I would firstly like to thank Netgalley and the publishers for allowing me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really hope that this book is the first of a really great series! A fantastic debut start to Detective Eve Hunter and her team. Fantastic characters that really add to the compellingly written plotline. The story itself gripped me right from the very beginning, pulling me in to it's dark, gruesome fast-paced page-turner!
Can't wait for the next!

A dark read of brutal murders set in Aberdeen and DI Eve Hunter at the helm of the investigation.

My first book by author Deborah Masson, I absolutely was taken in by the claustrophobic atmosphere of this book. I had the shivers in some parts. The murders were violent and graphic, the tongue of the victim was excised. A part of me cringed, other wanted the killer to be killed by the cops.

I loved the slow build up of crimes and the investigation. Eve Hunter had just come back from leave after personal injury. Guilt and determination were the twin emotions shadowing her. The story moved slowly, the shadows deepened further.

This was a slow read of a killer with mental issues and a cop with her own demons bringing about justice. Wow… Read it at your risk. It was quite dark.

What a stunning debut novel, the character of lead detective Eve was a great one and I really liked her a lot. I thought it was pretty gory and disturbing but I like that in a book! Plot was a good one with plenty of action and twists to keep you guessing, I’m looking forward to the next instalment.

Hold Your Tongue is a 3.5 ⭐️ rounded up to 4.
This is the first in the new series by Deborah Masson and we meet Chief Investigating Officer of the Aberdeen Police's Major Incident Team, DI Eve Hunter. Eve has just returned to her job after six months leave where she was injured whilst out in a job. Eve may be struggling with a few aspects of her life but there’s no time for any of that as she’s thrown straight into a murder enquiry. A young woman has been found in a hotel room by the cleaner, murdered, tied up, face smashed to pieces and her tongue cut out, yes if your squeamish your correct this probably isn’t the book for you as it is quite graphic which for me was a good thing. Obviously Eve and her team are correct this is not just an isolated case as a dancer is found the following week with her tongue also missing.
This book was an ok read, somethings just didn’t work for me, I liked Eve and I liked seeing her struggle with guilt as this felt very real, I didn’t like the logistics of her team of who blamed her and who didn’t for the accident she was involved in and for me that part didn’t work, I was also surprised no one thought to look at historic cases that fit the bill of this serial murderer to see if it was a copycat or not.
I would like to thank Netgalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers, Corgi for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

A NetGalley book
The reason I wanted to read this book was because it was set in Aberdeen and I find Scottish crime novels grittier than others. Unfortunately though, this one didn't live up to my expectations. That is it gory and dark cannot be questioned, but it fails to set itself apart from other books in the genre in originality. The theme of the broken main detective, the point of view of the killer narrated in italics, the use of a popular nursery rhyme to link the killings, the broken childhood of the perpetrator, the characters of the colleagues (friendly, hostile and judgemental) – all come across as done to death.

#HoldYourTongue #NetGalley
I devoured it in a few hours. A must read.
A serial killer is stalking Aberdeen. A young woman's body is found with a cutting of a newspaper attached to her clothing. DI Eve Hunter is called to investigate the case. Who's the killer? Why he killed that woman? Who's that woman ? What's her connection with the killer? Read this book to know more.
Narration of the story is brilliant with a good ending.
I personally love the character of DI Eve Hunter.
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK Transworld Publishers for giving me an advanced copy of this awesome psychological thriller.

A sincere thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for providing me an ebook copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. I enjoyed this story very much and felt like I knew each character personally due to the description of them. I enjoyed the storyline. This is not my usual genre but in this instance I am extremely pleased and grateful for opening up my mind to something totally different. Thanks again.

A great book, in my opinion, and introduction to DI Eve Hunter...Eve returns to active duty after a previous incident in which many of her colleagues believe her to have been at fault...given a chance by her boss, Eve must struggle not only to solve a gruesome series of murders, but also to try and keep her team onside. Well built up storyline, with tension gradually escalating throughout...good twists right to the end!

An excellent introduction to DI Eve Taylor, this book has it all. Intrigue, mystery, suspense , an absolute page turner for those who, like me, enjoy a good crime novel. Highly recommended.

read an ARC copy of this book which i received via net galley in exchange for an honest review. Eve Hunter heads a team of serious crime investigators in Aberdeen. Returning from sick leave with a less than spotless record she is catapulted into a series of killings that seem to have no solution. Her reputation precedes her and makes difficulties with both her colleagues and the criminal fraternity.

The author has created a stunning character who has vulnerability as well as nerve, courage and determination. She' s afraid- at times very afraid - but good at putting an outer"face" on. The murders are brutal and suspect less with very little to go on. The whole team are guilty of making 2+ 2 equal 5 at times.

The narrative is so well done, plotting of time lines, twists and turns to satisfy even the most Sherlockian of readers. I had no idea where this was going - I had inklings of who might be involved but not of which character fulfilled that who -if that even makes sense.

I thoroughly enjoyed this one (although enjoyed may not be the word you should be throwing at it) and I certainly want to read more in the series

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for the ARC of this book
For a first novel this was great, I convinced myself I knew who the killer was but was proved completely wrong. I would recommend this book and it really kept me gripped. Bring on the next one,

A strong debut with a confident voice and a knack for twists and turns. Its quite gritty and gruesome in places but really well written

Hold Your tongue by Deborah Masson is gritty, unsettling and a little disturbing and it's only a debut (with hopefully more to come)
Its been a while since I've read a book where I've been disappointed that I didn't really have much time to read it in one sitting.
It's also been a very long time since I read a book which is shockingly gory (tongues being cut out) but not over the top but has your imagination working overtime.
There's plenty to keep you chomping at the bit there's the history between the character's from before a little animosity and misunderstandings and plenty of blame.
The murders in the today part of the book are everything you could imagine strangling, tongues being cut out drugging and dumping and a shocking twist of whodunit.
Absolutely worth reading 📖

A gritty, fast paced and gruesome crime thriller. DI Eve Hunter returns to work months after a horrific attack and is plunged into a brutal murder investigation. An enjoyable read and look forward to reading more in the series.

This is an excellent fast paced book with a twist I didn’t see coming. A new DI with ,I hope, a long series of books to come. Looking forward to the next book already.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for an honest and unbiased opinion.

A serial killer with a fetish for tongues.

It’s DI Eve Hunter’s first day back at work after recovering from a serious leg injury she’d sustained while on a shout with her partner, DS Nicola Sanders. They were beaten so badly Sanders is now confined to a wheelchair while Hunter’s leg might never fully recover.

Hunter has no sooner arrived at the office when she and her team, DS Mark Cooper, DC Scott Ferguson and DC Jo Mearns are called to a murder scene. The victim a young girl has had her tongue cut out.

The team soon realise that they are dealing with a serial killer and although they dedicate every working minute to finding the maniac carrying out the murders, they always seem to be one step behind.

Deborah Masson deserves five-stars for the plot. It is unique and well researched. However, I found the characters not only one dimensional but unfortunately also not original. There are other detective series with similar themes. Lead detective, a woman with severe mental hang-ups, trying to prove that they can do the job. The only thing that kept me reading to the end was to discover who the perpetrator was.

Rony

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

I really enjoyed this book so much. It has a really great plot, superb main characters and I read it in one sitting. I would highly recommend this book.

DI Eve Hunter is returning to work after a harrowing previous case that left her with both psychological and actual injuries and whilst we don't know what happened in this case we are drip fed titbits during the course of the book. Not everyone is happy to see Eve though and when she is put in charge of the latest murder tensions run high,a young woman's body is found with a note pinned to her and missing her tongue and Eve is called to directly to the scene. Some of Eve's team resent her returning to work when the last case was so devastating and this changes the dynamics of the team and you can sense the distrust.
This is an exciting debut novel and I for one was firmly hooked from the first few pages, I loved that there was also an insight into the killers mind through his own thoughts interspersed throughout. All in all a very good introduction to DI Hunter and I look forward to more about her and the team.
Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of the book.

I really enjoyed this book. The first in the series of DI Eve. I look forward to more books in this series

Unfortunately I really struggled to get through Hold Your Tongue by Deborah Masson. I never really connected with any characters and just never found myself getting into the story and caring about how it ended. I read a lot of thrillers so it had a lot to live upto and unfortunately it just didn't meet expectations. I would be open to reading more from Deborah in the future though