When the Bough Breaks

Thank you NetGalley and Severn House for the eARC.
The first in the Sal Delaney series is a dark, at times disturbing read, with child abuse, mental health issues and an unusual serial killer. That said, it was such a riveting read!
It's set in the bleak north of England during a hazardous snowstorm. Sal, a traffic cop, has to deal with a murder during the impossible winter conditions while her mind is in a bad space after her horrendous childhood and a recent heartbreak.
The writing, the atmosphere and the shocking ending make for a spellbinding and riveting read and I recommend it highly! Can't wait to read no. 2 in the series.

I was unsure as to what to expect with this book, as i had never before, read anything by this author…I was very pleasantly surprised.

This is a well written, meaty, psychological crime thriller, set in snowy winter, in the North East of England. Full of murder, mental health issues, child abuse, and neglect, this was at times, quite a bleak read. The characters, and the plot made this a gripping tale, with an ending I did not see coming.

Thanks to the author, and to NetGalley for sending me this free ARC, which I am happy to leave a honest and voluntary review.

Cumbria, in North West England in the bleak midwinter - thick snow covers the landscape, as Collision Investigation Officer, Sal Delaney, is called out to a road traffic accident. What she finds shocks her to the core, and suddenly the memories of her traumatic childhood come flooding back.

Sal and her siblings had a really tough childhood, victims of domestic abuse, which culminated in the murder of their violent monster of a mother, by her ex lover Wulf. The kids never believed that Wulf had carried out the murder, he was the only good thing in their lives - the law thought differently though and Wulf served 20 years in jail.

Sal is certain that the car accident isn’t what it seems, because the victim is Barry Ford, the man her mother left Wulf for. And here’s the thing, Wulf, that kind and caring man has recently been released from prison! Coincidence? Well, we’re about to find out.

A great start to this new series, a complex, twisty multi layered novel, it delivers all the action you would expect from the work of a top rank thriller writer. David Mark manages to combine this with an exploration of family relationships, and the bleak place to which the constant search for pleasure through sensation, can take an individual. Recommended.

Ten years ago I read David Mark's debut Dark Winter. A book I recall being big on character and setting, but let down by a slightly disappointing plot.

Ten years on and I've just read When the Bough Breaks, the first book in his new Sal Delaney series and find myself with a comparable book.

Salome 'Sal' Delaney, like Aector McAvoy before her, is a memorable and instantly likeable character who arrives fully formed on the page.

Reading Dark Winter, and being familiar with its setting, it was clear that the author had a working knowledge of Hull, its residents and their quirks and foibles. I have little experience of Cumbria and its surroundings, but got the same impression from When the Bough Breaks.

The plot is a major improvement on the first DS McAvoy title, which is to be expected of an author who's much further into their career, but is again let down by an ending that's in large parts heavily telegraphed and predictable.

All in all a promising start to a new series.