This is the second book in the DCI Rachel King Series by author Helen H Durrant following on from 'Next Victim'. This book can be read as a stand-alone.
DCI Rachel King is a divorced mother of two teenage girls and lives next door to ex husband Alan in the Cheshire village of Poynton, just outside from central Manchester. Rachel is good at her job and juggles the strains of her job, her teenage girls and her secret of former lover, a well-know villain Jed McAteer. In 'Two Victims' Rachel is faced with investigating the death of a local nurse, Agnes Moore, found buried on a building site with a bullet in her skull. But this is increased to a double murder when another body is found buried in the same place. The building site is owned by Rachel's ex lover Jed McAteer.
This is another well paced, no nonsense crime novel that delivers. Interesting characters and good sub plots.
I would like to thank both Net Galley and Joffe Books for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Two Victims by Helen H. Durrant is the second in the Detective Rachel King series.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Joffe Books, and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.



Series Background:  (Warning – May contain spoilers from previous books)
DCI Rachel King is with the serious crime squad for east Manchester. Her team consists of: DS Elwyn Pryce, her long-time colleague and friend; DC Jonny Farrell, the newest member of the team, and still a little green; and DC Amy Metcalfe, who shows potential, but is a bit unreliable.  Rachel went through a somewhat amicable divorce and her husband bought the house next door in order to help raise their two teenage daughters. Although Rachel knows she cannot have a relationship with her first love Jed McAteer due to his criminal background, he is hard to forget.  Only her partner knows of their relationship, and the fact that her youngest daughter is actually McAteer's.



My Synopsis:   

Two bodies are found in a building site that Jed McAteer is developing into housing.  Both shot in the head.  One, Agnes Moore,  is a local nurse who seems to be helping homeless young women every chance she gets.  The other young girl is harder to identify. 

When Rachel's investigation leads her to another dead body, she steps on the toes of DCI Mark Kenton from another district, who insists on taking over.   Apparently he is working on a human trafficking ring, and has been doing so for a long time.   Rachel doesn't want to let go, but her boss seems to be siding with DCI Kenton.

Rachel, of course, pushes back, and continues to do whatever she wants.



My Opinions:

This was another fast-paced story, and a very easy read.  

I am still unsure about Rachel.  She's definitely a hard worker, but.... I still think her parenting skills are lacking, and her temper is a little out there.  She seems very unprofessional in her work.  Overall I am having a hard time liking her, which makes the books a little off-putting.   I rather like the supporting cast (Elwyn, Jed, her daughters) better. 

The plot was good, and although I did guess the perpetrator early on, I could not determine the motive. 

Again, there was an appendix at the back of the book showing a list of British slang, which, as a Canadian, I find helpful (sort of wish it was at the beginning of the book).

Overall, it was only an okay read, but I'm going to stick with the series, if only to see where it goes from here.

Detective Rachel King and her team are investigating a woman found murdered in a building site. It's when another body is found just a couple of feet away that things get interesting.

The second woman found was killed earlier. There is no identification and no one seems to be missing who fit her description. The first woman found was a nurse, Agnes Moore.

When the investigation goes further, King discovers that Agnes had secrets .. is that why she was killed? What's her connection with Victim # 2 ?

And there's another kink in the chain. Jed McAteer is very well known to Rachel. They had a connection in their childhood ... and he's the father of her youngest child - a fact that only one or two people know. But Rachel went toward law enforcement, while Jed went in the other direction. It's his building site that housed the two victims.

Is he involved? And if he is .... will it cost her the career she has fought so hard to achieve? And if there is a serial killer on the loose ... who will be next?

This is second in the series that features Rachel King and her team. She's a bulldog, tenacious until she gets what ... or who ... she goes after. I like the blend of her professional and personal life. She's trying to balance work with being a mom ... and who has the help of her ex-husband who conveniently lives right next door.

Well paced action kept me glued to the pages. There are plenty of secondary characters to watch and wonder about. Suspense starts on the very first page and builds until the surprising ending.

Many thanks to the author / Joffe Books / Netgalley for the digital copy of this crime fiction. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

# Two Victims #Netgalley
Wow, a absolutely amazing read, once again by Helen Durrant.
It’s a extreme fast paced, racing against the killer. How on earth does miss Durrant keep knocking such amazing novels out as she does. This is definitely one of my major Must Read books. You will be glued to it and you can not or want to put this down. It’s just awesome, brilliantly phenomenal

Another excellent book from Helen Durrant. Couldn't put it down, and kept me guessing until the end. Would recommend this book!

Really enjoyed this novel. The writing flowed and the characters were depicted very well. Couldn't wait to find out what happens next.

DCI Rachel King #2

A woman's body had been found at a building site. She'd been shot. While forensics are searching the site, another body is found. They manage to identify the first body but they are having a little difficulty in identifying the second victim.

This is a fast paced page turner. We are on the second book in this series and I'm really liking it. DCI Rachel King is given the case of solving what she thinks is one murder case. And it's not proving to be an easy case to solve when they discover another body. The story is gripping but I don't think the book can be read as a standalone as there is quite a few references back to the first book in this series. An enjoyable read.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Joffe Books and the author Helen H. Durrant for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A perfectly good entry in the books by Durrant. Strong characters, back stories, cliffhanger. Reads like a crime soap opera. This one is about past loves, human trafficking and grooming girls for prostitution. Good characters and could be a standalone. I always pick Durrant' s books for a quick, consistent read.

Copy provided by the Publisher and NetGalley

In the second book of the Rachel King series a body of a woman who has been executed with a bullet to the head is found on a building site when the body is removed another body is found buried beneath. As Rachel King and her team start to investigate they find links to international people trafficking,and murder. But things are not what they seem and whom can she trust?
This is another good read from Helen H Durrant which keeps the pages turning and even when you reach the end the questions are not all answered. Looking forward to the next in series.

I enjoyed this book but it was a relatively simple plot. It is clearly a book in a series of books and characters but still held up on it's own and it didn't matter that I had not read previous books. Easy read with murder but no blood and guts

When 2 bodies are discovered on a building site owned by her ex partner Jed, Rachel knows there is more to these deaths but is unprepared for the background of these 2 women

I enjoyed this. Rachel is a fleshed-out heroine with realistic strengths and flaws, the action is pacy, and the plot comes with a clever twist. The characterization could be stronger, but the people of the story are human enough to capture interest.

Another fantastic fast paced book by Helen, I'm really enjoying the series, Rachel King is a great character. Looking forward to reading the next. Highly recommended

Two Victims is the second book in a police procedural series by Helen H Durrant and like the first book it is an excellent book which is definitely a page turner.

The pacing is great with numerous twists and turns and whilst a reader could question the main character's organisational abilities and calmness at times for a senior officer these are very minor quibbles that did not detract from my overall enjoyment

Definitely recommended

The Unlucky Ones (Detective Jessica Daniels #14) – Kerry Wilkinson


Oh my god I’ve so missed Detective Jessica Daniels, it feels too long between instalments. There is not been one single book in this series that I haven’t been totally hooked by and that’s unheard of for me. I’ve definitely got everything crossed that we’ve more than a few books to come from this series so I’m afraid you’re going to have to work your little fingers to the bone Mr Wilkinson. In my humble opinion I think that these are best read in order, as there’s such a wealth of personal and professional information about the team inside the pages. It’s where we learn all the key players vital places within the team as well as their foibles and habits.

Although there isn’t as much action this time there is a kind of depth and vulnerability that we haven’t seen before involving Jessica making her seem somehow more human to us. We didn’t get to see as much of the rest of the team as I would have liked but I did enjoy meeting DC Archie Davey and spending time with Rowland again.

I really don’t want to give away too much of the plot as there are plenty of reviews covering that so I’ll try to be brief, try being the operative word.

We initially have two victims one almost knocked over, then pushed in front of a car driven by DC Davey with Jessica as a passenger, the other almost drowned, then was found in the canal, spooky or what? Imagine having to figure out how two unlucky individual deaths turn into a serial killer. This is just the kind of puzzle that Jessica a workaholic needs to keep her brain ticking (although ‘needs’ may be the wrong word). After all we know that her mind works in a slightly different way to rest of her colleagues. Once she’s spotted the anomaly that others have either dismisses or overlook there’s no stopping her.

Recently assigned to a zero crime estate (is there even such a thing?) that previously was much higher tingles her spidey senses and off she goes trying to find out exactly just how a modern day Fagin moved into the estate without the police knowing. It is on the estate that we meet the wonderful Roly who I pictured as quite a dapper chap it’s a shame that the same can’t be said about the gang of kids hanging about on bikes

I have to say that the Detective Jessica Daniels is up there in my top five officers to read. I admire her commitment, drive and pedanticness (Is that a real word?) to both her team and the job; her sense of humour often manages to appear at just the right moment. I often wonder if people’s attitudes towards the police would be different if they were able to like her and others of her ilk? I’m sure there are and I’m aware that there are budgets, protocols and procedures in place that wouldn’t allow officers to go off a tangent in the way that they do in novels.

If you like/love a British police procedural I can guarantee that these are the series for you. Treat yourself to one of these bad boys and buckle up buttercup and enjoy the ride. Highly recommended 10/10


Read for an honest review. Thank you Kerry Wilkinson, Netgalley and Bookouture.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

The NetGalley blurb made it sound as if this was the first in a new series, but it turned out to be the second. There were constant references to things that had happened in the earlier story, and certain elements of this instalment (for example Rachel’s relationship with Jed) had to be spelt out in detail for this book to make sense. Even then I found Rachel’s character inconsistent and prone to making odd decisions. The ‘massive twist’ was pretty obvious to me and left loose ends which Rachel seemed surprisingly unconcerned about (unconcern being a speciality of hers - see her relationship with her daughters, whom she treated as irritating housemates).

Disappointed.

What a thrilling book! Another intense read by Helen H. Durrant. If you are looking for a police procedural with a strong female character this new series is for you! With all the twists and turns it had me hooked from the first chapter. This series just gets better and more complex with each new installment. Definitely on my list of must reads!
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of the book.
#netgalley
#twovictims

Two women are found murdered in the trench of a building site. Both were killed by a single gun shot. One of them is identified as a local nurse, Agnes Moore. She's said to have been an angel to young women from the streets who were in distress. The other body is about 2 months older and the police have no leads on who she is or why she was killed. In addition, a teenaged girl on the run is hiding from some very bad people and she may have vital information for DCI Rachel King and her team. There's some evidence of people trafficking through a local seedy club and additional violence ensues as detectives start getting closer to the black heart at the source. NO SPOILERS.

I am really enjoying this fast-paced police procedural/crime thriller series. In this second book, we see more of the same Rachel King with her incredible work ethic and her continued personal issues involving her family life and her past history with local criminal turned profitable businessman, Jed McAteer. Not much more has come out to let us get to know the various other characters any better but this case was quite complicated and interesting. I like when the details and clues are painstakingly found through tedious investigation along with forensic examination and are slowly revealed as they'd be in a real police case. Some of the revelations were surprising. I'm looking forward to reading the third book in this compelling series.

Thank you to NetGalley and Joffe Books for this e-book ARC to read and review.

DCI Rachel King is called to a murder scene. A woman has been shot and left covered by sand in a trench on a building site. Scene of crime investigators then find a second body.

The second book in the Rachel King series. The storytelling is good and quite absorbing. Aspects of the plot and the eventual denouement seemed unconvincing however. The story ends with a cliffhanger.. 2 1/2 stars.

Thank you NetGalley and Joffe Books for this arc.

This is the 2nd Rachel King story and a good one. Rachel is called out to the scene where a body has been found on a construction site.... oops! There's another body found under the first one. The police team has to find out who the bodies are before they can really start investigating the murders. The story move from slow to fast and then picks up again before slowing some more. The slow spots are filled in with Rachel's domestic dramas. Is she ever a mess! She has secrets that are starting to come out and she's scrambling to prevent further revelations of her "personal" life. While she doesn't appear to be dishonest, her inability to own her own past choices have truly made her present life a disaster. The police story seems credible but loses some of that with Rachel's tantrums at work. There's some hints of a greater criminal conspiracy/ investigation to come and I hope that if so, Rachel doesn't find her life imploding.

3.5 stars