LETHAL PROFIT is the debut novel for Alex Blackmore and certainly suggests that she will become a name to look out for. She has developed a highly topical and interesting idea and used it to produce an easily read thriller that will be popular with people who prefer something lighter and quick to digest. While it didn't grip me quite as much as I usually like my reading experience to do, LETHAL PROFIT was sufficiently clever and enjoyable to keep me focused to the end. Blackmore develops her characters well and has produced a well-written piece: she should go far. Indeed, her current four-star Amazon rating suggests that this book is already being well-received.

To summarise, Eva Scott's brother Jackson has committed suicide and she travels to Paris to find out why. It is the second time that this has happened and her mind is in turmoil, as it hasn't been that many years since she found out his first "suicide" was just a cover, so that he could hide from the family. Her digging in Paris suggests something dodgy is going on and she refuses to believe that he has killed himself. Pretty soon Eva is involved way above her head and, when someone tries to take her life too, she is desperate for ideas but determined to get to the bottom of it. As the people around her start being shot, she finds help in the form of Leon, a mysterious, moody character who doesn't talk much and she isn't sure whether she can really trust him. Together they follow the murky trail and uncover a shed-load of corrupted, power-hungry businessmen, who seem ready to hold the world to ransom with their genetically modified algae, for the sake of untold riches. The sanctity of life means very little to these men and they are ready to dispose of anyone who gets in their way. Including Eva.

If you like your crime fiction light and easy to read, with nothing too brutal or graphic, but a damn good story anyway, then this book is a must for you. I have my suspicions that LETHAL PROFIT could end up being number one of a series featuring Eva and her cronies, as a number of loose ends within it could be continued in a new story.

Recommended.

Amanda C M Gillies, Scotland
November 2013