419 pages

4 stars

This story is told from two points of view; from that of the killer and from the police point of view.

DI Barton and his team are hoping for a quiet Christmas. Their hopes are dashed when, on Christmas Day, Barton gets a call about a suspicious suicide. The elderly cancer suffer's daughters insist that he would not do that. Then the team gets orders from on high to prioritize the case.

Odd deaths begin to multiply. Slowly, a thought begins to form in Barton's mind. When he pitches it to his team, they ponder and seem to give credence to his idea. They settle on the suspect and track him.

There are some pretty good surprises in this book. The language and plotting of this book is very good. It does read a little slowly, though. I guess I like my police procedurals to have a little more action. I liked Barton and his relationship with his family. I like that he put his family so high on his list of priorities. I enjoyed his team as well. I liked the occasional teasing and bantering that went on among them.

I want to thank NetGalley and Boldwood Books for forwarding to me a copy of this very nice book for me to read, enjoy and review.

This is the second book featuring DI John Barton and it’s just as brilliant as the the first book The Snow Killer if not better in my opinion. The story is told from two points of view, the soul killer and DI Barton and right from the off it really is a book that grabs your attention as we are fed intriguing snippets of info as to who the soul killer may be and I must confess I didn’t guess !!
The characterisations of all the team are spot on especially Barton who I really love he is a genuine kind of bloke and he cares for his family and also his team and he’s pretty clever also although this case nearly gets the the better of him. As with the last book the writing is superb making it a totally unputdownable read that’s got a fair few twists and another highly recommended 5 star book.
I loved the book I really did and I look forward to reading more in this wonderful series and a massive thanks to Ross Greenwood for keeping me hooked from beginning to end.
My thanks also to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for giving me the chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you NetGalley and Boldwood Books for the eARC.
Great book! Normally I'm not that crazy about serial killer books, but this one was different from the norm. It wasn't as gruesome as many are and the chapters are split into DI Barton's and the killer's
viewpoints. At the beginning I actually felt empathy for the killer; he had an terrible childhood with a cruel, crazy mother as well as an awful time being bullied at school. He feels undervalued as an adult and that life finally owes him a break.
DI Barton is a very sympathetic character, I liked him a lot. He has a great, understanding wife and 3 children. He wishes he had more time to spend with them, especially as Christmas nears. But several deaths (maybe murders, maybe suicide or accident) keep him and the team extremely busy. We know the truth because we read the killer's account and his reasoning for the killing, which makes for an intriguing read.
I liked the jokes between the members of the team, it lightened the atmosphere and gave me time to catch my breath.
A good, tense ending made this a book that I had a hard time putting down. Highly recommended!