I could not really connect with the characters in this book,, and for that reason I found it hardgoing. I did persevere until about a third of the way into the book before giving up.

Alright, folks, gather 'round for another thrilling ride in the world of crime and suspense! I stumbled upon Stephen Edger and his DI Kate Matthews series, and let me tell you, I was hooked from the start!

Now, I'm a sucker for UK crime series, and when you throw in a serial killer, well, consider me sold! DI Kate Matthews is a total maverick, trustin' her gut more than those pesky rules. She's like a cat with nine lives, always landing herself in danger and ending up in the hospital. It's like she's got a revolving door to the ER - talk about gutsy and maybe a bit foolish, but you can't help rootin' for her!

This book keeps the plot rollin', continuin' from where "Dead to Me" left off. But don't you worry, there's a fresh case to sink your teeth into as well!

So there you have it, my fellow crime enthusiasts. This series is a rollercoaster of guts, courage, and a touch of craziness. DI Kate Matthews is a character you can't help but cheer on, even when she's actin' like a daredevil. Four stars from me, folks, and I can't wait to see what adventures await our fearless detective next! Happy readin'!

This was a brilliant read. As soon as I started reading this book I just knew I was going to love it. Highly recommended

I am back for book 2 in this series to see how she has fared and I must say I enjoyed this but I felt this was a predictable move in terms of storyline and I felt it was a little bit too much of an easy fix to an element of Kate's story in book 1. Detective Kate Matthews is desperate to get involved with the case that sees a young woman murdered in a very similar fashion to one of Kates undercover officers who was killed whilst under Kate's command. The one thing that was a huge draw for me in this book was the switch between chapters where we go from seeing Kate and her current investigation, before switching to see a chapter from Amy's storyline from the year before.


The plot was great and it was very readable in terms of the pace and characters. However, it just would have been a great move to do something outside of the most obvious choice from book 1. Kate is certainly unpredictable and that's always pretty enjoyable as a reader, but to be honest she also seems very edgy with a dark side and weirdly that makes me like her even more! I will certainly move on to book 3 and think that Kate has made an excellent base for this series along with her colleague Laura.

Dying Day is the 2nd book in the Detective Kate Matthews series. I did not read the first book and this book could easily be read as a stand-alone. However, I recommend reading the first book before reading this one since this is a continuation. One year ago, Detective Kate Matthews was on a serial killer case who already killed 4 women. Even though there was no evidence linking the victims, Kate was adamant it was the same killer. The last victim was a junior detective, Amy, that Kate had taken under her wings and mentored. Present day, in another city, Detective Matthews is still on the hunt for the killer and she will not quit until she finds him. With 2 new murders, Kate has no doubt that it is the same killer.

I had a problem with Kate's character right from the beginning. She's disobedient and rebellious. She's in a high-speed chase and her superior is telling her to back down before she kills someone. However, she ignores the order and pushes her car to 90mph instead. Her superior tells her to go home and rest and instead she commandeers a murder case. She has a junior detective helping her while going behind her boss' back. And there was one point she was leading the witness. I wanted to stop reading right then. And yes she solved some cases, but it was more by chance when she was making wrong judgement calls. She should have been fired for her misconduct.

There were some twists in the story but I was able to figure out Amy's killer early on in the book.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and Stephen Edger for a copy of "Dying Day" in exchange of an honest review.

A gripping fastpaced novel that keeps you turning the pages. Karen Matthews was a great character and I will definitely read the other novel in the series.

Twisted!
I enjoyed the book very much. Trevor is a twatlying. Lots of twists and turns. Which keep your on the edge it get you on the edge of your seat in places a great book

Phew. Need to catch my breath after that ending. Absolutely gripping and brilliantly written. Kate Matthews is a BADASS.

Fast paced, a read with anticipation, emotionally charged thriller, police procedure.

Just imagine a colleague of yours who was killed pursuing a serial killer. Part of your team?
Would you maybe rightly or wrongly feel some guilt?
Would you want justice?

So when this case is reopened Detective Kate was told to stay well away. Remembering Amy who was killed at the hands of this perpetrator, could, or rather.....would she obey orders.

Kate does thing sometimes her way and not always the orthodox way.

I really enjoyed this read. I read it quickly as it was really a page turner where you are eager to see what’s going to happen next for sure.

Having not read book 1 this didn’t make any impact on my not reading it, so I’m guessing it’s equally as good as a stand-alone.

If this book is anything to go by, I’m sure going to follow what he writes next.
I’m on it.

Book 2 in the Detective Kate Matthews series, Book 1 was fantastic book 2 blew book 1 out of the water and into space!
Dying Day refers to the day one year ago when a young detective Amy Spencer was killed while working an undercover operation that went very wrong. The killer was never caught and Kate Matthews blames herself.
As ever, Stephen Edger keeps you on the edger (sorry not sorry) of your seat. This is a very fast paced twisty book that was much much darker than the first instalment.
I cannot wait for book 3

I was privileged enough to get ARC's through Netgalley of all three the DI Kate Matthews's books and treated to myself to a Saturday binge read. I will review all three books together as well.
In Watching you (book 1), we meet the kickass DI Kate Matthews. She doesn't take nonsense from the start and gets involved in a murder investigation early on. The difficult relationships with her colleagues, her soon to be ex husband, as well as her daughter gets carried over to the next books.
In Dying Day Kate has to deal with her feelings of guilt - she believes she caused the death of a colleague and friend. The book focuses on these feelings, with quite a twist in the investigation of the DC's death.
In Cold heart (the third book in the series) a young girl goes missing, and Kate gets involved in the investigation of her disappearance. All gets very personal very quick, and makes for brilliant reading.

I honestly enjoyed the three books, and I couldn't put them down. I haven't read anything by Mr Edger before, but will without any doubt rectify that now. Really well done.

Detective Kate Matthews had to leave the Met following the murder of her colleague during a case. Now the case is being reopened but she is not to be involved. Kate is determined to find Amy’s killer though and starts her own investigation into the murder with Amy’s brother. She also disregards her superior’s orders and helps with the investigation into the murders of two local women. Really enjoyed this book and will look for more from the series.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and Stephen Edger for the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

The first Kate Matthews novel was a bit of a mixed bag for me, but when I started Dying Day I instantly became gripped to the story and couldn’t read quick enough. Unfortunately after about the 50% mark my interest waned because I could clearly see where the story was going to go.

Kate Matthews is still haunted by the unsolved murder of her colleague Amy. She is full of blame for Amy’s death, and her determination to solve the case seemingly knows no bounds. Kate is a complicated character. I love the renegade detective that goes against their superiors but there’s just something about Kate that makes me feel uncomfortable. She’s almost unstable in how she behaves, she can’t see past solving Amy’s murder and allows it to affect her personal life. After the events of the first novel she wants to see her daughter more, yet she’s only mentioned in passing here once and Kate is constantly making reckless and dangerous decisions. Stephen Edger does go some way to explaining some of Kate’s thought processes and all of this aside she is a character that I enjoy reading about but her unpredictability made me feel uneasy at times.

All of that said I felt the plot was strong. Despite the over-recklessness, it was easy to understand why Kate became so determined to ignore her superiors because it seemed like they were just unwilling to listen to any of her ideas, believing her to be too close to the case to think coherently enough to solve it. I enjoyed the investigative element of Kate going off from place to place attempting to solve present day murders that were eerily similar to those that occurred in London when Kate worked there. I enjoyed the resolution to one of these murders because I didn’t see it coming. We also follow along with Amy in the days before she died and I enjoyed those chapters. It was a bit spooky reading about her knowing she was going to die, and it helped me to understand the relationship between her and Kate more and to know just why Kate was so fiercely protective of her.

Now, I don’t know why this keeps happening. I’m not trying to call myself some kind of super crime fiction detective where I work out the plot chapters in advance, but the fact is it’s happened with quite a few books that I have read recently. Here in Dying Day we meet a character and just straightaway I got this vibe from them that they were the killer. I didn’t work out the whole of the plot involving this character but the majority of it I did and I was disappointed because of how obvious it was to me and how once again it resulted in another cliched ending. These fictional detectives are fantastic until it gets to the end of the novel and they finally meet the culprit and have to fight for their lives. Ultimately I did enjoy the book but was let down by the ending, other than that I was gripped to the rest of the story and would thoroughly recommend this series to crime fans. I can only personally rate a book on the enjoyment I took from a story and working out who the killer was at the halfway point lessens that enjoyment.

Dying Day by Stephen Edger is the 2nd in the Detective Kate Matthews series.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Bookouture, and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

My Synopsis:
Kate is supposed to stay away from the office, as she was just involved in a high-speed chase that resulted in both her and the suspect vehicle to be in collisions. As usual, Kate disobeyed orders to cease the pursuit, so the Office of Professional Standards will be involved.

When a body is found in the trunk of a vehicle, Kate wants to be in on the action. Her boss says no, but Kate goes around him and gets involved anyway.

Meanwhile, it is the anniversary of Amy Spencer’s death. She was a young officer who held Kate in high regard, and volunteered to go undercover in a case to prove herself, and to help Kate keep her job. There had been three girls murdered, and Kate seemed to be the only one who thought they were all killed by the same person. Amy died. Kate was removed from the case. No one was ever arrested. Now, a year later, a team is looking into the murders again. Kate is being purposely excluded from the investigation. That, of course, won’t stop her.

My Views:
Well, I didn’t really like Kate Matthews in the first book, and my opinion still has not changed. Her ego knows no bounds. Apparently she is the only detective that can solve any case, and she repeatedly tells everyone that they need her. Confidence is one thing, this is just obnoxious behaviour. If the plots and writing weren’t so good, I would give up on this series. Disliking the protagonist makes it very hard to read the book. If it was just an ego thing, I might be able to handle it, but her disrespect for authority, subordinates, boyfriend, and her daughter really annoy me. Her priority may be her work, but apparently it is her only priority.

That being said, the writing is really good, the pace right, and the plot amazing. This story alternated between the present day investigation, and the events that occurred a year ago, which were told in the voice of Amy. That was really well done. I loved Amy. Other than Kate, I actually like the supporting characters in these books.

Okay, looks like I am going to have to get used to Kate, because Edger writes really well, and without Kate, this would have been a 5 star book.

This is my type of crime thriller, full of excitement, strong characters and fast paced. The main character Kate Matthews is very strong minded and determined to win at all costs. Plot is fab! I can't wait to read more with this character.

DI Kate Matthews doesn't learn. Despite previous events in her past career she throws herself into catching her suspects with little regard to procedure, her career or her own personal safety. Her latest exploits have her essentially benched on desk duty, just as murders are committed on her patch...murders that bear a striking resemblance to those that were the case that got her suspended from her previous position and cost her protégé Amy her life, something that eats Kate up with guilt everyday. Disregarding her bosses warning she begins her own investigation. Is there a link? And could she be about to make the same mistakes all over again?

I'm a little torn about this book. You see I really can't warm to Kate.At this stage her whole damaged persona seems to be her own fault. In many ways she arrogant and so it's hard to sympathise. Also I declared to my partner at 40% ******** did it. And I was right. But I was only a little bit right, there was still a twist or twelve to arrive yet. Let's face it though this is another police procedural with a female detective fighting her demons - it's a very crowded genre and I've read so many of them I feel a bit like the kids who's eaten way too many sweets....a bit sick of them. And yet it did have me hooked from beginning to end. And at the end did I feel sick? No I felt actually very satisfied. Yes there are a few issues - Kate being the main one. At the end of her last book it felt like you could warm to her a bit as she got close to her daughter again but in this story she's barely referred to apart from a short scene that Kate decides she's too busy to deal with despite throwing her family an emotional grenade. I personally feel if Kate needs team around her that we can connect to (Laura is a good start but most of the time felt like a foil) and Kate needs to be rounded more as a character. The plots are great, and fully deserve four stars - it's just frustrating as this could easily be a five star series....it's just not quite there yet.

Sorry really could not get into this book. Maybe because it was the 2nd in a series and I had not read the first

DYING DAY is the second book in the Detective Kate Matthews Series by Stephen Edger. After reading and enjoying the first book in the series, *DEAD TO ME”, I was very eager to start the next book in the series, “DYING DAY”, and see where it would take me.

'Dying Day', a police procedural thriller, follows a young detective Amy, who one year ago was killed working undercover trying to trap a serial killer, who'd been targeting young women. DI Kate Matthews had been head of the investigation team, at that time and couldn’t forgive herself for Amy's death, and letting the killer get away. Kate vows to not rest until the killer has been caught! Kate moved from London to Southampton after being blamed for Amy’s death.

When the body of a young woman is found in the boot of an abandoned car near the Southampton Docks, Detective Kate Matthews is ordered to stay well away from the scene.

When another girl’s body is uncovered days later with similar bruising around the neck, Kate starts an investigation of her own, determined to connect new evidence to catch this monster before more innocent lives are taken…

Then mysterious sympathy cards left with the families of the victims finally lead Kate to the twisted individual from her past.

The book also presents flashbacks from Amy’s life leading up to her death, told from her POV. They help with filling in the gaps and providing more clues on the status of the investigation.

This is a well-written gripping crime-thriller that will have you racing to the end to reveal the identity of the killer. Did I guess right? No, but the evidence was all there to piece together this jigsaw puzzle.

My thanks to Bookouture via Netgalley for my copy. Now plan to start reading “Cold Heart”, the third book in the Detective Kate Matthews story.

*thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

3 stars.

I hadn't read the first in this series but I found that you really dont need to as you discover things about the main character throughout the story. This was quite a good story. I liked the way that it unfolded and kept you wondering what would happen next. It was also interesting to have the backstory of Amy too. What had happened leading up to her death. I felt for Kate and the blame she felt for Amy's death. It was hard not to feel bad for her as it is very obvious that she blames herself. She is stubborn and doesnt take no for an answer, even from her boss. I wasnt too fussed on Kate. She just wasnt my type of character that I usually like. While I did like this, it wasnt one of my favourites in this genre.

Dying Day
by Stephen Edger
Bookouture


General Fiction (Adult) , Mystery & Thrillers
Pub Date 17 Nov 2017


I am reviewing a copy of Dying Day through Bookouture and Netgalley:


A year prior, a young detective Wby the name of Amy was killed on Detective Kate Williams team when she was sent undercover to catch a serial killer targeting young girls.

Kate cannot let the guilt go, because she feels she let the killer get through her fingers.


When the case is reopened because another body of a young girl is found, Kate is told to stay away, but can she?


Kate is determined to prove these crimes are related by taking the old evidence and connecting it with the new in order to protect potential victims. But the trail runs cold when the prime suspect is found dead.

So why are more bodies adding up?


I give Dying Day five out of five stars!


Happy Reading!