Book Review:
Secrets of the Dead by Carol Wyer
Published by Bookouture, 2017

The second book to feature DI Robyn Carter sees her return after taking a sabbatical for personal reasons. Robyn arrives back, and the team is immediately plunged into a murder case. The grisly scene is described in horrifying detail; Carol Wyer's attention to attention enough to put you off your dinner.

Robyn is a delight to read. In a similar way as Robert Bryndza's Erika Foster, she is headstrong and thinks outside the box, but she has a warm and funny side, too. She's bright, with puzzle-solving skills worthy of a Krypton Factor challenge (look it up, kids!), and the more the author shares about her, the more I adore her.

One murder becomes three, and Robyn is under intense pressure to track down the killer. There are so many different threads to the plot, with red herrings everywhere, I had no clue who the killer was until they were revealed. Robyn's brain was too quick for me, and I LOVE that! Carol Wyer has created a fabulous character.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thanks to Bookouture for providing an ARC via NetGalley; this is my unbiased review.

#CarolWyer #SecretsOfTheDead #Bookouture #RobynCarter #BookReview

"Three murders. Three innocent victims. What secrets did they share with their killer?
A bottle of bubble bath and colourful, plastic boats were scattered in small puddles on the floor. In the bathtub lay Linda Upton, fully-clothed, her lips a shade of blue, and her bloodshot eyes wide open.
When a young mother is found drowned in the bath, clutching a receipt saying ‘all debts paid’, Detective Robyn Carter knows it’s just the beginning of a harrowing case. She recognises the signs of a serial killer, and when a second victim with a receipt is found, her worst fears are confirmed."

A fast paced thriller and one that I instantly connected with and read late into the night. Lots of twists, turns, secrets and lies and a great Detective Robyn Carter who is absolutely brilliant. I can't wait to read more.

Highly recommend this novel, it was so well written and the main character DI Robyn Carter was amazing. They are trying to solve murders but struggling to find the link

Carol has such great characters and this is one of her best. I love how the main characters interact and I thi I that this series is one of the best

I enjoyed reading about the many characters of this book. DI Carter and her team work well together and it was nice to see them working together. Their a very close knitted caring team. This was a slow burn for me, and I didn’t feel a lot happened. There was too much description for me as well. I had worked out who the killer was but not why he killed. I look forward to reading more from Carol as she’s one of my favourite authors.

Thanks goes to the net galley and the publishers for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Secrets of The Dead – Carol Wyer

This is the second in the Detective Inspector Robin Carter series and the first that I have read once finished I promptly found and read the first Little Girl Lost. I thoroughly enjoyed it, the authors writing style is honest, sharp and quick which makes for a page-turner of a book.

I found Robyn to be a very bright, funny and strong lead character, coming back after a sabbatical for personal reasons. At first I didn’t understand her relationship with and the deep loss she feels for Davies. It makes more sense to me now that I’ve read the first book. She is ready, willing and more than capable for a promotion more responsibility not just for herself but also for the team as a whole. Anna and Mitz two members of said team have their own special talent that accentuate the team as a whole. Let’s not forget her cousin Rob whose an ex detective he serves his purpose in more ways than one.

We begin this book with the supposedly accidental death of Miles the manager of the luxury spa. Mutual opponent DI Shearer investigated this case. When Robyn hears that Miles has a history of heart problems she knows that he would never use the sauna. Due to her suspicious nature she sends her cousin in undercover to investigate for her.

Then we have the other three victims who have been found all dead with receipts marked ‘debts paid in full’ and as we all know three suspicious deaths make a serial killer, this is just the thing for her to get her teeth into to show them how good she really is and damn she’s good.

There are secrets and lies from beginning to end and it just keeps you guessing, well it did me. I found myself hoping that the team would always have her back as she has a habit of following her ‘gut instinct’ often against her bosses orders and they didn’t disappoint me.


Read for an honest review. Thank you Netgalley and Bookoutre

I started reading all the DI book I could find after I visited England. I have yet to be truly disappointed. When reading I image hearing the accents. Wasn't aware that this was part of a series. I'm sure I missed a few things from not starting from the first book, but I was still happy with this storyline. I liked the character Robyn a lot. I hope to read more from this writer.

Great story, with a great thrilling plot!! Look forward to more by this author! Cannot recommend highly enough.

A bartender and a young mother are murdered and both bodies are left with a note that says "all debts paid" for the sum of $250,000. With no obvious connection between the two victims who were killed in very different ways, DI Carter has a difficult case on her hands. Slowly the case unravels as more potential victims come to light. DI Carter struggles to protect the people in the killer's path while he stays one step ahead of her. Somehow everything is connected. She just has to figure out how.

This is another spectacular book in the Robyn Carter series. I believe I loved this one even more than the first one. I can't wait to move on to the next book. I highly recommend this series!

I received this book from Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Netgalley.com, to Bookouture, and to Carol Wyer for this opportunity.

Thank you Netgalley!

If you like your mysteries British & gritty along the lines of Angela Marsons or Robert Bryndza (and I do), you'll enjoy this one.

DI Robyn Carter is the type of detective that follows her instincts. She could care less about a promotion or doing things by the book if it catches killers.

Secrets of the Dead is another gripping thriller from Carol Wyer.,

DI Robyn Carter’s puzzle piecing skills are put to the test in this psychological thriller about a serial killer. Two bodies are found with receipts on them. One body before that is found without one. Are all three people connected? It’s up to DI Carter to find out.

The plot for this book is just as intriguing as that in book one and just as deliciously evil. I love Detective Robyn Carter as her character isn't quite as flawed as most of the other lead women detectives. She's actually a bit on the warm side.. A thoroughly enjoyable and very recommended book

Thank to Net Galley and Bookouture for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

This is the second book in the Detective Robyn Carr series, and bloody hell, it just gets better and better. The personal problems and relationships that Robyn started in book one - Little Girl lost - continued over in this book, and her relationship (even though it was more hate than love....) with the new DI Shearer was an entertaining side story to the main story.
This book's investigation was set in a spa and was really executed well.
This book is really worth your time and effort, and please make sure you get the next book in the series going soon!!!

RATING: 3.5 STARS
(I received an ARC from the NETGALLEY)
(Review Not Blog)

I am glad I stuck with this series as book two was so much better. The murders and plot were gripping and I was flipping through this one. Adding to my enjoyment of this one was that Wyer put more thought into the characterization. I am looking forward to the next two books.

This was a pretty good book, though it did take me about a third of the way still I really got into the story and hooked.
Lots of twists and suspense that keeps you wanting to keep reading all night.
A young mother is found dead with a note that confuses the detectives.
Then another victim is found, with another nite, and DI Robyn Carter is thrown i and the pressure to solve the crimes is intense. Another victim, serial killer on the loose, trying to piece together everything threatens her position and she doesn’t know if she can solve this one. It could mean her career, can she solve the case before it’s too late.

After reading book 1 I was anxious to get to this one, its great I have them all lined up to read, one after the other :)

Three murders.

There are victims piling up in this book and we done't know how they are connected,.just one thing in common, a debt to be paid, but did these know each other?

Detective Robyn Carter doesn't find this case at all easy, her leads are drying up, but just as they do, something comes out of the blue. A serial killer?

If I was reeling from reading book 1 and immediantley into this one, I was totally in a spin.

This author truly knows how to weave a story to keep the reader on their toes.

My thanks to bookoutour via net galley for my copy

Highly similar to Robert Bryndza's Detective Erika Foster series. If you like one, you might enjoy the other.

If you've read my review on Little Girl Lost, you'll know that I liked it -- its pace, its detective, its writing. I found it highly similar to other Bookouture thriller titles but when it easily reminds me of other specific characters from other books, I feel a bit of disappointment. Secrets of the Dead (or DI Robyn Carter series) is just that for me -- it feels like a shadow of Detective Erika Foster with a more positive take.

Secrets of the Dead opened with a man found burnt inside a sauna booth. He's body fried from the heat and while DI Carter's colleague, DI Shearer, closed this case as a heart attack inside a sauna booth with no foul play, DI Carter received a statement that tells that there's something more to this death than just plain heart attack inside a sauna booth.

Alongside the death of this man, Rory Wallis, a local bartender was found dead with him is a receipt stating that he has paid two hundred and fifty thousand pounds invoice in full (with his life). When another victim showed up, Robyn knows that she's dealing with a serial killer seeking revenge.

This mystery involves a serial killer leaving a note stating a balance that has been paid for through his victim's death. I'm telling this early now that this mystery thriller involves a man who's mentally incapable of reason anymore. The serial killer has his own point of view and it was quite interesting to read, as usual. He tells the story of this woman he likes and died in an accident -- this was further explored as Robyn unravels the accident with her team.

What's really great about this novel is how Carol Wyer successfully wrapped the story from the first death Robyn encountered to the serial killer and his receipts to the interference of the media. There was urgency in solving the case with its fast and thrilling pace. There were also glimpse of her personal life and an interesting development in the relationship of Anna and Matt (should I say I ship this?).

OVERALL, Secrets of the Dead is another intriguing crime fiction of Carol Wyer. I can't stop myself from comparing this to Robert Brynza's and Angela Marsons' detective series but despite that, Detective Robyn Carter is a really strong lead who believes in her gut feeling and stubbornly sticks with it.

I don't like reading my crime novels out of order and didn't realize this was book two in a series. Sorry, I should have checked first, but sometimes I forget.

One of the things that impressed me so much in the first book was the way Wyer took so many unrelated plot threads and managed to merge them all together in a stunning way. Secrets of the Dead was plotted in the same meticulous manner and featured a large, diverse cast of characters making it very difficult for me to pinpoint who the killer really was. It also had the same fast and furious pacing with short chapters of the kind that keep you turning pages long into the night.

It stays mostly in the present day with only a smattering of chapters told from the killers perspective via flashbacks. This was clever as it drew me in even deeper, steadily stringing me along as I was so interested in finding out what this persons true motivations were. It kept me on my toes and gave the book an edgy, suspenseful vibe that I liked.

Wyer raised the stakes with this book, Robyn is the type of strong lead character that can easily carry a series and the more I read about her, the more I like her. She believes in following her gut instincts and doesn’t back down even when no one else agrees with her and I admire a person who has strong convictions. This is another winner for me and Wyer just needs to write faster so I can keep reading more about Robyn and team.

Ahhh, how I've missed you Robyn Carter. Second in the DI Robyn Carter series, we get plunged back into her world with a new case she needs to solve. Her first adventure drew me right in. I loved her from the very beginning in Little Lost Girl - see my review for that here. We get to learn more about her past and really find that connection this time around. This time around there's been a death at the spa that doesn't seem quite suspicious.. but when Robyn's friend, Tricia, asks her to look into it, she can't help but at least take a deeper look into the situation. Other deaths start to occur that are baffling but interrelated.

Once again we have a story where seemingly different plot lines come together. Robyn has always done things her own way. This typically gets her in trouble but brings about a cast of characters that you also can't help falling in love with. What I especially love about the author's writing is letting us glimpse into the mind of the antagonist. We see his current state of mind and then flashbacks of him growing up and why he is the damaged soul that he is. Not only does Robyn have to butt heads with some of her own colleagues and the press, she also has to maneuver her way around her boss's orders. Recruiting her cousin as a private investigator gives us even more of a glimpse into her lonely personal life and brings about the softer, more human side of her that we didn't quite get a grasp on in book one.

Carol Wyer is an author to be on the look out for. We knew that with Little Lost Girl and she hasn't lost her touch here. Her next book in this series, The Missing Girls, has been released today (9/14/17) and I'm off to devour it. God speed to anyone who tries to interrupt me. 😉