Title: Murder In The Dark by Betsy Reavley
Publisher: Bloodhound Books
Date Published: 12th December 2018
Genre: Cosy Mystery
Description:
Without a motive, how do you identify the killer?
Imagine a quaint little bookshop. Outside the snow is falling. Inside the shelves are stacked with books by authors waiting to be discovered. What could be better?
When Tilly Edgely lands a position working at Ashton’s bookshop in Cambridge she thinks she’s found her perfect job. But one winter’s morning, when she arrives to open up, she discovers the body of her boss suspended from the ceiling, hanging by a rope around his neck.
DCI Barrett and DI Palmer are called to the scene and quickly find themselves searching for a twisted killer whose identity and motive are nearly impossible to trace.
But just when they think they have the murderer in their sights, another body shows up throwing the case wide open…
Who is behind the killings and why?
The police have their work cut out and key to unlocking the gruesome mystery might be found right under their nose.
But one thing is for certain, this killer will leave you hanging…
Review:
This is the second in series to feature DCI Barrett and DI Palmer but can be read as a stand alone something I can say without a doubt as I’ve yet to read the first!
It’s the run up to Christmas and the body of Dennis Wade, owner of Ashton’s Bookshop, is found hanging from the rafter inside his shop by young employee Tilly Edgely. It’s quickly discovered that it’s not suicide but murder but why would anyone want to kill a respectable bookshop owner?
Barrett and Palmer are tasked to investigate but another body shows up bearing the same hallmarks as the first but with no apparent tie to the first victim.
The killer starts to show off leaving packages, taunting the police, can Barrett and Palmer stop this maniac before they strike again?
This is what I like to call a cosy mystery with a little more bite as the death’s are a little more gruesome than in this type of book. There’s plenty of twists and turns which kept me guessing until the end.
It’s a real character driven novel, we hear from several perspectives throughout the book each one with their own unique voice so I never once got them confused.
DCI Barrett seems on the surface like an irascible, fussy and rude man but dig a bit deeper you find out he lost his wife to cancer and what with the stresses and strains of his job it does make his moods a little more understandable. Palmer seems like his polar opposite happily married with a son, he’s solid and dependable but there’s a little frisson sexual tension between him another a member of the team, Elly Hale, just to make things juicy.
Overall Murder In The Dark is fast paced mystery prefect for those who like their crime novels character driven and a little less graphic.
About The Author:
Author of The Quiet Ones, The Optician’s Wife, Murder at the Book Club, Frailty, Carrion,
Beneath the Watery Moon and the poetry collection The Worm in the Bottle. Betsy was born in Hammersmith, London.
As a child she moved around frequently with her family, spending time in London, Provence, Tuscany, Gloucestershire and Cambridgeshire.
She showed a flair for literature and writing from a young age and had a particular interest in poetry, of which she was a prolific consumer and producer.
In her early twenties she moved to Oxford where she would eventually meet her husband. During her time in Oxford her interests turned from poetry to novels and she began to develop her own unique style of psychological thriller.
Betsy says “I believe people are at their most fascinating when they are faced by the dark side of life. This is what I like to write about.”
Betsy Reavley currently lives in Cambridge with her husband, 2 children, dog and quail.
Betsy’s Social Media Links:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BetsyReavley @BetsyReavley
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BetsyReavleyAuthor/
Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Betsy-Reavley/e/B00I970NY4/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1544003078&sr=8-1
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7730760.Betsy_Reavley?from_search=true
Vader. When he’s not at his computer, he can be found cheering for his youngest daughter’s volleyball team, or watching horror movies with his seventeen-year-old. He currently resides in Iowa City, Iowa—one of only twenty places in the world UNESCO has certified as a City of Literature.
A sinister phone call, an unknown visitor. Sophie’s life is about to be turned upside down
We all keep secrets, don’t we? 
about everyday people in seemingly ordinary circumstances until something goes badly wrong in their lives.