‘Kept me hooked … excellent pace and a very satisfying ending’ Angela Marsons
‘An excellent read’ Martina Cole
'A brilliant debut – gritty, dark and chilling. Noelle Holten knows her stuff’ Mel Sherratt
A dark and gripping debut crime novel – the first in a stunning new series – from a huge new talent.
The killer is just getting started…
When three wife beaters are themselves found beaten to death, DC Maggie Jamieson knows she is facing her toughest case yet.
The
police suspect that Probation Officer Lucy Sherwood – who is connected
to all three victims – is hiding a dark secret. Then a fourth domestic
abuser is brutally murdered.
And he is Lucy’s husband.
Now the police are running out of time, but can Maggie really believe her friend Lucy is a cold-blooded killer?
My Thoughts
I had anticipated this book was going to be good, I just didn't realize how flipping fantastic it was going to be. OMG I loved it! It was way darker than I expected and that is a winner in my book. The graphic details just made this book really stand out in my mind. Noelle Holten knocked it out of the park with this debut.
Admittedly police procedural series are not my favorite go to books, but yet I had to get my hands on this one. What I loved about this is the fine balance between police procedural and the characters lives. I think the author found a fantastic line between the two and gave me everything I was looking for in a book. We have the depth of great character development and yet the shock and horror of the crime scenes. It just gives me a chill thinking back to those crime scenes! Brutal murder after murder are occurring and yet they all have something in common...or shall I say someone in common...
Our focus is not only on solving these gruesome murders but also on the life of Lucy Sherwood a probation officer. I feel that this book was so relatable because it showed a clear connection in how you never know what a person is going through. I find that in life many people pick a profession based on their personal experience. Lucy deals with domestic abuse a great deal in her everyday work. Yet she is dealing with her own dark, twisted abusive relationship in her private life. She knows she needs to get out but it is not as easy as one would think. She finds herself falling into the cycle of abuse day after day to her monster of a husband Patrick. Does Lucy finally snap? Is she seeking redemption for the victims at the hands of these predators that she deals with everyday?
The research and personal experience was very evident in this debut novel. Brilliant writing, edge of seat terrifying details! The graphic details of the physical and psychological abuse pulled me right in. Both were welcomed by me and I felt necessary to truly understand and being able to empathize with what the victims where going through. I found it an enthralling read that I could not put down. I was shocked towards the ending as I did not see it coming and I feel we were left with a great ending that could lead us right into book number 2! I can't wait to see what Noelle has in store for us next! I highly recommend getting your hands on Dead Inside (perfect title by the way). Just plan on pulling an all nighter and having a hell of a book hangover!
Thank you so much to Sarah Hardy from Books on The Bright Side for inviting me along on this blog tour! Thank you Noelle Holten for this for this fantastic book!
Noelle Holten is an award-winning blogger at www.crimebookjunkie.co.uk. She is the PR & Social Media Manager for Bookouture, a leading digital publisher in the UK, and a regular reviewer on the Two Crime Writers and a Microphone podcast. Noelle worked as a Senior Probation Officer for eighteen years, covering a variety of cases including those involving serious domestic abuse. She has three Hons BA’s – Philosophy, Sociology (Crime & Deviance) and Community Justice – and a Masters in Criminology. Noelle's hobbies include reading, author-stalking and sharing the booklove via her blog.
Dead Inside is her debut novel with Killer Reads/Harper Collins UK and the start of a new series featuring DC Maggie Jamieson.
Links:
Twitter: (@nholten40) https://twitter.com/nholten40
Goodreads Author Page: https://www.goodreads.com/
Instagram: @crimebookjunkie
Woohoo!! Thank YOU for this amazing review! What a way to start my day!!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Noelle! It was a rock star read. I loved it!
DeleteThanks so much for being part of the blog tour today x
ReplyDeleteThanks for having me along, I loved it! Great tour!
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