Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.27 AVERAGE
3.27 AVERAGE
Note: I received a copy of this book from Harper Collins via Edelweiss+.
As the snow begins to fall, the body count begins to climb… DI James Walker is ready for a quiet family Christmas in the sleepy village of Kirkby Abbey. But when he opens an early Christmas present left on his doorstep, he soon realizes it is no gift. Inside is a gruesome surprise, and a promise – twelve days, twelve murders. Not long after, the first body is found, half-frozen in the snow. As the blizzards descend, panic spreads through the remote Cumbrian village – there’s a killer amongst them, and with eleven more victims to go, anyone could be next….
I thought the whole plot and description were interesting when I first decided to request this book. The main issue I had with the book was that it was pretty repetitive in describing events that had happened and a lot of back and forth with people. I also correctly assumed who the murderer was pretty early on making the suspense quite lackluster.
A Write to Review: https://lrjohnson13.blogspot.com/2021/08/review-christmas-killer.html
As the snow begins to fall, the body count begins to climb… DI James Walker is ready for a quiet family Christmas in the sleepy village of Kirkby Abbey. But when he opens an early Christmas present left on his doorstep, he soon realizes it is no gift. Inside is a gruesome surprise, and a promise – twelve days, twelve murders. Not long after, the first body is found, half-frozen in the snow. As the blizzards descend, panic spreads through the remote Cumbrian village – there’s a killer amongst them, and with eleven more victims to go, anyone could be next….
I thought the whole plot and description were interesting when I first decided to request this book. The main issue I had with the book was that it was pretty repetitive in describing events that had happened and a lot of back and forth with people. I also correctly assumed who the murderer was pretty early on making the suspense quite lackluster.
A Write to Review: https://lrjohnson13.blogspot.com/2021/08/review-christmas-killer.html
A Good Christmas Read
This book was a good Christmas read, although it was a little different to what I was expecting. On reading the back cover, I thought it was going to be a fast paced murder mystery come thriller novel. However, it is quite a gentle read and took a little time to get going.
The book was highly descriptive and in places this detracted from the story line. There were also a lot of characters and potential suspects. It took me a while to work out who the murderer was and did find quite a few of the characters to be luke warm. Additionally, the book was a little slow to start with and perhaps slightly repetitive.
However, overall I really enjoyed reading this book and throughout it had a Midsummer Murders feeling to it. This book provided a good escape and now interested to find out what the next encounter will be for Detective James Walker.
This book was a good Christmas read, although it was a little different to what I was expecting. On reading the back cover, I thought it was going to be a fast paced murder mystery come thriller novel. However, it is quite a gentle read and took a little time to get going.
The book was highly descriptive and in places this detracted from the story line. There were also a lot of characters and potential suspects. It took me a while to work out who the murderer was and did find quite a few of the characters to be luke warm. Additionally, the book was a little slow to start with and perhaps slightly repetitive.
However, overall I really enjoyed reading this book and throughout it had a Midsummer Murders feeling to it. This book provided a good escape and now interested to find out what the next encounter will be for Detective James Walker.
The sky remained heavy and grey, and the air felt raw. James wondered if this was the calm before the storm."
Why Did I Read This Book?
This was chosen as my local book club read and as someone who hasn’t really ever read any Christmassy books, I was excited to experience my first one.
What Did I Think?
However, this book was not for me and I eventually made the hard decision to DNF the book after about 100 pages. I was recently listening to a new podcast called Off the Shelf by Phoebe at Pause Books where she interviewed a friend and she had this great commitment to giving a book 100 pages to impress you and if it doesn’t and you’re not enjoying it, then to just DNF.
I’m a strong advocate for DNF-ing books that just aren’t doing it for you and sadly The Christmas Killer was that for me. But I cannot stress enough that although I really didn’t enjoy this book, that is my opinion, and you may find that you love it so please still give it a try if it’s one you’re considering reading.
The reason I chose to DNF the book was that it was just too incredibly cheesy for me and included a lot of one-dimensional and ‘simple’ characters that I just found difficult to imagine. One thing I disliked most about it was the relationship between our protagonist and his wife. I thought to myself that marriages are surely NOT this easy and plain-sailing, especially when there is a mass murderer on the loose. The wife just seemed to ‘keep herself busy’ and when she couldn’t, she would sit at home endlessly pining for her husband. I’m sorry but have we gone back to the 19th Century?
There were other reasons why this book didn’t do it for me but instead of droning on about all the reasons I didn’t like it, I’ll stop here.
Not for me but I’ll definitely still try to read the other Christmas books I have planned for this month to see if they are any better.
Trigger Warnings: Violence, blood, death, murder, stereotypes, abuse, knife crime
Why Did I Read This Book?
This was chosen as my local book club read and as someone who hasn’t really ever read any Christmassy books, I was excited to experience my first one.
What Did I Think?
However, this book was not for me and I eventually made the hard decision to DNF the book after about 100 pages. I was recently listening to a new podcast called Off the Shelf by Phoebe at Pause Books where she interviewed a friend and she had this great commitment to giving a book 100 pages to impress you and if it doesn’t and you’re not enjoying it, then to just DNF.
I’m a strong advocate for DNF-ing books that just aren’t doing it for you and sadly The Christmas Killer was that for me. But I cannot stress enough that although I really didn’t enjoy this book, that is my opinion, and you may find that you love it so please still give it a try if it’s one you’re considering reading.
The reason I chose to DNF the book was that it was just too incredibly cheesy for me and included a lot of one-dimensional and ‘simple’ characters that I just found difficult to imagine. One thing I disliked most about it was the relationship between our protagonist and his wife. I thought to myself that marriages are surely NOT this easy and plain-sailing, especially when there is a mass murderer on the loose. The wife just seemed to ‘keep herself busy’ and when she couldn’t, she would sit at home endlessly pining for her husband. I’m sorry but have we gone back to the 19th Century?
There were other reasons why this book didn’t do it for me but instead of droning on about all the reasons I didn’t like it, I’ll stop here.
Not for me but I’ll definitely still try to read the other Christmas books I have planned for this month to see if they are any better.
Trigger Warnings: Violence, blood, death, murder, stereotypes, abuse, knife crime
Christmas themed murders? Sign me up. I was initially attracted to this book because the premise sounded so promising and fun. The story itself was a bit light and not as exciting as I would have hoped. The main plot revolves around a detective who has to move away to his wife's hometown after one of his criminals is released from prison. What was meant to be a nice holiday in a small town turns upside down once he receives a dead bird and a 12 days of Christmas themed card in which the writer promises to kill 12 people. Sounds interesting right? Welp for some reason I found myself lagging and not fully invested in the characters or the murders. Usually I am on board and interested, but this killings and the procedure just was so mundane compared to what I was expecting. The overall plot was all right and the characters were okay, I guessed the killer halfway into the book and was was right. It wraps up fine and this makes a fine Christmas themed mystery thriller.
* Thanks Netgalley for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*
* Thanks Netgalley for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This really had a lot of potential. I actually think it would be great as a movie or even a series. There is a lot going on, lots of woven plot lines. Twists and turns. But so much extra text. Lots of repetitions. Instead of saying "he briefed the other officers," it completely repeats a shortened version of everything you spent 10 chapters listening to. It could have been about half the length it was. I knew the killer by chapter 40, and when it was revealed I was correct, I struggled to even keep going.
4.5 Stars
I've been looking forward to reading this for ages and it was even more fun reading with fellow book buddies and discussing our theories. I changed my kind on who the killer was at the last minute and got it wrong! Gutted. This book kicked off he action straight away and it barely let up. I was gripped from the start and thoroughly enjoyed the entire thing.
The suspense was amazing and me along with most of the reading group were constantly switching their guesses about who the killer was. I loved that it basically could have been anyone. The background to some of the characters was good too. The ending did wrap up everything to the murder case, but I feel there is more to learn about James (hence why I'm reading the next book in the series next week!)
There weren't many bad points and they are very small things. But whenever James called his wife "Hon" I inwardly cringed. I felt the detectives weren't that good at their jobs...(not that I could do better I guess!) And I don't really understand why a certain character was even mentioned other than to obviously throw the reader off track on purpose. Also I did feel while the ending was good, it did feel slightly rushed.
Other than that this was a fantastic read and I urge you to get it!
I've been looking forward to reading this for ages and it was even more fun reading with fellow book buddies and discussing our theories. I changed my kind on who the killer was at the last minute and got it wrong! Gutted. This book kicked off he action straight away and it barely let up. I was gripped from the start and thoroughly enjoyed the entire thing.
The suspense was amazing and me along with most of the reading group were constantly switching their guesses about who the killer was. I loved that it basically could have been anyone. The background to some of the characters was good too. The ending did wrap up everything to the murder case, but I feel there is more to learn about James (hence why I'm reading the next book in the series next week!)
There weren't many bad points and they are very small things. But whenever James called his wife "Hon" I inwardly cringed. I felt the detectives weren't that good at their jobs...(not that I could do better I guess!) And I don't really understand why a certain character was even mentioned other than to obviously throw the reader off track on purpose. Also I did feel while the ending was good, it did feel slightly rushed.
Other than that this was a fantastic read and I urge you to get it!
The Christmas Killer is the debut book of Alex Pine and first book in the DI James Walker Series. It takes place in a small Cumbrian village and features a third person narrator. I would describe this book as a slow burn whodunnit it mystery.
I thought the story would have more involvement from Andrew Sullivan who was the reason why the detective and his wife moved but there was little interaction with him. I found the storyline to be very interesting at times but I really wanted more murders because it would’ve been added more drama and suspense. I feel like the revealing of the killer was rushed although I never guessed who it was.
The only character that really stood out to me was Detective Walker because I found him to be relatable and entertaining. His wife Annie on the other hand was annoying and at times very whiny.
The Christmas Killer definitely needed a lot more murder especially since it was supposed to be 12 days and 12 victims but I would definitely be interested in reading the next book in the series to see what happens next.
I recieved an advanced copy for free, and this is my honest opinion.
I thought the story would have more involvement from Andrew Sullivan who was the reason why the detective and his wife moved but there was little interaction with him. I found the storyline to be very interesting at times but I really wanted more murders because it would’ve been added more drama and suspense. I feel like the revealing of the killer was rushed although I never guessed who it was.
The only character that really stood out to me was Detective Walker because I found him to be relatable and entertaining. His wife Annie on the other hand was annoying and at times very whiny.
The Christmas Killer definitely needed a lot more murder especially since it was supposed to be 12 days and 12 victims but I would definitely be interested in reading the next book in the series to see what happens next.
I recieved an advanced copy for free, and this is my honest opinion.
mysterious