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Inspector Reis #3
Broken Oaths
The brilliant third novel from the acclaimed author of THE COLOURS OF DEATH.
During a remote meeting, a Portuguese official watches from Lisbon as his colleague, Emanuel Francisco, a diplomat based in London's Portuguese embassy, dies of what looks to be a heart attack. When no one comes into the room to Francisco's aid, he tries frantically to contact the consulate to get immediate help.
No one picks up.
When local police finally arrive hours later, they walk into a disturbingly silent and horrific scene. Everyone inside the building is dead.
Inspector Isabel Reis, a Gifted Inspector with Portugal's PolÍcia Judiciária, has developed a reputation for closing sensitive cases involving powerful people. When the gravity of what has happened in London is revealed, she's called up to assist the Met's CID in the investigation.
Two things quickly become very this was a mass killing, and only one person escaped. The person the embassy was secretly protecting within its walls.
Now Isabel must quiet her turbulent mind and come face to face with a killer more ruthless than she has ever seen before . . . The answers lie with the sole survivor.
During a remote meeting, a Portuguese official watches from Lisbon as his colleague, Emanuel Francisco, a diplomat based in London's Portuguese embassy, dies of what looks to be a heart attack. When no one comes into the room to Francisco's aid, he tries frantically to contact the consulate to get immediate help.
No one picks up.
When local police finally arrive hours later, they walk into a disturbingly silent and horrific scene. Everyone inside the building is dead.
Inspector Isabel Reis, a Gifted Inspector with Portugal's PolÍcia Judiciária, has developed a reputation for closing sensitive cases involving powerful people. When the gravity of what has happened in London is revealed, she's called up to assist the Met's CID in the investigation.
Two things quickly become very this was a mass killing, and only one person escaped. The person the embassy was secretly protecting within its walls.
Now Isabel must quiet her turbulent mind and come face to face with a killer more ruthless than she has ever seen before . . . The answers lie with the sole survivor.
395 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 23, 2024
About the author
Patricia Marques
3 books39 followersHalf-Angolan and half-Portuguese, Patricia was born in Portugal but moved to England when she was eight. As well as the MA in Creative Writing from City she holds a BA in Creative Writing from Roehampton. She lives in London and The Colours of Death was her first novel. House of Silence is her second.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 20, 2024
4.5 stars
I enjoyed this fast-paced mystery a lot and raced through it in less than 2 days. Inspector Reis continues to be a sympathetic and interesting character. The world building continues to intrigue and immerse me. I will be reading the next book as well.
I enjoyed this fast-paced mystery a lot and raced through it in less than 2 days. Inspector Reis continues to be a sympathetic and interesting character. The world building continues to intrigue and immerse me. I will be reading the next book as well.
June 22, 2024
I still love this series, but I felt like this was a filler book. I kinda felt the same after reading the second in the series, so I wanted a bit more from this.
The Inspector Reis series is a fairly standard police procedural with one big case per book, with the twist being that in this world there are “mutants” capable of telekinesis or telepathy. Main character Isabel is a high level telepath and occasionally uses this to help solve cases.
In this book we get a scene change, going from Lisbon to London after an incident at the Portuguese embassy in the UK. Not gonna lie, this case did the world building no favours. It turns out the UK essentially killed off their telepathic mutants during WWII and this is apparently news to Isabel, which should be absolutely impossible. How could she not have known that? Then you’ve got some convoluted stuff about the US military working on their first successful mutant experiment - I mean, come on. There’s just no way this makes sense, are you telling me the US military wouldn’t already be chockfull with mutants in this world? And the diplomatic implications of a whole embassy getting wiped out… I won’t harp on about all this, but what I’m saying is the world building was crumbly.
As for the filler, since book 1 there’s basically been three big themes: 1) Isabel’s telepathic abilities are increasing, 2) the telepathic murderer from book 1 “infected” her mind, and 3) there’s a bit of will they won’t they with Isabel and her detective partner, Voronov.
I don’t think we’ve made progress on any of these. We still haven’t actually seen Isabel do any real mind reading, nothing new happened with the big bad, and her and Voronov barely talked during the entire book . I was actually rooting for Isabel and Voronov as a couple so I was extra sad about point 3.
It actually speaks to the strength of the writing that despite all my grumbling I was completely captivated while I was reading this. I took like two reading breaks the entire day, otherwise I was just glued to the page. I’ll read the next one in the series, no questions asked, but I’d like to some progress when it comes to the overarching plot and world building - some actual detective work instead of the case simply solving itself with no input from Isabel at the end, some proper mind reading action, an Isabel/ Voronov heart-to-heart, that’s what I’ve got on my wish list.
The Inspector Reis series is a fairly standard police procedural with one big case per book, with the twist being that in this world there are “mutants” capable of telekinesis or telepathy. Main character Isabel is a high level telepath and occasionally uses this to help solve cases.
In this book we get a scene change, going from Lisbon to London after an incident at the Portuguese embassy in the UK. Not gonna lie, this case did the world building no favours. It turns out the UK essentially killed off their telepathic mutants during WWII and this is apparently news to Isabel, which should be absolutely impossible. How could she not have known that? Then you’ve got some convoluted stuff about the US military working on their first successful mutant experiment - I mean, come on. There’s just no way this makes sense, are you telling me the US military wouldn’t already be chockfull with mutants in this world? And the diplomatic implications of a whole embassy getting wiped out… I won’t harp on about all this, but what I’m saying is the world building was crumbly.
As for the filler, since book 1 there’s basically been three big themes: 1) Isabel’s telepathic abilities are increasing, 2) the telepathic murderer from book 1 “infected” her mind, and 3) there’s a bit of will they won’t they with Isabel and her detective partner, Voronov.
I don’t think we’ve made progress on any of these. We still haven’t actually seen Isabel do any real mind reading, nothing new happened with the big bad, and her and Voronov barely talked during the entire book . I was actually rooting for Isabel and Voronov as a couple so I was extra sad about point 3.
It actually speaks to the strength of the writing that despite all my grumbling I was completely captivated while I was reading this. I took like two reading breaks the entire day, otherwise I was just glued to the page. I’ll read the next one in the series, no questions asked, but I’d like to some progress when it comes to the overarching plot and world building - some actual detective work instead of the case simply solving itself with no input from Isabel at the end, some proper mind reading action, an Isabel/ Voronov heart-to-heart, that’s what I’ve got on my wish list.
June 15, 2024
ugh IM PISSED. Ive been waiting THREE BOOKS TO KNOW ISABEL’S LEVEL. And I rlly thought i’d learn all the gabriel bernardo stuff this book 😭. But the themes here were deep and hard hitting. Tw: SA, manipulation/abuse, etc.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 25, 2024
The third book in the gripping series that sees as protagonist Inspector Isabel Reis of the Portugal’s Policia Judiciaria is as exciting and immersive as the previous two books. Set in a world where some people are Gifted with powers of telepathy and telekinesis, Isabel is one of them. From her native Lisbon, Isabel and her partner Aleksander Vonorov travel to London to help the local police in a mysterious and diplomatically sensitive case. During a video call, the Portuguese ambassador in London dies suddenly and no one is answering the phones in the consulate. The English police can’t enter it without a delegate from the Portuguese government and that’s why detective Reis and Vonorov are on their way to London. When they finally enter the consulate, the scene in front of them is quite disturbing: all the people inside are dead. What’s more, someone was hiding inside the consulate and they managed to escape. As they try to figure out what happened inside the consulate and what happened to the only survivor of the attack, Isabel must also deal with the aftermath of a previous investigation and the growth of her gift.
Broken Oaths is another brilliant addition to this well-written and captivating series by Patricia Marques. The case Isabel is working is fascinating, thrilling, and full of twists. Unlike the previous books, Isabel is not the one in charge of the investigation, but she must follow the lead of the English police, who doesn’t seem to trust her and her powers. While her powers become stronger, she also feels isolated and more vulnerable as she keeps secrets from Vonorov and her friends.
Part mystery, part paranormal, Broken Oaths kept me completely immersed and I couldn’t put it down and it left me anxiously waiting for the next book!
Broken Oaths is another brilliant addition to this well-written and captivating series by Patricia Marques. The case Isabel is working is fascinating, thrilling, and full of twists. Unlike the previous books, Isabel is not the one in charge of the investigation, but she must follow the lead of the English police, who doesn’t seem to trust her and her powers. While her powers become stronger, she also feels isolated and more vulnerable as she keeps secrets from Vonorov and her friends.
Part mystery, part paranormal, Broken Oaths kept me completely immersed and I couldn’t put it down and it left me anxiously waiting for the next book!
May 3, 2024
I received a copy of this book for a free and unbiased opinion.
This crime mystery with a touch of sci-fi has fast paced plot with truly tense scenes. The action moves from Isabel’s native Portugal, where she has a status of a ‘Gifted’ detective with a reputation for dealing with ard cases and where the Gifted are tolerated to London where the Gifted have all but disappeared. Isabel has to work with the local met to solve a politically sensitive murder that could have been committed by someone who is Gifted.
Isabel continues to grow, and it was interesting to see her in a new environment, her Gift appears to be getting stronger and she is still dealing with the aftermath of Gabriel. I found myself silently cheering when she finally snaps at the lack of support given to the investigation.
The book explored the consequences of the abuse of power and vulnerability of marginalised people but never in a judgy way or at the expense of the plot.
You don’t need to read the other books in the series to follow the story but it will enhance your enjoyment of you do
This crime mystery with a touch of sci-fi has fast paced plot with truly tense scenes. The action moves from Isabel’s native Portugal, where she has a status of a ‘Gifted’ detective with a reputation for dealing with ard cases and where the Gifted are tolerated to London where the Gifted have all but disappeared. Isabel has to work with the local met to solve a politically sensitive murder that could have been committed by someone who is Gifted.
Isabel continues to grow, and it was interesting to see her in a new environment, her Gift appears to be getting stronger and she is still dealing with the aftermath of Gabriel. I found myself silently cheering when she finally snaps at the lack of support given to the investigation.
The book explored the consequences of the abuse of power and vulnerability of marginalised people but never in a judgy way or at the expense of the plot.
You don’t need to read the other books in the series to follow the story but it will enhance your enjoyment of you do
June 2, 2024
Another great book
I loved the book and can't wait for number 4 in the series. Strong characters with a great storyline. Very good story with a few surprises. Pick up ur copy as soon as possible.
I loved the book and can't wait for number 4 in the series. Strong characters with a great storyline. Very good story with a few surprises. Pick up ur copy as soon as possible.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews