Having fallen on hard times, disgraced soldier turned private investigator John “Slim” Hardy is hired by rich and enigmatic land owner Oliver Ozgood to uncover the identity of a mysterious blackmailer.The man is demanding a fortune in exchange for his silence. He claims to be Dennis Sharp, a former employee of Ozgood, and threatens to reveal secrets that will soil Ozgood’s family name and send … the patriarch to prison.There’s only one problem.Dennis Sharp is dead, killed by Ozgood himself.In search of answers, Slim moves to the remote rural hamlet of Scuttleworth in the Devonshire countryside, where he will confront demons both from within and without in his most challenging case yet.The Games Keeper is the third book in the Slim Hardy Mystery series. While the stories follow a rough sequence, they can be read in any order.Other titles available:The Man by the SeaThe Clockmaker’s Secret
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Slow Train #4 – My second book of this series and it is almost as good as book #3. Mr. Ward’s books are always well written and interesting, along with interesting characters. This is an interesting story with plenty of storylines and good descriptions placing the reader in the moment. The writing style is laid back and conversational, and keeps a good pace throughout. The main character is a flawed human but a good investigator and he is likeable, even with all his faults. I contacted the author to review his book and received this one through Booksprout. 4*
The Games Keeper # 3 – I have read many good books by Mr. Ward, except the Tunnelthingie, and this must be my favorite of several favorites. This is the first in this genre I read and I was not disappointed. The evolving storylines kept me reading and the variety of characters had a real feel to them. The main character has so much stacked against him but his journey is interesting. While I suspected two people behind the blackmail, it was not obvious. This is a well thought out book with extras and twists to easily immerse the reader in the pages. The pace is continuous and too soon arrives the end. 4*
Broken #1 – I like reading about different cultures. Mr. Ward doesn’t fail to please me with this book about a 19-year-old Japanese woman forced to work, at age 16, to support her family and 20-year-old troubled, rich American boy. 4*
Stolen #2 – Although this book is part of The Tokyo Lost Series, it is very different from the first book, Broken. I’ve read several of Mr. Ward’s books and so far this one stands out, front and center. A well written, substantial story line concerning love between two misfits dealing with a manipulating, criminal manager, and being helped by their two intriguing older, protective friends. The couple are 35- and 39-years-old and both face dilemmas of their past and their wants for a future. The Japanese woman and the British man are interesting and I like their age group. Needs minor editing. 4*
Frozen #3 – Since I started this book right after reading Stolen, I had a little problem getting into the darkness of the main characters. There’s a lot of background material laid out for several dysfunctional characters and I’m only at the 30 percent mark. The story so far is well written, but I want to move on past their problems into the relationship between her and him; they haven’t met yet. There’s a lot of interesting information about Japan and the Japanese, for those not knowing anything about Japan. I was surprised that there were delinquent students and they’re basically ignored in the non-confrontational Japanese culture.
Finally, they met and it’s still dark and a lot to wade through, but the story finally moves along. It picks up the pace almost at the end with good suspense. I like the ending and was hoping that love would win out and I don’t mean with the romance. I do love the fact that the female’s actions made a difference in a very important event.
BUT, I almost stopped reading this book, at 85%, when I came across the ignorant comment the author wrote: “. . . like America, where you can’t step out of your door without getting a gun pointed into your face.” Nothing like expert opinion, is there? Too bad, Chris isn’t an expert on America and American culture; maybe he should live here and see if that remark still holds true then. Yep, even though this well written book was slow out of the gate and I enjoyed many of his other stories, his poorly thought out statement about my country earns him a 3 star instead of the 4 star I would have rated this book. Needs minor editing. 3*
I was a huge fan of The Clockmaker’s Secret, book 2 in this series, and I was really looking forward to The Games Keeper, the third novel detailing the adventures—and the crushing attempt at sobrienty—of Slim Hardy. I had read a couple of disappointing mysteries and thrillers previous to this, and I was hoping The Games Keeper would pull me out of my bad-book funk.
Boy, did it ever. Benton is really good at making Hardy a real, complex character—providing the reader with the ebbs and flows of his battle with the bottle while trying to stay one step ahead of his case. It’s truly a gift Benton has to keep us rooting for Hardy even as he fails, again and again, at staying on the wagon (just as he struggled the first two novels in the series).
The mystery itself is very well structured. The misdirection is brilliant, and the reveal is one of those head-smacking “I should have seen this coming!” moments. But, of course, I never saw it coming.
I’m a huge fan of Benton—after a good but uneven first book, he’s really knocked it out of the park with these last two. (I suppose I should make a cricket reference instead of a baseball metaphor, since this is a thoroughly British series, so just pretend I wrote something about wickets that means the book was really good.)