‘Kept me hooked … excellent pace and a very satisfying ending’ Angela Marsons
‘An excellent read’ Martina Cole
'A brilliant debut – gritty, dark and chilling. Noelle Holten knows her stuff’ Mel Sherratt
A dark and gripping debut crime novel – the first in a stunning new series – from a huge new talent.
The killer is just getting started…
When three wife beaters are themselves found beaten to death, DC Maggie Jamieson knows she is facing her toughest case yet.
The police suspect that Probation Officer Lucy Sherwood – who is connected to all three victims – is hiding a dark secret. Then a fourth domestic abuser is brutally murdered.
And he is Lucy’s husband.
Now the police are running out of time, but can Maggie really believe her friend Lucy is a cold-blooded killer?
What did I think?
This is the kind of book that would make award winning blogger CrimeBookJunkie say 'holy flaming sh*tballs', however, Noelle won't be reviewing Dead Inside because she wrote it! That's right, top blogger CrimeBookJunkie has turned into bestselling author Noelle Holten. I can say bestselling with some degree of proof as Dead Inside was THE top selling book at Newcastle Noir 2019. Luckily, I grabbed a copy on day one of the festival as I saw the pile rapidly depleting.
I've followed Noelle Holten on social media for quite some time and, having read her amazing book reviews, I knew I was in for a gripping and hugely entertaining story but to be honest, every single thing about Dead Inside exceeded my expectations. The characters themselves are a who's who of the blogiverse, named after some of the best book bloggers out there, and the plot itself is simply stunning.
I'm not giving away any of this amazing story, other than to talk a little bit about what is already in the blurb. It is a story about domestic violence so it is sometimes difficult to read; as a former probation officer, and through her own personal experiences, Noelle has a gritty and no holds barred style of writing which adds to the authenticity of the story. The domestic abuse gets turned on its head as the beaters become the beaten and, even though it's fiction, it's so realistic that I actually felt a little guilty enjoying the wife-beaters getting their comeuppance.
Dead Inside is a phenomenal debut and I was gripped from start to beyond the end as a little thread of intrigue is left dangling to lead us very nicely into book 2. Dead Inside is definitely the book to read this year and I'm wishing the year away already as I can't wait for Dead Wrong, the next DC Maggie Jamieson instalment to be released in November 2019.
I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.
My rating:
Buy it from Amazon
About the author:
Noelle Holten is an award-winning blogger at www.crimebookjunkie.co.uk. She is the PR & Social Media Manager for Bookouture, a leading digital publisher in the UK, and 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 booklove via her blog.
Dead Inside is her debut novel with Killer Reads/Harper Collins UK and the start of a new series featuring DC Maggie Jamieson.
Links:
Twitter: (@nholten40) https://twitter.com/nholten40
Goodreads Author Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18489795.Noelle_Holten
Instagram: @crimebookjunkie Follow the tour:
Thanks so much for being part of the blog tour today Michelle x
ReplyDeleteWoohoo! What an incredible review! Thanks so much for all of your support and I am over the moon with your review! xx
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