“DI Damen Brook is on a rare period of leave and determined to make the most of it by re-connecting with his daughter Terri. But with her heavy drinking proving a challenge, Brook takes the opportunity to visit a local murder scene when his help is requested.

An elderly couple have each been executed with a single shot to the heart and the method echoes that of a middle-aged gay couple killed the previous month.

With the same killer suspected and the officer currently in charge nearing retirement, Brook knows that he has little choice but to cut short his leave when forced by his superiors to take the lead on the case.

Brook believes that he can catch this ruthless killer, but already distracted by Terri’s problems, is he about to make a fatal mistake and lead the killer right to his own door?”

Why oh why have I not discovered this author/series before now?  (I am beating myself about the head with my bookmark for being a bit slow, I do deserve it!)  Those that visit my blog on a regular basis will know that I seem to have developed a habit of reading books part way through a series, having never read their predecessors.  Most of my recent reads have been book 2 or book 3 in a series.  This time I have gone 3 or 4 better and started with book 6!

An elderly couple are found executed in their home, each with a bullet through the heart. The scene is reminiscent of another murder which took place the previous month, but on that occasion the victims were a happily married gay couple.  The somewhat bumbling (you could say incompetent, you could say bigoted) DI Ford is removed as the lead on the case and replaced by DI Damon Brook.  However, DI Brook’s eye has been turned by another, possibly related, case .  This one brought to Brook’s attention by the incarcerated child serial killer, Edward Mullen…

This book was a real treat to read.  I do love a serial killer thriller with a stroppy DI as the lead character.  I wouldn’t necessarily call DI Brook stroppy but there was a certain…something about him that appealed.  The relationship between DI Brook and DS Noble was marvellous and I really enjoyed scenes when the two were interacting.

The storyline is quite complex, especially as DI Brook has two mysteries to solve.  I found the Black Oak Farm case more absorbing than the Champagne Killer case but I think that was because I found the reveal more shocking.  I didn’t see either reveal coming which I always love.  You read as many crime books as I have over the years and you start to play detective from page one!

Would I have been better off starting with book 1 in the series?  Well, yes.  But the answer is normally a yes to that question!  I do feel there were aspects of the book I didn’t necessarily ‘get’ because I have no previous experience of these characters.  Who is The Reaper?  Who is Edward Mullen?  Has DI Brook done something he shouldn’t have?  What is the history between Brook and his daughter, Terri?  All of these questions are answered but in that brief recap way you tend to get part way through a series.  Not having read any of the other books didn’t hamper my enjoyment of this one though.  However, I will be downloading books 1 to 5 when my TBR is at a more more manageable level!

Would I recommend this book?  Most definitely.  I’ve found another damaged but totally lovable detective to add my list of favourite crime fighters!

Four and a half out of five stars.

Many thanks to Headline, Steven Dunne and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of Death Do US Part in exchange for an honest review.

Death Do Us Part by Steven Dunne was published in the UK by Headline on 5th May 2016 and is available in hardcover, paperback and eBook versions | amazon.co.uk | amazon.com | Waterstones |

Steven Dunne was born in Bradford, West Yorkshire, in 1957. He went to the University of Kent after A levels and studied as little as possible, yet somehow emerged with a second class honours degree. He began writing articles for quality newspapers on dull subjects before writing the book for the Latchmere Theatre’s award-winning fringe production of Hansel and Gretel in 1989. He co-also co-wrote the revue, It’s Mad Mad World, We’re Plastered performed at the Rhoda McGaw Theatre in Woking the previous year and played the role of Teddy in the same theatre’s production of Harold Pinter’s The Homecoming the same year.

In the 1990s he taught English in South London before moving up to his adopted home town of Derby towards the end of the decade. In 2007, he self-published Reaper, a thriller set in Derby, featuring the hyper-intelligent but mentally troubled detective, DI Damen Brook. The rights were optioned by Harper Collins and four more critically-acclaimed books followed. He has never taken a selfie.  Connect with Steven via Twitter @ReaperSteven