“Sophie Whittaker shared a terrifying secret. Hours later, she was dead.

Detective Kay Hunter and her colleagues are shocked by the vicious murder of a teenage girl at a private party in the Kentish countryside.

A tangled web of dark secrets is exposed as twisted motives point to a history of greed and corruption within the tight-knit community.

Confronted by a growing number of suspects and her own enemies who are waging a vendetta against her, Kay makes a shocking discovery that will make her question her trust in everyone she knows.”

I am delighted to welcome you to my stop on the One to Watch blog tour.  My blog tour buddy today is the very lovely Eva of Novel Deelights, if you haven’t given Dee’s blog a follow yet then I recommend you do as it’s pretty darn awesome.

One to Watch is the third book in the Detective Kay Hunter series, written by author Rachel Amphlett.  Having read the first two books quite recently, I was excited to read this third instalment ASAP.  If you missed my reviews of the first two books, or would just like a reminder then please click here for book one, Scared to Death and here for the second book, Will to Live. I hope regular visitors to the blog will be as impressed as I am that I have managed to read the first three books in this series IN ORDER!  It’s one of those rare, ‘once in a blue moon’ occurrences that requires a little self congratulatory pat on the back. Or is it just me that thinks that, lol!

It was a pleasure to read about DS Kay Hunter and her team once again.  For those new to this series I’m sure I’m not dropping any spoilers if I mention that someone within the force is trying to discredit our Kay.  I was looking forward to seeing whether the author would expand a little more, give us a few more juicy tidbits and oh my, I was so shocked when she did! What a brilliant development and I can’t wait to see where the author takes this sub-plot in book four.  It gave me goosebumps.

Sixteen year old Sophie Whittaker is found dead at her engagement party and shortly after taking a purity pledge.  Until that point everyone was having a jolly good time so when DS Kay Hunter arrives on the scene at the request of her DI, Devon Sharp she’s met with a rowdy, drunken upper class rabble.  After all, Sophie was the daughter of Lady Asquith of Crossways Hall.  DS Hunter and her team are tasked with finding Sophie’s killer but how will they fare when the truth is readily brushed under the carpet because appearances, for Lady Asquith, are EVERYTHING!

I found the main storyline compelling and struggled to work out ‘whodunit’.  There was one small clue which ‘kind of’ gave the game away for me but I wasn’t 100% sure until I had read the very last paragraph.  I felt slightly uncomfortable at times due to the purity pledge taken by Sophie, and that is the one thing DC Carys Miles and I will ever agree on! Despite other reviewers really liking Carys, I’m afraid I just can’t warm to her.  I did however love her anger and frustration at what feels like an outdated promise made by young woman to stay chaste until her wedding day.  The pledge itself really bothered me and got under my skin. Well done Rachel Amphlett, grr.

Anyway, moving swiftly on.  I don’t remember many mentions of Kay Hunter’s DI in previous books.  He features quite heavily in One to Watch and I really liked him.  He comes across as one of the good guys and Kay’s respect for Sharp made me like him even more.  I’m still a fan of DC Ian Barnes (much more than DC Miles, #TeamBarnes) and by the end of the book I liked him even more.  Amphlett has created such a strong cast of characters and even if you don’t like them all, they all work well together.  What more could the reader ask for?

Would I recommend this book?  I would but I would suggest starting with Scared to Death and then Will to Live before moving onto One to Watch.  It’s a great read and I really enjoyed it but it’s going to take a lot to move Will to Live from the top spot, my favourite in this series so far. I read my copy of One to Watch in two short days as it was a hard one to put down.

Four stars out of five.

One to Watch by Rachel Amphlett was published in the UK on 6th June 2017 and is available in eBook format (please note, the following links are affiliate links) | amazon.co.uk | amazon.com| Goodreads | Rachel Amphlett’s online eBook store |

Join the Facebook launch party!

Rachel Amphlett is the bestselling author of the Dan Taylor espionage novels and the new Detective Kay Hunter crime thriller series, as well as a number of standalone crime thrillers.

Originally from the UK and currently based in Brisbane, Australia, Rachel’s novels appeal to a worldwide audience, and have been compared to Robert Ludlum, Lee Child and Michael Crichton.

She is a member of International Thriller Writers and the Crime Writers Association, with the Italian foreign rights for her debut novel, White Gold, being sold to Fanucci Editore’s TIMECrime imprint in 2014.

An advocate for knowledge within the publishing industry, Rachel is always happy to share her experiences to a wider audience through her blogging and speaking engagements.

Author Links: | Website | Facebook | Twitter |