What do you look for in a mystery novel? Twisty, compelling plotting? Wry wit and humorous dialogue? A clear and ever-present theme that ties the story together with a nice bow at the end? Read on.

If the grit, suspense, and the awesome character arcs of Joseph Wambaugh of The Onion Field were blended with the dialogue, narrative charm, and humour of Joseph Wambaugh of The Choirboys and then both were superimposed onto the witty, page-turning stay-up-all-night plotting (because I did) of Robert Crais of LA Requiem, and then the whole concoction were transferred (idiom, locale, and culture) to England, THIS is what The Smiling Man would read like (because it does).

What a superbly written book! Just what a rising novelist would hope to see a reviewer say about him, I'm happy to say about Joseph Knox's second novel. I am glad I've been introduced to this writer. Thank you, Netgalley.

Of course, now I'll be buying Sirens on Amazon.ca. I hope it's even half as good as The Smiling Man. If so, money very well spent.

Aidan Waits is a flawed man. He is Detective Constable Waits now, haunted by his past of being raised as a childhood thief and as a drug addict caught stealing drugs from evidence. He is on his last chance now, partnered with the smart, but caustic, Detective Inspector Peter Sutcliffe on the dead-end nightshift. Sutty is the only person who would agree to work with him, everyone else in the department holds a deep resentment and dislike for Aidan and lets him know it on every possible occasion.

As you get to know him, you realize Aidan is actually a brilliant Detective with a deep-seated desire to rid the world of evil. He knows what evil people do to other people from his own experience. He has a soft heart for victims and is willing to break the rules when necessary to make things right for them.

Joseph Knox has created a flawed but endearing character that you at once like and dislike. All of his traits are brought forth in The Smiling Man, a murder mystery that has him trying to track down a name and the killer of a man found dead in a deserted hotel with no identity and no apparent past. This is a complex thriller with lots of suspects and many different paths to discover the truth. Not a fun read, exactly, but a book you can’t stop reading.

Thank you, NetGalley, for offering me a free advance copy of this novel for my honest review.

A man is found in an abandoned hotel. From there the plot winds and twists through multiple people's lives with a surprising twist at the end. I'm an avid mystery reader and this book takes the cake! I loved Knox's clear writing-a little humor without being cheesy and intricate plotlines. I haven't read Siren but look forward to adding it to my list.

The Smiling Man, a rather convoluted detective mystery novel, follows Detective Constable Aiden Waits, a seasoned detective through a series of big city crimes including harassment, assault, and even murder. Waits, an emotionally disturbed individual, with a sordid past, struggles to develop a future in the police department in spite being hated by his superiors and colleagues. This is Detective Waits second appearance with his first being in Joseph Knox’s debut novel Sirens.

A reported break-in at the closed Palace Hotel turns out to be much more than it first appears. A body sporting a grotesque smile is found in room 431. A security guard is found unconscious in the hallway and a shadowy figure exits through the fire escape. The hotel owners are not cooperative. The lead lawyer has taken an unexpected holiday for health reasons. And to make matters worse no one can identify the body. On top of this Waits is distracted by a sexual harassment case that his superiors want him to forget and by an old enemy reappears but won’t say why.

Aiden Waits is a very complex character. Knox does a very good job of letting the circumstances surrounding his violent tendencies and drug problems unfold carefully as the story proceeds. This for me is a highlight of the novel.

Compared to other books in this genre, I find this story very cumbersome. There are at least three major stories going on at once. All three can become books on their own. One has to try to hold on to the multiple characters believing that the stories are linked in the end, but unfortunately this is not the case. I believe that the multiple storylines and the multitude of characters lead to confusion rather than an intriguing story. One line of investigation with a handful of suspects is in my opinion plenty. I lost count of the important characters in this novel.

I do not recommend this book to those who enjoy detective novels, but again want to emphasize that the character of Aiden Waits is interesting. I give it a 2 on 5.

I want to thank NetGalley and Crown Publishing for providing me with this digital copy in exchange for a fair review.

This was such a great book! Perfectly plotted and so very well written. The story is partially narrated by the main character and the storytelling manages to convey the grittiness and darkness of the back streets of Manchester. The characters are drawn perfectly and while you don’t really like all of them, you can’t help but want to know everything about them. This was not a complicated mystery but it took a while to figure it out and I was engaged until the very end. Now I want to read the rest of the books in this series and will be hoping for more!

CREEPY book that you don't want to read at night alone. Loved it and loved the twists and turns. Definitely on the creepy / mysterious side, but a book that will keep you guessing and wanting to read more.

Thank you Net Galley for allowing me to read an advanced copy!

Knox returns with another solid outing for his hero Waits. A well constructed thriller that is a page turner until the very end.

Aidan Waits is stuck on the night shift investigating dumpster fires with a partner who he loathes. When they are called to investigate a break in at the Palace, a once posh but now vacant hotel, they find a mysterious dead man on the 4th floor. The man is found sitting in an empty room with a smile on his face; his identity is just as puzzling as his death. The security guard was knocked unconscious and Aidan is certain there was someone else in the hotel. As Aidan begins his investigation he meets resistance from everyone involved including his own department. Someone wants this case forgotten and if he keeps pushing he may just find himself the next victim.

The Smiling Man is the second book in the Aidan Waits series. Although I have not read Sirens yet, I felt that there were only a few elements that would have been better understood had I read them in order. Aiden is damaged and flawed protagonist that immediately draws you in. This novel is a gritty crime mystery that takes you on an investigation of the darker side of humanity. There are a lot of elements to the plot but the author ties everything together flawlessly by the end of the novel. I really enjoyed this novel and look forward to reading the other books in this series.

2.5-3 Star Read

Having read the first book (Sirens) in Joseph Knox's Waits series earlier this year, I was excited to see where things would go in book two. While I was intrigued and interested throughout Sirens, I found the Smiling Man frustrating. It was unnecessarily weighted down by so many plots, subplots, and in-roads leading nowhere the characters got lost. It felt as if every fringe idea Knox had was written into this novel hoping something would resonate with readers. Then all these unconnected situations were brought together at the end. No matter how convoluted the connection.

Knox is definitely a talented writer that knows how to get the reader interested in a story. At 416 pages Knox had the time and space to tell an incredible story. However, this time it felt like he didn't decide which story he was writing.

Aidan Waits is a flawed character struggling to find his way. That's what I loved about him. Even though The Smiling Man wasn't what I expected, I want to see what happens to Waits next. I will definitely read book three.

Happy Reading,

RJ

Authentically creepy, this is a solid read, but don't be alone in the house while you're reading it. Strong pacing, excellent characterizations and a well worn but also well told plot.

I received this title from netgalley in exchange for honest opinion. This was an okay book. I guess i found it to be a little all over the place, and no they kept referring to the cop's past, but didn't say what happened exactly. Just too much going on i guess. At the same time, i did finish, and as I stated before, it was an okay book.

Quickly I realized this book was not for me. I had a really tough time connecting with the characters of the story. Maybe because I hadn’t read the first book before this one? I know I am in the minority here with giving it only 2 stars but I just couldn’t continue with it. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this book for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

There are lots of things happening in The Smiling Man, including the Waits and Sutcliffe partnership, the Palace and its owners, Cartwright and the sex film, the dustbin arsonist, the boy and Bateman, the smiling man, of course, and so much more. You might think there was too much going on, but all of these stories are woven together intricately and masterfully.

I couldn’t even imagine how the boy and disturbing and repulsive Bateman would be connected to the rest of the stories, but then — holy cow! — it was. (I didn’t see *that* coming!)

Aiden Waits is definitely complicated and carries a truckload of baggage. Regarding the rest of the characters, some are likable, some not so much. All are believable.

There’s so much going on that I wondered how it could possibly come together. But then the author kicks it in gear, and it does.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review The Smiling Man. I enjoyed it very much.

3.5 Stars
Nothing comes easy for Aidan Waits. He’s a disgraced, dishonest, and disliked police officer in England trying to do permanent night shift job and hopefully stay alive.
If only the world would cooperate with him! Instead author Joseph Knox clutters Aidan’s life with more trouble than half a dozen detectives should have to face. A young girl being blackmailed, an unidentifiable dead man in a seedy hotel where a security guard rents rooms to call girls, drug dealers and physical attacks are some of his woes.
Thankfully Aidan is able to put pieces into their proper places and bring some order to life.
Knox offers an interesting take to these fastballs, curveballs and knuckleballs. It is up to the reader to keep an eye on the ball or Knox will slip one by you.
I received an advance copy of this book from Netgalley. This did not effect my review of this book.
#netgalley #TheSmilingMan

3.5/5 stars

As someone who never read the first book, which is titles Sirens, I found The Smiling Man to be an enjoyable read. I don't read many stories that are heavy with investigation, but I found myself to be enjoying this. It was pretty easy to follow along and unravel the mystery and also getting to understand Aidan. I do feel like I missed out quite a bit on who exactly he is, but that's most likely due to me not having read Sirens prior to this. I enjoyed Aidan as a character from what little I knew of him, but I found the supporting characters to be bothersome. This could also be because I haven't read the previous novel, or maybe I'm right and it's the characters themselves. Besides this, the plot itself was constructed very well, although at some points I felt like checking out. If you read and enjoyed the previous book, you may enjoy this much more than I did. If you skipped the prvious one and went straight to The Smiling Man, it would still be enjoyable, but I would ask that you consider reading Sirens as it feels something is missing character-wise in this novel.

I received this ARC for free by NetGalley in exchange for my completely honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to review this ARC in return for my honest and unbiased opinion.

I will admit , I admire and respect the effort that Joseph Knox put into his writings, including the character descriptions which honestly at times were a little over the top. Such as "After weeks of unbroken heat, he was starting to look and smell like the larval stage for something else entirely" If Mr. Knox was going for a stomach turning description of someone, he hit the nail on the head.

Even though I never read Siren's (the previous book it seems) I still didn't have any problems following along what was happening in this book. this was a struggle for me to be honest, I don't usually read investigative stories, but the book kept me interested enough.

Brilliant follow-up to 'Sirens', this is a great mystery from across the pond that hooked me from the start.

P.S. Read sirens first

I really enjoyed "Sirens" and this sequel did not disappoint. I find Aiden Waits to be an intriguing detective who is good at his job despite everything that is stacked against him.

#2 in Knox's Aidan Waits series set in Manchester and after reading "Sirens" I was eager to see where the author would take us next and it turned out to be a very good journey. Now on the permanent night shift, with the grumpiest partner known to modern man, Aiden Waits is called out to a shut down, formerly posh hotel where they find a mysterious dead man. A man with absolutely no ID......and a smile on his face. The investigation takes them to some unusual places and some unusual people, but they follow every clue no matter where it takes them, even if it takes Aidan to some dark moments from his past.

This was a very well crafted, intricate mystery where the main character showed tremendous growth in just one book to a hard working, yet still flawed policeman but certainly someone you are cheering for. As with "Sirens" take your time with this book to absorb every detail as there is lots going on and the author pulls it all together in a captivating finish. I very much look forward to #3. Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 Stars
Review by Amy
Late Night Reviewer
Up All Night w/ Books Blog

I did not know what to expect upon delving into Joseph Knox’s The Smiling Man. I suppose I went in presuming it would be an edge of the seat mystery. Well, it was that, but it was so much more. This was the second book in the series, and I did not read the first. I am interested in reading it now, but I think overall this book read just fine as a standalone.

Aidan Waits, a night shift detective is barely keeping his nose clean and focusing on getting through his days. Paired up with a dry humored partner, he attempts to prove to his superiors that he is capable of doing his job after running into what I gathered was some trouble with substance abuse. I imagine this was covered in the previous book.

Waits finds himself trying to solve one case, while he becomes distracted with another. All the while, he has a superior who is asking him to keep things from his partner, and a partner who is trying to keep tabs on him. It all feels like a bit of chaos. Then, as if that isn’t enough to keep him on his toes, flashbacks to his childhood reflect the dark painful childhood Waits experienced, allowing the reader to get a better look at how he has become the person he is. Some of his childhood pains still haunt him and those also contribute to his daily struggles.

Overall, this book had a lot going on. Between the flashbacks, the cases he is handling, and his personal life, there was stuff going on all over the place. I am sure many characters were introduced in the previous book, but going in blind there was a lot to take in. One thing this book cannot be accused of is being slow or boring. It was constantly moving, frequently twisting, and perpetually entertaining. I was a bit turned off by Waits in the beginning but by the end I had grown quite fond of him. I am really looking forward to the next book in this series. Looking forward to seeing what waits for Waits next.

**ARC provided by author for honest review**