killer Archives - The Quick and the Read

Book Review: ‘The Killer in the Cold’ by Alex Pine

I’ve followed this series since the beginning and have thoroughly enjoyed all of the books – this is the fifth. I was delighted to be granted a review copy by NetGalley and couldn’t wait to read about DI James Walker’s latest terrible Christmas.

Because DI James Walker always has a horrific festive season! All the books take place over the Christmas/New Year period and it seems the only time of year that serial killers appear in (usually sleepy, small-town) Cumbria.

This latest book takes place in DI Walker’s home village, making him the first on the scene as the snow starts to pile up. The deceased – dressed as Santa Claus – is someone he knows and someone who oddly hasn’t been reported as missing, even though he’s been in the snow a while. When another body is found, Walker and his team have to face up to the fact that there is another killer loose in Cumbria – and the villagers aren’t at all happy with the fact. Walker needs to keep his neighbours happy while finding the killer among them…

This series is always entertaining and engaging – there’s always lots of twists but also really solid police procedural elements that keep the story moving forward. I did guess the killer slightly ahead of DI Walker, but I’m quite a seasoned armchair detective these days! I liked the village setting as it put the crime scene/possible suspects/police team all in close proximity – something that made the setting quite claustrophobic as the snow fell and the village was isolated from the outside world.

If you’ve enjoyed the previous books in the series, there’s lots to like here – I think this was one of my favourites. If you haven’t discovered DI Walker, these are perfect winter reads and you’ve got 5 to enjoy!

Header photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

Book Review: ‘The Midnight Feast’ by Lucy Foley

I’ve enjoyed previous books by Lucy Foley, so was pleased to be granted a review copy of ‘The Midnight Feast’. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley – opinions, as always, are entirely my own.

This book centres on the opening of an exclusive resort, The Manor, on the beautiful Dorset coast. Guests flock to the high-end luxury and anticipate a fabulous solstice feast, all overseen by the owner of the great house, Francesca. However, the site has a dark past and some of the guests are perhaps not welcome. When a body is discovered at the base of the cliffs the day after the solstice party, the police have a task on their hands to unravel the events of the past that have brought The Manor and its guests to its latest tragedy.

Book Review: ‘The Kill List’ by Nadine Matheson

If you haven’t discovered this brilliant series featuring DI Anjelica Henley, then what are you waiting for?!

This is the third book in the series, following on from the excellent ‘The Jigsaw Man’ and ‘The Binding Room’. Of course they’re best read in order, but ‘The Kill List’ would also work as a standalone – there’s enough new mystery and anything you need to know about past events is explained.

Book Review: ‘The Night Before Christmas by Alex Pine

Happy publication day to this Christmassy crime novel!

It always feels a bit weird reading Christmas books in early autumn, but I couldn’t wait to immerse myself in the latest book in the series featuring DI James Walker of Cumbria Police. Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to read this before publication – as always, opinions are entirely my own.

Blog Tour: ‘The Silent Man’ by David Fennell

This is the third in the series to feature DI Grace Archer, following on from the brilliant ‘The Art of Death’ and ‘See No Evil’. I’ve followed this series – breathlessly, sometimes peeking through my fingers, with a pounding heart – from the beginning. This third instalment is another terrifying, gruesome and twisty tale.

Thanks to Compulsive Readers and Zaffre Books for my place on the blog tour and my copy of the book for review. As always, opinions are my own.

Book Review: ‘I Did It For You’ by Amy Engel

Happy publication day (3rd August) to ‘I Did It For You’ by Amy Engel!

Having enjoyed ‘The Roanoke Girls’, I was pleased to be granted an early copy of ‘I Did It For You’ for review. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, HQ Stories – as always, opinions are my own.

This story follows a young woman, Greer Dunning, who returns to her small home town in Kansas. She has been away for over a decade, having left after the murder of her sister, Eliza, for which crime a man was executed. Greer finds her home unchanged in many ways – her family and close friends are there, the town’s rhythms are the same – but a new murder has shaken the inhabitants. The slaughter of a young couple in the same place as Eliza’s murder 14 years previously has raised the prospect of a copycat killer – and Greer finds herself wondering whether justice was truly done for her sister’s death.

Blog Tour: ‘The Dive’ by Sarah Ochs

I’m delighted to join the blog tour for this new travel thriller!

Thanks to Random Things tours for my place on the tour and copy of the book for review. Opinions are always my own.

From the Publisher:

Set in the seedy world of Thailand’s infamous party islands. A place where backpackers go to find themselves – or get lost forever. When a young woman turns up dead during a scuba diving lesson, the morning after a full moon party, the diving instructor and her group of ex-pat friends realise they aren’t the only people who have fallen in love with paradise. A killer has too.

Escape to paradise.
Scuba diving instructor Cass leads her students out for their first dive off the beautiful coast of Koh Sang, Thailand’s world-famous party island. It’s supposed to be a life-changing experience, but things quickly spiral out of control…

Leave your secrets behind.
By the time she gets back to the shore, one of her students is dead, another badly injured, and she knows that her idyllic life is about to be smashed to pieces on the rocks.

But don’t get lost for ever…
Someone has discovered Cass’s secret, and on an island as remote as this, accidents happen. Plenty of backpackers choose to stay here for ever – but some are never heard from again…

Blog Tour: ‘Eye for an Eye’ by M. J. Arlidge

With many thanks to Compulsive Readers for inviting me on the blog tour for the new standalone M. J. Arlidge book.

Thanks too for my copy of the book for review – as always, opinions are entirely my own.

Book Review: ‘Death on the Pier’ by Jamie West

Regular readers of my blog know that I love historical fiction, crime fiction, and anything with an intriguing setting. This one hits all three!

It’s 1933 and off-season in Brighton, never busy, but definitely not the best time for opening night of a play in the theatre at the end of the Palace Pier. The writer of the play, Bertie Carroll, has popped in to see how it is going – and, along with an old school friend who is now a police detective, witnesses a murder live on stage. It’s left to Bertie and his friend, Detective Hugh Chapman, to try to uncover what happened when the famous leading lady died in front of a (hardly packed) theatre audience.

Surely the culprit is the cast member who fired the gun at the famed Celia Hamilton on stage?

Blog Tour: ‘End Game’ by Liz Mistry

I’ve followed the DI Nikki Parekh series from the start and was delighted to be invited onto this blog tour – thanks to Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me on the tour and for providing the book.

Opinions are entirely my own.

About the Book:

Four dead bodies. One missing person. Let the game begin.

When an anonymous tip-off leads Detective Nikki Parekh and DS Sajid Malik to the sprawling Salinger estate, Nikki’s senses are on high alert. The brutal murder of all four members of the Salinger family has shocked the sleepy Bradford village to the core.

A mother, father, daughter, and son. . . all killed in exactly the same way – whilst sat around the coffee table, playing a game of monopoly.

But Nikki notices that there are five pieces on the board. One of the players is missing… Did they manage to escape the killer, or was the killer part of the game?