’s reopening to investigate this new case.

‘Every Word’ is the second book in Australian author Ellie Marney’s ‘Every’ young adult crime series.

I love, love, loved first book ‘Every Breath’ when I read it last year. And I was thrilled when Ellie Marney made the 2014 Gold InkyLonglist. I’ve been eagerly awaiting the sequel, and pining for more Mycroft … and now it’s here and the criminal cases are getting darker, Mycroft is sinking further into his revenge and Watts becoming increasingly concerned with the lengths he’ll go to avenge the dead (even if it means putting her and her family in harm’s way). In other words: now I’m eagerly anticipating third book ‘Every Move’, and I’m so relieved it’s coming out later this year to assuage the suspense!

When the book begins, it has only been a little while since the events of ‘Every Breath’. Rachel and Mycroft are still smarting from their brush with violence, and find themselves in the midst of a lust-haze that’s only grown deeper as the heart grows fonder during Rachel’s grounding. I loved the set-up (calm before the storm) as Marney shows us just how close Mycroft and Rachel have become – they were always friends, but now there’s a new level of intensity to them with this romance, it feels like they have more to lose and protect.

I also loved the set-up because it is so rudely shattered the moment Mycroft sniffs out a connection between a recent murder investigation out of London, and the cold case of his parents supposed “car-jacking” murder. I think Rachel too is given a reality-check when Mycroft literally drops everything to follow this lead – it hints at bigger problems for him and Rachel down the track, if he can’t appreciate what he has in the present to let go of his tragic past, even when it means putting himself and those he cares about at risk.

Naturally, being a loyal go-getter, Rachel follows after Mycroft to London where she’s insistent on not being his baby-sitter, but wants to wait in the wings for the emotional implosion that’s sure to come.

 ‘You shouldn’t have to do this on your own,’ I say softly. 

‘Well, you can’t do it for me.’ Acid bitterness lines his face as he leans down, curls a finger on the cue. ‘Some things I just have to sort out myself.’ 

‘Hey, I know that.’ It’s hard, smothering the urge to return fire. ‘But this is too big. Mycroft, you can’t control all these feelings that–’ 

‘I CAN,’ Mycroft abandons his shot to stand straight. He levels the cue at my head. ‘I can, and I bloody will.’

I was a bit wary of a change in setting for this second book, because I so loved reading about my hometown of Melbourne in ‘Every Breath’. But actually the London setting is just as enjoyable, if not more so, for affording readers and Rachel a glimpse at Mycroft in his natural setting. It’s also a great location for bringing up so many emotional grenades for Mycroft, that really helps him to start unearthing his past and sharing more with Rachel. And, yes, Marney does make the most of visiting Sherlock Holmes’s hometown – with a trip to the museum at Baker St.

Ellie Marney really has to be commended – there’s no resting on laurels with this follow-up. I praised Marney for her debut; “this isn’t ‘crime-lite’ because it’s for a younger audience. It’s crime, full stop.” And in this second instalment she further cements the ‘Every’ series in the crime genre and lets the ‘YA’ tag fall away. She ups the stakes and the violence in this second book – Rachel and Mycroft don’t just have a brush with death, they stare it in the face. Marney doesn’t pull on the brakes or lessen the intense pace she set from the onset with ‘Every Breath’ – in ‘Every Word’ she goes bigger and darker, the overarching storyline gets more complex and the while the finish line is in sight, it’s also filled with obstacles.

I can’t wait for ‘Every Move’ now that Marney has posed such interesting questions about Rachel and Mycroft’s relationship, his ability to let go of the past and hints at how much more complicated his parent’s deaths are. The ending and introduction of a certain villain are probably what you expect in anticipation of the third (and possibly final) book, but if there’s anything Marney’s homage to Arthur Conan Doyle has taught us – it’s to expect the unexpected.

5/5

Every Word is published by Allen & Unwin, and now available in all good bookstores 

Interview with Ellie Marney, author of 'Every Word'

I fell in love with Ellie Marney’s ‘Every’ series from Mycroft’s first wise-ass comment. I was thrilled when it made the 2014 Gold Inky Longlist, and doubly-thrilled when I was offered the chance to interview the author!  

Q: How were you first published – agent or slush pile?

I sent an unsolicited manuscript for my first book – a middle-grade fantasy novel – to an editor whose contact was given to me by a mutual friend. So yeah, basically slush pile.  The editor must have seen some promise, because she asked me for some rewrites, which I did quick-smart and without complaint – I think now it must have been a bit of a test, to see if she could work with me! – and when I returned them, I mentioned that I had another book, a YA crime book, that I’d just finished.  She asked to see it, and that was how Every Breath came about.

That editor was Eva Mills at Allen & Unwin – Eva is fantastic, really the most amazing editor a writer could hope for, and I thank my lucky stars for her every single day.

Q: Are you a ‘plotter’ or a ‘pantser’ - that is, do you meticulously plot your novel before writing, or do you ‘fly by the seat of your pants’ and let the story evolve naturally?

Pantser, I’m a confirmed pantser!  I often have a number of scenes I know I want to weave in, and usually some definite end point, but most of the plot evolves as I write, and as I add to my ideas with research.  I often make scribbled plotting notes that I abandon halfway through writing them, when I realise I’m better off just writing what’s in my head.

Of course, this means that I do a lot of re-writing.  I often have to go back and ret-con a whole lot of scenes that have been altered by something I’ve written further down the track.  And luckily I was editing Every Word at the same time I was writing Every Move, so I was able to work in a number of small plot points that took on extra significance in book 3.

Q: How long did it take you to write ‘Every Word’, from first idea to final manuscript?

I had the first ideas for Every Word when I was polishing Every Breath for publication.  At that point I wasn’t even sure I had the green light for a sequel, but the characters just wouldn’t leave me alone.  Thankfully my editor was really excited about a second and third book, so I was able to carry on!  I guess, from first scribbled scenes to final manuscript, it was about six months?  But I was doing a lot of other writing - edits for Every Breath - during part of that time, so if you condensed it, the writing of Every Word actually took about three months.  It felt astonishingly quick.  Aannd then…the redrafting began!

Q: Where do story ideas generally start for you? Do you first think of the character, theme, ending? Or is it just a free-fall? 

Dialogue – I always start getting snatches of dialogue from these vaguely-considered characters for potentially-going-nowhere stories.  But once the characters start talking, and you get a sense of the language they use, the way they might gesture, their attitude and tone, and how they came to be the people they are, then they really start living and breathing.  They become complete people, co-habiting in your head, and you can’t imagine not giving them agency.  They sort of just demand to have a story written for them, the sods! 

Q: Were you already a fan of Sherlock Holmes before you had the idea for the ‘Every’ series, or did you have to go and read the Arthur Conan Doyle books and various adaptations?

Oh no, I had already read all the Conan Doyle books in high school.  They completely fascinated me – one of the first books I ever bought was a huge ‘Complete and Unabridged’ collection of the stories!  So I was already totally in love with the character.  That was actually the thing that sparked off the first book, Every Breath, the question I had, which was what would Sherlock be like as a contemporary teenager. I love checking out all the new adaptations, although I’m a bit of a Sherlock snob - I’m not a fan of the Robert Downey Jnr movies (he makes a much better Tony Stark, imo).

Q: US ‘Elementary’ or BBC ‘Sherlock’?

Ooh, now there’s a question that could really get me into trouble!  To be honest, I follow both shows religiously, I’m a total Holmes addict.  And I’m certainly enthralled by Benedict Cumberbunny Cumberbatch’s portrayal of Sherlock. He portrays him as a high-functioning sociopath, which is certainly one reading you could take of the original character. But I have to agree with something Lili Wilkinson said about his version of Holmes, which is that he’s just a bit cruel. 

And although I often find the mysteries in ‘Elementary’ sometimes a bit too pedestrian, I really find myself veering more towards Johnny Lee Miller’s portrayal of Sherlock – as someone who is highly controlled, and definitely on a certain spectrum, but who’s a bit more human.  The development of him as a character, as a person, is really fantastic, and I love the fact that his Watson is a woman, of course!

Q:  Before the ‘Every’ series came out, you won the 2010 Scarlet Stiletto Award for women's short crime writing. So it should come as no surprise to readers that the ‘Every’ series reads like a crime series; there’s nothing ‘lite’ or sugar-coated because this is a YA crime series. You clearly have a lot of respect for your readers, giving them stories that are scary and complex, gritty and dangerous - was there ever a moment, while writing, when you thought to pare back or were worried that it was all too much for teen readers?

I wasn’t worried at all while writing Every Breath – I just had a strong feeling that there was a niche out there for readers who wanted something a bit grittier.  If you look in high school libraries, there’s a lot of crime fiction on the shelves – Agatha Christie, Susan Hill, Kathy Reichs, Stieg Larsson - only very little of it is written for teenagers.  I read a lot of Peter Temple, and I love his style of writing: this wonderfully spare, ‘mean streets’ take on Melbourne. I also love Honey Brown’s raw psychological suspense.  I wanted to borrow a little bit of that, and also I felt that readers were attracted to complex mysteries and forensic procedural thrillers, but that no one was really writing that for a teenaged audience.  So, no, I wasn’t worried that teen readers couldn’t take it – I mean, if they can handle reading Stieg Larsson, they can take it, you know?

I had more qualms with Every Word, because a few things happen…well, let’s just say that the action gets darker and bloodier, and there were a few spots where I felt that it needed a lighter touch (you’ll know which bits when you get to them!).  I want to take readers on a thrill ride, but I don’t want to freak them out completely.

And also, it was for the sake of the characters, particularly Rachel.  I didn’t want her to be a victim – a lot of crime thrillers choose that trope for women characters, and I’m not a big fan of it.  I mean, Rachel has some really extreme moments in Every Word, but they are situations we’re aware she can wriggle her way out of, with (or sometimes without) Mycroft’s help, and bounce back from. She actually needs a bit more time to bounce back, after Every Word, but we know she’s resilient, she’ll make it through.

Q: Will the ‘Every’ series really finish with three books, or are there more adventures in store for Rachel and Mycroft?

Good question!  I honestly don’t know.  At this stage I’m still editing the finale for Every Move, so things are still up in the air…  I guess we’ll see if readers enjoy how the series is progressing with Every Word, and take it from there.  It suddenly occurred to me a few weeks ago that I won’t be writing Rachel and James any more after this…the idea made me a bit teary, I have to say, because I really love my characters!  I suppose anything’s possible - I only had three books in mind, originally, but you never know.

Q: ‘Every Word’ takes place in London – did you need to go on a writing retreat to help your writing process? Did you miss writing about Melbourne in this second book?   

I had to go to London to help my writing process!  You know that old writer’s adage, ‘write what you know’? – well, it turns out that applies most specifically to writing location!  Yeah, it was weird, I got about three-quarters of the way through the book, and suddenly realised that I really had no idea what I was talking about…the smells, the tone of the place, the look of the sky, I didn’t know anything.  Google Earth only takes you so far, y’know?

So I was thumping away on the keyboard one day, and my partner turned around to me said ‘you really should go to the UK’, and I was like ‘what?’.  Then he mentioned that his sister had some work leave, so she could mind the kids…  It really turned into a bit of a whirlwind trip, rather like Rachel’s.  It was quite a shock, actually, to be in Australia one day and then wow, suddenly I was in London, and I had never been to the UK before…  It’s fantastic, by the way.  I loved London, and I’d love to go back!

I did miss writing about Melbourne, though, oddly enough.  Writing Every Move has allowed me to jump back into that, and I’ve really noticed this feeling of ‘oh right, okay, I’m home again’ – it felt very comfortable, to slip back into it.  I can be more expressive and loose, because I know it like the back of my hand.

Q: What’s the appeal in writing for young adults? And would you ever write an adult book?

I just love YA - it’s pretty much just that.  I mean, I read YA almost exclusively – let’s face it, there’s so much amazing YA out there, you could read it forever.  I love the depth and complexity and intensity of the characters, the subtlety of them – I know lots of adults who would just gasp at the idea of teenagers being subtle, but they truly are.  They’re right on the cusp of life, and they feel everything so vividly…  There’s a wondrous energy there, which I love trying to get right when I’m writing.

I have written stories for adults, and published a few here and there, so it’s something I know I can certainly do, but it’s not what really moves me right now.  Maybe when I’m old and grey I’ll have to shift out of pretending to be a teenager, but at the moment I can still pull it off okay, so I’m going to stick with it as long as readers will let me!

Q: Can you give us absolutely any clues about the third book ‘Every Move’?

Ooh, what can I say that doesn’t give the game away…  Right, I’m going to share a few of the things I wrote down when I was first brainstorming for Every Move, and they all come into play in the book – are you ready?

Nemesis, revenge, bringing it home, country people/country skills, family history, old flame, jealousy, alone together, Final Problem.

Hope that helps!

Q: What was the last amazing book you read that you’d like to recommend to others?

That is really hard!  I’ve read some fantastic books lately, including ‘Zac and Mia’ by AJ Betts, ‘If I Stay’ by Gayle Forman, and ‘The Coldest Girl in Cold Town’ by Holly Black.  But ‘Wild Awake’ by Hilary T Smith was quite simply amazing – a careering midnight bike ride with two incredible people that shakes you up and resets your brain in strange ways.  Go read it, it’s awesome!

Q: Do you have any advice for budding young writers?

Just write – and don’t stop.  That’s the best thing to do really.  Try your best to finish things, because sometimes that can be the hardest part.  Remember that rewriting is wonderful.  And live life! - be aware of what’s going on around you, be observant and be honest when you write about it later.

Every Breath and Every Word are published by Allen & Unwin, and are now available in all good bookstores! 

'Every Breath' by Ellie Marney

Received from the Publisher

From the BLURB:

Rachel Watts is an unwilling new arrival to Melbourne from the country. James Mycroft is her neighbour, an intriguingly troubled seventeen-year-old genius with a passion for forensics. Despite her misgivings, Rachel finds herself unable to resist Mycroft when he wants her help investigating a murder. And when Watts and Mycroft follow a trail to the cold-blooded killer, they find themselves in the lion's den - literally.

A night at the zoo will never have quite the same meaning again...

The city is no place for country girl, Rachel Watts. But since her family’s farm was foreclosed she had no choice but to be thrust into the hustle and bustle of the seemingly cold and anonymous Melbourne. Now her life revolves around school and chores while her mum works herself ragged as a cleaner, her dad is never home but always out driving the taxi and her brother frustratingly thrives in any environment. 

There’s only one person who has saved this year of transition and stopped Rachel from going completely nutty - James Mycroft. He’s her neighbour and classmate, but over the last few months he’s also become her close friend. She edits the online forensic papers he publishes under the name ‘Diogenes’ and has been absorbed into his friendship group along with Gus and Mai. He might not be big on the warm and fuzzies, but Rachel knows that she’s become as important to Mycroft as he has to her – not least because he’s an orphan and inclined to hermit and drink his problems away. 

Mycroft has opened the city up to Rachel, and made this place feel a little less anonymous. He’s even introduced her to some unsavoury characters, and unlikely friends – like Homeless Dave and his not-a-poodle, Poodle. Mycroft met them when he worked a soup kitchen, and Dave has since become one of his many eyes-and-ears around Melbourne.

That is, until Mycroft and Rachel find Dave dead – murdered in a most horrific way. 

Mycroft knows that the seemingly random murder of one homeless man won’t matter much to the police, and the disinclined Detective Pickup … so her takes it upon himself to investigate his friend’s death, but he’ll need Rachel’s help to prove foul play. 

‘Every Breath’ is the debut young adult novel from Australian author Ellie Marney, and the first in a new series. 

This book begins with a prologue that doesn’t inspire confidence. Granted, it’s a prologue that also probably sets-up the trajectory of the entire Mycroft/Watts series … but, still, some of the lines were cheesy and I wasn’t quite sure what I was getting myself into with the book; 

Seven years from now, a man will be dead, a case will be opened, and a boy with no past may hold the key to my future.

What kept me reading beyond this somewhat clunky opener was a puff from Cath Crowley (calling the book “smart, sexy, and fast-paced”) and a back cover blurb that invokes a Sherlock Holmes for the Melbourne teen set.

Sherlock Holmes is hot (again) right now. Whether you prefer yours as Cumberbatch or Jonny Lee Miller, New York or London-faithful … it’s irrelevant, when the real appeal behind the “consulting detective” resurgence more lies in reading egotistically smart characters bringing a bit of dignity and drama to the stale crime genre. That’s what Marney is offering up with this new series and the character of James Mycroft (and of course, his partner; Watts). 

Mycroft is a wickedly smart and sad young man; he was made orphan when his parents died under mysterious car-jacking circumstances in London when he was a boy. Afterwards he went to live in Melbourne with his only remaining relative, his aunt who is the very definition of a ‘hands-off’ parent. Since the verdict for his parents’ “accidental” death has never sat well wit him, Mycroft has dedicated his life to crime solving. He writes online papers on the topic of rigor mortis and prowls the Internet for ways to put his considerable intellect to good use under the pseudonym Diogenes (yes, the fictional gentleman's club of Arthur Conan Doyle’s books). Never mind that he’s only a teenager; Mycroft’s sad past and cracking mind lend him as a believable amateur sleuth with a chip on his shoulders and a grin at the ready. 

The book begins with Mycroft’s smarts having just gotten him thumped by a fellow classmate, and he’s having his wounds tended by the ever-patient Rachel Watts, our story narrator. Though we’re given a brief flashback later in the book, into the early days of Rachel and Mycroft’s friendship, we never get a scene of their very first meeting or what sparked their friendship (though, presumably, proximity was a big factor since they’re neighbours). This is a bit of a lack, and it does take a few chapters for readers to get into their rhythm and accept this unconventional but strong friendship. Rachel has also been living in the city for a few months when the book begins, and I suppose I prefer the sacrificing of a “meeting” scene, as opposed to a time-skip to Dave’s death and Mycroft’s first real case to sink his teeth into. Still, when Mycroft and Watts’s friendship starts hinting at a possibility of more it would have been nice to know of their history up to this point; either to know how unusual it is that their feelings for one another are changing, or to know for sure that this tension has been building for some time.

And the tension is delicious. Mycroft is a charismatic but wounded soul; he has a lot of skeletons in his closet and a childhood that has shaped him into this smart but lonesome young man. Watts, by contrast, is determined to hold her close-knit family together, even in the face of their new and busy city lives – she comes from a place of love and loyalty, and by being around her, these feelings of home and love start having an affect on Mycroft. I also liked the fact that Watts is a tomboy uninterested in outward appearance; similarly, Mycroft is clearly swayed by Watt’s intellect and kindness, and their repertoire is never better than when they’re crunching on the case and observing clues.

I also loved the secondary sidekicks of Mai and Gus, whose additional smarts help Watts and Mycroft out of a few jams and whose forbidden romance is a nice counterpoint to the more grisly aspects of this crime-thriller; 

Mai grins at Mycroft. ‘You know that’s slightly ridiculous, don’t you?’ 

He smiled. ‘Why?’ 

‘Because. . . because you’re teenagers.’ Mai’s expression says it should be obvious. ‘Mycroft, this isn’t like figuring out who spray-painted some guy’s car. This is murder.’ 

‘The principles are the same’ he insists. 

‘But you’re both minors. And you have no access to police information, no experience, no forensics lab, no authority. . . ’ 

‘Mai, are you trying to bring me down or something?’ 

Gus, who usually only gets emotive about things like soccer, suddenly leans forward. 

‘I think you should do it.’ He glances at me and Mycroft in turn. ‘This homeless guy, it’s not like his death is going to be a major priority, is it? The police won’t bend over backwards to bring his killer to justice or anything. He was a derelict with no family. So you two are the only ones who even care.’

Ellie Marney won the 2010 Scarlet Stiletto competition for women’s crime story writing, and in Mycroft and Watts she is clearly paying a small homage to the most infamous of crime stories - Sherlock Holmes. But this is not a teen-version or even an update; instead, Mycroft is clearly a fan of Doyle’s detective (hence the Diogenes screen name) and Marney plays around with a few jokes about Watts/Watson. But the Sherlock references also take a sharp turn when Watts points out Mycroft’s seeming disconnect from reality and harmful determination; 

‘This is about you, it’s always been about you! This is not an investigation! And I am not your Watson! And Dave is not your parents!’ 

There’s also a feel of Rian Johnson’s 2005 film ‘Brick’ to ‘Every Breath’ – in the gritty urban setting and young sleuths who are more likely to channel Raymond Chandler than Nancy Drew. And I liked that too; this isn’t ‘crime-lite’ because it’s for a younger audience. It’s crime, full stop. The murder is gory, the bad-guys deadly and our characters are putting themselves in very real danger by poking their noses where they don’t belong. 

I finished ‘Every Breath’ and wanted more. So I was thrilled to discover that second book ‘Every Word’ (set in London!) is due for June 2014 release, and after that there’s also ‘Every Move’ in March 2015. This is great news, because now that I know them, I want more James Mycroft and Rachel Watts. I want to know what happened to his parents, and how Rachel’s family will stay together in this big city. I want Mai to tell her mum about Gus, and I want to know how someone as smart and troublesome as Mycroft will fare in the big, wide world … I just want more from Ellie Marney, basically.

4.5/5