Snakes and Ladders

Dr. Vernon Sange is an incarcerated serial killer and he appears to have intimate knowledge of another serial killer slashing his way though London. Sange won’t spill his guts to anyone but profiler Ziba Mackenzie, the same women who was responsible for having him locked up.  Make no mistake,  Sange isn’t helping the police through the goodness of his heart, he wants something in return. Silence of the Lambs. With more than a little resemblance to Silence of the Lambs and some Ted Bundy thrown in,  this book highlights what profilers have often known – serial killers make some of the best profilers themselves

So far, I've been very impressed with Ziba MacKenzie's stories and number 3 does not disappoint. Ziba faces a real baddie in the tradition of the best charming but super-scary serial killers. Ziba put Vernon Sange behind bars, but she now needs him to catch a new killer whose only calling card is a rose petal. The murders are creepy and, as much as Ziba tries, the police are nowhere near catching the killer. There's also personal drama as her relationship with her late husband's best friend gets more complicated and he starts becoming a liability. The ways that Sange manipulates and gets involved in Ziba's life are pretty creative. I loved all the twists and turns except for the final one. No spoilers but I had discarded that particular suspicion because it was so, so obvious that it could not be real, could it? If an accountant in Idaho figured it out immediately, one of the best profilers in the Yard's history would clearly have seen it coming, right? I didn't find this part believable. Anyway, the rest of the novel was so good, that I will try to forget such an oversight and chalk it up to Ziba's being distracted. 
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, Amazon Publishing UK!

A good thriller with strong characters that hooks from the start, just as good as the first two in the series and although it can be read before you read the first two i would reccomend they are read in order,  cannit wait for number 4 to appear on Netgalley

What started seemingly to be a rehash along the lines of Silence of the Lambs changed into a reader grabbing story line keeping one intrigued to the very end.. an unmissable read!

A scary and horrific tale but thoroughly enjoyable. I could not put this book down hughly recommeneded

I really liked the cover. It is very appealing designed. The writing style is pleasant and very fluently to read. The characters are very well described and look well thought out and consistently interesting. The tension is always present. The descriptions of surroundings, feelings and scenes were also very good. The story is told pleasant and it succeeds from the first pages to dive directly into the story. The storyline as a whole is very coherent and it seems very understandable and authentic. A very fascinating story that you won't like to stop reading.

This is the third book in the Ziba MacKenzie series. Ziba is a profiler with a special forces background, she carries a lot of sadness with her as her husband Duncan was killed a few years before the events in this story. This novel has an intriguing start. Ziba is lecturing at  the FBI in Quantico whilst in London a murderer labelled the Pink Rose Killer (PRK) is stalking London for victims. Pulling the strings like a master puppeteer is Dr Vernon Sange, a cold blooded serial killer of at least 12 people and currently serving life imprisonment in HMP Wakefield, the largest high security prison in the UK. He is awaiting extradition to the USA for execution for crimes committed there. There is a connection between Sange and the PRK as Sange seems to know far more than he should which he dangles in riddles. Ziba is bright back from Quantico to help Scotland Yard detectives profile the PRK. This is a very twisty, dark story with gruesome murders which has the feel of Criminal Minds with Ziba being JJ or Emily Prentiss and I did feel as if I had stepped into an episode! The story is told by Ziba and the killer which works well. 

The characters in the book are good. I like Ziba although in this one although she drops the ball rather too often as she wrestles with her feelings for journalist Jack Wolfe. He is a really good character too and you so root for these two to make a go of things so Ziba can move on from Duncan. You learn more about Ziba and her background in this one which I enjoyed. I like the interactions and game playing between Ziba and Sange who is a former university don and so is highly intelligent and the master of manipulation. They lock horns and try to outplay each other but it has to be said that Ziba is frequently on the back foot. Sange is the snake in this story and Ziba is climbing the ladders.  DI Nigel Fingerling is just as odious as he was in previous books although some of his instincts are correct. 

Part of the story has ancient Roman connections and has links to Ancient Greek literature which I think is a really good element and quite original and this is what links Sange to the PLK. My only negatives are that some scenes feel a bit manufactured and a tad unrealistic and there are  some ‘Silence of the Lambs’ moments especially at the end. 

Overall, a good, dark psychological thriller with a dash of humour and an abundance of twists and turns that fans of the genre appreciate.

Even though this is Book #3 in the Zeba MacKenzie series, it can be read as a stand alone. I have not read the first two books, but based on Snakes and Ladders, I must! I really enjoyed this book!

I have read the other books in this series which I enjoyed greatly. I was looking forward to this and wasn't disappointed. Full of tension and a great protagonist, this kept me at the edge of my seat. Not a dull moment to be found in this book. I'm looking forward to reading more.

this book started slowly and then gradually got my attention.  strong main character and the skill in profling was interesting to me.   I never like the chapters with the killer interspersed unless the author and there is only one or two makes them more human while their actions being monstrous.  not here.   it was overall a good read and i would read more with the main character, the ending left room for a series

This is the third in the Ziba  MacKenzie series and each book is even better than the previous book. They are all extremely violent, psychological thrillers, with a deeply disturbing   and even more disturbing characters.
 I have enjoyed reading each and everyone of them. I look forward to reading the next one in the series.
Highly recommended.
With thanks to Netgalley, Pigeonhole and the publishers for the Arc,

Fantastic novel. This is the first book of Victoria’s I’ve read but am immediately going to rectify that and read the first 2 Ziba books (and hopefully the 4th will be out soon). Great story development throughout

A brilliant roller coaster of a read from the beginning, full of twists and turns and I was gripped from the very first page.

The characters were interesting and I can thoroughly recommend this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Amazon Publishing for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

The third book of the Ziba MacKenzie series - Snake and Ladders covers the hottest topic of the moment....serial killers. Dr. Vernon Sange is in prison but he says he knows who the PRK murderer is. Picture Ziba as the Clarice to Dr. Sange's Hannibal Lector. 

This is a fun series and Ziba is a fun lead character to read. This book gave me nightmares for a few days...so I supposed that means it's a five star read. 

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Snakes and Ladders is a superb serial killer thriller by Victoria Selman. Well worth the read! Look forward to more from her.

I enjoyed this book, the short chapters mean that it is punchy and rattles along at a quick pace, which matched the urgency with which Ziba and her team have to find the killer. It is the third book in the Ziba MacKenzie series, but it can be read as a stand-alone, I haven’t read the first two and it didn’t spoil my enjoyment of this one. Ziba is a well drawn, well rounded character and generally I liked her, although I preferred the character of the love interest Jack. I expect the will they, won’t they, nature of their relationship to continue in future books and I hope they do eventually get it together, hopeless romantic that I am!

The plot is reminiscent of the Silence of the Lambs, but set on British soil. At times it was a bit too close  to Harris’ book for me, but it was different enough to keep me reading. I liked that the book focused on a profiler as opposed to a police officer, but I would have perhaps preferred a little more insight into her profiling. I did find it really interesting that Sange was American, perhaps we don’t like to think that the UK can produce serial killers of his ilk! 

Overall I enjoyed the book and will now read the first two in the series.

Silence of the lambs was and is one of my favorite movies of all time! I was super intrigued to read this since it was compared to a classic; however, it fell short for me. The story was a little boring for me. There was too much thinking dialogue with Ziba and herself. There wasn't enough action to keep me going. I liked the story and the puzzles that needed to be solved, but in the end it just left me hanging. This is a serial killer investigation type of story. There was nothing suspenseful that made me keep turning the pages.

Thank you to NetGalley for a Kindle ARC of Snakes and Ladders.

I didn't know this was the third book in the series but Snakes and Ladders held up as a standalone.

I love serial killer mysteries, more so if the protagonist is female so I was excited when my request was approved.

Ziba Mackenzie is a highly respected profiler responsible for catching the notoriously charming serial killer Dr. Vernon Sange.

When a series of ritualistic murders brings Ziba into the investigation, she is tasked to speak to Dr. Sange, who seems to have unforeseen knowledge of the murders before they occur and will only speak to the woman who caught him.

Is he working with an accomplice on the outside? Is he orchestrating the murders?

As Ziba struggles with the loss of her husband from two years ago, and trying not to fall under the charming spell of Dr. Sange, she will use her wits and skills to suss out a killer terrorizing a community and eluding law enforcement. 

I liked Ziba, but I didn't love her. I wanted to like her more. I can't quite put my finger on why I didn't like her more.

She was smart, competent, capable, but she spent far too much time making snarky comments in her head about an annoying superior. At first, it was funny; then it became redundant.

I also didn't like all the time she spent vacillating between her feelings for Wolfie and Sange's diabolical manipulation of her emotions.

Yes, he's diabolical, and she's human, so he has the upper hand, but I felt it was too easy the way he undermined her during their interviews.

I would think she would know a little better on how to handle him, considering she did catch him.

I also think the novel could have used a tighter edit, cut about 50 pages, to heighten tension and increase suspense, of which there wasn't much.

The writing was good, and there was decent character development on Ziba. I felt I understood her even though I didn't read the first two books. 

I liked the parts when she reminisced about her childhood and her father, and how she wished she and her mother had a stronger, tighter bond. 

I would recommend Snakes and Ladders to anyone interested in a serial killer mystery.

The third in the series that I have read. Great psychological thriller. Lots of twists and turns that will keep you enthralled.

This was another sterling piece of crime fiction by Victoria Selman.. .full of dark and gruesome serial killer fabulousness, and the police profiler trying to unravel the answer in a race against time!

Very well written. The plot was very clever in that you would guess the culprit but the author has you guessing until the very end.

This is the first time I have read anything from this author and I quite enjoyed it.  I didn’t know this was the third book in a series but I had no trouble keeping up with the characters.  
     In some of the reviews Silence of the Lambs is being compared to this book. I honestly didn’t think so other than the main character is a profiler who teaches at Quantico. 
     Unfortunately I figured out quite early on who one of the “bad guys” were which takes a bit away from the enjoyment of the story.  All in all I enjoyed the book and happily recommend it.  
     Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

This will go live on 4 December on the link below, and on Goodreads and Amazon:

Hi and welcome to my review of Snakes and Ladders! This is the third novel in the Ziba MacKenzie series, but I assure you it can be read as a standalone and I know that because I did. For reasons I can’t even begin to understand, I completely missed the first two books and to add insult to injury, I hadn’t even heard of Victoria Selman (gasp!). Then Snakes and Ladders started popping up all over my Twitter timeline and I stumbled across it on NetGalley. When I spotted that tagline (Psycho meets The Silence of the Lambs) I didn’t bother looking up the book nor the author, I just requested it and it was only when I was approved and went to add it on Goodreads that I noticed it was part of a series. Regulars here will know I like to read books in the right order but I didn’t think I’d have the time to squeeze in two more books before this one so I decided to give it a whirl and see what happened (living on the edge 🙃). I’m happy to report I didn’t feel like I was missing anything, I connected with Ziba immediately, despite having missed her first outings, and there’s enough background information to just step into the series without a hitch.

Ziba MacKenzie is a freelance profiler. At the beginning of the book, she’s giving a lecture in Quantico to FBI agents in training when she’s called away to London: Scotland Yard needs her help with the Pink Rose Killer, a serial killer whose MO is to remove a body part from his victim and leave a pink rose at the scene. Funnily enough, the PRK is not the main serial killer in Snakes and Ladders: the star serial killer is Vernon – The Butcher – Sange, who was apprehended a while ago thanks to Ziba, and who has contacted the police saying he has intel on the PRK but he’ll only tell Ziba.

Now, Ziba is a great protagonist. She’s smart, she’s both strong and vulnerable, she has the kind of humour that I love, rather dark and very sarcastic, and she’s always at odds with the DCI with whom she has to work the case and I loved her little retorts, even if she keeps them to herself. But my favourite character, without a doubt, was Dr Sange, a cunning man, far more charming than Hannibal Lecter ever was, messing with Ziba’s head the way Lecter did with Clarice, and then some. Move over Hannibal Lecter, move over Anson Bishop, there’s a new serial killer in town! (For the record: I’m not a serial killer groupie, I only like the fictional kind!)

By now I think I must have read an entire library of crime and psychological thrillers and quite a large subsection of serial killer thrillers at that, so I think it’s fair to say I’ve become a little jaded and the things that used to work for me don’t always cut it anymore. Snakes and Ladders made me a very happy reader because it felt unique by focusing on the behavioural science behind the attempts to apprehend a serial killer, to pre-empt him, to predict his next move, while also zooming in on the behavioural analysis of convicted killers, and why that is important. I’ve read other books featuring a profiler, but none that go this far into the actual science. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a text book in any way, but I felt like I was learning a lot while simultaneously being entertained. I find the whole profiling thing absolutely fascinating so I paid extra attention (part of me wonders whether I should have read Psychology in uni instead of Translation Studies) but even if you don’t care about behavioural analysis that much, I’m sure you can enjoy this novel too.

This is an intriguing, suspenseful read, and although I figured out who the PRK was from the start and it turned out I was right not to trust one of the other characters either, it doesn’t even matter, not even a little bit, because to me Snakes and Ladders is not a whodunnit, it’s not about revealing the who, it’s about revealing the why, it’s less about the destination and more about the journey to find out the truth and you’d better believe it’s left me hungry ravenous for more! If you’re not into open endings, don’t worry, the PRK case is neatly wrapped up, but let’s just say another character has kicked the door to the next Ziba instalment wide open, and ending the way it does, I literally CANNOT WAIT for the next Ziba MacKenzie!

Recommended, and if Mindhunter is your favourite Netflix show then this is a must read!

Snakes and Ladders is out in eBook format now, and in paperback on 17 December, don’t miss it! (Pre-)order it on Amazon here.

I hadn't read the other books in the series but I decided to read Snakes and Ladders to get a feel for the main character.  Ziba MacKenzie is a profiler who has dealt with the worst of criminals.  Unfortunately for her, one of the people who she helped put in prison wants to talk to her about a current case.  Despite her misgivings about dealing with Vernon Sange she agrees to talk with him.  She doesn't get much relevant information but gets the sense that Sange still has plans to make her life miserable in the future.  The path of the case twists and turns, eventually leading to an unlikely culprit.  The end of the book leaves the door open for book 4.  I enjoyed the book and plan on going back to read books 1 and 2.

A competent and engaging thriller, Snakes and Ladders by Victoria Selman follows profiler Ziba MacKenzie as she is forced to confront a monster from her past to catch a killer.  The book opens with Ziba giving a talk to FBI trainees, and thinking about her late husband Duncan, when the talk is rather abruptly interrupted as she is urgently recalled to the UK where police need her help to find the so called Pink Rose Killer, who has been killing and mutilating young women. While she is keen to be of assistance, she is understandably disturbed to learn that the reason for her recall is that Dr Vernon Sange, a man she helped to put behind bars for the murder of at least a dozen people claims to know the identity of the killer, and will speak only to her. Thus begins a tense game of cat and mouse as the two square off against each other , and since nothing is ever simple, Ziba knows that in order to get the information she needs, she will have to subject herself to his mind games. 
I picked up this book not realising it was the third in an ongoing series, but am pleased to say it reads perfectly well as a stand alone. The author does a good job of providing the background from the previous books in a way that does not interfere with the flow of the tense and dramatic story she is telling , and I liked the character enough to add the earlier books to my want to read list.  There are numerous twists and turns to keep a reader hooked, and plenty of red herrings to keep them guessing. The scenes between Ziba and Sange were fascinating , as the two locked horns  and tried to outmaneuver  one another, and I found Sange's character both disturbing and strangely beguiling. 
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

I didnt know that this book was the 3rd in a series.
You can tell there is one or 2 before it as jts a constant theme throughout the book.
I was excited to read this. However i found it very long and to be honest a bit boring. It all seemed a bit stagnant. Never moving forward. 
I had no idea where snakes and ladders fits in to this. 
Not for me unfortunately

There a lot of helpful reviews already for this serial killer thriller. I can only add that this is for you if you like this genre.

I really appreciate the copy for review!

Title: Snakes and Ladders
Author: Victoria Selman

Rating: 3  stars

Initial thoughts
When I requested Snakes and Ladders I had no idea, this s the third book in the series but some reviewers wrote it held up as a standalone novel. There are lots of hints about previous books so I couldn’t enjoy the story as much as I thought I would. 

Ziba Mackenzie is a profiler. Her job is to help the police catch serial killers. Her latest case is about a killer who removes the victims certain body parts and leaves in its place a single pink rose. There is one man who says can help but is only willing to talk to Ziba. Dr. Vernon Sange is a deranged killer and Ziba put him behind bars. 

Characters
Ziba Mackenzie is a weird woman. I didn’t particulary like her. She is supposed to be a hardened profiler but she makes the same mistakes with Sange over and over again. Sange reads people on a professional level but Ziba just starts second guessing everything she says or does instead of making Sange squirm. 
Dr. Vernon Sange is like Hannibal Lecter without the eating-body-parts thing. He is definitely the most interesting character in the book. He is a manipulative, evil sociopath but a genius one. Always gets what he wants.

All in all I liked the story enough. Selman knows how to build tension, how to twist the story so it doesn’t become boring. I only regret I didn’t know it was the third so I didn’t start with the first book. 

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy,

* spoiler alert ** 3.5


A one sitting read for this one.
I've read one of the previous books,and fell straight back into the office politics of this one.
It's fast paced,has a decent bad guy,and a creepy enough killer that you get to see in flashbacks.
I was a little bored by the constant telephone tennis with Jack.
Really do have to wonder about these people who fall in love with serial killers,but this book did a good job of showing how you'd track someone down who anonomously writes to a prison.
It's clever stuff.
It's set up nicely now for the next book in series.(less)

My thanks to Amazon Publishing U.K. for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘Snakes and Ladders’ by Victoria Selman in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you also to The Pigeonhole as I also participated in their group read event for this title and was able to share my thoughts and comments with other readers as we read the daily chapters. I was disciplined throughout and didn’t read ahead in order to not spoil the fun.

This is the third in her series of police procedurals featuring profiler Ziba MacKenzie. I hadn’t read either of her previous novels but enough background was provided so I didn’t feel lost.

As the novel opens a serial killer is terrorising London, removing a body part from each of his victims and leaving in its place a single pink rose. He has been nicknamed the Pink Rose Killer (PRK) and has just sent a Ripper-style letter to Jack Wolfe, ‘Daily Telegraph’ journalist and Ziba’s close friend.

Dr Vernon Sange, a multiple murderer currently in a U.K. prison awaiting extradition to the USA, claims to know the culprit’s identity. However, he’ll only talk to profiler Ziba MacKenzie, the woman responsible for putting him away. Ziba is currently in the States teaching at the FBI academy in Quantico but she is summoned home to meet with Sange.

This was a very engaging police procedural that kept me and my fellow Pigeons guessing as to Sange’s motivations and the identity of the PRK. Lots of twists and turns.

Ziba was an intriguing character, tough yet vulnerable. I enjoyed the links to the Classics that informed the case and found it well plotted. 

Victoria Selman clearly is an admirer of Thomas Harris as like Dr. Hannibal Lecter, Sange is a charming, sophisticated, attractive, and highly intelligent opponent. The sparring between Sange and Ziba was very reminiscent of ‘The Silence of the Lambs’, which is cited in the publicity material. 

I am addicted to crime shows featuring profilers and so really enjoyed this. I already have her two previous novels in the series waiting on my Kindle and look forward to catching up with Ziba’s past cases.

As soon as I read the first line of the blurb on Netgalley I was sold. I mean: Psycho meets The Silence Of The Lambs... How on earth would I be able to resist that?! Add the promise of a serial killer and profiler angle, and I just HAD to add it to my shelves. I confess I wasn't aware that Snakes And Ladders was actually the third book of a series when I requested a copy, but thankfully it turns out that this story works really well as a stand-alone as well. A fair warning though: it is most likely that you will end up adding the first two books to your wishlist anyway afterwards, as you will be left wanting for more!

So, Snakes And Ladders. Of course, thanks to my mistake, I didn't have the background of the main characters and past cases when I started reading, but despite this lack of knowledge I was able to dive straight in anyway. I'm not lying when I say that I was hooked after only a couple of pages! This is one of those thrillers that will draw you right in and won't let you go until the very end. Snakes And Ladders has it all: intriguing main characters, not one but TWO disturbing serial killers, a fascinating case, a profiler angle, lots of suspense and plot twists, solid writing and plot development... Oh yes, there is a lot to love in this third book and it was definitely a huge success for me.

Ziba MacKenzie is without doubt a very strong lead and one of the reasons this story worked so well for me. Even though I missed some of her background information, I was still able to warm up to her almost instantly and I'm definitely a fan. I love how she is a profiler and gives us a slightly different angle on the typical murder investigation in detective thrillers. The profiling and psychological aspect in Snakes And Ladders is without doubt fascinating and definitely gives this story its unique touch! Likewise, I loved the fact that we had not one, but TWO serial killer characters involved. Vernon Sange is of course behind bars, but not less dangerous and he makes a fantastic villain. The Pink Rose Killer on the other hand is of course the main focus of this story, identity unknown and his case active. The flashback chapters give us some insight in his past and how he became the person he is today... But is he in contact with Vernon Sange? Why does he kill? And who is he? You will find yourself going round and round as cleverly designed plot twists keep misleading you.

Vernon Sange's angle gave the plot more dept and added a whole different layer of danger both for Ziba and those close to her. It also gave us not one, but TWO riddles to unravel: who is the PRK and what is Vernon up to? Both riddles made me keep turning those pages and I managed to finish Snakes And Ladders in record time. And that ending! My eyes couldn't believe what they had just read; while I saw some twists and reveals coming, that cliffhanger ending definitely was a true shocker. I'll be waiting impatiently for book four to discover what will happen next, but not before I catch up with the first two books of course! Fans of darker, complex and twisted serial killer thrillers who love a profiler and psychological angle will have a great time with Snakes And Ladders.

Ziba MacKenzie and Vernon Sange do a dance against one another in this third of a series featuring a tough female protagonist. Don't worry though- you'll be fine with this as a standalone, especially since a good chunk of Ziba's backstory is revealed here.  She's an offender profiler and the person responsible for identifying Sange, who is now in a high security prison. How, then, does he have info on murders happening now?  Ziba is brought in = again- because she's the only person he will talk to. What a nasty person he is (well, he is a serial killer after all).  Because of his background, this has some interesting info on Ancient Rome and Greece.  Ziba's also struggling a bit with the fact that she's attracted to a man for the first time since the death of her husband.  No spoilers but note that this is told in alternating voices.  Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.  Fans of the serial killer genre will enjoy this.

Book Review: Snakes and Ladders (Ziba MacKenzie #3) by Victoria Selman
(Published by Amazon Publishing UK and Thomas & Mercer)

4.5 Stars

"...I'd been losing, slipping down a snake every time I thought I was about to climb up a ladder. I was done trying to roll a six. The time had come to change the rules, turn the serpent on the people I needed to beat..."
- Ziba Mac

Ex-British Reconnaissance Regiment Special Forces operator, Zibakam "Ziba" MacKenzie, engaged as a freelance profiler for Scotland Yard, finds herself busy across the pond at the apogee of criminal profiling, giving lectures at the FBI's elite Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) training center in Quantico, Virginia.

The stint is short-lived as she's urgently summoned back to London. 

Ziba specializes in serial killer crimes. In Book 1 she dealt with the "London Lacerator"; in Book 2, "The Primrose Hills Killer" or "Hillside Slasher", both referenced in this installment.

Still reeling from the soul-shattering loss of her husband, Duncan, and uncertainties in her future, this time she's saddled with a case of multiple murders and harvested body parts stitched for gruesome projects by the cunning, sadistic "PRK Killer", and his/her all too apparent puppeteer, American Dr. Vernon Sanger, killer of twelve and awaiting extradition back to the states, whose singular obsession in jail is to have a quid-pro-quo discussion with the person responsible for putting him away, none other than MacKenzie herself.

In Book 2 "Nothing to Lose", the author showcased the depth of her research in actual serial killer cases, suspect interrogation techniques and Special Forces tactics, while focused on the protagonist's as well as victims' multiculturalism.

In "Snakes and Ladders", she flourishes in her mastery of prose and expounds on the complex upbringing of the protagonist contributing to her psychological state of mind.

"But there's nothing natural about Emmeline (Ziba's mother). Even as a child she insisted on me calling her by her first name. 'I'm a person on my own right,' she used to say. 'I refuse to be defined by biology'."

We also see MacKenzie's struggle as a profiler seeking due respect and recognition of her field within Scotland Yard, even as she risks her life in the frontlines and as she battles with grief and anxieties in her own life.

"The Academy gave birth to behavioral science. No one values profiling like the FBI. All too often at Scotland Yard, I have to justify what I do. At Quantico, no one questions the merits..."

"Hocus-pocus, he'd called profiling when we'd first met. Nothing more than a fancy word for conjecture, he'd said."

Definitely several classes above the typical detective crime thriller - and it's all I can do to wait for the next book in this outstanding series!

Review based on an Advance Reading Copy from Amazon Publishing UK and Thomas & Mercer through NetGalley.

Another brilliant book in this series. I was glued to both the book and my seat the whole way through it. I was open mouthed in a few places. Brilliantly written and full of suspense and wonderful characters. I hope there is more to come soon.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

Sometimes you’re lucky enough to come across a book that feels as if it was written just for you. That’s how I felt as I devoured Snakes and Ladders, the third book in the Ziba MacKenzie series by Victoria Selman. Ziba faces two killers, each unnervingly dark and nefarious in highly unique ways which will evoke feelings of Hannibal Lecter. It’s great how Victoria doesn’t shy away from explaining the behavioural science as Ziba works to unravel the mystery, adding another dimension to the story but it never feels like your being given a lesson. I love reading stories with strong female characters and Ziba is one I have enjoyed getting to know in the first two books. She’s intelligent, head strong, determined and flawed which makes her one of my favourites. Sange was a brilliantly written villain and I was constantly changing my opinion on who the PRK was. Usually I’m good at figuring out who the unsub was but not this time. Ziba’s evolving relationship with Wolf is handled delicately and Nigel Fingerling always adds his unique charms to proceedings. I absolutely loved this book and can’t wait for the 4th!

Another great book by Victoria. The storyline is fast paced and it keeps you guessing throughout, I guessed the PRK’s identity several times... none were correct! Brilliant! Looking forward to meeting Ziba again, soon I hope!

Ziba McKenzie is recalled from Quantico to assist with a case in London.  Young vulnerable women are being killed and the killer is taking a souvenir from their bodies.  Vernon Sange, a convicted killer incarcerated in Wakefield prison claims to have information about he killer but will only speak to Ziba. Can Ziba get him to talk without letting him into her head and can she keep those cares about safe.

Fantastic read from start to finish - love this series.

Thanks to Netgalley, Thomas & Mercer and Victoria Selman for the ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

This is a great psychological thriller that has a hint of Silence of the lambs running through it. 
Ziba Mackenzie is a profiler who is asked to help with a murder case in the UK. 
She’s contacted to help as they need to speak to Sange who is in prison, but he will only speak to her. 
She was responsible for his capture and now as another killer is on the loose, he claims to know his identity. 
Ziba goes to see him and doesn’t get a great deal from him, other than something else to worry about. 
The PRK (Pink Rose Killer) is removing body parts from his victim and leaving behind a rose petal in its place but Ziba and the Police need to know why. 
This is the third book in this series and I haven’t read the previous two and didn’t feel I was missing anything. 
I’d you like creepy thrillers then this is the book for you. 
Thanks to Amazon Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

This was a  good  book  because it was  interesting.  The  characters are decently developed.  I can't wait to find out what happens in the next book.

Clear the floor, Victoria Selman is here. That was the first thought that came to me when I read the first few chapters of this book. The control that the author had on the words in this book was exemplary. 

Murders of women were happening in town and the cops needed teh freelancing profilrler Ziba to catch this murderer. This was book 3 in the series. I felt the characters would have been better understood if I had read the first 2 books. Nevertheless, this story too intrigued. Ziba was the one who had put a Dr. Vernon Sange in prison for murder. He was back trying to bargain with her. He would provide the name of the present murderer for certain personal details of her life. The cat and mouse games began. 

I loved the premise. Ziba was a terrific main character strong yet with hints of vulnerability. My niggles came in the midsection where I felt the plot meandered. Ziba's entry into the mind of the killer could have been better. This book needed graphic description of the murders to bring out the darkness of the letters left by the killer. It just fell shy. Which can be both good and bad depending on the reader. 

But make no mistake, the story was pure fun. The games both the  characters played had me egging them on. The clues had the right amount of intrigue. A good villain allows the hero to reach his heights. I liked how the path to the murders were shown to me. Ending too felt a tad contrived. 

Overall, a fun book. I did find the writing addictive and Ziba intriguing.

Oh my goodness this was good. The book grabs you tightly and you can’t help but keep reading to find out what happens next there are so many surprises and it all goes together so intricately.

Snakes and Ladders is the third in the police procedural series featuring former Special Forces Agent turned Offender Profiler, Ziba MacKenzie. Having missed the first book in the series - Blood for Blood - I did get to read the second one - Nothing To Lose - so I was happy to jump straight in and read this. The author, Victoria Selman provides enough background to allow the reader to feel comfortable with the characters and setting without any issues, making Snakes and Ladders a good choice to read as an individual story. Set in London, protagonist Ziba makes a rather flawed, impulsive and abrasive Profiler however, I would have gladly had her on my team.

Ziba is giving a talk to FBI trainees in Quantico, Virginia when the talk is abruptly interrupted. Ziba's presence is required in the UK where police need her help to find the so called 'Pink Rose Killer', who has been killing and mutilating young women. She is disturbed to learn that the reason for her recall is that one Dr Vernon Sange, a man she helped to put behind bars for the murder of at least a dozen people, claims to know the identity of the killer, and will speak only to her. Thus begins a tense game of cat and mouse and Ziba knows that in order to get the information she needs, she will have to succumb to his mind games.

This novel was a fantastic, electrifying and solid police procedural and as before, I really warmed to Ziba from the outset. Without doubt, she is a very strong lead and this well-balanced crime-thriller had me glued to the pages, so much so that I didn't want to put it down, desperate as I was to know the outcome of the story.

The plot was very cleverly written, and the story was gripping and suspenseful. With distinct threads running through the story, I could have been overwhelmed by the number of characters in the book, but each individual had a defined role in the story. As Ziba embarked on an exciting and exhilarating mission to solve the cases, the tension was being ratcheted up a notch as Victoria Selman hit me with some captivating misdirection and planted a few red herrings. The writing flowed effortlessly with a swift pace to it as Snakes and Ladders delved into the power of evil, heavily dosed with gruesomeness, menace, cunning and brutality.

Overall, a brilliant, dark, psychological, nail-chomping and highly recommended crime-thriller, complete with a dash of humour.

I received a complimentary digital copy of this novel, at my request, from Amazon Publishing UK via NetGalley and this review is my own unbiased opinion.

With thanks to Netgalley and Amazon for this ARC in exchange for an open and honest review.

Snakes and Ladders is the third book featuring ex special forces turned profiler Ziba Mckenzie.   

Ziba was giving a series of lectures at the FBI Academy in Quantico.  During the lecture DC Barnwell  from Scotland Yard interrupted the talk to bring her back to London.

Serial killer and Oxford Don Dr Vernon Sange was due to be extradited back to the US for execution.  However he wanted to talk to Ziba because he knew the identity of The Pink Rose Killer (PRK). 

 Barnwell also explained  that her dead husband's friend Jack Wolfe and a random PC had been sent letters by the PRK. 

During the prison visit Sange played mind games with Ziba and got her to admit her true feelings for Jack.  He then explained the brutal injury the next PRK victim will suffer.  Despite her training Ziba becomes affected by Branwell`s games, can she help catch the killer before he strikes again.

I knew I would be in for a treat from the first page.  The story was fast paced with short snappy pages which lured me into reading just one more chapter.  I thought Ziba was an interesting character, intelligent but tough enough to join the special forces.  I enjoyed reading about Ziba`s difficult relationship with her mother, I hope after their heart to heart they might reconcile.

Dr Vernon Sange chilled me to the bone.  Attractive and charming on the surface until you are alone with him.

By the end of the book I was left reeling  after one twist in the tale, swiftly by another.

Victoria Selman is now one of my go to authors, I can't wait for book four.

Victoria Selman’s Snakes and Ladders is a book that should come with a warning: do not read this in an empty house or if you are easily scared, because the third Ziba MacKenzie novel is so terrifying that it will have you jumping out of your skin.

The streets of London are being terrorised by a serial killer intent on maximum destruction who stalks his prey, removes a body part from each victim and then leaves in its place a single pink rose. This cruel act of vengeance has got everybody on edge and absolutely petrified that they might be next. Everyone is watching their every move and not trusting anybody because one wrong move is all that it takes for the killer to strike and destroy everything. With the police desperate to find this vindictive serial killer, the only lead they have is Dr Vernon Sange, a multiple murderer awaiting extradition who seems to know the killer’s identity. Vernon will only reveal what he knows to the one woman responsible for putting him away: profiler Ziba Mackenzie.

Ziba finds herself caught up in a dangerous game with a serial killer who will reveal the identity of the murderer who is killing all these people – but he wants something from her in return. With one killer whispering in her ear and another running rings around the police, Ziba finds herself up against an opponent who has torn up the rule book and has her dancing to a tune which only he can hear. Ziba needs to tread carefully and keep her wits about her because if she puts one foot wrong, she might just end up being a deranged killer’s next victim.

Silent Witness meets Hannibal Lecter in Victoria Selman’s third novel featuring profiler Ziba McKenzie. Snakes and Ladders is a book that is certainly not for the faint-hearted. Full of menace, danger and suspense, this sinister thriller will chill readers to the bone and keep readers from sleeping as they will be completely and utterly petrified while reading this book.

Terrifying, engrossing and impossible to put down, Snakes and Ladders is a must-read for fans who like their thrillers dark, gritty and creepy.

This is the third book in the Ziba MacKenzie series but can easily read as a standalone. I have read books one and two and I have to say that this story didn't grip me quite as much as the first two, for some reason.

Ziba is one kick-ass lady and I love that about her. I like the little things she keeps in her head about Fingerling, even when he is obviously being an idiot. I feel bad about the "will they, won't they" relationship with Wolfie - although I guess I understand the reason for it. It was a little frustrating though!

Vernon Sange is quite the opponent to come up against but there are others who are also playing with Ziba's mind. Some of them are closer than you think....

For some reason, the plot wasn't as tight as the other books, and the ending was unsatisfactory. Judging from that ending, there is another book coming our way (hopefully soon!) because I really want to know what happens next. 

This was a good book, just not of the very high standard of the first two.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer.

Wow another edge of the seat book, teeth clenched a lot!!! Ziba is back trying to help the police profile a serial killer, she's getting help from a serial killer she helped put behind bars, he's messing with her head and playing games, Jack is also tangled up and her feelings for him are making things worse. 
Ziba as always helps track down the killer but we are still left with a total cliffhanger!!! 
Can't wait for the next book!!!

I really enjoyed this book so much.  It has a really great plot, superb main characters and I read it in one sitting.  I would highly recommend this book.

You can't outsmart a psychopath!
Now the moral of the story might just be 'walk away' but for Ziba our profiler she's into far deeper than she'd like and shitte's about to hit the fan.
You see the killer will only talk to her because she's the one who put him away while waiting extradiction.
Sange is one strange dude and while he's whispering things to her another PRK killer (Pink Rose Killer) is on the kill.
It's surely death if you forfeit so this cat and mouse game goes on for quite some time but is she being played like a master puppeteer?
It's been said this type of toxicity involves a Jekyll and Hyde persona and the ability to not let everything rub you the wrong way as it's that emotion that these evil individuals seek. That reaction , that anger, that emotion fuels them like a 'source of supply' fuels them.
It's a merry go round of a hamster wheel agenda yet it's a job that is rewarding on all fronts if you can bring in the killer.
Now the Butcher is on scene so I'm going to exit out but this one is sure to capture the heart and mind beautifully.
A perfect flow of juicy police procedure with elements of danger lurking in every corner paced evenly.
Perfection!

Another great book by Victoria,  i am enjoying this series. It had me gripped till the last page and I was shocked at the ending. Looking forward to reading more

Snakes and Ladders is the third outing for  former Special Forces Agent turned Offender Profiler, Ziba MacKenzie. She's in the deep end with this one - the Pink Rose Killer or PRK as they're known and body parts are being left across London. She flies back from training in the Us to deal with the matter and it's a serial killer thriller on a par with Silence of the Lambs. 
Pretty gory in places , in fact very gory in places but then what do you expect? IT's a cracking crime thriller with perhaps a few too many jumpy moments that I could cope with but that's just me

There's a lot to love if you';re into the profiling way of working and it is fascinating. The links to folklore and history were a nice surprise.

Well written, interesting, suspensful, well developed storyline, good pace.  

To be honest, not my favorite book of 2020 so far because somehow I felt like something was missing, can't put my finger on it, but I did like it a lot and give it 4 stars.

ARC received through NetGalley.  This is my honest review.  All opinions are my own.

I absolutely love and adore this series by Victoria Selman. Snakes and Ladders is the third book revolving around Ziba MacKenzie, former special ops now a profiler for the Met. She's also known as the Serial Killer Hunter because finding serial killers is what she does best - primarily because she is fearless.  One such killer is now terrorizing London, cutting off body  parts and leaving a rose in their place. It appears to be a copy-cat killing or perhaps someone killing on behalf of the original murderer, Dr. Vernon Sange. It is necessary to talk with Sange to see if he is, in fact, conducting these killings from afar, but the only person he will talk with is Ziba. As the murders continue, the horrifying reality sets in that the killer is stalking Ziba as hard as she is stalking them.

Every book that Selman has written has been dark, gritty and frighteningly realistic. They are, in fact, everything one could ask for in a crime fiction thriller. Selman's writing is on point, tough and, at times, quite harsh. That is what makes these books so fascinating. Nothing at all is "sugar-coated." Her characters, not just Ziba who is one tough cookie, are very well written and developed. Once I've finished with one of Selman's books, I feel as though I'm missing friends. Not that there is anything friendly about Ziba. She has her guard up due to past emotional trauma and that guard protects her from a lot - especially in this book!  While this is the third installment in the series, and I do highly recommend reading them all in order, Snakes and Ladders can be easily read as a stand-alone. The background on the characters is thoroughly laid out for readers who are just joining in the game. ALL the stars and more for Snakes and Ladders.

I haven't read the previous books in this series but I certainly will now.  Really great story. Highly recommend.

When I read the tagline "Psycho meets Silence of the Lambs" I knew I just HAD to read this book! And wow...what can I say? It simply is...WOW!

SNAKES AND LADDERS is the third in the Ziba MacKenzie series, although I didn't know it at the time, but it reads well as a standalone. It was THAT good. There is enough background given throughout to ensure you don't miss out on anything. But be warned...once you start, you won't be able to stop and from there on in you then have a burning desire to get your hands on the other two books in the series and devour them in much the same way.

Ziba MacKenzie, who lost her husband Duncan in a shooting two years ago, is a profiler who specialises in serial killers on secondment to the FBI teaching at Quantico when she is called back to London to assist on a murder case. But not just any murder case. Someone is killing young homeless girls, mutilating their bodies and leaving behind various seemingly random items along with a single pink rose, earning him the moniker of the Pink Rose Killer. And word has reached Scotland Yard that there is to be another murder in two days' time.

While Scotland Yard has any number of profilers on their books able to assist police in their investigation, only Ziba can help. From his prison cell hundreds of miles from London, Vernon Sange (formerly Dr) holds the key to this latest mystery and he will help police on one condition - that he will only speak to Ziba.

Vernon Sange is a psychopath. But a very clever psychopath. Like Ziba, he profiles people, charms them, befriends them and even seduces them...to lure them into his trap. In his former life he was a successful university Don at Oxford, a doctor of philosophy, a lecturer, a teacher, a master, a murderer. It was Ziba's profile that lead police to him and an anonymous tip that sealed his fate during his trial. Now in his prison cell he is awaiting extradition to the US where he faces the death penalty.

Sange claims to know the identity of the PRK, and when and where the murders will take place. Ziba does not want to meet with Sange but knows, at this stage, police are out of options. And being so close to the next murder, if Sange knows anything and will only talk to her then she must see him and extricate any information she can from him. But that is easier said that done. Sange is a master. Ziba knows that as soon as he walks in Sange will be watching her. Looking for any reaction, even a flicker, that he can use to manipulate her. But Ziba resolves to give nothing away; she refuses to be played by him. But can she stop her subconscious from reacting? And can she outsmart Sange and get what she needs, never to return again?

But one thing is for sure...you can't outsmart a psychopath!

Faced with a deadly countdown, Ziba must get the answers needed to help catch the killer before he kills again. But for all his talk in her visit with him, does Sange actually ever tell her anything of use? At first, Ziba isn't so sure. But then she begins to piece some aspects together while others remain a mystery...earning her yet another long drive to the prison to see Sange once again.

While these visits are paramount to the investigation, Ziba dreads them...because Sange appears to read her effortlessly and he always wants something in return. His game is he will give her something if she gives him something first. But can she elude his mind games and figure out the clues on her own? And save the man she secretly loves?

Meanwhile in her private life, Ziba continues to grieve the loss of her husband two years ago. Although she misses Duncan, her friendship with his best friend journalist Jack Wolfe has grown into something more although she would never put Jack's life on the line by saying so. But somehow Sange knows even if Jack doesn't. And now Jack is in danger.

How does Sange know how she feels about Jack Wolfe? And why is Jack the only journalist the PRK writes to? While it is clearly Jack he sends these letters to, who is "O.D." to whom he addresses within them? And the code at the end of each letter...what do they mean? Is Sange involved more than they know?

So many questions throughout will have your head spinning that you won't want to put it down! As the truth begins to emerge piece by piece, it becomes clear that nothing is as it seems. Everything is smoke and mirrors. Mind games at its best!

SNAKES AND LADDERS is a well-crafted, well-plotted, brilliantly told murder mystery thriller that had me turning pages long into the night! I loved the short snappy chapters that kept the pace moving at a break-neck speed throughout.

I absolutely loved the dry wit peppered throughout the story. Ziba's thoughts on Fingerling as he sneered his comments at her had me chuckling on more than one occasion. Her passing thoughts on the weather even. If it didn't thrill, it made me laugh. Everything I love in a book.

Every character in the story is well developed and each has their part to play. None of them are insignificant or surplus to the tale. Victoria Selman has weaved each them into her web seamlessly leaving nothing to chance. Even one of the most likable characters with whom Ziba connected to wasn't by chance. And when that final plot twist came at the end, it was both shocking and brilliant!

While I haven't read the first two in the series, unaware at the time of requesting that this was a third installment, SNAKES AND LADDERS is everything I love in a thriller - fast paced, twisty, compelling, intriguing, witty and utterly unputdownable.

While it's always best to start a series from the beginning, I don't think it's essential to enjoy SNAKES AND LADDERS, as it flows seamlessly throughout with enough background given to know what is going on. I know I enjoyed it immensely without reading the first two...but let it be known, I have now added the first two to my collection and look forward to sneaking them into my reading list sometime soon. I suspect this is going to be one of my favourite series. Criminal Minds meets Psycho meets Silence of the Lambs .

That brilliant ending has me longing for the fourth installment now with that twist of a cliffhanger that leaves us wondering where the story goes from here...and that dawn of realisation that hit Ziba as she heard the news...I wasn't surprised, but she most definitely was. In the end, that final piece suddenly made sense to me and left me wanting more. Hands down brilliant!

Bring on book #4!!

I would like to thank #VictoriaSelman, #NetGalley and #AmazonPublishingUK for an ARC of #SnakesAndLadders in exchange for an honest review.

Another fantastic ziba read, I love this charecter loads, a brilliant gripping read from start to finish

Started out great.  Then the main character kept making stupid and purely emotional choices/mistakes!  If she's really that educated, please explain how she can be so dumb?  Not for me - the main character became too frustrating.

The third in the crime series featuring the enigmatic criminal profiler Ziba Mackenzie. It is a dark and unrelenting cat and mouse story between Ziba and an imprisoned serial killer. An absorbing novel of good versus true evil.

This called to me as initially it brought the epic Silence of the Lambs to mind. That's a tough path to follow and I must admit Victoria Selman did a fairly good job of writing her own story in this murder profiler investigation. It's part of a series, a fact of which I wasn't aware before I began reading, but I enjoyed the book never the less. It was an easy read and kept me engrossed throughout. I was so eager to discover the identity of  the pink rose killer that I stayed awake until the early hours of the morning to reach the end. I didn't find this story to be predictable at all and I found the twists really fitting and they were totally unexpected. This was a great read and I look forward to reading more from Victoria Selman in the future as I'm sure there will be many.