Noelle Holten – Dead Mercy

Maggie Jamieson returns in her fifth outing. I have been waiting for this book for what feels like forever! Again the marvel that is Noelle Holten has brought a story that manages to make the previous books pale in insignificance.  Although I must say here and now, you need to read this series to fully appreciate every book.

A brutal murder…

When a burned body is found with its teeth missing, DC Maggie Jamieson discovers that the victim may be the husband of one of her probation colleagues.

A dark history…

As the body count rises, the team becomes increasingly baffled by how the victims could possibly be connected until a clue leads them to a historical case that was never prosecuted.

A terrible secret…

In order to catch the killer, Maggie must piece together what happened all those years ago before it’s too late.

As always with a book by Noelle Holten, the opening chapter has you hook, line and sinker. Once you begin a book by this author do not doubt that you won’t have time for anything else until you have finished reading the last page. The subjects that are dealt with are not easy ones but the author doesn’t shy away from them. This makes it all the more real for me.

Even though this is a police procedural the author uses her own particular experience from within the Probation Service and skillfully interweaves the multiple agencies into the story. This creates a massively realistic storyline.

Although realistic it is also a dark and disturbing story. Noelle Holten is fantastically skilled in creating characters that are of the unnerving, creepy kind. This just adds to the addictiveness of her books. She always manages to bring an emotional element, as she writes in such a way that you start to feel sympathy even for the perpetrator of whichever heinous crime they have committed.

I find that this author’s character development is second to none. She has the knack of bringing relatable and flawed people to life in the pages of her books every time.

An intriguing and full of suspense, hard-hitting story that keeps you in its grasp from start to finish. Highly recommended read for anyone who likes a dark, tense story.

Thanks to Sarah Hardy of Books On The Bright Side and Noelle Holten for the copy of the book.