📖 Halloween Read ~ Trick or Treat by Katerina Diamond

 

Avon
14 October 2021

DS Imogen Grey #7

My thanks to the publisher for my copy of this book

A stranger. A child. A liar who will stop at nothing…

When six-year-old Marcus is taken from outside his house on Halloween, there is only one witness: a frightened teen determined to keep himself hidden.

After an anonymous tip off, Detective Imogen Grey is called out to an expensive Exeter street, caught up in the buzz of the holiday. But when the police visit Marcus's house, his parents claim everything is fine. Imogen is sure there is more to the family than meets the eye. But just how much more, she could never have imagined…

What has happened to little Marcus? And will he ever come home?

📖 My Thoughts..

Those who have read the previous books in this excellent crime series will be delighted to be back once again as DS Imogen Grey comes up against her most challenging case yet.

Six year old Marcus Carlyle is kidnapped from outside his house on Halloween in a stealthy manoeuvre which leaves behind no evidence and apart from an anonymous tip off the only witness is someone who has his own very good reasons to keep quiet. The story hits the ground running and with tensions running high DS Grey and her investigative team have to keep their wits about them in order to to keep one step ahead of perpetrators who are expert at keeping their tracks covered. As the case progresses, more and more secrets are uncovered and one of them is particularly difficult for DS Grey to figure out and presents a difficult challenge both in her professional life and also in her relationship with her boyfriend, Adrian Miles.

There are strands from the previous book Truth or Die which have particular relevance to this story so for that reason I think this book sort of struggles as a standalone read. I was interested to see in which direction the author would move the story as Truth or Die was left with something of a cliffhanger finish, I wasn't disappointed but I can't say why as that would spoil the overall effect of this fascinating story.

The author doesn't shy away from difficult topics and for that reason this series continues to go from strength to strength especially as the relationship between Imogen Grey and Adrian Miles gets more complicated. I am already looking forward to see what happens next in Book #8.

About the Author

Katerina Diamond was born in Weston in the seventies. She moved to Thessaloniki in Greece and attended Greek school where she learnt Greek in just 6 months. After her parents’ divorce, they relocated to Devon. After school, and working in her uncle’s fish and chip shop, she went (briefly) to university at Derby, where she met her husband and had two children. Katerina now lives in the East Kent Coast with her husband and children. She is a Sunday Times and Kindle bestseller.

Twitter @TheVenomousPen #TrickorTreat

Website

@AvonBooksUK

Blog Tour ~ Woman in the Water by Katerina Diamond

Delighted to host today's stop on this exciting Blog Tour

Avon
11 November 2019

My thanks to the publisher for my ecopy of this book
and the invitation to be part of this blog tour

I’m alive. But I can’t be saved . . .

When a woman’s body is found submerged in icy water, police are shocked to find she is alive. But she won’t disclose her name, or what happened to her – even when a second body is discovered. And then she disappears from her hospital bed.

Detectives Adrian Miles and Imogen Grey follow their only lead to the home of Reece Corrigan, and when his wife Angela walks in, they immediately recognise her. She’s the woman from the river, with her injuries carefully masked.

The more they dig into the couple, the less they understand about them.

Why have people in their past been hurt, or vanished?

And why doesn’t Angela want to be saved?

What did I think about it...

Well, this one gets off to a really dramatic start and the drama only increases as the story progresses. Detectives Adrian Miles and Imogen Grey find that no matter how close they get to solving this really complex case, the further they get from bringing the perpetrator to justice.

There's some very dark aspects to the story, and there's a particular twist half way through the book which shocked me completely, and which turned the atmosphere in the story from dark to darker in just a few tense pages. To be honest it upset me, but I can understand why the author chose to take the plot in this direction, and whilst it was shocking, it was handled in a realistic way, which I think did justice to a taboo topic. There is so much I want to say about the plot, and believe me, this one has so many complications, but no matter how hard I try to add any detail, to do so would really spoil the overall effect, as this story is best read with absolutely no idea of what's about to unfold.

As always the plot is driven by the partnership between Adrian Miles and Imogen Grey, who as well as being lead detectives on this complex case of murder and abduction, they are also intimately involved which, sort of, complicates how they work together in this story. They're a complex duo, each have their own problems which at times threaten to hinder the investigation and in this story their growing connection to each other is tested to the absolute limit.

Woman in the Water is filled with dark and twisty motives for murder, and the chief suspect, who is as slippery as an eel, takes great delight in keeping one step ahead of the investigative team. The story ends on something of a cliff hanger, so I'll look forward to seeing what happens next for Adrian Miles and Imogen Grey in book #7 😊

Woman in the Water is out now as an ebook and will be published by Avon in paperback on the 9 January 2020..

About the Author

Katerina Diamond was born in Weston in the seventies. She moved to Thessaloniki in Greece and attended Greek school where she learnt Greek in just 6 months. After her parents’ divorce, they relocated to Devon. After school, and working in her uncle’s fish and chip shop, she went (briefly) to university at Derby, where she met her husband and had two children. Katerina now lives in the East Kent Coast with her husband and children.

Twitter @TheVenomousPen #WomanInTheWater

@AvonBooksUK

Amazon UK

Blog Tour ~ The Promise by Katerina Diamond

 📖 Jaffareadstoo is delighted to host today's stop on The Promise Blog Tour 📖

D.S Imogen Grey #4
Avon
20 September 2018

My thanks to the publishers for my copy of the book and the invitation to be part of the tour

What's it all about...

When troubled teen Connor moves to Exeter from the US to escape his past, he finds himself embroiled in a world of popular kids and easy girls. Everyone wants to be his friend, but they don’t know about what he did…and they don’t know about his father. 

As Connor’s life in England begins to unravel, DS Adrian Miles and his partner Imogen Grey are working up against the clock to catch a serial killer who dates his victims before he kills them. Determined to uncover the truth, Imogen is forced to act as bait – but will she take it too far and risk her own life? 

Katerina Diamond is back with a bang in this dark, twisted novel, perfect for fans of M.J. Arlidge and Karin Slaughter. 

My thoughts about it...

It's always interesting to read a series and to see the main characters grow in confidence and even if you haven't read the previous books there are enough hints into the background of the partnership between DS Imogen Grey and DS Adrian Miles so that you can pick up hints as to what's gone on for them in the past.

This fourth book in the series gets off to a good start with an opening chapter which really sets the scene for what's to come. That a serial killer, with an unusual modus operandi, is targeting young women in Exeter forms the crux of the story and DS Grey is thrust into the very heart of the investigation bringing the danger, for her, ever closer to home.

There are three main threads to this story which are all woven together with an interesting eye for detail. At first there seems little correlation between a ruthless killer, a teenager who has recently moved to England, and the diary entries of an unknown woman, however, the tantalising clues which are dropped like gems along the way soon start to make sense, making the connection between them all the more compulsive.

This author seems to go from strength to strength and writes about the grittier side of life with an edginess which is a little shocking at times but which most certainly grabs your attention. The relationship between DS Grey and DS Miles is such a sustainable partnership that I can see this series continuing for some time to come.

About the Author

Katerina Diamond was born in Weston in the seventies. She moved to Thessaloniki in Greece and attended Greek school where she learnt Greek in just 6 months. After her parents’ divorce, they relocated to Devon. After school, and working in her uncle’s fish and chip shop, she went (briefly) to university at Derby, where she met her husband and had two children. Katerina now lives in the East Kent Coast with her husband and children.