“Twenty years ago you were forced to give your daughter up. Now she’s back. Or is she?

Women who’ve had to give up children for adoption are being killed. A knock at their front door begins a nightmare from which they will never wake up.

East London Detective Ruby Preston and her team must hunt down a disturbed individual before someone else is taken. But when bodies start turning up, staged in perfect, domestic scenes, it carries the echo of a memory in Ruby’s mind. The tinkling of a music box. A mother and child reunion…

Then just as Ruby thinks they’ve made a breakthrough, she receives a sinister email, and the case takes a terrifying personal twist. 

Can Ruby catch the killer before they strike again? Or will her troubled past catch up with her first?”

What a corker of a book!  I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect before I started reading…but I loved this book!  I came to Caroline Mitchell’s writing a little later than most.  I read Caroline’s The Silent Twin, which is book three in the Detective Jennifer Knight series, earlier this year (you can read my review by clicking here).  The Silent Twin was one of the first crime books I read with a paranormal twist to it, something I normally stay quite clear of.  The reviews were outstanding though and my FOMO (or, if you are my husband, my Fear Of Missing Out) kicked in.  I’m very glad it did as I loved The Silent Twin and wanted more Jennifer Knight.  So imagine my disappointment when I heard Ms Mitchell was putting Knight to one side and starting on a new series with a detective called Ruby.  I’ll admit it…I was a little disappointed.  Would it still have that paranormal aspect that I’d enjoyed so much?  Well, no, there are no ghosts assisting Ruby from the beyond. But oh my, DS Ruby Preston is SUPERB.  I absolutely loved this book!

Woman are being abducted from their homes only to turn up a few days later in an empty house, very dead and deliberately posed.  All of the women have one thing in common, they gave their daughter up for adoption 20 years ago.  Just like DS Ruby Preston did.  As the number of bodies rises, Ruby starts to receive correspondence from the killer who calls herself Lucy.  Lucy is the name Ruby gave her daughter…and the killer knows things that only the holder of Lucy’s birth certificate would know.  But surely Ruby’s daughter isn’t the killer, is she?  And is this some sort of sick revenge for giving her away all those years ago?  One thing is for sure, Lucy is on the hunt for her mummy and nothing will make her stop killing.  NOTHING! Not even finding her real mum…

DS Ruby Preston has the illustrious honour of being added to my girl crush list (other members of this elite group include Robert Bryndza’s DCI Erika Foster and M.J. Arlidge’s D.I. Helen Grace).  I loved her and I loved her relationship with gangster ex-boyfriend, Nathan. A brilliant addition to the story which leaves you wondering will they or won’t they.  It wasn’t a silly soppy romance that I find so stomach churning in other crime novels.  I could feel the character’s pain, their wanting to be together but knowing it just couldn’t happen.  Brilliant, clever writing as I’m not one for love affairs in my crime fiction but I couldn’t get enough of this one (or rather, these two!).

Lucy is one of those memorable serial killers; the kind that come back to haunt you in your dreams, the kind where you see a picture of a slightly malevolent looking child and you go, “yep, that’s Lucy!”.  She’s a chilling character and not knowing who (or at times, what!) she is makes the feeling of unease grow. By the time the reveal came I was completely clueless and not sure what to expect (and if you had made me put a bet on, I would have lost my life savings).  Fantastically eerie, chock full of suspense and wonderfully disorientating in the best way possible.

I was hooked from the opening lines all the way through the nail biting conclusion.  The one moan I do have about the book is that it was too short!  Now you may think 314 pages is sufficient.  Normally I would agree, but not this time.  I didn’t want it to end, I wanted LOTS more.  I hope Caroline Mitchell has already made a start on book two in the series, I’m not sure I can wait much longer!

NOT REALLY A SPOILER ALERT:  For those that have read the book, I can somewhat dubiously confirm that nutscaping is a real thing.  I was too scared to look for myself so approached Caroline Mitchell on Twitter.  She MADE ME look, my eyes will never be the same again!  Thanks Caroline…

Would I recommend this book?  If you love crime thrillers and don’t buy this book, there has to be something wrong with you.  It’s superb.  I loved the characters, I loved the relationships and I loved Lucy!  Don’t miss out on the start of a breathtakingly brilliant new series.  You have been warned!  Chilling, twisted and disturbing – exactly what I want in my serial killer thrillers! #HereComesLucy

Five out of five stars.

I chose to read and review an ARC of Death Note.

Death Note by Caroline Mitchell was published in the UK by Bookouture on 11th November 2016 and is available in paperback, eBook and audio formats | amazon.co.uk | amazon.com | Goodreads | Bookouture |

A former police detective, Caroline has worked in CID and specialised in roles dealing with vulnerable victims, high risk victims of domestic abuse, and serious sexual offences. She now writes full time.
Published by Bookouture, her DC Knight crime thriller series reached the number one position in the Amazon crime charts and sold over a quarter of a million copies in the first year and a half of publication. The first in her new series, Love You To Death, features DS Ruby Preston is due for publication 11th November 2016.

Her new psychological thriller, Witness, is published with Thomas & Mercer and due for publication 20th December 2016.

Originally from Ireland, Caroline lives with her family in a pretty village on the coast of Essex.

Author Links: | Website | Twitter | Facebook | amazon.co.uk | Goodreads |