Play With Fire by T. M. Payne review

About The Book

Book: Play With Fire
Author: T. M. Payne
Series or Standalone: Book 3 in the Detective Sheridan Holler series
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Publication Date (UK): 14th March 2025

My Review

Case closed on our third Tandem Collective Thrills & Chills book club!

I hadn’t read any T. M. Payne books prior to Play With Fire, which is third in the series of the Detective Sheridan Holler series. You can absolutely go into this book fresh. Whilst some of the main characters have continuing stories, these elements are really well explained. So don’t worry if you decide you want to jump straight in here. Likewise, there is an epilogue at the end that reiterates at what point we are leaving the characters.

Wow! From the get-go, this book grabs you by the collar and doesn’t let go. The prologue was SO good. The chapters are very short – often just 2-4 pages each. This leads to excellent pacing and feeds the “just one more chapter” feeling. The narrative will absolutely keep you on your toes throughout. I couldn’t guess what was happening, as each chapter had me questioning any theories! If I really was investigating then I’m afraid this would end up as a cold case!

One of my favourite elements in the book was the interactions between the detectives and police. Payne has crafted fleshed out, relatable, funny and most importantly believable main characters. I absolutely adored getting to know them and their banter. If a job ever came up at Hale Street Police Station, I would apply straight away as I’d love for them to be my colleagues!

Thank you so much to Tandem for including this one and for introducing me to a new, fab author.

I can’t wait for our fourth case of the Thrills & Chills Book Club. I can’t believe we are halfway through now! Here is a look back at what we have read so far:
Case file 1: The First Girl by Claire McGowan
Case file 2: You Killed Me First by John Marrs

[Disclaimer: I received a free copy of the book in order to take part, with thanks to Tandem Collective and Amazon Publishing.]