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Nine-Tenths of the Law (Nine Lives Series Book 1) by [Glenn Mitchell]

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Glenn Mitchell

Nine-Tenths of the Law (Nine Lives Series Book 1) Kindle Edition

by Glenn Mitchell (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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Detective Ben Ricci has never experienced fear. He’s about to spend the next five days mastering terror.

A dark and wicked mystery that will haunt readers long after the final page.

A doomed killer’s cryptic warning, an ancient Japanese book on the occult, a family of Italian witches, a mannequin that can’t be destroyed, the murderous spirit of a dead child.

Detective Ben Ricci is not a believer. Everything must have a logical explanation, including the brutal murder of Fabrizio Lecanto. All he needs is a broken alibi or compelling motive. Instead he has unreliable testimonies, all telling the same dubious ghost story.

It’s bad timing for Ricci. He’s under investigation, struggling to save his marriage and shamefully obsessed with a key witness. To find the killer, he’ll need to control his many compulsions. Unfortunately self-control has never been Ben’s strong suit.

As the killer’s evil intent becomes clear, one cop’s stubborn cynicism will challenge the demented zeal of believers, shedding unwanted light on a society’s darkest secrets.

˃˃˃ Praise for 'Nine-Tenths of the Law':

"I haven’t read a mystery as great as this in a long time" C J Anaya, author of The Healer series

"A rollercoaster ride in a wicked theme park" Amazon 5* review (Top 100 reviewer)

"Thriller, horror, suspense...all you could ask for!" Amazon 5* review

"Kept me on the edge of my seat." Amazon 5* review

"The work of a pretty twisted imagination" Amazon 5* review

Scroll up and grab a copy today.

Length: 341 pages	Word Wise: Enabled	Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled
Page Flip: Enabled	Language: English

Product details

File Size : 831 KB
Word Wise : Enabled
Print Length : 341 pages
Language: : English
Text-to-Speech : Enabled
ASIN : B010K7YOUO
Screen Reader : Supported
X-Ray : Not Enabled
Enhanced Typesetting : Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: 1,290,466 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- 5,034 in Hard-Boiled Mysteries
- 7,382 in Hard-Boiled Mystery
- 7,977 in Occult Horror

Customer Reviews:
23 ratings

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Top reviews from Australia

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Amazon M

New Orleans meets Sydney Inner West

Reviewed in Australia on 8 October 2015

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An entertaining read full of shady characters and enough intrigue to make you want to race to the end. Pick it up for a plane ride or a weekend by the beach.

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Amazon Customer

A great read. Darkly humorous at times

Reviewed in Australia on 8 November 2015

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A great read. Darkly humorous at times, wildly imaginative at others. Some unexpected turns and hilarious stabs at society!

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J M Portman

A rollercoaster ride which will leave you feeling both high and low in turn

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 5 November 2015

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Nine-Tenths of the Law by Glenn Mitchell is a horror story which is completely my kind of thing, I am pleased to say! It tells the tale of detective Ben Ricci when things are not really going his way. Not only is he under investigation, but he is also in the difficult situation of going through a possible marriage breakdown and is also captivated by a key witness. The story takes place over five memorable days in balmy July when Ben gets called out to investigate a gruesome homicide and we learn that in order to find the killer, Detective Ricci will need to learn how to control his many compulsions but self-control has never been one of Ben’s strengths. I was hooked from the very beginning and had no choice but to keep on reading. If you can bypass the use of language, drug abuse and rather enlightening descriptions, (!) then you stand a good chance of being as intrigued as I was. This novel could be likened to a rollercoaster ride and will leave you feeling both high and low in turn. I thoroughly enjoyed it despite the fact that there was quite a lot of Australian language in there, it was still easy to understand the story the author was telling us. Five stars for me and I will remember this author for the future.

J Armstrong

Not your average Crime story, it sits somewhere between Thriller and Horror

Reviewed in the United States on 20 October 2015

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What a weird thriller. Those were my first thoughts as I finished this book. It was a well written story (although, I could’ve definitely done without the extensive use of profanity and colorful descriptions of peoples rear ends and such). If you think this will be your run-of-the-mill crime dramas, think again. The weirdness starts from the first chapter. Detective Ricci is living in Australia and gets called out on a gruesome homicide. Trying to detangle all the people who know “something” and figure out who did the crime is where it gets weird, (think possessions and supernatural feelings) and the story does take several macabre turns before finally leading up to the end and dropping you smack dab into it.
The story (minus the language) was pretty unique, and in itself gripping. It might very well have you questioning whether to turn off that hallway light at night. The descriptions are pretty graphic and there is some drug use depicted within the book. I know some people were saying the Australian slang was hard to follow but I didn’t think so. Nothing was so far out that I couldn’t deduce what the author was describing. A good book, but definitely not lighthearted.

3 people found this helpful

sam

The loose threads Mitchell drops throughout the book are weaved into a silken nightie.

Reviewed in the United States on 28 August 2015

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Five stars (obviously).

Who the hell is Alice?

A cop with quite a few personal and professional issues is chasing a killer. Seems like the premise of most noir or hard-boiled crime novels, right? Well, then things get unconventional, to say the least. Half the witnesses are claiming there's a supernatural cause for the brutal slaying. The other half are dismissive of what the cop agrees is a ridiculous hypothesis.

The troubling aspect of this book is the 'what if' factor. If you side with the loonies, you start to see the backstory as one of the most unsettling and unorthodox horror stories you'll ever read. It gets about as weird and strangely tangible as a paranormal or supernatural idea can get. The book's title is obviously a dead give-away about the nature of that backstory.

But the wonderful thing about this book is that you're almost protected from that horrifying idea thanks to the scepticism of the cop who is one hell of an anti-hero. Talk about a compulsive personality! It's his instability that becomes one of the frightening aspects of the book, and with the evidence mounting, the classically structured mystery quickly turns into a thriller.

The book is split into days--just five or six of them--and held together with what must be some of the best dialogue I've read, including a few absolutely hilarious conversations, although the humour is very dark. For mystery lovers, it's a calculated effort to mess with your mind. Some people may be frustrated by the loose threads Mitchell drops throughout the book. Not me. I'm still enjoying the challenge of figuring out what the more subtle hints meant. At one stage I was afraid of every character. I didn't know where or when the villain was going to emerge.

This is the work of a pretty twisted imagination, and a very capable writer. Classic literature? Well that hardly ever happens in genre fiction and I certainly won't go that far. But I wouldn't be surprised if it becomes a great film some time in the next few years. In the meantime, I hope the rumours of it being a series are correct. I'm hooked.

4 people found this helpful

Scarlett Jensen

Well-written Crime Novel with Suspense and Mystery

Reviewed in the United States on 22 October 2015

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Glenn Mitchell is a skilled storyteller, script writer and author with a wide experience in different forms of communication. But beyond that, he has a developed sense for the eerie and dark descriptions he creates out of his imagination. He uses all his senses and with his illusive dark sixth sense, he evokes the readers to experience his scary descriptions of scenes, smells, noises, that leave us with a bloody taste in the mouth. You either wish to run away from the scenes or if you have a dark humour, you stick your hands or body into the muck to solve the mystery.

The chief narrator is the author and he is a detective, spying for information, sniffing out, passing through the murder scene, creating an atmosphere of stifled fear, for example : ” The woman was definitely the same one I’d seen in the old black-and-white photo at the murder scene, except her dark hair had been so thoroughly greyed that any hint of black had been bled out of it long ago, replaced by a pure white hue..”
So the other twin son is out there right now trying to find whoever’s responsible for his brother’s death. His only alibi coming from his mother was no different. Everything we owned was black, everything was about skulls and guns and horror nausea. Death has its own special odour, and the morgue was pickled in it.

In the novel you find a doomed killer’s cryptic warning, an ancient Japanese book on the occult, a family of Italian witches, a mannequin that can’t be destroyed, the murderous spirit of a dead child… Detective Ben Ricci is not a believer but everything must have a logical explanation, even the brutal murder of Fabrizio Lecanto. All he needs is a broken alibi or compelling motive. Instead he has unreliable testimonies, all telling the same dubious ghost story and thriller.

It is bad timing for Ricci. He is involved in the murder investigation, struggling to save his marriage and shamefully obsessed with a key witness. To find the killer, he’ll need to control his many compulsions. Unfortunately self-control has never been Ben’s strongest quality.As the killer’s evil intent becomes clear, one cop’s stubborn cynicism will challenge the demented zeal of believers, shedding unwanted light on a society’s darkest secrets.

As a detective book author, Mitchell enjoys researching forensic procedures, associates with fictional people he creates, becoming the cop in the thriller movie or TV show as he script-writes. He dreams to act as a lethargic, plain-clothed cop who eats fast food every time there’s a new murder scene investigation. Maybe in the last episode his female colleague finally loses her patience and grabs the taco out of his hand and throws it at a wall of the cop station. He explains his strategy:
“A minion may have a moral awakening, or emerge as a far more evil character than their boss. A sidekick might take a bullet for their hero, or they may turn around and put a bullet in the hero. Being a mystery writer, it’s all part of the extensive palate. Our job is to intrigue, challenge and surprise readers. What could be a better device than a character that has misled us all along?”

Reality is Mitchell’s fiction and the fiction he writes, is his reality. Any necessary detail must be included and uncensored. He loves the mythology of horror more than the gore, but sometimes he has to imagine a murder scene and the description is detailed because it creates important leads. Some characters will swear, other characters in the story may find that appalling. People will have sex if it’s an integral part of plot development. Characters will embrace weakness while others will be righteous. He does not know what his characters will be like until they emerge, but once they’re tangible, he sticks by them and they’re never watered down. Every time you censor your vision, you take one step away from art and move closer to your craft.His research in forensics, firearms, police procedure, drug testing, reading appropriate press releases and does image searches of cops. It is addictive and interesting each time he writes a new book. This chore has now become one of his favourite processes.

The author has very pure imagination and opens himself to the influence of other mediums like film having written a few TV series. He learns from some talented colleagues and authors and is inspired by meeting his passionate readers and receiving validation for his thrillers characterized by suspense and the supernatural. Glenn H. Mitchell turns to crime, creating a wickedly twisted mystery that will haunt readers long after the final page.

Here is an excerpt of Mitchell previous novel titled Nowhere: I just could not resist to quote it:
“Nowhere is the name we’ve given to that tempting and frightening uncharted space beyond the planets we mine and the wars we wage. Nobody has jurisdiction in it. Nobody is safe in it. Nowhere is a haven for criminals but even the most defiant won’t venture far into the void. Nowhere is a destination for the spiritual. Some say it’s the closest you’ll come to God. Others say, ‘careful what you wish for’. One thing we all agree on. There’s something out there. Nowhere is the place we’ll meet them, whoever or whatever they are. First contact. We laugh about the changing probability of it. We’re amazed it hasn’t happened already, and as we laugh we keep a nervous eye on the black periphery. It makes the hairs on our necks dance. Yet we continue to walk this thin line between bravery and stupidity, between excitement and fear.”

Scarlett Jensen
20 October 215

One person found this helpful

John H. Manhold

5* noir mystery overshadowed by the supernatural; 3* for this reader as explained below

Reviewed in the United States on 25 October 2015

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9/10 OF THE LAW, ISBN: 978151424875, an e-book by Glenn H. Mitchell is an unusual paranormal noir mystery story.
Plot: The reader is introduced to the protagonist, Ben Ricci newly assigned homicide detective as he is forced to kill a suspect. He then discovers his reaction is, for him, unusual. Specifically recalling that cops on raids reacted differently – unashamedly scared, frightened with a talent for avoiding conflict, begrudgingly brave or “the strangest of them all, the fearless” who had nothing to overcome because their reaction resulted from “just good old-fashioned adrenalin”- fitting the last category, he was surprised to experience “a dark, dank flutter I felt before firing on the suspect”. His older partner, T. J, noticed and questioned his feeling, but was assured he was fine. Upon return to the office, the sergeant turns him over to Sala, the Internal Affairs Officer who is aware that Ben is a recovered ‘junkie’ and does not believe this third killing within a few months was necessary. T. J. insists that it was, Ben is exonerated and goes home to his wife Belinda and long-time buddie, Leo, both heavy drug/alcohol users. After his disturbing day, they persuade him to let down and just this once re-indulge with them. His relationship with Belinda appears to be largely based on a continuing sexual attention that she provides/withholds in a frustrating manner. So summarily the protagonist is: an apparent partially reformed drug/alcohol addict with marital difficulties; only partially trained as a homicide detective whose experienced partner/mentor acquires an illness that defies diagnosis; a new partner provided who also is ‘untrained’; and because of circumstances he must take the lead in a case to solve a hideous crime - disembowelment of a young man with an unidentifiable weapon that required a goodly amount of strength by the perpetrator.
Characters: Additionally contributing a murky influence upon a plot that centers on a mannequin with extremely unusual qualities: Anthony (Tony) Perugino, a powerful company executive who as a child was unable to save his best childhood friend Alice from drowning, and as an adult was bullied and beaten at work, fell in love with a woman who had a ‘nervous breakdown’ and then stalked him, followed by some similar repeat patterns, all associated with and overshadowed by supernatural occurrences; Melissa, his wife; Mitch Curtin, his partial confident/groundskeeper; Clair Haskell, his CEO; a mysterious Mrs. Lecanto, somewhat of a clairvoyant and her twin sons; Megan (Megs), Ben’s new partner, and Alice, who died at eight years of age.
Discussion: The author has provided an interesting noir mystery heavily overshadowed by the supernatural element abundantly buttressed by the actions of a number of highly psychologically disturbed and/or at least marginally psychotic individuals. It moves relatively well and no doubt is appealingly crafted for the devotee of supernatural stories, although possibly a little less so for more specifically noir genre aficionados. Regrettably this reviewer’s perhaps unfortunate pragmatic bent once again becomes apparent. I find both paranormal and especially noir mysteries quite appealing and have read a number that satisfy all of my personal criteria. The author here also has produced a most enjoyable and captivating tale. The only features that decrease the story’s enjoyment are the somewhat ‘murkiness’ of the plot and the failure to explain the murder which initiated the story; i.e., specifically why and how could it have been accomplished by the perpetrator? The ending provided was most fitting.

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