A Life for a Life

By Carol Wyer

What it’s about?

Nobody can get into the mind of an erratic killer—except an unpredictable detective.

When a young man is found lying on a station platform with a hole in his head, DI Kate Young is called in to investigate the grisly murder. But the killing is no one-off. As bodies start to pile up, she is faced with what might be an impossible task—to hunt down a ruthless killer on a seemingly random rampage.

Meanwhile, Kate has her own demons to battle as she struggles to come to terms with her husband’s death. And she is hell-bent on exposing corruption within the force and bringing Superintendent John Dickson to justice. But with the trail of deception running deeper—and closer to home—than she could ever have imagined, she no longer knows who she can trust.

With her grip on reality slipping, Kate realises that maybe she and the killer are not so different after all. But time is running out and Kate is low on options. Can she catch the killer before she loses everything?

What I think:

This is third book in the Kate Young series and I was really keen to see what happens next. Although this technically works as a standalone it would definitely make more sense to have read the previous two books as there are lots of references to events in Kate’s long running investigation into police corruption.

Kate is still struggling to cope with the loss of her husband. And his voice in her head is getting quieter and less frequent. Kate is concerned that she is losing her connection with Chris as she continues to pursue events that led to his death.

The book begins by throwing you straight into the action followed by a shocking murder. There’s a lot going on and a lot of characters, but the book soon settles down as Kate and her team start investigating.

With no obvious suspects, the investigation begins slowly reflecting the reality of crime detection. A second murder leaves the team baffled as there is seemingly no connection to the first. The pressure is on Kate to join the dots.

This book also explores Kate’s family more, particularly her father. She finds out some information that shatters her image of him and makes her reevaluate events in the past. She is also trying to find out how all of this links to Superintendent Dickson. Convinced that one of her team is feeding information back to Dickson, Kate becomes increasingly wary and secretive. There is a real sense of paranoia in this book.

This is great series and Kate is such an interesting protagonist. The relationships between the team continue to develop as we get to know Emma, Morgan and Jamie better. The dialogue is often fun and there are some great scenes between Morgan and Jamie.

I thoroughly enjoyed this series – every book is compelling and a complete page turner. And the ending – well, it will definitely leave you wanting more!

About the author:

USA Today bestselling author and winner of The People’s Book Prize Award, Carol Wyer’s crime novels have sold over one million copies and been translated into nine languages.

A move from humour to the ‘dark side’ in 2017, saw the introduction of popular DI Robyn Carter in Little Girl Lost and proved that Carol had found her true niche.

February 2021 saw the release of the first in the much-anticipated new series, featuring DI Kate Young. An Eye For An Eye was chosen as a Kindle First Reads and became the #1 bestselling book on Amazon UK and Amazon Australia. 

Carol has had articles published in national magazines ‘Woman’s Weekly’, featured in ‘Take A Break’, ‘Choice’, ‘Yours’ and ‘Woman’s Own’ magazines and the Huffington Post. She’s also been interviewed on numerous radio shows discussing ”Irritable Male Syndrome’ and ‘Ageing Disgracefully’ and on BBC Breakfast television.

She currently lives on a windy hill in rural Staffordshire with her husband Mr. Grumpy… who is very, very grumpy. When she is not plotting devious murders, she can be found performing her comedy routine, Smile While You Still Have Teeth.

Follow her at:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Carol-E-Wyer/221149241263847 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carolwyer/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/carolewyer 

Website : https://www.carolwyer.co.uk

 

  Buy the book:

Amazon UK : https://www.amazon.co.uk/Life-Detective-Kate-Young-Book-ebook/dp/B09BCPR894

Amazon US : https://www.amazon.com/Life-Detective-Kate-Young-Book-ebook/dp/B09BCPR894

 Thank you Zooloo’s Book Tours for inviting me to be a part of this fantastic blog tour.