DS Nathan Cody dominates the story with his complicated personality. The man endured some horrific events while working undercover and the scars are evident in his behaviour, even when he tries so hard to hide them. The author did a wonderful job with this man. I cannot wait to sink my teeth into the next book in this series. I want to know if Cody will be able to put his past behind him and move on.

I know most of the readers like to know more about the detective, their personal life when they read a detective series. But I read detective novels solely for the detective mystery and police procedurals Every fictional detective are molded from the same template. It gets tiresome. This is fiction afterall, why can't the detective not have PTSD, have a perfect family life, understanding wife/ GF and completely focus on solving crimes? Where have the good old detectives like Poirot gone? They did well without a traumatic past to brood about. That is significant because it gives the reader closure. It tells the reader that even though the character welcomed the feelings of loss and grief when he opened the window of realization, he despises them now. These emotions appear to him as demonic. The shadow they cast over him, meaning the mood that is created from these feelings, has a permanent hold on his soul. He has been defeated by his feelings after facing them, and he will find peace: nevermore. A Tapping At My Door is a spellbinding and spine chilling read that had me literally on the edge of my seat.The Raven’by Edgar Allan Poe ( Bio | Poems) is a ballad made up of eighteen six-line stanzas. Throughout, the poet uses trochaic octameter, a very distinctive metrical form. He uses the first-person point of view throughout and a very consistent rhyme scheme of ABCBBB. There are a large number of words that use the same ending, for example, the “ore” in “Lenore” and “Nevermore.” Epistrophe is also present, or the repetition of the same word at the end of multiple lines. This was a gory read that keep you guessing. I found myself escaping my surrounding as this fictional world claimed my attention. It is an engrossing read with a detailed story that the author wraps up beautifully with a rather unexpected explanation.

Like so many central characters in crime novels, Cody is slightly damaged and has a lot of personal baggage when we first meet him. Previously working undercover, he is now part of the Major Incident Team and, before long, he is thrown into the investigation that all police officers take the most seriously – the killing of one of their own. What’s more, Cody finds that he is working alongside DC Megan Webley, who he was once romantically involved with.A Tapping at my Door is a fantastic start to this new series and I hope we don't have too long to wait before the next instalment (I am so impatient-every authors nightmare!) I loved every minute of it and can't wait to see what scrapes Nathan Cody gets himself into next. The man is amused by how serious the raven looks, and he begins talking to the raven; however, the bird can only reply by croaking "nevermore." Stressed and Unstressed Syllables: These two types of syllables are used in trochee such as the first is stressed and second is unstressed syllable in “ Once u pon a mid Night dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary”. This pattern continues throughout the poem. The Raven" is a poem about a man who is heartbroken over the recent death of his beloved Lenore. As he passes a lonely December night in his room, a raven taps repeatedly on the door and then the window. The man first thinks the noise is caused by a late night visitor come to disturb him, and he is surprised to find the raven when he opens the window shutter. After being let in, the raven flies to and lands on a bust of Pallas (an ancient Greek goddess of wisdom).

This stanza is quite interesting as it explores the efforts of the character in trying to ignore the finality of this feeling of grief and loss. He tries to brush it off by hoping that perhaps the previous owner of such feelings was a person who emphasized the finality of such feelings, so that is why his grief is responding in such a manner. The thought of having to live with such feelings forever scares the character into denial. Similar to alliteration, assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in one or more words found close together. It serves the same purpose as alliteration and appears beginning in the first line of the poem, where the long "e" sound is repeated in the words "dreary," "weak," and "weary." There are many words in English that have a weak form ( for example “at” / ət /, “can” / kən / , “do” / də / or / du / , and many others ) . Pay attention to the pronunciation line ; whenever you see a monosyllabic word unexpectedly pronounced with a schwa / ə / or with a short vowel where you would expect a long vowel , what you see is in fact the weak form of the word, while the strong form is used only for emphasis . Many learners aren’t aware of the fact that the weak forms exist, but the distinction is important in poetry . Metaphor: The first metaphor used in this poem is the thirteenth stanza “To the fowl those fiery eyes now burned into my bosom’s core.” The second is used in the last stanza “And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming.” The poet here compares Raven’s eyes with fire and demon. The repetition of the character going into the room with the birds and standing in bird poop. Okay, the first time it's described, it has its intended effect of grossing us out, but to repeat it every single time the character goes in there is just ridiculous. It's like re-describing a scene every time someone walks into it. You don't need to do that because we remember the description from the first time you told us. If you want us to feel creeped out every time we're in that room, gives us a new detail. Don't just keeping repeating this one detail.A deliciously dark and compelling investigation . . . a well-executed thriller, with plenty of scope and a firm foundation for a projected series' Raven Crime Reads Highly recommended for all readers of British crime fiction who like suspenseful, clever stories with extremely well-drawn characters. wring their hands over his well-being (he's a damaged dude who just won't take care of himself, darn it) I can’t recommend this book enough, it is definitely going to be in my top ten reads of 2016, there isn’t one bit that could have been better!

The air of suspense continues to build as Poe shifts the narrative from the tapping on the door to the thoughts of the character. This could also portray that the character himself is avoiding answering the door. If we look at the door symbolizing his weaknesses and insecurities, we can easily understand why he would want to avoid opening up to whatever was tapping on it. The diction in this stanza (bleak, separate, dying, ghost, sought, sorrow, and lost) also emphasizes the theme of loss that unfolds in this poem. We can see that Poe is already hinting to the readers about the cause of the characters’ insecurities. I saw that I could make the first query propounded by the lover—the first query to which the Raven should reply “Nevermore"— I had some high hopes before I started reading ‘A Tapping At My Door’. It was the first crime novel I read in a while, and I really wanted to be swept away into a interesting murder investigation. And thankfully my high hopes were met, and I completely devoured this book.This novel also has the advantage of having a bang on ending, a resolution that rings true and digs deep, resolving and restarting, this is a series that I am adding to my must read list. Whatever is next for Nathan Cody he ain’t doing it without me. Simile: The simile used in this poem is “On the morrow he will leave me, as my Hopes have flown before” here the poet compares his hope to a birds flight. It is often misunderstood as the Raven’s flight.