1989: DS Benjamin Chambers and DC Adam Winter are on the trail of a twisted serial killer with a passion for recreating the world’s greatest works of art through the bodies of his victims. But after Chambers almost loses his life, the case goes cold – their killer lying dormant, his collection unfinished.

1996: Jordan Marshall has excelled within the Metropolitan Police Service, fuelled by a loss that defined her teenage years. Obsessed, she manages to obtain new evidence, convincing both Chambers and Winter to revisit the case. However, their resurrected investigation brings about a fresh reign of terror, the team treading a fine line between police officers and vigilantes in their pursuit of a monster far more dangerous and intelligent than any of them had anticipated….

My thanks to Tracy Fenton at Compulsive Readers for the opportunity to join this audiobook blog tour.  I received a review copy of Mimic from the publishers through Netgalley.

Mimic is one of the dark ones. A serial killer story with an intense and relentless murderer who is replicating classic sculptures using the bodies of his victims. It was also a fab audiobook listen!

The story begins in 1989 as DS Chambers and a young Winters find a body mounted high on a statue in a London Park. The body had been left in plain sight for anyone to find but due to the off-path location and the inclement weather it actually takes some time for the body to be discovered. It’s a confusing and complicated crime scene which initially looks like an obscure suicide but Chambers has suspicions.

Almost immediately the pair are at a second crime scene in a house where a mother and her son are found posed in the style of a classic sculpture.  Although both men are convinced both events are connected their boss is less confident and tells them to treat each death as an isolated incident. There is NO connection and Chambers and Winters are over-reaching to make something from random events.

The good news for readers (listeners) is that Chambers is adamant he is correct and continues to follow his instincts and look for connections between the two deaths. Winters and Chambers identify two potential suspects but lacking official authority they find their investigations cannot proceed unless they are prepared to act beyond their authority.

The pair decide they owe it to the victims to take on both their suspects and try to find the evidence they need to bring a murderer to justice. It doesn’t go well and both men face life changing consequences.

The aftermath of their actions is picked up seven years later. There have been mo more murders but Jordan Marshall has been looking into the cold case which Chambers and Winters had initially worked. The sculpture murderer was never caught and Marshall believes she can help move things forward.  She seeks out Chambers and Winters and the three begin to dig deeper.  It alerts their target who resumes his murderous mission.

Mimic is a brilliantly plotted and pacy thriller. If serial killer stories are your thing then you absolutely need to read this. The killer feels they have a purpose and a goal they need to fulfill and the police are chasing but cannot get the breaks they need to stop the carnage. It’s the kind of book I love to read and I couldn’t get enough of this one.

As advertised above, this was an audiobook listen for me. Narration duties for this audiobook sit with Jude Owusu and he was a new voice to add to my audio experiences.  The most important factor is can the narrator hold my attention – yes, absolutely.  Does he give characters distinctive voice?  And then some!  Listeners get to excperience a terrific range of voices and accents for what was quite a large cast. It gave the extra depth I hope for when I listen to a book and, crucially, Owusu is very listenable.

Mimic is a tension packed listen packed with twists, shocks and red herrings which kept me guessing right to the end of the story. Daniel Cole knows how to spin a captivating tale, this was a highly enjoyable treat.

Mimic is published by Trapeze and is available in digital and audiobook format at present – the Hardback is due to release on August 19th.  You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mimic/dp/B0916D7WXD/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=Daniel+Cole&qid=1626817991&s=audible&sr=1-4