My thanks to HarperCollins U.K. One More Chapter for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘Below Ground’ by Michael Wood.

This is Book 11 in his popular DCI Matilda Darke series of police procedurals set in Sheffield.

This is a novel that I would recommend is best read ‘cold’ for maximum impact. While background is provided for readers new to the series, Wood does reveal details of previous cases as these have a direct impact on characters and events that take place in ‘Below Ground’.

The Prologue is a chapter from ‘The Hangman’s Hold’ by Lionel Miller, a True Crime book about serial killer Steve Harrison, who has identified DCI Matilda Darke as his nemesis. Harrison wants to destroy her and expresses that “one day soon, I will.” Chilling.

I won’t say more to avoid spoiler territory though I will confirm that it’s an edge-of-the-seat, twisty crime thriller.

Overall, ‘Below Ground’ proved another excellent addition to this series. It ends with a cliffhanger/teaser that ensures that I will be eagerly awaiting the publication of Book 12.

What a fantastic book this was to read. I'd never read any in the series before but managed to quickly get into/like the characters. The storylines running in this book were excellent and involved so many of the characters but each of them/each storyline was fully played out, you didn't feel cheated that one took more president over the other. Definitely an author/series to look forward to reading more of.

This is third. I heal Wood and I seem to be liking him more with each read. Reviews without spoilers are sometimes hard so without giving much away I do admit you have to suspend belief in how many people connected by work seem to be very bad individuals. However I did suspend belief because the book is well written and enthralling. Once you start you really do have to know what happened.

You know an author is pretty confident in his readers when he takes the series MC out of the story for most of the book and his fans LOVE it!!!! DCI Matilda Darke has been kidnapped and her team must now put all their skills together to find her before......
This was a unique approach to a police procedural and it so totally worked! Darke's team have worked with her for long enough to be experts in investigative work and now the stakes could not be any higher. Can you imagine failing???? Me neither!!! The story starts fast and picks up pace as the team works against the clock and a very experienced criminal.....who by the way......is in prison already. Twists? You have never seen this many twists in one story that will still keep you turning pages as fast you can....no peeking at the end to see how it comes out. a 5 star thrill of a ride!!!

EXCERPT: She was in total darkness.
She stood up and held her arms out in front of her like a zombie in a cheap horror film. She took a few tentative steps forward before she hit a wall. It was cold and damp to the touch. The brick was rough. She ran her hands along it, walking slowly, fearful of what she might touch, might step in. She soon reached the end of the wall, turned and walked along the adjacent wall. It was such a small room, no bigger than a box room, no bigger than a . . . prison cell.

ABOUT 'BELOW GROUND': A MISSING DETECTIVE

DCI Matilda Darke has been kidnapped and her nemesis, Steve Harrison appears to be behind it. He’s currently residing in the supermax of Wakefield Prison and spends twenty-three hours a day in his cell, so how could he possibly be responsible?

A SERIAL KILLER WITH A VENGEANCE

As Matilda’s team race to find her, they’re alerted to a body found in an abandoned car on the outskirts of Sheffield. With forensics scouring the woodland for clues, the last thing they expect is for the body count to rise.

A RACE AGAINST TIME

Meanwhile the search intensifies for the DCI when a video of her kidnapping is leaked to the media. And as she desperately tries to uncover what has led to her being held captive in an underground cell, she’s about to find out how much danger she’s truly in.

If Matilda’s team don’t find her soon, they might not find her at all…

MY THOUGHTS: I read Below Ground in a little less than 24 hours, unable to put it down, which is pretty standard for this series. Michael Wood always hits the ground running. Below Ground is 384 pages of pure adrenaline rush.

The story-line is dark, intense and multi-layered. Not only is the team dealing with Scott's injury, Matilda's disappearance, but they have an unexpected gravesite with multiple bodies. There is no end of suspects who could be responsible for Matilda's kidnapping, but who is responsible for the bodies buried in the bush? The answer to that one was a real surprise!

It was lovely to have Sian back on the team, and a credit to Michael Woods superb writing skills to have almost the entire book carry on without Matilda and to not lose impetus or interest. If anything, this is the best of the series yet! There is a little romance happening to soften the harshness of the investigation, and a few things we have still to learn about one of the team members. A new character is introduced at the beginning of the book, and although we don't see much of him in the rest of the book, I have a feeling he is going to be important in the future.

Although this is a series, Below Ground is easily read as a stand-alone, as Michael Wood eloquently and seamlessly fills in what back-story is required. However, I'm warning you, once you've read Below Ground you will be wanting to go back and read the earlier books in the series.

Below Ground ends on a cliffhanger. I hope Michael Wood is hard at work on #12, because I can't wait to get my hands on it.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

#BelowGround #MatildaDarke #NetGalley

THE AUTHOR: Michael Wood is a freelance journalist and proofreader living in Sheffield. As a journalist he has covered many crime stories throughout Sheffield, gaining first-hand knowledge of police procedure. He also reviews books for CrimeSquad, a website dedicated to crime fiction.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Harper Collins UK, One More Chapter via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of Below Ground by Michael Wood for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

Michael Wood has done it again!
The Matilda Darke series gets better and better!
Matilda doesn’t feature in the majority of this book and it’s still a cracking read!
We see how strong the bonds and friendships are between her team and how they work hard to bring their cases to a favourable conclusion. ( I’m trying hard not to write any spoilers!)
A roller coaster of a read which had me reading it in one sitting !
The writing is excellent as always and I love the cliff hangers wood leaves for the reader!
Looking forward to the next in the series , if my heart can take it!
Highly recommended, if you’re a fan of Matilda Darke read this you won’t be disappointed!
Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK.

I can't get enough of this series and whilst many series can get a little stale and boring, not so with Matilda Darke ... they just seem to get better and better.

It doesn't happen very often, but I can't find any faults with Below Ground ... the plot, the characters, the pace, the twists, the suspense and tension ... it's just a perfect police procedural thriller from start to finish and I would highly recommend this and the others in the series.

The only question is ... how long do we have to wait for the next? Too long - I want to read it now!!

Many thanks to the author, HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter and NetGalley for enabling me to read and share my thoughts of Below Ground and I can't wait for the next.

Brilliant as always! Plenty of heart stopping moments and shocking conclusions, particularly for DCI Matilda Darke, highly recommend!

I have been a huge fan of this series and bought every book as it has been published.

Below Ground takes the reader back to 2021 and Covid, and the restrictions. For this reader, I appreciate that this isn't what the author wants to hear, but I don't want to remember any of that, so for the most part I am avoiding books set during this period. Personal opinion, but sadly it means that I am battling the story rather than immersing myself in it.

Michael Wood doesn't give his readers any time to warm up, he puts you right in the middle of the action from the off, and darkness. As the tile suggests this book has a strong feeling of unease from the off.

Despite this all being brilliantly depicted, i just felt that the team, who I welcomed back into my life, had more than enough to deal with before the author heaped more calamity on them all. I just wanted them to have a break, to solve some crime that wasn't so intensely personal... especially given that we are at the breaking point of reality, for me this ultimately meant that I battled against the storyline, no matter how well it was executed.

A belter as expected!

If you love Matilda Darke you’ll love this-once you get over the fact she’s not there for a lot of the book, it’s worth it.

Without spoilers it’s hard to review but safe to say, it’s another well written and enjoyable thriller from Michael Wood.

This is a deliciously dark, gripping thriller that had me on the edge of my seat and my heart in my mouth. I was totally hooked from that intriguing prologue and i could not put it down. Mini cliffhangers, drama and heartstopping moments will have you flying through it.

I cannot praise this book highly enough. Just read it. Now.

✨My Thoughts✨

I’ll try and leave this spoiler free because I hate it when you look at reviews and it spoils the book for the reader.

I started this series back in 2021 when i read the first 8 books in a week because I was that OBSESSED!.

Now we’re onto book 11 and after THAT cliffhanger in book 10 it didn’t bode well for Matilda and Scott.

Matilda has been kidnapped and Scott has been seriously injured but Matilda’s team have no idea what happened to her or who took her? Expect that Matilda’s Nemesis Steve Harrison is involved but how?.


What a shocking story this was, it was so fast paced I could hardly keep up, the shocks are relentless and you don’t get a break until the very page.

Michael is a master storyteller and every book in this series is as good as the last, I can’t wait for the next in series and I hope it continues for a long time to come.

Thank you NetGalley and One More Chapter for the approval to read and review this book!

The story starts with an extract from The Hangman's Hold by Lionel Miller. It is a book based on the Hangman - Steve Harrison! Let me just say that is a thrilling read and very well written as you come to expect from Michael Wood, who is a master of horror and suspense! DCI Matilda Darke has gone missing and Scott Andrews has been discovered stabbed in Matilda's home. No spoilers but you must get this book to find out how all of the plots come together for an explosive and surprising ending!! I highly recommend you read this book.

I chose to read a free eARC of Below Ground but that has in no way influenced my review.

I am a HUGE fan of the DCI Matilda Darke series by Michael Wood. Below Ground is the eleventh book and things just don't seem to be getting any better for the beleaguered South Yorkshire Homicide and Major Crime Unit (HMCU). But where would be the fun in that anyway? One of the things I love the most about this series (apart from the fact that the core cast of characters feel like old friends) is that  the author has no fear in pushing his characters to their absolute limit (and sometimes beyond!). This latest instalment is no different.

DCI Matilda Darke is missing. Her long standing nemesis, Steve Harrison, looks to be behind the kidnapping but he'd rather die than help the rest of the HMCU find her. He'll just enjoy taunting the team from the supermax wing of Wakefield Prison instead. Elsewhere, a body is found in the boot of a car on the outskirts of Sheffield. Shortly after the team discover who the remains belong to, a second body is found. Then a third. Stretched to the limit and without their leader, it's down to HMCU to solve the murders which all seem strangely linked, and find Matilda before it's too late...

Below Ground is a thrilling race against time novel with clever plotting, and twists and turns galore. DCI Matilda Darke is pretty much absent from proceedings this time around. We do get to see things from her point of view and watch as the situation she's in becomes frighteningly clear to her. But these chapters are few and far between which I thought added to the tension. Below Ground focuses more on the secondary supporting cast of characters with DI Christian Brady taking the lead in the investigation and the return to the force of favourite, DS Sian Robinson. There is a lot going on with DS Scott Andrews, and DCs Zofia Nowak, Tom Simpson and Finn Cotton too. As well as the smaller side characters such as Donal Youngblood. I felt all of the characters, main or supporting, evolved in this latest book and I enjoyed seeing their stories develop.

Would I recommend this book? I would, yes. Below Ground was a gripping, tense race against time to save Matilda Darke and I was fully immersed in the story from the get-go. I really like Wood's characters but I'm always nervous about getting too attached to any of them as you never know how long they'll be part of the series! The Sheffield setting once again was vivid and came to life on the page. The menace and threat brought to proceedings by the return of Steve Harrison was wonderful and I loved how he played the team from behind bars. He's a truly horrible, despicable character and he's brought to life so well by the author. I thoroughly enjoyed the book from start to finish but the ending was superb and I was teetering on the edge of my seat. It felt like a movie was playing out before my eyes with the author cutting from one tense scene to the next, each situation intensifying a little more every time. This is the eleventh book in the series and I want to say you could read it as a standalone because the author provides a lot of background information (which I found useful myself and I've read the majority of the books!) but I think it's better read in order. A great addition to a favourite series and I am very much looking forward to seeing what befalls the HMCU next (after seeing a recent comment from the author on Facebook, I have to admit I'm nervous for them!). Tense, gripping and eminently readable. Recommended.

I chose to read and review a free eARC of Below Ground. The above review is my own unbiased opinion.

WOW!!! This story deserves way more than five stars. It was that good. But then again, I wouldn't expect anything less from the master that is Michael Wood.

Whose no holds barred writing style, characters and shocking twists make this a must read series.

And I may joke every time that if certain characters die, I'll never read a Matilda Darke book again. But let's be honest, that's never going to happen.

Although my loyalty to Matilda and Michael was severely tested this time. 

As DS Scott Andrews is found stabbed and left for dead at the home of DCI Matilda Darke and Matilda is no where to be seen.

And as a shocked HMCU team begin to question what could've happened and whether Matilda is alive or dead. 
The Chief Constable asks whether it's possible Matilda is responsible and has fled the scene.

However, those that know Matilda best including Pat, Sian and Adele are sure Matilda would never harm anyone, especially Scott and that something terrible has to have happened.

And although there are a lot of people who would like to see Matilda dead. Adele is quick to point to Steve Harrison aka The Hangman. Whose currently on the Supermax wing at Wakefield Prison.

But how would Steve have orchestrated this latest attempt on Matilda's life?

And more importantly, where is Matilda?

And as the team race to get the answers. They also deal with a murder investigation that brings Sian and her serial killer husband face to face.

And it's fair to say this may just be their toughest investigation yet! And with a massacre and serial killers galore that's really saying something.

And no one is coming out of this unscathed.

And with such a gripping storyline and Michael's signature shocks and surprises. I was hooked from start to finish, and I can't wait for book 12. But thank god it's not out for a little while. As I'm going to need the time to recover and you will too!

I'd one thousand percent recommend BELOW GROUND and the series to all. And if you've not read it yet, what are you waiting for? Seriously, it's the BEST!!!

Although part of a series, this was the first DI Matilda Darke book that I had read, and although there were references to the events of previous books, it did not stop my enjoyment of it. It was a good police procedural story and well plotted, though with the number of bad apples linked to the South Yorkshire team makes me think that an inspection of its hiring and vetting procedures should be the subject of the next book in the series.

With thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review an advance copy.

I've not read any of the other books in the series but this can be read as a standalone as previous events are mentioned throughout the book to catch you up on it all. Sadly this book really wasn't for me, I found that I was getting a bit bored with the search for Matilda and by the sounds of it, all the action had happened in the previous books. It was a left on a cliffhanger, but to be honest I'm not that bothered about what happened next.

I love the DCI Matilda Darke series. Matilda and her team have been through lot together and it is her strong friendships, especially between Adele Kean, the pathologist; Sergeant Sian Robison, her friend and team member and Pat Campbell, an ex-cop, that have got her through some of the worst possible times imaginable.

It’s the irresistible mix of great characters, an immensely fast-paced set of plots, and endless jeopardy mixed with devious criminals that make this series such a good read. And I enjoyed Below Ground too, not least because it takes Matilda out of the picture for a lot of the time, allowing others in her team to take more of a focus.

Set in the depths of winter 2021 and in the midst of Covid, Below Ground has an edge of darkness right from the beginning. I’d suggest that you really do need to read the earlier books first. There are some threads and some characters whose lives have been so deeply impacted by the events in previous books that it pays to understand their backstory.

There’s a dual focus in this book; the disappearance of Matilda Darke herself in violent circumstances and the discovery of a body in the boot of an abandoned car in the delightfully named (and very real) location of Wigtwizzle. As the team work to determine who is behind Matilda’s disappearance and at the same time deal with what turns out to be a growing number of bodies in the Wigtwizzle woods, things get very dark indeed and more than one team member is stretched to their mental and physical limits.

Michael Wood does this kind of cat and mouse game so well and because we love this team, we feel it all the more keenly.

But, and it’s quite a big but, this series is in danger of jumping the shark. I can suspend disbelief easily enough; the more so when I really love a series. I enjoy the return of an enduring nemesis and the massive manipulation that comes along with this antagonist, but my heart did sink quite a bit when I realised who was responsible for one aspect of the plotline.

Michael Wood has left this series on one of his excellent and shocking cliff-hangers and we’re all left wondering what will happen next. I’ll be in the queue to find out and looking forward to seeing where the team goes next.

I was lucky enough to receive an advance copy of Below Ground, following Matilda Darke and her team. During the series, Michael Wood has developed the leading characters in such a way that you feel you know them personally and what happens to them, good or bad, leaves you thinking about them. Michael Wood certainly did not disappoint in this latest book. The 2 main stories were excellent and kept you wondering how they could be connected, if at all. The end of the book will leave all readers desperately wanting to read the next book.

I would like to thank Netgalley and One More Chapter for an advance copy of Below Ground the eleventh novel to feature DCI Matilda Darke South Yorkshire Police’s Major Crimes Unit, based in Sheffield.

Matilda has been kidnapped and DS Scott Andrews stabbed. The team are in no doubt that Matilda’s nemesis, former PC and now high security prison inmate, Steve Harrison, is behind it. The team is in a panic to find her and the last thing they need is a decomposed body found in a car boot in local woodlands.

I thoroughly enjoyed Below Ground once I got going with it. I’ve had too many distractions over the past few days so I was only reading a chapter at any one time and that is a shame, because I finally had time to sit down and read the remaining 70% with few interruptions, and found it to be a meaty, compulsive read with a strong story to tell, only let down in my opinion by another cliffhanger ending (I don’t like them - too much time between books to remember).

As I said this is a meaty read with so much going on. It has its roots in the past and previous novels in the series, but this is not an issue for readers new to the series or those, like me, that haven’t retained old plots as everything is sufficiently explained to give the reader context. There is the hunt for Matilda, the body in the woods, all sorts of mind games and a lot of raw emotion. There are interconnections between minor characters and main players that play out in unexpected ways with unsuspected motives and actions that take the reader by surprise. These small incidents give the novel a certain realism, while the big incidents are designed for entertainment rather than realism. It is a tense read at points, but mostly it is emotional as the team grieve Matilda’s disappearance and potential fate. DS Sîan Robinson and pathologist Adele Kean take the lead in this.

The novel is mostly told from the investigative point of view as the various team members contribute their experiences and emotion with a few chapters from the imprisoned Matilda’s point of view. I think the author has done a tremendous job of conveying the stress, tension, emotion and determination of the characters, making it an immersive read.

Below Ground is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.