You can read the blurb for yourselves. I didn't read the first of these books, but I am definitely going to go back and do so. Excellent police procedural set in Brighton with a series of grisly murders and all evidence pointing to one suspect. My initial suspicions on who was to blame, early on, were proved correct which may have coloured how I was then reading the rest of the book, but this was an excellent read.

This is an exciting, fast paced crime thriller which had me gripped from the very first page. I love the fact that the various chapters were told from the point of view of half a dozen different characters. This made.me feel as if the story was happening in real time which really ramped up the suspense. It also gave a really good insight into the personalities of the cops, useful as the author obviously plans to write a series around this particular team. My only complaint is that this, the second book in the series, gave away the plot of the previous one including the identity of the perpetrator. I hadn't read this and had there not been so many spoilers I would have bought it immediately but as it is I probably won't bother.
Review posted on Goodreads and Amazon

I really enjoyed this book. I liked the characters and I was gripped the whole way through. This is a really good page turner with loads of suspense.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

I didn't realise this was part of a series. it can be read as a standalone, but really I think it's a good idea to read the first one first as some things were a little lost on me. Overall it was a good book but there was something missing. It was entertaining and I guess that's the main thing!

This is in a series but can be read as a standalone. I really enjoyed it but I think I would of enjoyed it more if I had read the sequel first! The characters depth was fantastic and I read it in a few days!

This book is the second in The Tattoo Thief series, and although the story can be read as a standalone, there is a lot of history between the characters which was regularly mentioned.

I enjoyed the story and read it fairly quickly, but I felt at times it got a little frantic and implausible. The narrative jumped around quite a lot, and regularly jumped back to Aimee in 1982. I understand why these chapters were included but while I was reading them they felt a bit excessive. Similarly, the history of Marni and her ex and his twin, I felt were just a bit unnecessary. The main plot, the killer in Brighton was really good, and very unique, and I feel like the book would have been much more enjoyable to read if there was more of a focus on that and the police work involved.

Defective Francis sullivan is on the case of a young girl who has been mutilated and tattooed with poisoned ink. Soon another girl is found and the suspect is a young man called Alex. Alex’s mum was involved with Francis and is determined to prove he didn’t kill anyone.

I hadn’t read the first one in this story but I soon gathered what was going on and that didn’t detract from my enjoyment of this book.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

This is a sequel to The Tattoo Thief featuring again DI Francis Sullivan and Tattoo artist Marni Mullins.
This time its Marni's son Alex that is under suspicion on murdering is girlfriend Tash.
Tash is found by Marni and Alex after she phoned him saying that she had been attacked, when they arrive at Bristol bandstand they find Tash bleeding out from a stab wound to her side but that's not all, Tash has been tattooed across her body.
Then it happens again to someone else that Alex knows, is he really the killer and can Francis prove otherwise before the killer strikes again?

My thanks to NetGalley and publisher Orion Publishing Group - Trapeze, for the ARC
I loved this book. I had read the Tattoo Thief previously so the characters I knew from the start. The story is gritty like the first book and part of it is still around tattoos which I have a passion about. The story was very different from the last book and did make the characters move on. I will not give anything away, but I did guess who the murderer was as I had an inkling halfway through and was glad I was on the right track. You do not need to read the first book to read this one but I would first. I now need to have a third book. Please keep the series going, it is nice to find a new author and really enjoy the books. I would highly recommend

This is an absolute corker! This book isn't the first in the series but its quite easy to catch up on. This is a fast-paced, dark and gritty. The method of murder is unusual too. I really liked the characters and the style of writing is brilliant. I think I will read the first book in this series as I enjoyed it so much.

My first time read of the author and didn’t know that this was a sequel to another book, however I enjoyed the story.
I liked how the characters are not your typical ones and the way they evolve within the plot and story!
I recommend this even thought I hadn’t read the first one.

I didn’t realise that this was second in a series but it worked great as a stand-alone novel! The plot was fantastic, I enjoyed the characters and the writing is out of this world amazing!!
Highly recommended

I haven’t read this authors previous work and in this case I think it would have been useful. There was a lot of detail from the previous book included which now prevents me from going back and reading it- what’s the point when I know most of what happened?

This book was an interesting enough story, but I didn’t find it particularly gripping, nor did I have especially deep feelings for any of the characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for my copy of this book.

My thanks to NetGalley and publisher Orion Publishing Group - Trapeze, for the ARC.
Well, I did on the one hand enjoy reading this book - mainly because of the unusual murder method revealed, and the frenetic, atmospheric activity which ensued towards the conclusion - on the other hand I felt there were questions, for me, left unanswered, and I thought the means of reaching the conclusion (no spoiler) were a bit too convenient.
I haven't read Alison Belsham's previous book but as a standalone references were easy to follow.
It's a hot (and sweaty - constantly referred to) August in Brighton. Tash (Natasha) Bradley is found under the pier with horrific injuries - a Latin script tattooed across her back, and holes in her hands and feet. Twenty-four hours later, for no discernible medical reason, she is dead.
A few days later, Sarah Collins, working as a cleaner, is found in a similar state at the Aquarium. She too dies within hours.
The main connection DI Francis Sullivan and his team can come up with is that both of the girls knew Alex Mullins - boyfriend to Tash and friend to Sarah. Except - there is no real evidence against him, but Sgt Rory Mackay is convinced he's the killer, after all, his mother Marni is a tattoo artist (well-known to DI Sullivan).
There is office politics where Sgt Mackay is openly hostile to his DI's suggestions; DCI Bradshaw is openly hostile also to the lack of progress DI Sullivan is making, and someone on the team must be leaking information to Tom Fritz of the local Press. Yet DI Sullivan doggedly pushes on amidst a background of his troubled personal life around his mother and sister, and his previous relationship with Marni Mullins.
The story throughout is told from the main characters' points of view in 2017, interspersed with narratives from the life of one Aimee, from 1982 which chart birthday milestones for her and what is happening within her family - abuse from her father, her mother dying of cancer, and an unsupportive older brother.
I found these passages - although pertinent to the conclusion, eventually, to be rather tedious and excessive.
I also found - although this was an attempt at an interesting back-story, the references and narrative regarding Marni's ex - Thierry, and his twin brother to be, well, rather by-the-by. Inconsequential.
Overall, my stars are for the ingenuity of the murder method, that is the saving grace of an uninspiring and somewhat repetitive investigation and a too-convenient and inexplicable means to a conclusion.

Based in Scotland an intriguing story obviously following up to a prequel which I look forward to reading. A most unusual way to kill his victims, the killer proceeds to select his victims but not necessarily random. While other suspects are being held he is able to gloat on the seemingly failure of the police force. Finally apprehending the culprit who proved to be a lot closer to D I Sullivan than he imagined. A good read.

A very good book her last breath has great characters and a plot that are believable,a really good crime thriller/police procedural book.5*

A very good second book and equally as god as the first

When Tash Bradley is attacked and later dies a strange tattoo is found on her body, Alex her boyfriend soon becomes the prime suspect due to his relation to a tattoo artist

What follows is the trials and tribulations of a mother trying to prove her sons innocence and the police trying to find the killer

A solid police procedural thriller. I hadn’t realised that this was a sequel to an earlier book. There were a lot of references back to the former novel - which mean that I wouldn’t go back to read it.
Some twists and turns and the method of murder was an unusual one.

Great book, I loved the way the plot unfolded. The characters were strong and relatable. Highly recommended

Many thanks to Netgalley and Alison Belsham for the advanced copy of this book. I agreed to give my unbiased opinion voluntarily.

Her Last Breath is the Brighton set sequel to The Tattoo Thief featuring D.I. Francis Sullivan and tattoo artist Marni Mullins. Though it’s not completely necessary to read The Tattoo Thief first, I’d recommend doing so as the reader will get more from the book as a result.

I left The Tattoo Thief thinking that Francis and Marni made something of an odd couple and so it wasn’t entirely surprising when I discovered that as Her Last Breath begins, the two are not together. That’s one of the things I like about Alison Belsham’s books; her characters are not predictable or cliched.

Marni has gone back to her ex, Thierry, and is preparing to give evidence at the trial of the nasty perpetrator of the Tattoo Thief killings; not something she is looking forward to. Then Tash Bradley, the girlfriend of Marni’s son, Alex is found murdered – and Alex is squarely in the frame. When the police discover that tattoos have a role to play in this and then in subsequent murders, things do not look good for Marni or her family.

Francis, meanwhile, is dealing with family issues, or rather failing to deal with them. His work ethic is enabling him to keep an emotional distance from everyone he cares about, including his sister and yet he is still finding himself at odds with his boss and one or two of his colleagues.

Francis is unconvinced that Alex is the serial killer the police are seeking; lack of evidence has something to do with that, but his boss is concerned that they make a fast arrest and Francis is out on a limb as he refuses to arrest Alex without corroborating evidence. Additionally, he needs Marni to turn up for her court testimony and he’s pretty sure she’s not going to do that if he locks Alex up.

All of this is impacting negatively on Marni who has worries of her own. Not only is she concerned about Alex, but she suspects Thierry is cheating on her again and there’s another serious thorn in her flesh that she can’t deal with easily.

Told from multiple points of view this is a gripping read that holds the attention. Alison Belsham quickly draws the reader into the pages of the book and she wastes no time in getting to the action. Well plotted and with a deftly concealed perpetrator, Her Last Breath offers an opportunity to get to know the central protagonists better; though Francis wrestles with the personal and does his best to remain a closed book. As a reader, you really do want to help him to unbutton a little, but he is slow to trust and is his own worst enemy.

It is Belsham’s distinctive voices and excellent characterisation that really make her books work for me. These are fully fleshed, well-drawn people that I can visualise and whose actions always run true to their character. So, while I’m not sure I like Marni Mullins, I know what she’s been through and where her heart lies and why Francis is drawn to her.

The murders themselves are suitably fiendish and grisly and there’s more than one surprise in store as this fast-paced and thrilling police procedural progresses.

Verdict: Excellent storytelling, with a well-defined sense of place and a beautifully creepy atmosphere. Some very twisted moments create a real sense of tension and some well laid surprises really hit their mark.