A very well written book. Great descriptions and the characters really came to life.
Aside from the quality of the writing the storyline was engaging and flowed well.
A great police procedural read that I thoroughly enjoyed

If you are looking for a new police procedural series to get your teeth into, this could be the one. It's gritty, gruesome and very good.
This is a case that needs a speedy resolution, but there are plenty of bumps in the road that mean that might not be possible. One of those bumps is the tension that Eve feels, returning to work after 6 months following an injury, and her guilt about what happened the night of her injury. There is also tension amongst her team, some of whom have reservations about her being allowed to return to work, making Eve's job just that little bit harder. Told from multiple points of view, including the killers, gave wonderful insight into all of the characters, and I really felt immersed in the story.
Like any good book in the genre, there are plenty of red herrings, and the reveal of the killer is a good one.
I'm already looking forward to the next book in the series, and my thanks go to the publishers and Net Galley for the advanced copy in return for an honest review.

Wow what can I say it was brilliant loved it, it was so well written I felt I was there and knew the characters personally. The story had so many twists and turns I hadn’t got a clue who the murderer was, the characters were so likeable especially Eve who I felt sorry for and Mearnes and Ferguson who I disliked at first then they won me over, now Ive finished it I might get to sleep earlier but didn’t want it to end I definitely recommend this book I would give 10 stars if I could.

A rather grim and gruesome police procedural novel which is due to be the start of a series. The murders certainly come thick and fast and there are plenty of twists and turns. A well written debut novel the characters just did not quite hold my interest as much as I would have hoped.

This is first in a new series of books by Deborah Masson and it looks like being a fantastic series. After reading this first instalment there are still some parts of DI Eve Hunter’s life to be revealed but the reader is slowly learning why she acts as she does. Highly principled and someone who does not suffer fools, Eve is just returning to work after serious physical and emotional injuries received in the line of duty and on the first day is assigned to investigate a particularly gruesome death. In fact all of the murders are quite descriptively gruesome!

This is a book I thoroughly enjoyed and will be looking out for future instalments in the series.

Unfortunately I didn’t finish this book, the style of writing just wasn’t for me. Felt like the author was trying too hard to use lots of unusual words.

A gripping story, with a completely surprising ending. Eve is a great character, and I hope there will be more books to come, as I like the characters in the team. My only reservation is that the story was just a bit too contrived. That's a minor quibble though; it was still an excellent read.

This is a very considerable achievement for someone who is writing her first full novel. Hopefully there will be others. It is a story of detection,this time a serial killer whose plan is discovered by accident as being linked to a verse. The reader is traded as to who the killer is with leads but no certainty. The conclusion,that the killer is identifiable as a character in the story,is likely early on but no clues as to exactly who. I guessed wrong! If I have a reservation it is that,as frequently in detective stories just now,the team leader,Eve,is a dysfunctional person who would not have been allowed near the investigation in real police work. There are the usual tensions within the team of well drawn characters. The setting in Aberdeen works well and is welcome as a change from the usual crime cities.

Excellent debut novel from a new name in crime and mystery writing that grabbed my interest from the first page and kept me guessing right to the final pages.

As an avid fan of Paul Finch’s DI Heckenburg and MJ Arlidge DI Helen Grace series as soon as I read ‘Eve Hunter 1’ I got a little excited with the prospect this could be another series I fall in love with.

The book starts 20 years ago outlining a brutal Murder.. jump toward to now and it’s straight in with murders which are similar. Some could say in parts this book is a slow burner but it’s worth sticking with. I really liked how each member of Hunters team was introduced and outlined to get a feel for them including Hunter herself. With one or two of the team it taking a while to properly warm to. It’s VERY gruesome so not for the faint hearted in my opinion.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will be looking out for more by the author in future!

Firstly, this cover is great.

Hold Your Tongue is an impressive debut. It was well-written, clear to follow, and had some imaginative (albeit gory) crime scene descriptions!

I can’t say the plot was particularly striking or “special”, as a large number of similar crime novels already exist. However, if you particularly enjoy police procedures, forensic investigations, and gory murder mysteries, Hold Your Tongue is a worthwhile crime novel to add to your collection.

However, that’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the plot. I did! There were some subtle red herrings and some fantastic twists. At one point, I thought I had figured everything out, only to be left completely surprised and shocked again as things changed.

One of the best aspects of the novel – I thought – was Masson’s characters. I enjoyed watching Eve interact with the colleagues around her, and each character was individual and different. Everyone had different backgrounds, personalities and relationships, and the characters all felt completely real and believable. This made me invested in the murder mystery even more; I wanted Eve to succeed and I wanted her team to support her.

The more of Hold Your Tongue I read, the more interesting it became. I was captivated entirely by the ending and I thought these scenes were fantastic – they were thrilling and exciting, and I was glued to my Kindle app.

I would definitely recommend Hold Your Tongue if you are seeking a new, exciting crime / thriller to read in 2020.

A decent debut novel, which works either as a standalone or as the first in a series. Aberdeen-based DI Eve Hunter is back at work after a traumatic event that has left her damaged physically and emotionally, and left a colleague with life-changing injuries. To make her reintegration even harder, there’s a serial killer on the loose.
Debra Masson weaves a good story, with a complex cast of characters, though they have a propensity to jump whenever a mobile rings! Eve Hunter is quite her own person. Some of her motives and guilt regarding her injured colleague were not clear, but maybe that was just me. Some parts felt a bit repetitive, and some of the conversations and scenes jarring/confusing. Other than that a very decent novel, with a reasonably un-guessable twist. (I got close but not close enough.) There were also a few thoughts and ideas that were repeated (violent, misogynistic men; hints of abuse/neglect not followed up on, to name two).
(Review copy from NetGalley)

what a fantastic debut!
Eve is back at work after a previous case that went wrong left her and her partner with life changing injuries but despite the atmosphere in her team she must get on and solve the murder of a young woman left with a headline pinned to her clothes.
As the investigation gets more complex and the body count increases so did my suspicions of the perpetrator. However it is not as clear cut as I first thought with some clever misdirection from the author in terms of personalities, information and backgrounds leading the reader a merry dance before the final reveal.
A fantastic novel with some great scenic descriptions of Aberdeen after dark, great characters and an intricate plot line. I look forward to more from both Eve and from Deborah Masson.

DI Eve Hunter is back at work following the aftermath of a case with life-changing consequences for everyone involved. However, she doesn't have time to dwell on the hostility from team members new and old, because a body has been found with the most horrific injuries.. The case seems to be easy to solve - until another body is discovered.

Under pressure to conclude the case without further bloodshed, Eve is forced to confront her past more than once.

A great book which keeps you guessing until the end

Expertly paced, intriguing and with a strong emotional kick - this is a great start to a fab new detective series.

Wow,this book i read in one go! I was gripped from the beginning. I will certainly be on the lookout for more off this author! Just wow. Talk about frightening and gripping. A must read

This is an awesome start to what promises to be a great new police procedural set in Aberdeen. The main character of DI Eve Hunter is returning to work after a terrible attack and she is faced with a lot of mistrust from some members of her team who feel she shouldn’t be back, added to this on her first day back she is faced with a gruesome murder and as the bodied start to pile up up Eve is struggling.
This really is a gripping and gritty read and I did not guess who the perpetrator was despite reading a lot of mystery thrillers and all goes down to the brilliant writing by Deborah Masson.
This is in my opinion a book that is very well crafted, enjoyable and the characters all believable and I am looking forward to reading the next in this excellent new series.
My thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers, Corgi for giving me the chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Given the title of this police procedural, you should realise the nature of the novel and therefore the nature of the crimes within. Gruesome is not the word. Aberdeen does not come out well in this storyline! It's well evoked by street names, history of the Granite City and its people etc. But this won't be on any tourist board websites anytime soon.

Boy this is dark. Gruesome and dark. They say Aberdeen is the granite city? Well now it’s the gory and gruesome city too if this novel is anything to go by.

Interesting premise - DI Eve Hunter is back at work after an accident on the job. She’s recovering but things wil take time and part of her worry is about returning back to work and being with the team. Its interesting to get so close to the police’s worries and fears in this way. She’s not expecting her first case back to be easy but it’s stranger and more gruesome than she thinks.

Reading the novel is like diving headfirst into a swimming pool. You don’t know how deep it’s going to be, what the water temperature is like and you don’t even get time to jump as someone shoves you in… I gulped, felt a bit sick and then spend the rest of the novel furiously paddling to stay afloat. Plenty of waves and people shoving your head underway as you read too to keep things interesting.

As I said before, Aberdeen comes across ‘well’ but it’;s not the best of impressions! A gritty Scottish city with its gritty new police detective. With POVS from the killer and the police, this is a cat and mouse read.

This is a creditable debut novel from Deborah Masson which despite a few reservations I did enjoy. The central character is DI Eve Hunter who returns to work after a six month absence to investigate a series of very gruesome murders. What unfolds is a twisty and gruesome tale which costs the lives of several victims. The story is told principally from Eve’s perspective interspersed with the killer Then and Now. This works well and dangles tantalising hints which adds intrigue.

I think the team that Eve leads is an interesting one and I’m hoping there is another book as I think there’s a lot of potential here. They are all different, DS Scott is reliable, very honest and a good friend to Eve and she needs it. DC Jo Mearns is spikey but I warmed to her character as the book progresses. DC Scott Ferguson is a good officer but arrogant and he likes to undermine Eve if he can. Their boss is DCI Hastings and he’s a no nonsense kind of guy that is respected but not always liked. There is a lot of tension between the team and this comes across well. This is due to an investigation that left Eve injured and her friend and colleague DS Sanders paralysed and there are many that blame Eve for this. We are really kept in the dark about what exactly happens in this prior case and it took a long time to find out and I began to find the hinting a bit irritating! This happens in the first half of the book which I feel is a bit slow and repetitious but thankfully the pace picks up in the second half which is tense and exciting with several jaw dropping moments.

The murders being investigated are certainly gruesome and dark. I could not understand why the team did not investigate an historic case that had similarities earlier as you would hope that in real policing that would be done as a matter of course. The plotting is perhaps a tad far fetched but it is certainly intriguing and memorable. There are a lot of twists that I did not see coming and the end where the killer is caught is a cracker. That section is written so well you are left almost breathless. The final section of the book is good too as the team ‘put to bed’ their problems with each other.

Overall. a good read that definitely leaves me wanting more from the author and this team of characters.

Bearing in mind I only started reading this book two days ago and have already finished it, I would definitely consider Hold Your Tongue a page turner!

As a debut, Deborah Mason writes confidently, especially in a genre that can be very tricky to hook a reader. Aberdeen works as a fresh setting for a police procedural, with a host of believable characters, including DI Eve Hunter.

The book takes place as Eve returns to work after an ordeal, only to be landed with a vicious murder case, where a young woman has been butchered to death. Feeling under pressure from her past mistakes, and with her superiors breathing down her neck, Eve feels she has something major to prove to her team, and herself. You’d have to do some great detective work to sift through the red herrings and figure out the killer in this page turner - good news for lovers of this genre.

I’m looking forward to reading more of Eve, and whatever twisted ideas Deborah Mason has to offer.

Many thanks to Net Galley and Random House for sending me an advance read copy in exchange for an honest review.