This is the second book written by this author. I have really enjoyed them both, but this one was very fast paced and I enjoyed that very much.
Elements of police procedure, romance or lack of it, and black magic all get together to move the story along.
A slightly scatty but brave police woman who gets her culprit in the end.

The second book I have read involving DCI Antonia Hawkins. Again, this was a fast paced, page turner. Three young men are found dead in an unoccupied flat with apparently no cause of death to be found. A good crime thriller that did not disappoint with a good plot and believable characters. As far as I am aware, the motive and murder weapon are a unique and quite inventive storyline from the author. Problems in Antonia's relationship with her fiancé due to the intensive nature of their jobs add personal interest and culminated in a shock finale. I look forward to reading more in this series.

This is not a festive read but one of the locations in the book is called Cold Christmas. It is a crime thriller where the method of the kill is quite unusual. I enjoyed the book overall but I didn't find it amazing.

Cold Christmas is the fourth Book in the D.I. Antonia Hawkins series. You can read it as a standalone, as, I have not read the first three books in the series.
Three bodies and found in a depilated, old London flat. No one knows how they got there, and no one knows the obvious cause of death. Where they murdered or was it a suicide pact?
D.I Antonia Hawkins and her team are set to investigate. Which brings her first to Stratham motors where they discover a drugs ring linked to one of the bodies. As the case progresses, more bodies turn up and links to the paranormal are discovered.
I have never read any of Alastair Gunn’s novels before but, after reading this I will be looking out for more of his books. This is a powerful, expertly written novel. It gripped me throughout. It has lots of twists and turns, that keeps you guessing right up to the end.
Thank you Netgalley and Penguin Michael Joseph for a copy of this book.

Another decent police procedural, with a good plot and pace throughout. I have only awarded 4 stars because of the way the relationship between Antonia and Michael is depicted. At times it felt like it was written as an add on, and the book may have been better if Antonia had just been single. I just found this aspect frustrating, I really enjoyed the rest of the book, and will now go back and read books 2 and 3 in this series.

Cold Christmas is the second instalment in the DCI Antonia Hawkins series where this time she is called in to investigate three bodies found in an abandoned London flat. This time though there is no obvious cause of death. Is this a suicide pact or is she on the hunt for a serial killer?

If you like a good crime thriller then this book is for you. It kept me gripped to the end the only downside is I felt I couldn’t gel with the main character but that is my personal opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin UK Michael Joseph and the author for the chance to review.

Overall a good new detective read for me with one main proviso - I am getting rather tired of what is now becoming a cliche - the female detective with angst and a rubbish love life.

A couple of other slightly irritating things - that cat needs to be put on a diet, and as all overweight cat owners know - a. you ignore their plaintive miaows for more food; b. you have them on a strict feeding schedule; and c. you use the special food for overweight cats - I can suggest a few brands if you like - biscuits are best.

Other small irritation is that I thought that all detectives had now learnt to keep wellie boots in their cars!

These small irritations detract me when I'm reading from a good story as they continue to bug me and I want to edit the story for the author, just as I edited my students' work.... Which is a shame as this could have been a really good series for me, but as I also thought the ending unnecessary in its dolore, I'm downgrading to a 3.5/4.

A book that starts slow but then picks up the pace. Quite dark and with some unusual twists, this is a great book which I hope the author writes a follow up.

Three dead bodies in a line. Dead for two weeks. No motive or cause of death. This rang alarm bells but I persevered and met DI Mike Maguire and his partner DCI Toni Hawkins with their IAMS cat called Admiral Kirk. The couple are not getting on well with police stress and hours forming a brick wall between them and happiness. Sadly, although it's so well written and compelling I blew cold when I realised it was a supernatural theme. Not my thing sorry. Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin for letting me read it.

Thanks to Netgalley, Alastair Gunn and the publishers for the opportunity to review this book ‘Cold Christmas ‘. However, I’m afraid I didn’t really enjoy it.
I found it plodding and slow and the characters one dimensional and uninteresting.
I really wanted to like this book as I loved the cover and the premise, I just couldn’t get into the writing style.

This book is definitely a 5 star read. It has everything that I want in a really good thriller. Toni is trying to find who murdered 3 men and how. Her relationship with Mike is rocky and she needs to spend more time with him. Their relationship along with the writing style and the other characters make this book a really really good thriller. The ending made me cry. I was totally immersed in the book. I definitely want to read more books by Alastair Gunn. More of Toni please.

A gritty police thriller with loads of twists and turns. Complex characters who struggle with work/life scenarios. Mix in a bit of supernatural and you have a good thriller.

This was the second DCI Antonia Hawkins book that I have read and which I enjoyed a lot. Antonia has personal demons that she has to battle with as well as a new serial killer that continues to evade her and her team. This book had me glued to the pages from the start and that keeps you guessing until the end. I look forward to reading more of Antonia in the books to come.

Thank you to Penguin Random House UK for the copy.

I hadn't realised that this was the 4th book in the DI Antonia Hawkins series, it works as a standalone, but previous cases and incidents are alluded to, which makes me wonder what I have missed.
Antonia constantly struggles with her work/ life balance, but all police officers and their families do. You just grit your teeth and get on with life, regardless of the telephone calls not answered, anniversaries missed, holidays cancelled at short notice, this book rings very true in these aspects. This book deals with the murder of three young men, found stripped to the waist and the cause of death is unknown to the pathologist. It also features the most unusual method of killing that I have come across, and I've used that kind of equipment throughout my working life!!
This book is a demanding read, dark and disturbing, being very strong on details, feelings of helplessness and relationship problems. Antonia has issues, no doubt of that, but is she too dedicated to her job to make wedding plans?
I found this book to be a tense, well plotted read, but it does arouse such feelings of unease. I think I would like to try the others in this series, but not yet, maybe take a breather first!! I have posted this review on Goodreads today.

A typical British crime novel, nothing new, unexpected or particularly exciting but a decent read

When I got this book I haven’t realised that it’s part of a series. This is the forth book in Detective Inspector Antonia Hawkins series and although it did read fine as a standalone book I would have preferred to read them in order as there were hints throughout the book at previous cases and her personal life, which has now put me off reading the previous book – I feel I already know too much.

Three decaying bodies with no obvious signs of how they died left arranged on the floor of an abandoned flat. DCI Hawkins and her team are stuck on finding a motive, let alone the killer. But as they start to dig deeper into the victims’ history and as they retrace their footsteps, the team uncover a much deeper meaning to the deaths of the young men.

This is a great, fast paced crime novel. I really enjoyed learning about Toni’s live as well as the work she does and how the whole team work together. Her personal life with fiancé Mike seems to be woven well into the story and keeps the novel on a more human, believable level.

I was offered an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Yet again there was significant formatting errors in the copy and yet again. The story was good enough for me to overlook them. Sadly, this book did not live up to the promise of its predecessor.

A good story and interesting characters was over shadowed by the relationship difficulties in the lead’s private life - an all too familiar theme with fictional female cops. The book is overly long with considerable amount of detail that neither enhances the story or the characters and leaves little work for the reader’s imagination.

I will wait until publication before trying any more by this author and hope that formatting will be better and unnecessary detail minimised.

I randomly chose to read this book without re-reading the blurb from about 6 books that I had yet to read because I needed a break from police procedural serial killer books and I naively thought that this book's title would supply a book, probably a little cheesy, that would satisfy the need. Well how wrong was I!
I'm not sure but this book read like a sequel to a Toni Hawkins previous case - if it is, then great and I'll be off to investigate this further after I've left this review. However if it is, then I think I would have preferred to read the books in order, and therefore some sort of heads up would have been useful.
I liked the writing style with very good descriptions of chasing round London and felt as if I was getting to know the main protagonists. I will be looking out for this author in the future

This crime thriller had me completely gripped from start to finish. It is fast paced and well written with engaging characters. I loved it.