First Hand cover art

First Hand

A DC O'Connell Crime Thriller Prequel

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First Hand

By: AL Fraine
Narrated by: Julia Eve
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About this listen

This is a prequel to The Upper Hand.

A woman is killed in a stone circle in Ireland, and the police have no leads. But Kate O’Connell, the victim’s niece and close friend, is sure she knows who did it, and want’s justice.

Ten years before Kate becomes a detective on the Surrey Murder Team, she suffered the loss of her aunt in a brutal killing on the outskirts of Cork, Ireland.

Stricken with grief, the 16-year-old Kate grows frustrated with the apparent lack of progress made by the Irish Garda in hunting down Fiona’s killer.

To Kate, it’s simple. Fiona was like a sister to her, and shared everything, including the actions of her ex-boyfriend who used to violently beat her. He’d been stalking her again just days before her murder, and Kate was well aware of what he was capable of.

It had to be him. He must be the killer, and Kate has decided to take it upon herself to bring him to justice.

But nothing is ever that easy.

©2019 Andrew Dobell (P)2021 Andrew Dobell Crime Crime Thrillers Suspense Thriller Thriller & Suspense Fiction Scary Murder

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All stars
Most relevant
I originally got the free copy of the ebook version from the author's mailing list but never found time to read it so when I was offered the brand new audiobook version just after finishing books 3 & 4 I jumped at it. While it's only a short novella it fills in many of the blanks from Kate's origins and her past, which comes back to haunt her in spectacular fashion in the later books.

The narrator brings the characters to life and is a pleasure to listen to.

I received a free copy of this audiobook at my request and am voluntarily writing an honest and unbiased review.

Kate's background

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It had a beginning but not really a middle and definitely no end. But that does not mean it’s bad as it will explain the future developments for Kate. And I’m sure the killer will resurface at some stage. So after all it was enjoyable and made me want more. Not sure about the narrator though it was a bit monoton and all on same level but maybe that was a mirror of the missing action within the story as it got better towards the end. But narrators have different impacts on different listeners it’s always good to give it more than one try. Onwards to the next book

This wasn’t a real story

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Listener received this title free

If you have listened to the other books in this series this book will just shed light on what happened before hand. I really enjoyed the back story

Great book

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Listener received this title free

This was really useful and filled in the gaps to the backstory, Really looking forward to how it is resolved.

I was given a free copy by the narrator but this is no way influenced the above review.

Useful prequel and fills in the gaps.

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Listener received this title free

Awesome narration, a thrilling mystery type story that engages you from the get go. What mode could you be looking for. Currently recommending this to everyone who will listen.

Awesome

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