Gosh you need something pretty happy to think about after reading this book! It is a very compelling read with excellent characters and plot. But it certainly gives an unrelentingly bleak view of life for some , maybe the underclass, in modern London. Anti-hero Catherine Berlin, more often just Berlin, will take some beating as the most vivid character of the year, 2013. I loved it. ( )

This book followed all the rules when it comes to crafting a good mystery novel. Lots of intrigue, fast-paced action, shady characters, blurred lines between good & bad, and several plot twists the keep the reader guessing right up until the end. I thoroughly enjoyed it and couldn't put it down!

However for some reason I didn't find the main character endearing or attaching as I normally find most protagonists. I hear there's a first book in the series, and perhaps if I had read that one I could have gotten a bit more personal history about Berlin, and how she got to where she is. But without that, I found it hard empathize with her and in fact, I didn't like her most of the time...

I also felt that some of the plot lines needed more closure at the end. It's always good to leave some things to the reader's imagination, but I felt this book left a little too much under the covers for my taste.

Although those small criticisms aside, I'd definitely recommend this book, and would gladly read another one by this author. ( )

The second in a series set in London and a debut legal thriller show some of the exciting variety of Australian crime fiction on offer. Review at: http://newtownreviewofbooks.com/2013/07/04/crime-scene-annie-hauxwell-a-bitter-t... ( )

Investigator Catherine Berlin doesn't do matrimonial or missing persons but, after being fired from her last job with the Financial Services Agency, finds herself reduced to following her grocer's wife in exchange for daily rations of milk, bread and cheap Scotch and searching London's seething streets for a junkie's runaway ten year old daughter.

A Bitter Taste is the second gritty crime novel by Annie Hauxwell featuring Catherine Berlin. Set in contemporary London in the midst of a heatwave, this is a well paced story where the plot twists and turns in unexpected ways. Repaying an old debt by searching for a missing ten year old girl places Berlin in the midst of a drug dealer's elaborate conspiracy, targeted by corrupt cops and identified as the lead suspect in a murder inquiry. Meanwhile, Berlin's simple investigation as to the movement's of her grocer's wife exposes something far more sinister than an affair. And Berlin is trapped in a dangerous maelstrom of betrayal and murder.

Catherine Berlin is a complex protagonist. A functional heroin addict, she has distanced herself from typical junkie behaviour, but as her doctor begins to enforce 'managed reduction' of her habit she is concerned about her standards slipping, particularly as she is struggling with the painful physical scarring she was left with after the events first book of the series, In Her Blood. The contradictions inherent in Berlin's flawed character are intriguing, she appears to be a solid investigator but she is often distracted by her addiction. Law and justice seems to be separate considerations for her, based on her own experiences and cynical view of life. I found Berlin to be likeable but not a character I could really identify with.

A Bitter Taste is a dark, gritty crime fiction novel. Annie Hauxwell's unique heroine and intriguing plot ensures this is an engrossing read and I am looking forward to the series continuing. ( )