Evening Everyone,

Hope you’re all well. I’m writing this much later than I usually sit and write reviews, but I have not long finished this book and I need to kill some time whilst my step daughter falls asleep so I can setup for her birthday tomorrow morning. So here I am. Killing time. Writing my book review.

Book 📖

Thank you to @avonbooksuk for this advanced copy of The Winter Killer by @jpcarterauthor (Alex Pine) in return for an honest review. The Winter Killer was published on 13th October 2022 and you can get a copy here.

Description 🔖

Christmas has arrived in Cumbria and once again, DI James Walker is away from his family and investigating a murder. There is a luxurious wedding taking place at a local lakeside hotel, but it’s all due to end in tears.

Rachel was maid of honour at her sister’s wedding and disappeared after the Wedding Breakfast and before she had made her planned speech. Inevitably, her sister is fuming, but when nobody can find Rachel, everyone soon realises that something is very very wrong. Before the end of the night, the lake is being searched for a dead body. Who would do such a thing on someone’s wedding day? DI James Walker will certainly find out.

General Thoughts 🤔

I really like this series and I hope that it doesn’t stop at this third instalment. I find myself looking forward to the new release every Christmas and I know I’ll be disappointed if there isn’t more. I thought that The Winter Killer was the perfect blend between chilling and Christmas. The crime was awful, but the characters, setting and general vibe of the book still kept an air of “small town at Christmas” and it’s what I loved about this book and the two before it.

Characters 👫👭👬

Of course we’re back with DI James Walker’s team for this investigation, though I have to admit, I didn’t feel like there was that much about them included in this book. They were there for the police procedural work of course, but I didn’t think there was much included about their personal lives. I wasn’t mad about that, just meant that I didn’t really feel like I got to see where their lives had progressed to.

I had my strong suspicions about some of the characters in this story right from the off and I was right to stick with my gut feeling (I won’t give any spoilers). Some of the characters were shifty, but they were too obvious. Some of the characters were lovely; but everyone has their secrets.

Writing Style ✍️

Much like the previous book, I enjoyed the police procedural aspect of this book and I found it entertaining without being so heavy that I had to concentrate too much. I liked this balance and I think that the author has definitely found their groove with the tone of this series now.

One thing about The Winter Killer that I would have liked to have seen done better was the ending. Not the actual ending itself, I liked where the story wrapped up however I think it was a little quick and a touch rushed. I would have enjoyed a little more story to come after the reveal, but it felt like there was an arrest and then the book ended quite abruptly.

Conclusion & Scoring 🎖

This is a series that I have and continue to enjoy and I really hope that this isn’t planned to be the last that we all get to see of DI Walker and his team. It’s becoming a bit of a tradition for me to read these part cosy, part thriller police procedural books around this time of year and I don’t want it to end. I really enjoyed this third book and if you’ve already read the first two, I think you will too. Alternatively, if you haven’t read any of the books in this series, this could easily be read standalone. Overall a great Christmas read that I loved reading during the cold evenings.

😍😍😍😍😐