A Killing Moon – Steven Dunne

For the young woman kidnapped on her way home from the pub, the nightmare is about to begin…

Weeks after Caitlin Kinnear goes missing, the police are unable to break her case. Worse they are not even certain harm has come to her. But determined to pursue all leads, DI Damen Brook and his team begin to trawl through the murky world of cheap migrant labour. Convinced that the answers lie hidden within its depths, Brook soon begins to realise Caitlin is in terrible danger.

When the body of another young girl turns up it becomes clear that Caitlin’s abduction might not be an isolated incident and the race is on to save her. But with time running out, can Brook put the pieces together and find Caitlin before it’s too late?

Thanks to Headline for my review copy

As 2015 drew to a close I realised that there were books in my TBR pile which had been sitting too long. I decided I would try to spend the last few weeks of the year catching up on some of the titles that had released earlier in the year – 2016 titles will take care of themselves.

So many books to choose from but following his appearance on the Britcrime Christmas Blab chat (which you can see here) I moved Steven Dunne’s A Killing Moon to the top of the queue – and what a great decision that turned out to be!

A Killing Moon was my first introduction to Steven’s books and is the 5th DI Brook novel. For a first time reader I can confirm that I had no problems picking up the storyline, did not feel that there was too much reliance upon backstory and (knowing that there are 4 books before A Killing Moon) am delighted that there are more books with DI Brook that I can look forward to catching up on in the New Year.

Events in A Killing Moon are dark, sinister and frequently disturbing – basically everything that I enjoy in a good crime thriller. And this IS a good crime thriller…a very good one. DI Brook is a strong lead character and his fellow officers form a good unit which make you want to read about them. This investigation is a nasty one though – Caitlin Kinnear has been abducted but rather than the murder investigation that the reader may expect to ensue Caitlin’s abduction is just the beginning of her ordeal.

Frequently chilling and always compelling – the investigation into Caitlin’s abduction kept me gripped and I could not get to the finale fast enough. A great story to bring my reading year to an end.