What a fabulous book, gripping from start to finish! When the bodies of a family are found in their farmhouse at Christmas it's shocking enough, but when you realise a similar tragedy occurred in the same location 20 years previously, particularly as a baby went missing at the same time never to be found, it becomes unsettling. Are the two related or just a sad coincidence? As the crime scene is investigated further strange evidence begins to surface. With no witnesses to aid him DI James Walker takes the lead in this investigation and slowly but surely the pieces begin to slot together with a few red herrings thrown in along the way. A brilliant crime story.

DI James Walker was hoping for a quiet Christmas as last year was stressful hunting down a serial killer. Unfortunately, he’s not that lucky.

Two days after Christmas he is called out to a possible murder/suicide at Oaktree Farm where the owners, the Batemans, have suffered gunshot wounds and their daughter has been stabbed, plus the daughter’s boyfriend has gone missing.

The investigation is just getting underway when DI Walker is made aware of a similar murder/suicide at the farm twenty years ago, one in which the couples baby daughter went missing, presumed dead. Could the cases be linked?

I haven’t read the first book, The Christmas Killer, but as this book worked as a standalone and I was intrigued enough by the plot that I decided to give it a read, though I never felt like I got to know DI James Walker fully or appreciated his character in the way I would have had I read the first book.

The book is set in Cumbria, a place where I’m not sure I want to visit anymore given by how many thriller/detective books are set there!! Joking aside, Cumbria with its vast open spaces, numerous forests and lakes, plus tiny villages make for a great place to set a thriller and I can see why so many authors do.

The plot felt fast and edgy, plus, the investigation had many leads to it, including a few red herrings. Given that I read a lot of thrillers I tend to have a good idea early on what has happened and by 38% of the way through the book I made my prediction which turned out to be near as damn right. This, however, didn’t take away my enjoyment of the book as I then needed to see if I was right or what I had missed.

The Killer in the Snow kept me interested the whole way through. It had plenty of suspense and twists to keep you on your toes. It is dark and foreboding at times and I loved the snippets of info from twenty years ago and the first murder case at the farm and how DI Walker worked on the two cases to close them both.

What's the book about?

A local farmer's body is discovered along with those of his wife and daughter. There are no witnesses and very little evidence.

The crime scene bears strange resemblances to another heinous murder committed at the same farmhouse twenty years earlier.

Detective James Walker understands that in order to arrest this murderer, he must solve a long-unsolved case first.

My thoughts:
I liked that there's a little intro to the characters for those who haven't read the first book.
The story was interesting, with a lot of twists and things to keep track of - who committed the first murder, the mafia hit angle, the mystery from all those decades ago. Having said that, the novel didn't feel overwhelming. I felt it became a little slow with the pacing in parts and even though I was able to tell where the story was going from very early on in the book, I was invested in the characters so I finished it in one sitting.

Wow I loved this……. So much that i’ve downloaded the first book! Was grateful for the overview of the characters at the beginning of the book! Fast paced thriller, believable storyline and interesting characters! Would highly recommend

This one was a struggle to get through.

Luckily, I was still able to keep up with the characters and storyline without having read book 1 in the series. This can serve as a standalone.

I appreciate when author’s write in a more “simple” way, meaning I can follow along easily without having to pause and look-up difficult or unfamiliar words. This book, however, felt so simple that it was almost unrefined in a way. I skimmed a lot of it because it didn’t keep my attention. I felt like a lot of the meat between the beginning and end of a chapter could be skipped and you didn’t miss out on much. it just didn’t keep moving the way I would have liked. This one was really just not for me. Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read. 2.5 ⭐️ rounded to 3.

I loved this book and couldn't put it down. The storyline intertwined so well with the previous book and flowed well. Very refreshing that the main character isn't a hard drinking man with a broken marriage behind him living in a crappy flat. I did figure out who dunnit but not until well into the book and it didn't ruin it for me, I wanted to keep reading to see if I was right and how it had all come about. I really hope that there are many more books planned for this detective.

Unfortunately, I had to stop reading this book at around 20%. I found the writing style very difficult to read as this novel is not particularly well written. Coupled with the fact that this book is a sequel and I have not read the first one, all in all I did not enjoy this book.

First of all, thank you to Avon Books UK for giving me an advanced reader's copy of this book. Here's my review:

This book is all you can ask for when looking for a good thriller. There were a lot of times I thought I really had it in the bag of whodunnit, but, man, was I always wrong after a new twist. And the twists were well-thought-out, too. Most books I've read in the past that had this many twists felt kind of forced, honestly speaking. Plus the ending totally caught me offguard. Brilliantly written! Now I have to read more of Alex Pine's work, and looking forward to it. 🧡

I requested and started this book not realizing that it was a sequel - I tried to read it in the hopes that you wouldn't need to know a whole bunch from the previous book to read this book. After 60 pages I had to put it down and stop reading it because I just didn't know what was going on. I saw another reviewer give this book a 2 star and so I'm kind of happy I didn't make it through this book. HOWEVER, that was not my review of this book and I stopped reading because I felt like I wasn't following the book.

I'm only rating it 3 stars because I didn't get to finish it and I didn't know what I was reading (my own fault).

I greatly appreciate the publishers sending me this book in exchange for my honest review. The Killer in the snow it the follow up to the DI James Walker series. I enjoyed the plot as I found it rather easy to follow and that it flows nicely. This book can be read as a stand alone but does reference previous events from the book before. Walker is a great character and one that I find refreshing. I love police procedural book but often times the detective is saddled with mounds of their own issues making them unreliable trying to solve the case. I enjoyed the straight laced mindset of Walker!

This is the second book in this series and though I have read both it is important to know you don't need to read the first to understand and enjoy this book.

DI Walker is back with another murder to solve at Christmas. This time it's a triple murder to investigate of a husband, wife and grown daughter. The farm where the murder occurs is the same place of a double murder/suicide which happened with the previous owners. Are the two incidents related?

I really enjoy this series of books and hope there are more to come as I will enjoy knowing more about Walker and his wife Annie. No, this book isn't a hard hitting gruesome crime thriller, so if that's what you are wanting then this isn't for you. This however is an easy mystery read with a wonderful scenery and enjoyable characters which takes you away from our every day mundane lives.

A year has passed since DI James Walker cracked his biggest case yet, and he’s hoping for peace and quiet this festive season.

But across the fells, a local farmer returns home on Christmas Eve to find footsteps in the fresh snow that lead down to his unused basement – and no footsteps leading away. Days later, his body is found, alongside those of his wife and daughter.

Without a neighbour for miles, there are no witnesses and little evidence. And the crime scene has strange echoes of another terrible murder committed at the farmhouse, twenty years earlier…

I enjoyed this book, having read The Christmas Killer I was familiar with the characters and am growing to like them, the book I feel was better than the first and gripped you from the first pages, I liked the way in concentrated on the actual murder and not so much on DCI Walkers Home life, I am looking forward to more in this series of books as I already enjoy JP Carter's (Alex Pine) writing style, would recommend reading this

This is the second book of the DI James Walker series, although this is the first time I am reading the series.

In a farm, a father, mother and a daughter were found dead inside the barn. It happened to look like a suicide--daughter was stabbed, the mother was shot and the father shot himself. But when the detectives finds that the father, Robert Bateman is in huge debts and the Bateman seemed to be having enemies, they soon ruled this case as a murder.

The story started out a bit slow but soon towards the middle, it got a bit more interesting as the secrets started revealing about the family and that there was another murder that happened on the very same farm almost twenty four years ago with a baby missing. Soon, this begins a cat and mouse chase game and then there were some twists and turns that it got fast paced until the end.

Overall this thriller is a slow burn book--it wasn't bad but it was good too that will keep you engrossed in the book.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Avon publishers for the ARC. The review is based on my opinion only.

I loved Alex Pine's first book - The Christmas Killer, so I was excited to return to Cumbria for another snowy crime-fest. DI James Walker and his team have another mystery to solve, whilst battling harsh winter weather.
Shortly after Christmas a family are found dead in their remote farmhouse, one stabbed and two shot. Was this a family murder suicide, or is there something more for DI Walker to discover? The plot thickens when a previous incident from over 20 years ago is raised. At the same farmhouse a couple were found dead and their small baby missing.
Are the crimes linked? There are plenty of credible suspects and lots of twists and turns in the investigation. I wasn't quite as gripped as the first one in the series, but still an excellent read.
Thanks to Netgalley and Avon Books for the ARC.

Uff this was a plodder. So slow, so boring, so dry. The weird writing style makes this strangely impersonal and dull. Who are these characters? Who cares. There was a small sliver of something interesting but is got bogged down in too much inconsequential detail. I do appreciate NetGalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review. I just wish both had been better.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4246598672?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1

Another good book by this author. I enjoyed the characters and the plot line was interesting. The only part I didn't like was right at the beginning giving the description of the main character and the back story. It's second in a series so there was no need for it I thought.
Was a great ending!

I expected a lot more from this book and was severely let down. I haven't read the first in the series and honestly don't plan on it. First off, the plot was predictable as there are several movies with the same, and I was able to figure out everything after getting about a third of the way through.

The writing style is was got me the most, it's very detached. There was a constant use of names, for example he always referred to his wife by her name instead of saying "my wife". It was in the main character, James, point of view yet it always stated his name instead of referring to him as "he/him/his". The way the characters spoke to one another was almost robotic. It was written more like a newspaper article than a book. Which makes sense considering the author was a journalist. I prefer to emerse myself in the book, become a part of the story, not feel as though I'm looking at it through a snowglobe.

There was also evidence in the story that was never mentioned, like did the shotgun shells come from that particular gun? Why weren't the footprints measured for stride to determine how tall the suspect could be? The main character also referred to himself and his fellow officers as "coppers" and I have never heard a law enforcement officer call themselves such.

I was not a huge fan of this book at all and it took me a lot longer to read because of it. I most likely wouldn't recommend it to others.

I keep trying to love police procedurals and I keep not liking them. I did finish this book and will rate it based on the writing alone. The prose was wonderful. I can read Alex Pine all day long. Just not a fan of police side of things.

This story is gripping from the start. It gets into the mystery of the murder quite quickly. The story was easy to follow even though there was a lot happening, which was great. The story also keeps you guessing what actually happened until the ending. Overall it was a super enjoyable murder mystery book!

A entertaining, though rather grim, story. Quite predictable, really, as clues were dropped at various points in the novel. However, I suppose that is part of the satisfaction, working it out for oneself. The characters seemed a little bit wooden to me, although they were interesting, and gave the story its twists and turns. I would certainly read another book by this author. A good read for light entertainment.