Dead Mercy by Noelle Holten

Today I’m handing over to Mandie who has a review of book five in the Maggie Jamieson series by Noelle Holten, Dead Mercy. I really enjoyed getting to know Maggie over the course of these books and you can read my thoughts on the book right here. Here’s what it’s all about:

About the 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.

Mandie’s Thoughts

This is the fifth book in the DC Maggie Jamieson series and once again Maggie finds herself in the middle of a puzzling at times grizzly case. When the body of a man is found in the offices of someone she knows Maggie is not looking forward to investigating. Whilst initial identifications may have been wrong she senses that there is still something going on that is not quite right, but she also knows that she has to concentrate on the murder case. When another murder takes place with similar traits the struggle is on to find the connection between the victims or establish if there will be more. What follows are investigations into historical events that show that these may just be revenge killings, but the team are stumped as to the identity of the perpetrator,

At times Maggie can come across a bit like Marmite, you can either love her or hate her for the exact same reasons. Her determination to do a good job and solve the crime whilst admirable can also niggle especially when she is determined that she is in the right and goes against her superiors. That being said I would certainly want someone with her drive and tenacity working on a case that affected me. She still has a love/hate relationship with journalist Julie Noble although they do seem to be putting a little more of the distrust to one side and at times even manage to compliment each other on a work front and towards the end we finally see that maybe Maggie is finally realising she is not as superhuman as she thinks she is.

Whilst the murders are quite horrific at no time are they portrayed in a way that is gratuitous but be sure that they will leave the reader in no doubt as to what happened. At the heart of this book is unfortunately a story that is all too believable, and you may find you have some sympathy for the killer and understand their motives it still does not make their actions right, not that I worked out who the killer was until they were actually revealed.

Noelle Holton has created a series that has some intriguing characters, using her knowledge and experiences to their utmost best and although you can read each book in their own right you will miss out on seeing the team grow if you don’t start from the beginning.

About the Author

Noelle Holten is an award-winning blogger at http://www.crimebookjunkie.co.uk. She is the PR & Social Media Manager for Bookouture, a leading digital publisher in the UK, and was a regular reviewer on the Two Crime Writers and a Microphone podcast. Noelle worked as a Senior Probation Officer for eighteen years, covering a variety of cases including those involving serious domestic abuse. She has three Hons BA’s – Philosophy, Sociology (Crime & Deviance) and Community Justice – and a Masters in Criminology. Noelle’s hobbies include reading, author-stalking and sharing the book love via her blog.

Dead Inside is her debut novel with One More Chapter/Harper Collins UK and the start of a new series featuring DC Maggie Jamieson.

Follow the Tour: