I officially have a new favorite series. Once again D.S. Butler has written a great thriller that kept me turning the pages. The character development is outstanding, and I love how she includes the personal lives of the supporting characters. I can not wait for the next book to see where these characters are going.

I have a little bit of mixed feelings about Where Secrets Lie. On the one hand, the case, which starts out slow becomes more and more fascinating as the layers of truth are discovered. On the other hand, Butler’s depiction of his investigating team is somewhat lacking. For a good part of the novel they were bland cardboard cutouts. More effort was made further in, but I can’t say the characters were particularly compelling. You only got a little bit of what made them tick.

While I liked the plot, I think more could have been done to bring the central characters to life. That being said, I’m willing to try another of D.S. Butler’s novels.

3 / 5

I received a copy of Where Secrets Lie from the publisher and Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

-- Crittermom

Where Secrets Lie is a Karen Hart mystery. The remains of a body from thirty years ago are discovered. This leads to more deaths. Who is the killer? I like the method of investigation in the story. It's different from the usual. The story moves at a good pace. There is enough mystery to keep your interest. Karen is a likeable character. She's clever and complex. The story is well written and engaging. Overall, I liked it. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Really 3.5 stars.

A series of deaths following the discovery of a 30 year old body makes for a great mystery and the method it is investigated by the police is really interesting. However, I felt there were other tangents in this book which were being used as fillers & which I didn’t find over interesting so therefore I deducted .5 of a star. The original story is good enough in itself to hold the readers imagination, the other stuff not so much

I enjoyed this book and found it to be engaging. The characters were well developed, and it was good to hear a bit about their backgrounds which adds to their personalities.
At times the story felt a bit slow as there was some repetition, a bit is fine and useful in a complex story, but sometimes there was a bit too much. There did seem to be a few too many police or school teachers with time on their hands... not quite true in real life!

As I know Lincoln it was entertaining to read about it - I'll look at Skellingthorpe in a different light now! Even though I hadn't read the first book in the series, this novel reads well as a stand alone, but I will now go and read book one.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review

Another great read that kept me guessing right to the end. Ms Butler has definitely got a new fan and I can't wait to read her next book meanwhile I will be checking out her other books. I was given this in exchange for my honest opinion and I would like to thank the publishers and netgalley.

I enjoyed this book and found it a very quick read. I haven't read the first in the series but that didn't matter – it is a fully self-contained story. The characters of Karen and her team were likeable and the story was an interesting one with plenty of twists and turns – I figured out the main ones before they happened, which is fine (readers like to feel smug), although there was one point regarding the timing of the letters with regard to a particular death that seemed very obvious and I was suprised the police didn't twig sooner. The writing is perhaps a little simplistic with a lot of telling rather than showing, meaning that the narrative felt flat at times and I didn't connect emotionally with the characters. But overall, a decent read.

The second book I have read with Karen Hart and I found this one just as enjoyable, and looking forward to more from this author. Love the setting in Lincolnshire, DS Butler brings the characters to life and the story unfolds in surprising ways. A good read, would recommend to everyone.

An easy read as crime thrillers go but none the worse for that. The police team are engaging - you care more about them than the crime players - and again that's a good thing and has left me keen for book 3 and seeing how they develop. As a bonus, you get a good insight to how police work works and how following through on the mundane and the random can eventually turn up the small key they need.

Where Secrets Lie by DS Butler is a suspenseful thrill ride of a novel that pulls the reader in immediately and does not let go. This is a gripping police procedural that hits all of the right notes and will surely delight fans of the genre.

The novel's prologue introduces us to James, an alcoholic who is thrown off his own balcony by someone he is clearly well acquainted with, thereby setting the stage for the rest of the narrative. The surprises keep coming.

The novel opens as police are called to investigate a call from a concerned neighbour who suspects that the elderly man next door is in some type of distress. Upon finding the man conscious, presumably following a fall down the stairs, police are suspicious when the man tells them to not go upstairs. Further investigation leads the officers to the discovery of a body in an old suitcase. Immediately following this grisly find, police find a note, ominously stating, "It's time to pay for your crimes." The body is old, the note is not.

Once the remains are identified as Oliver Fox, a former teacher who was reported missing in 1988, the case takes on a duality of timelines. Are the police now looking for two killers?

This is a brilliant novel, and I was immediately drawn to the central character of DS Karen Hart. I was not aware that this was the second installment of a series featuring DS Hart. I am anxious to read the first novel of the series, and I am delighted to find a new author to follow in DS Butler.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK, Thomas & Mercer for this fabulous ARC.

A very enjoyable read! I was very interested in getting my hands on this one after I read the blurb and I am pleased to say that I was not let down.

The story is written very well and the characters are interesting and jump off the page. I would recommend this read!

Secrets always have a way of coming to light, most times with unintended consequences. When an emergency call for a welfare check for elderly Bert Johnson comes in, no one expects it to lead to the discovery of a mummified body in a suitcase. Nor did anyone expect it would lead to a trail of murders and a tie to a crime from 30 years ago. This story involved many characters all with ties connected to this case and to other threads that affect the characters lives outside the story. I found this to be a well written mystery with thoughtful characters I want to learn more about.

very enjoyable book to read. Storyline was easy to follow and kept you guessing to tge end. Never imagined how the book would end. Look forward to reading more from this author.

Now this is more like it! I was so disappointed in the first book in this series, Bring Them Home. In this installment, Detective Sergeant Karen Hart is much more believable as a seasoned member of a police force. She is methodical and professional as she and the other three detectives confront a 30-year-old cold case that generates quite a lot of current-day activity.

DS Hart works with Detective Inspector Scott Morgan and two detective constables in largely rural Lincolnshire. The author does a good job on the character studies of victims, suspects and police personnel, past and present. I appreciated the steady pacing, where I was puzzling out clues and making discoveries right along with Hart and Morgan.

It was interesting to see DS Hart taking such a mentorship role with the two DCs -- particularly since she herself had seemed in such need of mentoring in the earlier book.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advance readers copy of this book.

Are you looking for an excellent police procedural whodunnit? If so, I highly recommend this book.

Police find an elderly man lying at the foot of his stairs while doing a welfare check. He tells them not to go into a certain room in the house. So what does police do? They go into the room and they discover a corpse in a suitcase. This opens up all sorts of questions...Who is the corpse? How did the old man drag the suitcase out of his attic? How did the corpse get there in the first place?

This captivating novel takes the reader step- by -step through a police investigation and how it is handled from beginning to end. . So many threads are open as clues are developed, but the author closes them expertly. I was impressed with the amount of research that went into the police process...it made it so realistic.

The main protagonist Karen has suffered great loss in her life but she proves to be an excellent investigator working along with her team. Secondary characters play a heavy part in this book. Sometimes it is difficult to ascertain who is actually speaking at times, but overall character development was good.

The story was fast paced and keeps the reader engaged until the unexpected ending. I did not read the first book of the series, but had no difficulty understanding what was going on.

I highly recommend this book.

An old man falls down the stairs and the first officers on the scene find a body in a suitcase in a bedroom. DS Hart, her boss DI Morgan and DCs Jones and Cooper have to investigate a 30 year old murder.

This is a well written police procedural. The book deals with the sensitive subject of historic child abuse, which is sensitively handled and doesn’t go into detail. Throughout the book I suspected one character after another but Ms Butler had me fooled till the end. The police characters were all likeable, especially DS Hart, and it will be great to see how things develop for them in further books. I feel that there may be some romantic involvement between Karen and her boss in the future!

Although this is the second book in the series, it is my first encounter with DS Karen Hart, and it reads well as a standalone, although I will now be reading Book 1.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

D.S. Butlers Where Secret Lie is a fantastic thriller which sucks you in from the very start. After finding a decades old corpse in the upstairs of an older mans home, the police force must figure out who it is and how it got there. Set in a town outside of London this story does a phenomenal job of hooking the reading and developing a linear story; with some twists and turns. The only con of this book is the character development. Character development is somewhat random and does not add to or advance this story. Overall I found this book to be sensational and felt this author did a great job of dealing with sensitive subject matter and development of suspense!

I really enjoyed this book. It is a fast paced and had plenty of action in it. When a suitcase containing a dead body is found in an attic it leads to the solving of a 30 year old murder. I liked the characters in this book and their stories. I like being able to imagine people and their surroundings and feel empathy for them.

An elderly man is found at the bottom of his stairs after a neighbour raised the alarm. Not something the would usually overly concern the police- unless they happen to find a very dead body in a suitcase in the man's bedroom! There is also what could be classed as a threatening note in the house.

The body was killed by a blow to the head forty years ago. He had been a teacher at a local high school where the old man was once Headmaster. He was also the brother of a retired high up policeman who instantly makes life difficult for DI Morgan & DS Karen Hart & their two DCs.

This is the second in a series. I missed the first one but that didn't spoil my enjoyment of the book. I really warmed to the police team. I liked the way the author gave insights into their characters & lives without making it seem contrived.

There were lots of twists. Early on I was quite convinced I knew the solution- I was wrong! This was a great read & I'm really looking forward to reading the next in the series, Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.

Thank you for the advanced copy of this book Netgalley.

This is a story about DS Karen Hart, her and her team are investigating a body that has been found in a suitcase. It's been there for a long time, but someone knows who is responsible and they are going after the people involved.

I really enjoyed this, it's very well written and I read it quickly because I was desperate to find out who was responsible.

Fast paced, with great characters I would recommend this to anyone who likes crime and thrillers.