This follows on from The Christmas Killer but I can't say that I particularly enjoyed either of them. I read this with my book club and I think it would have been a dnf if I'd been reading it on my own. It wasn't an edge of your seat thriller, we all guessed the twists long before they were announced and the writing is quite amateurish. Maybe it just needs a good editor but there were times when I found it quite boring. The concept for the story was quite good though.

Another excellent and cleverly written thriller from this author.

I loved the first one and this one did not disappoint. I guessed the twist but it did not detract from they story.

Excellent and would definitely read more.

I read the Christmas killer last year so I was looking forward to this one.

Although the body count wasn’t as high, I enjoyed the storyline of this one more.

Two sets murders twenty fours years apart, both look like murder suicide, both in the same house.

A really good mix of who dunnit, red herrings and some family twists.

It was good to see DI James Walker back too with his past still trying to catch up with him.

A great chance from the usual festive books .

I honestly couldn’t remember the first book in this series for the life of me. When I requested this book, I didn’t realize they were related, so when I picked this one to read I was searching my brain for the information. It does well being a second book, giving you just enough relative previous information without overloading you with useless facts. The ongoing story of James and his wife and why they left London is still a main story line in this book as well.

The murder itself was good and twisty. Although one main twist was highly predictable, I couldn’t figure out who was responsible for the crime before it was revealed to me. I’m giving this middle of the road rating because I found myself underwhelmed with the ending. It wrapped hinge up and did it’s job, it just wasn’t satisfying.

This is book #2 in the DI James Walker series. I read the first book and really enjoyed it so was keen to read this. Whilst it’s part of a series, it can easily be read as a standalone book as the character’s background is well explained throughout. I don’t often find a Christmas themed murder thriller so, for me, this series is a rare gem! Set in the very cold and snowy Cumbrian countryside, Walker is hoping for a quiet Christmas after what happened the previous year! Sadly, he’s out of luck when a murder/suicide is found at nearby Oaktree Farm...

I really am enjoying this series and like the main character, James Walker. He seems to have settled in the area now following his move to Cumbria from London and the slower pace of life seems to suit him and his, now pregnant, wife. Of course, Walker constantly has one ear open for news of the London crime lord who is vowing for revenge, and this storyline accompanies the main plot throughout the book. I loved the pace of the book, which flowed really well and found the storyline held my interest throughout. The plot gave me the shivers in just the right places (and not because of how cold it sounded!) and it had me on the edge of my seat. It is a little gruesome, but that all adds to the thrill of the story and I couldn’t work out who was responsible until the author gave it to me!

It’s the ideal crime read for this time of year and strangely it got me into the Christmas spirit! The characters were interesting and I liked the ones who I was supposed to like! The location was great and described perfectly, it definitely added to the tension and suspense. There were lots of dead ends and red herrings as the story moved on and I found myself hooked in the book early on. I hope there is another book in the series to carry on with Walker’s story, and shall look forward to it! Would recommend.

I really enjoyed this book! It was a fast paced thriller with short chapters which made me fly through it.

The plot is an easy to follow along police procedural, it keeps you very interested with all the suspense and twist and turns.

The story is told mainly from present day but with some chapters from the past. This helps to give you a good insight to the characters.

Even though I did end up predicting the ending, this had no effect on what I thought of the book as I still wanted to see if I was right.

I heard that Alex Pine is coming out with another book next year in this series and I will definitely be looking out for it!

Thank you @netgalley and @avon for sharing this digital review copy with me in exchange for my honest review!

4.5/5

I was a little worried heading into this book as I generally don't like books from police/detective points of view but as soon I started reading, I was so hooked on the story.

The action picks up straight away and never eases off until the last few pages. The writing was excellent and the pacing was so well done. As soon as things seem to settle down, another mystery popped up.

I genuinely found myself looking forward to getting stuck into this & I had no idea where the story was going at any time.

I did knock off a star because sometimes I felt the way that women were described in this book was a bit off. For example, when the main detective looks at a picture of the victim as a child and then another picture of her as an adult, he refers to her "model figure" and the fact she wears "skimpy tops". It wasn't relevant to the story and I'm not sure why that observation was made. The characters wife also only seemed to stay at home & cook for him which was disappointing.


But, the book did have some great plot twists, that were really well executed.

I gave it 4 stars⭐

This caught my attention on the first page, but unfortunately, I lost interest early on. I think the concept is interesting, but I just couldn’t really get into it.

The Killer in the Snow by Alex Pine is a fantastic suspenseful story. I live in Maine and I love the Snowy aspect.
The characters were well written and surprising. The story was perfectly paced with twists that I never saw coming.

Excellent suspenseful psychological thriller.

I was hoping this book would grip me better than the first one in the series, unfortunately I feel that this author, or at least this series is not for me sadly.

This was such an improvement from book 1 which was released last year.

It’s a fast paced story with the tension building as the plot moves on. I really liked the main character DI James Waker and his team. They piece together lots of evidence to find out why a family was found dead at Christmas time and whether this relates to a similar case that occurred in the same house 20 years ago!

The main plot runs alongside a smaller arc whereby a gangster, who DI Walker put away, has escaped and is searching for revenge.

I did figure out one of the twists about halfway through and there are a lot of additional and maybe sometimes unnecessary descriptions about some aspects of the book which were the only two things stopping this being a 5*!

I haven’t read the first book however for me it didn’t seem to matter & I think this book could easily be a standalone. I loved getting to know DI Walker and he was definitely my favourite character along with his wife, Annie. What I loved most about this book, as it wasn’t too far from home for me and I recognised a lot of the places which was lovely as most books I read are based nowhere near me 🙈

It was such a good thriller and there were so many twists along the way, most of the time I knew what was going to happen but there were a few shocks! I found it so hard to put down and I’ve added the first book to my wish list! 😍

I really enjoyed this book, I read the first one in the series last Christmas which unfortunately I found a little predictable. I did sort of guess the plot of this (24 years ago part of it at least) but I was still shocked by the ending and the revelations that came up.

I was so glad to see DI James Walker for a second outing after I read and enjoyed the first in this series, The Christmas Killer last year. There's no need to worry if you haven't read the first though, it's easily read as a standalone.

The story starts off with the gruesome discovery of a family murdered in their own home. Eerily it's similar to a crime that happened in the same house over twenty years earlier. Are they linked, or is it just a coincidence? It's up to DI Walker and his team to find out.

The Killer In The Snow is a fast-paced and entertaining read that had me glued to my kindle.
DI Walker is still his likeable self and even his wife Annie, who annoyed me a little in the first novel, has grown on me a little more during the novel.

I still absolutely love the setting of Cumbria. It's almost like another character and the vast countryside really adds to the tension of the story.

This story felt a little more on the gritty side than the first, with a few more gruesome scenes which I don't mind and weren't over the top.

I would say the ending wasn't overly surprising, but there were a good few twists in there to keep me guessing.

The Killer In The Snow is a definite must for all police procedural fans out there looking for a crime novel with a festive twist.

read The Christmas Killer last year and loved it, so couldn’t wait to read this and it did not disappoint. I love a good thriller/police procedural and this delivered. This is the second in the series featuring DI James Walker, who has relocated away from the city to the ‘peace and quiet’ of the countryside, to escape a criminal with a vendetta against him. It is however not the peace and quiet he envisaged as the first book showed! This time, a family of three are found brutally murdered in their farm house and the story centres around the investigation in to this.

This massively reminded me of the series ‘White House Farm’ and had the same level of mystery and intrigue. Many theories come to light about the killings, which become even more mysterious when we find out what happened at the same farm 20 years earlier.

I loved the way this was written, packed full of twists and turns and characters you can warm to. I loved the fact that it makes you suspect everyone, and I didn’t guess the twist which I thought was done really well. The plot was complex but easy to follow, and the story was engaging from the start. Perfect for thriller lovers like me, and will be keeping my fingers crossed for more in the series!

Loved this one as much as I enjoyed The Christmas Killer. Perfect thriller to read at Christmas time.

Having read book one in this series I was really looking forward to see what DI James Walker would get up to in the next book. It’s been a year since Walker cracked his biggest case, and he is now hoping for a quiet festive season. But when a farmer returns home on Christmas Eve to find footsteps in the snow that lead down to his basement but no footprints leading away. He is found dead alongside his wife and daughter a few days later.

Walker initially thinks it looks like a murder suicide. But the more he and his team investigate the family, the more intriguing it becomes. It seems that 20 years earlier the previous owners of the farm met a similar fate. Who believes in coincidences?

On top of this a dangerous London gangster who went missing vowed vengeance on Walker is he now in danger?

I enjoyed book one in this series, but I think this one is better I don’t know if it is because I now know Walker as a character from the first book, but this one seemed to flow better. I like the main characters and I think this could get even better the more we get to know the characters. This can be read as a stand-alone, however there are a few references from the first book as well as secondary plot going on in the first book and this one, but this one brings that to a head, which I prefer.

I look forward to the third book in the series.


I would like to thank #netgalley and #AvonBooks for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest, fair and unbiased review.

A chilling police procedural that is thoroughly enjoyable!

I just want to start by saying that when I picked up The Killer in the Snow to read I wasn’t sure if it was important to have read the preceding novel, The Christmas Killer beforehand. I very quickly found that it was not an issue, particularly as the brief character bios at the beginning of the book very helpfully introduced the main recurring cast. I also found that even though the events of the first novel were referenced, there weren’t any spoilers and I didn’t feel like I was missing anything. Therefore, you can definitely read this book without having read The Christmas Killer. I was immediately swept up in the plot, which moved at a great pace. From the opening chapter I was hooked into the mysterious cases of both the present and the past. Pine interweaves both cases with expert precision and it was fun trying to piece together any potential links. There are lots of red herrings and dead ends in the investigation, which kept the plot exciting and enjoyable to read. Pine manages to deliver some great twists and revelations that flip the narrative into a different direction, which kept me turning the pages as fast as I could. I had my suspicions about the big final revelation, but I couldn’t see the whole picture, so I was entirely gripped and couldn’t read the last few chapters fast enough as all of the pieces slotted together. Pine blends action, suspense and drama perfectly to deliver a mystery that is both tense and exciting, rattling along at breakneck pace through the most action-packed scenes.

As with all good police procedurals, this novel would be nowhere near as accomplished without its host of fascinating characters. From the police team and the victims right through to the suspects and their families, Pine has created a cast of plausible and intriguing characters that you just want to know more about. DI James Walker is a great lead character. There’s something really likeable about his calm and logical demeanour, even when facing insurmountable odds. However, he’s not without his troubles - he’s kept awake by the investigation and by the increasing risk posed by the escape of his nemesis, crime lord Andrew Sullivan. However, what’s refreshing is that he isn’t a dark or troubled detective with a drink problem or an unsettling, secret past. In fact, he has a very normal and loving home life and his relationship with his wife provides some tender relief from the grittier elements of the plot. The suspects were all really authentic too and I constantly flipped between who I thought the culprit was. Pine gives plenty of misdirection and cleverly lifts and shifts suspicion continually. I really was kept guessing right up to the point that Pine laid everything out for the reader. The characterisation was enhanced between the multiple timelines too and both families of victims were really well drawn. I enjoyed moving back to 24 years prior to learn more about Amanda and Simon, but was equally thrilled during the flashback Christmas Eve scenes with the Bateman family. These complemented the present day investigation scenes and helped to paint a really rich scene. This in turn was enhanced by the real sense of place that Pine creates. The remoteness of the Cumbrian wilderness is so evocative and I could physically feel the chill from both the weather and the desperate isolation of Oaktree Farm. This added an additional layer of immersive suspense to the narrative that I really enjoyed.

Overall, this was a really good read and I am looking forward to going back and reading DI Warren’s first case!

This is the second book in the DI James Walker series. I was looking forward to this one as I really liked the first book in the series.

In this installment, DI Walker is hoping for a quiet holiday season after last years Christmas murder. Unfortunately he doesn't get his wish. Two days after Christmas he is called to a crime scene of a triple murder scene involving an entire family. As they work the crime, they get more questions and more suspects instead of answers.

I enjoy a book that has more than one suspect. I like to be kept guessing instead of knowing who the murderer is right from the start. This one has several suspects and lots of mystery surrounding the farm it takes place on.

It is a slow burner for sure. It takes a long time to get the answers but is worth the wait. I was already familiar with most of the characters from reading the last book so it took no time to get into this one.

Many thanks to netgalley

This is the second book in the DI James Walker series. Unfortunately I hadn’t read the first so part of the storyline was based on events in the first book. However, the main storyline was full of twists and turns and kept you guessing the outcome right to the very end !