I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

Initially I found this a little confusing, then I thought I had worked out what was going on, but then encountered the author's usual (excellent) misdirection. Now that I have finished I think I know what happened... The motivation of the killer to murder certain of the victims made no sense to me, but it's not possible to discuss that without spoilers. The prison sections were interesting and the continuing character development of the regular characters was enjoyable, although I think the strand about Barton's mother was perhaps too good to be true.

An old prison inmate dies, just weeks before his release. It appears to be natural causes but when his house is ransacked, his wife disappears and an until-then-unknown outbuilding is set ablaze, too many suspicious incidents add up for DI Barton. A killer is on the loose, one who is ready to ice out those who have crossed them in the past.

This is a very good book that leaves you guessing until the final few pages. I will say that I did suspect the correct person and predict their backstory correctly from about halfway through the book, but I was never 100% certain until it was revealed. The story is told from both the perspective of Barton (in the third-person) and the Killer (in the first-person). This allows the author to pepper in clues as to the killer's identity, but does sometimes make the narrative a little tougher to follow.

Great read.
The fourth outing for D.I Barton and another hit for Ross Greenwood,totally grabbed my attention the whole way through.
The authors experience of working in the prison system make his books so authentic.
This was my favourite one so far and look forward to reading more in the series.
Thanks to Netgalley and Boldwood books for the ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for this ARC.

I hope this review can do justice to how much I enjoyed this book. It started off really well and grabbed my attention straight away, soon picking up pace. The author has, in my opinion, wrote a cracker of a book here, and his experiences of working in a prison and knowledge of day to day life in one shows in his writing making for a very realistic read. . I loved this book, just loved it from beginning to end. Reading this book has taken up all my spare time over the last couple of days and in one way I didn’t want to reach the end. I really like DI Barton and his team, who are portrayed very realistically and believably. I enjoyed following them as they investigated a prison death and when more deaths follow with links to the prison death the team have to work hard to solve the murders. I loved that the book was told through DI Barton and other characters, and enjoyed the glimpses into DI Barton’s personal and home life. This was one of those rare books where I had empathy for the killer and could relate to the reasons behind the murders. I found this to be a fast paced and thrilling read, it flowed really well and came together brilliantly at the end. There wasn’t anything I didn’t like about this book, I can’t fault it and think it’s the best book in his DI Barton series so far. I would highly recommend this and think this is one of my top 5 reads this year.

Yet another cracking book, love the DI series
This is a great crime writer. Already looking forward to the next in the series

Another engaging instalment in this series. We see the return of several characters in the police team who face a particularly bizarre case with few leads and lots of dead ends. There's a few unresolved threads and I wonder if they might be tied up in the next book......
Having worked in the prison service these books have a real, authenticity about what it is like to both work and serve time in a UK prison.

The Cold Killer by Ross Greenwood

When a tired old inmate is found dead in his cell, the prison is obligated to investigate and so DI Barton attends. The men he interviews have been convicted of some of the worst things a human being can do, but it appears likely that the death was due to natural causes.

I've read other titles by Ross Greenwood and he is up there with the best of other crime writers .
He writes brilliant prison storylines , and as someone who works in one I can say it is quite true to life , unlike most authors that leave you shaking your head in disbelief ! Love the character DI Barton.