#BlogTour! #Review – Secrets of the Dead by Carol Wyer (@carolewyer) @Bookouture

Three murders. Three innocent victims. What secrets did they share with their killer?

A bottle of bubble bath and colourful, plastic boats were scattered in small puddles on the floor. In the bathtub lay Linda Upton, fully-clothed, her lips a shade of blue, and her bloodshot eyes wide open.

When a young mother is found drowned in the bath, clutching a receipt saying ‘all debts paid’, Detective Robyn Carter knows it’s just the beginning of a harrowing case. She recognises the signs of a serial killer, and when a second victim with a receipt is found, her worst fears are confirmed.

With the local press whipping the public into a frenzy, Robyn is under pressure to solve the crime yesterday. But her team can’t find a link between the two bodies, and the cracks are starting to show.

Just when her leads have dried up, Robyn discovers an unsettling clue she thinks could unlock the case. But as she chases across the plush carpets and manicured lawns of the wealthy elite, honing in on the killer’s shocking motive, one of her own is put in terrible danger. 

The press call him The Leopard for his stealth, speed and brutality. Can Robyn stop the most twisted killer of her career before it’s too late?

A heart-pounding, toe-curling, one-sitting serial killer thriller that will hook you from the first page till the last. Perfect for fans of Angela Marsons, Rachel Abbott and Karin Slaughter.

What does TWG think?

Up until now, Carol Wyer has always been my go to author whenever I have needed a marshmallow fix, or a dose of utterly bonkers (yet ah-mazing) humour. When I found out that Ms.Wyer was dabbling in a different genre, my heart sank a little as I felt as though I was going to lose out on such bonkers novels; selfish I know. It didn’t occur to me at the time that I could, funnily enough, read the books in her new genre. Doh. I bought Carol Wyer’s first crime thriller, Little Girl Lost, which unfortunately is still on my TBR and yet to be read, so I was UBER excited when I got asked to be involved in the blog tour for Carol Wyer’s new novel, Secrets of the Dead.

I had no idea what to expect, nor did I have any clue as to how intense the storyline was going to be.

Eeeeesh!!! Robyn Carter is investigating a murder of young mother, Linda Upton,  who was found dead in the bath, alongside an receipt for an eye-watering amount of money. Unfortunately, Linda Upton’s murder isn’t the first, and nor is it the last. It’s down to Robyn Carter, and her team to work out whether the murderer is a serial killer and whether they will keep on striking whilst the iron is hot.

Robyn Carter is a fireball of sass!!! You go girlfriend!! At risk of sounding like a twat, Robyn Carter comes across so normal! Yes okay, she thinks she is super woman when it comes to working all the hours with barely any sleep. Some call that stupidity, I call that dedication. Yes, she makes mistakes, but who doesn’t? She really was such an incredible character to read a bout; I loved her ballsy attitude alongside her heart of gold. Perfect match.

As for the murders, wow, the idea surrounding the receipt/invoice which the murderer leaves behind with its victims was executed (pardon the pun) brilliantly. I felt as though I was on a constant rollercoaster throughout the entire novel, I had no idea as to how many murders there would be (don’t read blurbs) –  I was on tenterhooks wondering whether the murderer would strike again, and if they did, how. Part of me wanted to know the murderers reason behind each of their killings, yet part of me didn’t because I was nervous about what may be uncovered.

Reading ‘Secrets of the Dead’, I tried to be clever and see if I could work out the link between the murders (f there was one), and who the hell was going out their way to kill people; but I failed miserably. Carol Wyer kept me guessing until the very last-minute. My heart was pounding. My spine was tingling. Even my breathing was erratic. It didn’t matter how intense my reactions were to Wyer’s novel, my eyes just had to keep on reading.

Carol Wyer has completely blown me away with her writing, and not for the first time either. Secrets of the Dead is such a gripping, intense tale that will leave you with stumps for nails, an abnormal pulse rate, and in need of a shower due to the nervous sweating.
Secrets of the Dead is a fast paced, power house of a storyline that has been fantastically written by an incredibly talented author. An absolutely brilliant read with a side helping of shocking moments. Just the way that I like it.

Thanks Bookouture.

Buy:
UK http://amzn.to/2pAm1cU 
US http://amzn.to/2q17Df2

About the author

 As a child Carol Wyer was always moving, and relied on humour to fit in at new schools. A funny short story won her popularity, planting the seed of becoming a writer. Her career spans dry cleaning, running a language teaching company, and boxercise coaching. Now writing full-time, Carol has several books published by Safkhet and journalism in many magazines.

Carol won The People’s Book Prize Award for non-fiction (2015), and can sometimes be found performing her stand-up comedy routine Laugh While You Still Have Teeth.

http://www.carolewyer.co.uk

https://www.facebook.com/AuthorCarolEWyer

https://twitter.com/carolewyer

Thank you for joining me on one of today’s stops on Carol Wyer’s blog tour! Make sure you keep up to date with the tour via the blogs below: