Hey everyone!
Today I will be sharing my review of The Christmas Killer by Alex Pine with you all.
Title: The Christmas Killer
Author: Alex Pine
Release Date: 29th October 2020
Publisher: Avon Books
Page Count: 400
Buy It Here (affiliate links): Amazon UK, Waterstones, Book Depository
GoodReads Synopsis:
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 realises 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….
Can James stop the killer before they strike again?
My Review:
When I first heard about The Christmas Killer, I was so excited, and when I was approved for a ARC through NetGalley, I couldn’t wait to get started. A Christmas themed thriller, twelve days, twelve murders, what more could you want, right? Well, I have to be honest and say that the idea for the story is great, but I was slightly disappointed.
The writing is okay, but is a little repetitive at times, and you’re 20% of the way in to the story before there is even a murder. I do feel that if the start hadn’t of been so slow, it would have been much more exciting, and I would have enjoyed it a lot more.
I did feel sorry for James at times, because he seemed to have a lot of shit to deal with, not only at work, but also at home. I found James’ wife, Annie, to be extremely annoying and whiny, and all she seemed to do was cry or complain. There was a very mixed bunch of characters, but I have to admit, I didn’t really connect with any of them much.
The blizzard caused quite a few issues for the investigators. They didn’t have an easy run of things, and it made the investigations a little more interesting. I also really enjoyed the Christmas “gift” aspect of the plot, and thought it was a great touch having the murderer deliver them personally. There’s nowhere near twelve murders, which was a little disappointing, but the murders themselves were actually rather brutal, and that is exactly what I look for in this type of book.
At the beginning of the story, I was sure I knew who the murderer was, but as the story went on I had completely different theories, and suspicions, which led me away from my initial thought. But, it turned out that I should have gone with my gut instinct, because my first guess was indeed the killer.
I did like this story, and there are clearly some positive aspects. It has the potential to be fantastic, but there is definitely room for improvement, and it wasn’t as exciting as I had expected.
A huge thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books for my copy of the book, in exchange for an honest review.
I give The Christmas Killer a 3 star rating.
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