#BlogTour #Review Dead Inside by Noelle Holten @nholten40 @BOTBSPublicity @KillerReads

Title: Dead Inside by Noelle Holten

Publisher: Killer Reads

Date Published: 31^st May 2019

Genre: Police Procedural

Description:

‘Kept me hooked … excellent pace and a very satisfying ending’ Angela Marsons

‘An excellent read’ Martina Cole

‘A brilliant debut – gritty, dark and chilling. Noelle Holten knows her stuff’ Mel Sherratt

A dark and gripping debut crime novel – the first in a stunning new series – from a huge new talent.

The killer is just getting started…

When three wife beaters are themselves found beaten to death, DC Maggie Jamieson knows she is facing her toughest case yet.

The police suspect that Probation Officer Lucy Sherwood – who is connected to all three victims – is hiding a dark secret. Then a fourth domestic abuser is brutally murdered.

And he is Lucy’s husband.

Now the police are running out of time, but can Maggie really believe her friend Lucy is a cold-blooded killer?

Review:

I want to thank Sarah at Books On The Bright Side Publicity for inviting me on this tour. I received a free arc of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

So this is Noelle Holten debut novel, and wow, Dead Inside is some hard hitting stuff! A little warning before you read this book the main focus of the story is domestic abuse from the beatings to the more sinister psychological torment that victims endure but I felt it was handled with honesty and sensitivity.

I feel like this book is part police procedural, part psychological thriller, which are my two favourite genres. It is a multiple POV story, the main viewpoints are from DC Maggie Jamieson and probation officer Lucy.

Lucy is one of those characters who seems strong on the outside but on the inside she’s struggling. Her husband Patrick is abusive but she can’t bring herself to leave him. The irony of it is that she deals with men like him on a daily basis as part of her job as a probation officer.

Maggie has started a new job in the DAHU which stands for the domestic abuse and homicide unit it after being transferred. She’s dumped in at the deep end when a body shows up, tortured, that was on the police’s watch list as an abuser.

What I like is I feel there is room for Maggie’s character to grow and I look forward to getting to know her better as this series goes along.

My main issue was I felt the book was more focused on the domestic abuse aspect, which is admirable, I feel like it needs to be talked about and victims not stigmatised but as a woman it makes it no easier to read about other women suffering such horrible things.

Dead Inside is an insightful debut, that is faces some thorny issues head on and will send you on a rollercoaster of emotions throughout. The ending has left it open for a sequel which I’m looking forward to.

About The Author:

Noelle Holten is an award-winning blogger at www.crimebookjunkie.co.uk. She is the PR & Social Media Manager for Bookouture, a leading digital publisher in the UK, and a regular screenshot-2018-12-03-at-13-14-311 reviewer on the Two Crime Writers and a Microphone podcast. Noelle worked as a Senior Probation Officer for eighteen years, covering a variety of cases including those involving serious domestic abuse. She has three Hons BA’s – Philosophy, Sociology (Crime & Deviance) and Community Justice – and a Masters in Criminology. Noelle’s hobbies include reading, author-stalking and sharing the booklove via her blog.
Dead Inside is her debut novel with Killer Reads/Harper Collins UK and the start of a new series featuring DC Maggie Jamieson.