“RUNNING FROM HER PAST

Leaving behind Sheffield, her friends and her job, a grieving DCI Matilda Darke finds solace in the wild, untamed beauty of the Lake District. But she can’t outrun her reputation.

A COLD CASE

PC Alison Pemberton is living in the shadow of her twin sisters, who were abducted thirty years ago. As the only witness, Alison has spent her life trying to remember the details of that fateful summer day and discover the truth about what happened to her sisters and why, a few months later, her father also disappeared.

A TRUTH THAT SHOULD HAVE STAYED BURIED

Matilda finds herself agreeing to try and unearth the truth about the Pemberton twins. With nothing left to lose, Matilda throws herself into the cold case, but someone doesn’t want her digging up the past and will do anything to keep the truth hidden…”

Hello and welcome to damppebbles. Today I am delighted to share my review of Worse Than Murder by Michael Wood. Worse Than Murder was published by One More Chapter on 9th October 2025 and is available in paperback, audio and digital formats.

If you’re a regular visitor to damppebbles, then you may have noticed that one week ago today, I shared my review of Last One Left Alive, book twelve in the DCI Matilda Darke series by Michael Wood. Today, I have my review of Worse Than Murder for you, book thirteen in the same series. I’ve been in catch-up mode recently thanks to a Top Ten Tuesday post (see Tuesday’s review for more information). I was also encouraged by how blinking good these books are. As soon as I finished Last One Left Alive, I wanted to make a start on Worse Than Murder. I didn’t, though. I was restrained. But it was tough! Anyhoo, I did read book thirteen shortly after book twelve, and now I have to wait nearly a whole year for book fourteen to be published. Bit of a huff along with mild foot stomping! You would think, as a book lover, that I would be used to these large gaps between books. Seems I’m not 😂

Worse Than Murder is really quite different to every other book in the DCI Matilda Darke series. And I LOVED IT! Firstly, Matilda is nowhere near her beloved Sheffield. The entire book is set in the Lake District on the banks of Lake Windermere. Secondly, she is off-duty. She is not DCI Darke in this book. She’s just plain ole Matilda Darke, who happens to be one of the best police detectives the north of England has ever seen (more about that later). Thirdly, the book is mostly told in the first person from Matilda’s point of view. I’m not always a fan of first-person narrative, but this worked so well. As a fan of the series AND the character, it was fascinating to see inside Matilda’s head!

Matilda has decided she needs a break following recent events, so she has left her life in Sheffield behind and escaped to the Lake District. Deep in grief and unsure what the future holds, she spends her time wild swimming and running. Word of Matilda’s arrival in High Chapel has made it to the local police station, where PC Alison Pemberton sees a light at the end of a thirty-year-old tunnel. In the summer of 1992, Alison’s twin sisters were abducted in plain sight whilst out playing in the fields. Five-year-old Alison watched them being driven away and was the only witness to the crime. The twins were never found, and the case went cold. But Alison knows that with the renowned DCI Matilda Darke’s help, she could finally find out what happened to her sisters that day. But the truth has stayed buried for thirty years, and someone in the village wants it to stay that way. No matter what the cost…

Worse Than Murder is a brilliant addition to one of my favourite police procedural series. I LOVE what Michael Wood has done with this book. He’s taken Matilda away from everything that we readers think of as defining her and given her a new setting, new people (sort of) and a different focus. Matilda, being who she is, cannot resist the pull of a thirty-year-old mystery so despite being on shaky ground herself, she starts to investigate.

Would I recommend this book? I would, yes. Worse Than Murder is a gripping, emotionally charged crime thriller that held me in its clutches from start to finish. A superb addition to an exceptional series. This is a book you need to read as part of the series, and not as a standalone. I mean, I guess you could read it as a standalone but I think it’s important the reader knows what came before. Every single time I write a review of a Matilda Darke book I say this, and this review will be no different. Wood likes to put his characters through the wringer. So much has happened in the lead-up to this book that, by not reading the earlier editions, you’re going to have a few questions. There are, of course, recaps along the way, but you really want to know who Matilda is and what makes her tick when reading this book. Don’t say I didn’t warn you! I loved everything about Worse Than Murder. The characters are believable, multi-layered and have their own voices. I’ve mentioned it before, but it bears repeating: I loved seeing the plot unfurl from Matilda’s own point of view. Seeing events in her voice was just brilliant! All in all, Worse Than Murder is a dark, compulsive thriller that I heartily recommend to all crime fiction fans (providing you’ve read some of the series before, that is!). Overall, this is a series that lovers of detective fiction should be making a beeline for. A series to get your teeth into, a series to fully invest in. Utterly absorbing, edgy and packed to the brim with emotion. Just superb. Highly recommended.

Worse Than Murder by Michael Wood was published in the UK by One More Chapter on 9th October 2025 and is available in paperback, audio and digital formats (please note, the following links are affiliate links which means I receive a small percentage of the purchase price at no extra cost to you): | amazon.co.uk | Waterstones | bookshop.org | Goodreads | damppebbles bookshop.org shop | damppebbles amazon.co.uk shop | damppebbles amazon.com shop |

Michael Wood is a Sheffield-based thriller writer. HarperCollins have now published thirteen novels and a short story in his hugely successful DCI Matilda Darke series, with global sales of more than 500,000 copies, and two books in his new Olivia Winter series. Further books in both series will follow soon. Michael is also the author of four Audible Original thrillers including the bestselling Maybe Tomorrow, with a further three to come.