📖 Book Review ~ Slaughter House Farm by T. Orr Munro

 

Harper Collins
HQ
25 May 2023

CSI Ally Dymond #2

My thanks to the publishers for the invitation to read this book

A family secret worth killing for…

In the dead of night, 72-year-old Miriam Narracott is found wandering on Exmoor, holding a knife and covered in blood. Inside the family farmhouse lies the body of her adult son, Gabe.

CSI Ally Dymond is on compassionate leave, but when approached by the new DI, recently arrived from London and eager to have Ally's keen eye and local knowledge on the case, she finds herself being drawn back in.

With their only suspect Miriam unwilling – or unable – to talk, the team must dig into the family’s history to uncover a motive. Instead they find evidence that Gabe was involved with a criminal network, suggesting a completely different chain of events. But if Miriam isn’t the killer – then who is?

📖 My Review ..

Late one night 72 year-old Miriam Narracott is found wandering Exmoor with a knife in her hands and covered in blood. When the body of her son Gabe is found on the kitchen floor of the farmhouse they shared, Miriam is the prime suspect for the murder, the only problem is that Miriam is unable to tell the detectives what actually happened on this fateful night. 

CSI Ally Dymond is still on leave following the catastrophic events which took place in the first book in the series and we pretty much pick up Ally's life just a few short months after Breakneck Point ended, so that those who are familiar with Ally's story will understand her reticence about returning to work or of leaving her teenage daughter alone for long. 

As with the first book, the story moves along at a cracking pace especially when a new DI approaches Ally for the expertise of her local knowledge and her ability to get right into the centre of the action. Slaughter House Farm is a tense and intricately plotted thriller which has everything I have come to enjoy in this author's books, there are twists and turns aplenty, more than enough secrets and sub-plots to keep you guessing, and at its heart is CSI Ally Dymond, a feisty investigator, who, regardless of her wish to live a quiet life seems to get swept up in intrigue and danger.

There is much to enjoy in this crime series, which has the possibility to run and run and whilst Slaughter House Farm can be read as a standalone, it does make sense to start with Breakneck Point. 

About the Author

Tina Orr Munro is a journalist, specialising in writing about policing and security. In another life, she was a police scenes of crime officer. She lives in North Devon.

Twitter @TinaOrrMunro #SlaughterhouseFarm 

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