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.
I'm thrilled to be one of the bloggers opening the blog tour for Dead Mercy on its ebook publication day today. Many thanks to Noelle Holten, One More Chapter and Sarah Hardy from Books on the Bright Side Publicity for inviting me and for my advance copy of the novel, received through Netgalley. Happy publication day, Noelle!
Dead Mercy is the fifth book in Noelle Holten's reliably enjoyable DC Maggie Jamieson series. As is customary with these books, the scene was set at the end of the previous novel, Dead Secret and so readers who have been following the series already know that the burned man discovered tied to a chair in an office appears to be the husband of a probation officer. It's worth pointing out that although each book ends with a tantalising glimpse of Maggie's next case, each investigation is separate and can be read as a standalone. However, returning readers will, of course, enjoy that familiarity that comes from knowing these characters, having followed their ongoing development.
One of the highlights of this series has been the multi-agency involvement and that is true again in Dead Mercy. The integration between the police, probation and social services is an important aspect to the plot and Noelle Holten's experience as a Probation Officer shines through here, lending a real sense of authenticity to proceedings. While the sharing of information and respect for their various responsibilities features throughout, there is also recognition of the difficulties and issues that the agencies face, both currently and relating to historical matters.
Events of the past inform much of the storyline as the detectives and indeed the readers find their sympathies divided between murderer and victims. As the body count rises, there is never any doubt that they are determined to apprehend the killer or that they support the extreme acts of vigilantism but there is understandable empathy for the motivation behind the murders. It's a difficult case for a number of reasons, including the gruesome nature of the killings but although the description of the murders, both during and after the fact are vividly hard-hitting, Dead Mercy is not a gratuitous book.
Some of the chapters are told from the murderer's perspective and while it's evident that they gain a sinister sense of enjoyment from their actions, they are not wholly repulsive - unlike the crimes of the past which are potentially more likely to haunt the team than the carefully staged revenge killings of the present. As always when reading a crime novel, I tried to work out the identity of the murderer alongside the detectives but I was completely wrong-footed this time and when the unveiling occurs, I was surprised but not shocked - it all makes immediate sense when the truth is finally known.
The ongoing development of the now core characters of the series continues to be excellent; Maggie's self-knowledge of her strengths and flaws means she checks herself at times but is still impulsive enough to cause a little extra drama to spice up the story still further. I enjoy the relationship she has with her team, most notably Kat, whose no-nonsense, sweary approach to policing is refreshingly straightforward and Bethany whose relentless work ethic features heavily here. I do wonder if that's a storyline which will be further explored in the future as Maggie notices several times how hard her colleague pushes herself. There are also hints that the relationship between Maggie and her former partner turned boss, Nathan may be headed for trickier times; although they are still close, there are moments which suggest that the issues which invariably arise when one person is promoted above another, will affect their friendship in the future. Meanwhile, there may also be changes ahead in Maggie's personal life after she makes a significant announcement here. Her relationship with journalist Julie Noble is still at the friendship stage although the chemistry between them is obvious. However, there's an abrasiveness to their interactions which makes me question whether they will be able to find a way to become romantically involved with one another - it's certainly more interesting than the more typical, they belong together if only they could see it storyline!
Unlike the previous books in the series, there is no lead into the next case at the end of Dead Mercy which makes me wonder if Maggie and co will be rested for a while. There are still plenty of loose ends though, which suggests that any break won't be permanent and the revelations which occur here will eventually be explored further. Consistently intriguing and thoughtfully compassionate, Dead Mercy might just be Noelle Holten's best book so far. It's a tightly plotted, pacy police procedural and is another compelling addition to the DC Maggie Jamieson series. I look forward to more from Noelle Holten, whether that's further novels in this series or something new in the future. Highly recommended.
Dead Mercy is published by One More Chapter. It out now in ebook and will available in paperback from 20th January 2022 and can be pre-ordered from Bookshop.org, Hive, Waterstones, Kobo and Amazon but please support independent bookshops whenever possible.
Don't miss the rest of the blog tour, details are below.
About the Author
Thanks so much for kicking off the blog tour today Karen x
ReplyDelete