Scan barcode
jessica_reading_writing's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 Stars
I've been looking forward to reading this for ages and it was even more fun reading with fellow book buddies and discussing our theories. I changed my kind on who the killer was at the last minute and got it wrong! Gutted. This book kicked off he action straight away and it barely let up. I was gripped from the start and thoroughly enjoyed the entire thing.
The suspense was amazing and me along with most of the reading group were constantly switching their guesses about who the killer was. I loved that it basically could have been anyone. The background to some of the characters was good too. The ending did wrap up everything to the murder case, but I feel there is more to learn about James (hence why I'm reading the next book in the series next week!)
There weren't many bad points and they are very small things. But whenever James called his wife "Hon" I inwardly cringed. I felt the detectives weren't that good at their jobs...(not that I could do better I guess!) And I don't really understand why a certain character was even mentioned other than to obviously throw the reader off track on purpose. Also I did feel while the ending was good, it did feel slightly rushed.
Other than that this was a fantastic read and I urge you to get it!
I've been looking forward to reading this for ages and it was even more fun reading with fellow book buddies and discussing our theories. I changed my kind on who the killer was at the last minute and got it wrong! Gutted. This book kicked off he action straight away and it barely let up. I was gripped from the start and thoroughly enjoyed the entire thing.
The suspense was amazing and me along with most of the reading group were constantly switching their guesses about who the killer was. I loved that it basically could have been anyone. The background to some of the characters was good too. The ending did wrap up everything to the murder case, but I feel there is more to learn about James (hence why I'm reading the next book in the series next week!)
There weren't many bad points and they are very small things. But whenever James called his wife "Hon" I inwardly cringed. I felt the detectives weren't that good at their jobs...(not that I could do better I guess!) And I don't really understand why a certain character was even mentioned other than to obviously throw the reader off track on purpose. Also I did feel while the ending was good, it did feel slightly rushed.
Other than that this was a fantastic read and I urge you to get it!
lindseyhorn's review against another edition
2.0
the premise of this book seemed super interesting but to me, it fell flat in a lot of areas. the vast majority of the plot was centered around the investigation, which felt like reading the same 20 pages over and over again. james visited the same 4-5 people, had the same conversations, and the actual murders felt more like a subplot than anything else. the build up to the ending/the ending itself felt super rushed and was predictable. the idea behind the story is cool but could’ve been executed a lot better!
zoer03's review against another edition
Could not finish this.... sorry to say it didn’t grip me or even make me want to finish this book. I found the characters a bit too melodramatic and more bordering on vaudeville dramatics than real life. The whole plot well what I could make of it... is a bit tired and just not interesting. The detective I am sorry to say is written thinly and his wife just isn’t written well at all. Sorry not for me even though it should have been. A bit of a disappointment.
mayke's review
3.0
Thanks to Netgalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.
I enjoyed the serial killer concept and the clues that are spread around that we have to solve, but in the end it turned out to be a little too predictable for me. It was clear who the author was steering the reader towards and that made it too easy to figure things out myself. The beginning of the book felt slow and repetitive, and throughout the book as the pace picked up there was still quite some repetition about clues and thoughts of the detective.
I enjoyed the serial killer concept and the clues that are spread around that we have to solve, but in the end it turned out to be a little too predictable for me. It was clear who the author was steering the reader towards and that made it too easy to figure things out myself. The beginning of the book felt slow and repetitive, and throughout the book as the pace picked up there was still quite some repetition about clues and thoughts of the detective.
mily95's review
3.0
Ok read - result was predictable and the book was very slow. The premise of the story was good, however I feel this could have been executed better.
jordongmc's review against another edition
1.0
You know when you’re writing an essay and you need to hit the word count so you add in extra words or go over the same information again and again? This book is like that. Just constantly going over the same information every few chapters until in the end it was hard to tell that you weren’t just reading the same chapter over and over again.
No real shocks in this book, I called who the killer was immediately. There is also no real likeable characters in this book… everyone is just bland and boring.
The main things that really started to get on my nerves were the constant use of the name of the village. I think you could fill a good 10% of this book with the words “Kirkby Abbey”. And also the constant explanations about the weather. We get it, it’s snowing.
No real shocks in this book, I called who the killer was immediately. There is also no real likeable characters in this book… everyone is just bland and boring.
The main things that really started to get on my nerves were the constant use of the name of the village. I think you could fill a good 10% of this book with the words “Kirkby Abbey”. And also the constant explanations about the weather. We get it, it’s snowing.
mollyvh's review
2.0
2.5 rounded down. I was so excited to read this book. A Christmas themed murder mystery, perfect. But this book disappointed me, it was simple writing, slow paced and not developed enough to merit the 400 pages.
weeze1991's review
5.0
What a fantastic book to kick off the series!! Hooked from the first page and constantly guessing whodunnit! I look forward to the rest of the books in the series
ebeubanks8's review
3.0
Honestly kinda predictable. Like I had a few ideas about who the killer could be, and one of them was right so