I've just finished reading "A Soul for a Soul" by Carol Wyer, and it's been a gripping rollercoaster of a thriller. Detective Kate Young's character is brilliantly portrayed, haunted by a traumatic past and driven by her relentless pursuit of corrupt officers. The guilt and fear she carries add depth to the story, making her a truly relatable protagonist.

The parallel storylines involving Kate and DI Emma Donaldson are skillfully interwoven, keeping me engaged and guessing throughout. I particularly enjoyed following Emma as she tackles a chilling murder investigation, and her partnership with DI Morgan Meredith adds an intriguing layer to the narrative.

Wyer's storytelling is filled with unexpected twists and moments of palpable tension. While I did anticipate one twist, another completely took me by surprise. The pacing is spot-on, with a good balance of action, danger, and suspense. The ending leaves you hanging on the edge, eager to know what happens next.

Overall, "A Soul for a Soul" is an immersive read, and I can't wait to see where the next installment takes us. Carol Wyer has masterfully crafted a story that keeps you wondering and speculating until the very last page. Kudos to the author for another fantastic addition to the Detective Kate Young series.

DCI Kate Young #5

Kate remains haunted by the past, the trauma of the situation with Superintendent John Dickson and her dangerous quest to unmasked the corrupt syndicate. This has altered her, she is stressed, fearful and guilt ridden. It’s not just Dickson, the murders of her husband, Chris, and of her mentor and surrogate father, DCI, William Chase seems to have sucked the life out of her.

DI Harriet Khatri is awaiting trial for Chase‘s murder, but she protests her innocence and claims she has been set up, framed by the syndicate. It’s yet another thing to weigh Kate down, but she does agree to Harriet‘s pleas to make covert enquiries. As if all this isn’t enough, a body of a badly decomposed young woman is found on a new housing estate, an investigation which Kate assigns to DI Emma Donaldson. The latter enquiry becomes increasingly chilling and strikes close to home.

I really like the parallel story lines, following Kate as she continues to search for corrupt syndicate officers and Emma, with the murdered woman enquiry alongside her partner, DI, Morgan Meredith, who is involved with Operation Moonbeam into people trafficking. I enjoy following Emma and Morgan, Emma goes the extra mile in her new role with Morgan submerged in his difficult inquiry where it’s difficult to get a break. The strain in their relationship is perhaps inevitable. The plot strands work well together with the storyline, flowing and keeping you guessing.

Kate’s situation, her torment and her admirable determination to keep going, despite the personal cost, is done well. However, if anything, I think the author overdoes her suffering with the voices in her head becoming a bit much and somewhat repetitive. Katie is treading a fine line, it could all unravel and I like this aspect of the plot as it keeps you wondering and thinking.

As usual, Carole Wyer comes up with the goods in terms of twists and turns. One I do guess, but another is so good as it’s a real surprise. There’s plenty of tension which at times is palpable and there are numerous suspenseful moments. The plot is well paced, there is plenty of action as it goes from one protagonist to another, there is danger, chills, and spills, taking us through to a good ending. The ultimate ending is a real cliffhanger, naughty, Ms Wyer … Keeping us in suspense, wondering… Speculating! Okay, well played!! A great way to end this immersive read.

Overall, I really like Carole Wyer books as she never fails to deliver a cracking read.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Thomas and Mercer for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

Wowzer! I just love these books! The hits just keep on coming and secrets are finally unraveling and did not guess who it was until the reveal! Can not wait for the next book in the series. LOVED IT!

Complex and addictive police procedural laced with murder, deception, betrayal, and corruption with a good dose of internal,politics. Kate has quite the challenges in this one, and is close to falling off the edge. Good mix of drama and intrigue keeps things moving.

A Soul for A Soul by C. Wyer, published by Thomas & Mercer is book 5 in the Detective Kate Young Series.
For best reading experience I recommend to read the books in order.
The story picks up where the previous book was left off.
DCI Kate Young has lost everything. She's still grieving the death of her boss and friend William. But now's the time to take action.
Emma just made DI and her latest case is another murder.
Both women have to work side by side.
Another nailbiting thriller of its finest. Complex, fast paced, action packed and full of unexpected twists and turns that had me guessing till the last page.

I really enjoy most books by this author, but unfortunately, this series has never really resonated with me. Mainly because of the voices in the main character DCI Kate Young’s head, and her tendency to voice them aloud as they converse with each other. There was a large portion of the first series dedicated to this idiosyncrasy, less in the second book, and now it’s back with a vengeance in the third installment. Kate knows she’s doing it, knows she shouldn’t be doing it, yet doesn’t take any steps toward therapy to rid herself of it. So, the reader is stuck reading large sections of her inner dialogue in this format.

It wouldn’t bother me so much if it didn’t feel like filler. You could literally remove all those portions and it wouldn’t hurt the story. And it’s the same back and forth between Dickson, whom she hears because of her guilt from shooting and accidentally killing him, and Chase, her mentor whom she misses greatly. Dickson’s voice insults her and every idea she has while Chase is the voice of reason, urging her to follow her instincts. Every. Single. Time. For every decision she makes, not just when she’s dealing with taking down the corrupt syndicate.

Other parts of the story are more engaging, like the subplot with DI Emma Donaldson. I’ve always found scopolamine fascinating, and I love it when it pops up in a book I’m reading. If the remainder of the story was as interesting, this review would be quite different. But it is a good wrap-up to the series, and you won’t be left with too many unanswered questions. I only hope that the next work by this author features a main character who has a full grip on her sanity!

I thoroughly enjoyed the latest in the Kate Young series.
In this book Kates team has been broken up, with both Emma Donaldson and Morgan Meredith now acting DI’s and heading their own teams after Kates promotion to DCI following the death of DCI William Chase. They are officially a couple, but their relationship is understandably strained with them working on different jobs.
Emma is heading up a team where a woman is found dead. I found this case very interesting with a few red herrings to throw me off the scent!
Morgan is heading a team looking into people trafficking and has suspicions there is a mole in his team and turns to Kate for advice.
Kate still has suspicions that people within the force may be corrupt. She has trust issues, even with some of her colleagues. She has to tread very carefully as she doesn’t know who to trust. Because of this she frequently acts alone.
William’s death has hit Kate hard; he was a mentor and father figure to her. William left his house to her, and she searches it for any information on ‘the syndicate’.
The only part that I don’t like is the voices in Kates head, as they do take over. I do understand that is the whole concept of Kate though, and how the loss of her husband affected her mind.
There really is a lot going on in this book. I didn’t lose my way at all, racing through it.
A heart-pounding story, perfectly paced and a fabulous addition to the Kate Young series.
Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the early copy in which I give my honest opinion.

I was thrilled to read this book but was also getting a bit tired of Kate young and her voices. To have Emma take the lead role a bit was good, but honestly I think Carol Wyer should stick to ghost stories. I did enjoy it but it was hard going to get to the end.

I’d like to thank netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. I have been a fan of Carol Wyer’s for awhile now and always look forward to each new book so I was excited to read more about Kate Young and her plot to stop the syndicate once and for all. We find her still searching for Digger and trying to figure out Jamie all the while helping the rest of the team stop the devils breath killer. An interesting read from start to finish, can’t wait for the next one.

Another amazing addition to the DI Kate Young series of books. After a bit of a cliffhanger at the end of the previous book, I wasn’t quite sure how things were going to pan out for Kate after murdering her corrupt colleague and concealing her involvement. This book thunders along a a terrific pace, providing many twists and turns along the way. Please tell me there will be more?

Carol Wyer always delivers with her police procedural series, and A Soul for a Soul was no exception. Things have changed since the last book and Kate is now. DCI after her boss, mentor and friend William is murdered. She is grieving while still trying to take down the syndicate. She is running out of people to trust. To top it all off she now has 2 voices in her head with Dickson and William and it is distracting her from what she should be doing.

Meanwhile Emma has been promoted to DI and lands a murder case with many people in the victims life not telling the whole truth. He relationship with Morgan is under strain and she really wants to make a good impression on her first case in charge.

I really liked the stories of the 2 women running side by side in this book. I hope that we will hear from both again, that ending not really telling us either way. I always look forward to reading this authors work.

Thanks to Thomas and Mercer for the advanced copy of this book to read. Published on January 30th

Loved all of this series and this was also a very good read I just feel it went on a bit too long, kate young is one of my favourite characters and I love how the relationships with Emma and Morgan have developed. I wasn't keen on the ending and hope this isn't the end of this series. Still a very good book but not my favourite of the series

Poor DCI Kate Young has landed herself in a heap of trouble. Tormented by guilt as a result of her actions and mourning the death of her mentor, she hears the voices of the two men. Some of the conversations in her head were over the top, but it didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book.

I loved the supporting characters in this one. Emma Donaldson, now a DI, is a great character. She's strong, both physically and mentally, and methodical, which is an asset when it comes to solving crimes. Perhaps Emma could have a series with the members of her team? Hint, hint.

I love Carol's writing style and am always excited when one of her books comes out.

Thanks to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Detective Kate Young has lost everything due to a syndicate of corruption in her Police Department. She lost her husband, her mentor, her moral compass, and perhaps her sanity in the struggle to uncover the network responsible for her husband's death. She is the new DCI after one boss was murdered and another charged with that murder, but she doesn't feel like she is cut out for the work. She divides her time among looking for a secret list of syndicate members (her mentor kept), trying to find the person who witness her self-defense murder of syndicate member, and overseeing her two DIs in their investigations. She continually looks for the members of the corrupt group and is not certain whom to trust. It's a suspenseful story with surprises along the way.

Wow, an exceptional addition to the Detective Kate Young series. This is an exciting read with an ending I didn’t expect. To really understand and appreciate this series you really need to read it from book one. It’s well worth it.
Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and share this book.

Have read all of this series and this one was one of my favourites! A fast paced read, continuing on from the previous books, with a completely unexpected ending, so is there going to be another book in this series?

This book was a excellent edition to the rest of the series. An amazing police procedural that I just had to devour. It was gripping. Full of fun twists.
An excellent book
For any avid reader to enjoy

THIS BOOK! If you have been along on the Kate Young experience you are not going to want to miss this one! I was literally reading as fast as I could. Kate is in for the shock of her life when she starts to figure out who is in the syndicate she's been working so hard to take down. This twist literally had my jaw dropping. DO NOT MISS THIS!!

Aww I'm obsessednwith this series a d Kate has to be ine of my favourite prototagonists! I'm not keen on her hearing quite so many voices in her head, it got a bit much but overall this was another top notch installment in the series. I loved the fast paced, action packed plot. The twists and turns, the support chargers are as well written developed as the main character. There's a lot going in and it is very cleverly written with tiny breadcrumbs leading g you to the big reveal which I totally didn't see coming. Its also one if those books that has the perfect balance of enough details to set a vivid scene but not to slow down the plot with paragraphs of drivel about the weather etc. Really good read

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

This is a good book to read, although I enjoyed the previous books in the series more. Kate is now a DCI and continues to search for evidence to take down the syndicate, a group of corrupt police officers. Alongside this her two DIs have their own caseloads and a murder investigation to solve. I liked following the murder investigation parts of the story and thought the parts with Kate searching for evidence became repetitive. She is unsure who to trust although does make progress in finding corrupt officers. This is a well written book that flows well but for me it lacked the wow factor and edginess I loved in the previous books, and in some parts I found myself skimming the pages and felt this wasn't the page turning read I hoped for. I'd still recommend this read though, there are finally answers to ongoing threads in this series and the ending of the book is left open so I'm not sure if there will be another book in the future. If there is, I'll want to read it.

3.5 stars ⭐⭐⭐