I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book is the second in the DI Monica Kennedy series, picking up around six months after the last book finished. Monica and her team are adapting back to work after taking time to recover from the mental rigours of their last case. The case that crops up concerns bodies found in remote glens, that appear to be horrifically mutilated, but what happened to the victims, and how are they connected?

I recently read the first book and thoroughly enjoyed it, and I feel that this book is a strong addition to what is shaping up to be a fantastic series! If anything, I enjoyed this book even more than the first, as the characters develop a bit more and the mysteries unravel. The setting is great and is almost another character in itself - I’m familiar with some of the areas described and they are extremely beautiful and a bit foreboding. The mystery here is great, it was graphic but I thought it was extremely well written and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this - a fantastic addition to Scottish crime fiction. I’ll be keenly awaiting the third book in the series!

Wow ,what a fabulous read, Dark Waters is a chilly ,creepy ,dark story set in the Scottish Highlands this book grips from the first chapter and doesn't let go,a real page turner .Full of twists and turns and creepy characters I really liked Detective Monica Kennedy and her team ,I can't wait to read the next book in the series .Many thanks to the Publisher ,the Author and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest review .

This is the second G.R. Halliday book that I have read and again, it features DI Monica Kennedy. Like its predecessor, this book is dark, menacing and atmospheric. It is set in the far north of Scotland around Inverness and the northern Highlands. A girl crashes her car but wakes up to find herself captive. Simultaneously, a body is found near a hydro-electric dam. These two cases are investigated by DI Kennedy's team of Crawford and Fisher. You don't have to have read the first book to have read this one but I found it did give background to the main characters. The book is a cross between police procedural and psychological thriller. I did quite enjoy it but at times did wish it could be faster paced. Thank you NetGalley for giving me the chance to read and review this book.

If you like your thrillers a little dark, full of twists and turns, with fantastic characters giving the story new leads and information at every turn then grab a copy of this book!!  A fantastic read where I couldn't turn the pages fast enough, ever eager to find out what would happen next.  The pace and drama are totally engrossing and the narrative given by the main victim along with our protagonist DI Monica Kennedy was superb.

Following the end results of book one, Monica has cut back on her work by temporarily joining the traffic department, allowing herself time to heal and to spend more time with her young daughter Lucy.  However whilst out on a trip to the cinema, Monica receives her first call in months from her old boss back in MIT.  She is needed back!  After the discovery of a dismembered body in the more remote parts of the Scottish Highlands Monica joins back up with Crawford, Fisher and new team member Khan, on what turns out to be a major murder and abduction investigation.

Yet again the Highlands and their landscape and weather are wonderfully evoked and it was great to meet back up with the team and we learn a little more about them in this new book.  They also seem a little closer after the events of book one.  I loved the way each chapter was told mainly from the point of view of each of the two main characters and how they overlapped within the time frame of the investigation, plus a few back stories and earlier events which gave the story insights into the crimes taking place.  There are a number of characters but the author introduces them well, as you read about their involvement and learn of yet another lead for Monica and her team to follow up.

The chapters told by Annabelle are quite graphic and scary but boy did I found my heart pumping at each of her attempts to escape. Towards the end of the book the story line from Annabelle and Monica are full of such tense drama and adrenaline, and I loved the way their actions are told, one after another, so that you can follow them getting closer and closer but will it all be too late???

This second book can easily be read as a standalone but I've so enjoyed reading these two books that I can't wait for book three and further enjoyment from this new series.

Thanks so much to Mia from Vintage, for my place on the tour and bringing this new series to my attention.

I really enjoyed this book, though be warned - it is not for the faint hearted!! Annabelle is on a driving holiday in the highlands of Scotland when she swerves off the road to avoid a little girl. The next thing she knows is that she is in an underground room, clearly being held captive, and being told that ' the Doctor' will be coming to see her soon. DI Monica Kennedy and her team have been called to investigate the discovery of 2 bodies which have been dismembered and dumped in a dam. This is a fast paced, page turner of a novel, which I recommend as an exciting read. Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
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Many Thanks to Net Galley, Random House UK/Vintage Books and the author for a chance to read and review this book.

#DarkWaters #NetGalley

Oh God, what have I just read? One of the most disturbing and troubling book that I have come across in some time, G R Halliday’s Dark Waters is terribly dark, so dark that I would like to give fair warning to readers that there are descriptions of dismembered bodies so gruesome that can make you feel nauseated.

Fans of thrillers have nothing to worry, Dark Waters with Monica Kennedy is a book that need to be read and have to say this, to be READ in order to understand the whys and whats of Monica’s trauma. This is book #2 and like always with me, haven’t read the first one, and there’s quite a bit of references to the previous case that has affected her and her team. Dark Waters continues from that previous case where in DI Monica has become so paranoid and worried about her young daughter Lucy that she’s taken to sleeping on the couch. I loved her team of Crawford, Fisher and Khan. Khan’s character is yet to be fleshed out fully but there’s a sense of solidity to her presence.

Anabelle is on a road trip to the highlands when she meets with an accident. But as her blackness recedes, Anabelle discovers that her troubles are just beginning. The story alternates between Anabelle and the investigation into the discovery of the 2 corpses found in the glen, dismembered and mutilated. Monica’s enquiries take her deeper into her own mental anguish as Lucy begins sleep-walking and giving out cryptic and distressing warnings.

There’s a sense of otherworldliness throughout the book with its setting in Inverness and the glens, the dam and its tunnels, the story gliding thru many POV’s before the adrenaline pumped climax. I loved how the author has used the bleakness of the place in creating a menacing and scary thriller that would probably leave me with nightmares with the kind of visceral images that the story left me with. It was interesting to see how the readers are made aware of Annabelle’s plight and about her captors but the grab your throat tension never lets up steam as Monica inches closer to the finish line.

Incredibly well-written, Dark Waters by G R Halliday is a must read for fans who love atmospheric thrillers.

This is a well written detective novel, but personally, I was put off by the gruesome details. Many readers, however, will enjoy these parts of the book. The lead detective is an engaging character. This is the second in a series, but also reads well as a stand alone novel.

I've enjoyed this story. It involves what appears to be two separate stories that might or might not come together at some stage. Of course, we know they will, but how?

Can the same kidnapper be involved with the dismembering of several bodies and what is the link between these dead souls?

The characters are well rounded very early into the book. We know enough about the detective team to understand their backstory. The evil kidnapper obviously understands the tunnels that we are told about, but what's the connection?

This read keeps you wanting to turn pages and that's always a good sign. Whether Monica can solve the crimes before more deaths, well, I can't give that away.

I recommend this book to mystery and thriller readers and look forward to more by this writer. I enjoyed the north of Scotland as a backdrop, having never visited the area, but now feel that i know a little more about the zone.

Thoroughly enjoyed this novel, an excellent read. I haven’t read the authors previous works, and although mentioning the previous cases for Monica, I don’t think this detracted from enjoyment. Reminded me slightly of James Oswald's McLean series, for its depictions of Scotland and the odd goings on with a mystical twist whilst still being a who dun it and police procedural. 5 stars all round. And looking forward to the next in the series

After reading the debut, From the Shadows, by this author I could not wait to read the follow up. And it didn't disappoint. After the trauma of her last case Monica Kennedy has been working on the more mundane side of her work and spending time with her daughter. She is called back and reunited with her team after the discovery of a body missing arms and legs. So begins another gory and disturbing case - yet again, not for the faint hearted! Set again in the highlands - an area the author obviously knows well - giving yet again a bleak and chilling setting. Definitely edge of the seat reading with characters who are developing in the series.
Another six months away? And then please another case for Monica and her team.
Many thanks to Netgalley/G.R. Halliday/Random House for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

4.5 Stars

Dark Waters was dark and disturbing crime thriller, second novel in Monica Kennedy series that revolved around another serial killer case. It was about juggling work and family life, haunting and unsettled past and history, unsolved and mysterious murders, and real demons of the world-humans.

This first line was chilling and it should have prepared for what’s going to come in the book- “When she still had all arms and legs, Anabelle liked to drive.”

Writing like previous book was engaging and vivid that took me to dark mountains and of Highlands that were both beautiful and menacing. I’m really glad to read in author’s note Glen Turrit and Little Arklow doesn’t exist outside this book but place were based on Glen Strathfarrar and it doesn’t look as dreadful from pictures as it sound in book. This book was even darker than first one. This is not for squeamish readers or those who feel claustrophobic by reading tunnels and caves under mountains. Let me give a little warning, there’s cannibalism. Plot was brilliant. It was told in third person narrative from Annabelle and Monica’s perspective and occasionally we also see other victim’s perspective.

Annabelle travelled from London to Highlands for thrill ride on single track road- beautiful but secluded- from one gate of Glen Turrit across the hydro dam to another gate near Strathcarron. But on this route, where she wasn’t expecting anyone, she saw a girl that made her swerved the car that collided to a tree. When she opened her eyes, she found herself in damp and dark room, injured and kidnapped! Just within few chapters Scott, Canadian traveler was abducted after seeing a girl. Simultaneously, we see what was going on in Monica’s life after previous case that ended horribly, working in traffic department, and giving Lucy lot of time. But then she got call from her boss Hately who needed her in new case. They found dismembered body near dam, at bank of river Beauly. Within 2 days another body, same condition, close to another hydro power station. I was curious to find out who was the killer, whose bodies they found, was it Scott or someone else, who was that girl and why she was working with a killer, if Monica could find killer before he kills Scott or Anabelle, or if Anabelle can find a way to escape.

Monica was once again was great. I liked the way mother’s concerns and guilt were portrayed through her and Lucy’s relationship. Monica’s strength and vulnerability, how stress of new changes in Lucy and her nightmares were affecting her and the case, was realistic to read. Her intuitions related to case was brilliant. What I liked most was a glimpse in her past that showed her relationship with her father. I feel there is more about her to be revealed in next books. I had complain about her too frequent height reference in previous book but in this one it was better, not too often and didn’t appear unexpectedly.

I like Crawford in this book. We don’t know his full story yet but that was balanced by Fisher’s story. We know a bit about Fisher and his real life. It was surprising to know how that connected him to this murder case. Annabelle was caring and clever. She had parents issue and it was sad to see how her parents behaved and treated her and how deeply it affected her. Even after what she was enduring in killer’s den, she felt empathy towards Marcus and even in worst condition she was selfless. She didn’t deserve what happened to her. Villain was worst nightmare imaginable. The story he shared and what was revealed everything related to him was terrifying.

I enjoyed description of all Highland locations, a bit about hydro dam, its history and stories related to it, intermittent chapters’ from victims that cleared the mystery behind what exactly happened to them and why, and lastly that maze of underground tunnels and those chapters about it and Annabelle’s experience in there. Author did amazing job with tension, suspense, and twist and turns. Suspects were few but yet I couldn’t guess who the killer was until around 40% of the book and yet I couldn’t connect the dots and figure out why these particular victims until Monica’s last interview with suspect.

Climax was tense, blood chilling and adrenaline inducing. I was literally yelling at characters at this point thinking why it was taking so much time. I almost lost hope for Anabelle and it was not clear if she will live or not till the end. It felt so unfair what happened at the end but at the same time it felt realistic.

Why 4.5-

There are still more to characters and not all their stories were told in this book but I hope to read that in next books in series.

Overall,

Dark Waters was clever, horrifying, fast paced and well written sequel with vivid and gruesome description and beautiful yet dangerous setting.

When I reviewed From the Shadows, the first book in this intriguing series, a couple of weeks ago, I said that it had elements of Scandi Noir about it. Now that I have read Dark Waters, that feeling is, if anything, stronger with this storyline being akin to something as dark as Lars Kepler might have come up with.

Halliday really does have a black as pitch mind and I must say I am really rather liking that. Again, his sense of place in using the Highlands to set his novels is really effective and important. The wildness and the bleakness of the landscape; the quiet and moody forests are full of significance and lend a dark feeling to this book from the outset.

Neatly straddling the crime/horror genre, Halliday also introduces, with the lightest of touches, a slight mystical element into his plotting.

D.I. Monica Kennedy has been trying to recalibrate her family life. She’s taken time away from Serious Crimes and has been spending quality time with her daughter, Lucy. All that is rudely interrupted when a dismembered body turns up in the River Beauly.

Annabelle has driven from London to the Highlands when, taking a detour so that she can let off steam by being a bit of a girl racer, she sees a figure in front of her and crashes her car to avoid it. When she wakes up, she finds that she is being held captive and that’s only the start of an increasingly creepy and chilling nightmare.

Kennedy returns to MIT and puts her team back together, but they’re all still impacted by the events of the last case and this one is really going to test their nerve. DC Crawford has thankfully recovered from his physical injuries, but the trauma that he and DC Fisher experienced alongside Monica goes deeper than just physical manifestations. They are joined by a new addition to the team, DC Khan, who is adept at media handling, a skill that is much required in this case.

The team are in the process of narrowing down identification of the body when they are faced with another macabre body find that is so chilling they fear for anyone who comes into this killer’s orbit. Told from Annabelle’s perspective and from that of D.I. Kennedy, the reader both follows the killer’s modus operandi through Annabelle’s increasingly frightened and frantic eyes, and the case developments through Monica Kennedy’s dedicated, relentless drive.

We learn a little more about Monica in this book and understand better what drives her and why her backstory is so important to her role as a police detective. Her daughter Lucy is showing signs of being sensitive, and her mother Angie has lost none of her fervent interest in true crime stories.

As the team uncover the grisliest of crimes in the most unhelpful of places, Halliday gives us a dark and tense horror drenched tale to chill the spine of any reader, however dark you like you crime novels. The intense nature of the book is well served by the oppressive, claustrophobic nature of the setting and it is both tense and nerve-wracking and as we follow the dual journeys of Monica and Annabelle in a race against time to capture a twisted and depraved killer.

Verdict: Creepy as anything, this is one for lovers of dark, visceral writing. I’m enjoying getting to know Monica and the team a little more and finding that I’m eager to read another of their adventures and to understand them all a bit better. There’s no higher praise than that from me.

With an adrenaline pumping opening chapter this then turns very dark. After the last case nearly ended in tragedy Monica has been taking a break from MIT to spend time with her daughter Lucy and working in the traffic department. During a cinema and burger trip with Lucy she gets a call from her boss and she is back to MIT and working again with Crawford and Fisher.

Yet again the author has used the setting to full effect bringing a real claustrophobic atmosphere. This book certainly isn’t for those with a weak stomach but for my dark hearted constitution I revelled in glee at the dismembered bodies and almost horror qualities within this crime novel.

The characters have become more developed and are now starting to feel like friends and I really liked the introduction of Detective Khan to the team. However this can be read as a stand alone so don’t worry if you haven’t read the first book.

The writing has really developed and I’m happy that there weren’t quite so many mentions of Monica’s height this time. Looking forward to Book three.

Annabelle loves to drive. It helps her escape her world, her past. Speeding on a mountain road in the Scottish Highlands, she sees a little girl step out in front of her. She swerves to avoid her. The next thing Annabelle remembers is waking up in a dark, damp room. A voice from the corner of the room says ‘The Doctor will see you now’.

Scott is camping in the woodlands in the Scottish Highlands - but in the middle of the night, he hears something outside his tent. When he goes out to have a look, a little girl is standing among the trees, staring right at him. Scott is never seen again.

When a dismembered body is discovered, DI Monica Kennedy gets called to the scene immediately. After six months away from the Serious Crimes team, they need her back on board.

As Monica searches for the murderer, another body is found. Monica knows the signs . . . She’s on the hunt for a serial killer.

Review

This is the second in the Monica Kennedy series and as far as I’m concerned they are definitely getting better.

In this instalment we find out how the events of the first book have affected everyone involved and Halliday does a good job of dealing with the traumatic aftermath for each of the characters. We also find out a lot more back story and how their personalities came about.

There is a nice edition of a new detective Maria Khan and I am looking forward to seeing how she develops as I feel she has the making of a strong character.

The “villains” are even more hideous and that’s where I’ve knocked a star off. Sometimes the graphic descriptions were hard to read sometimes and I found myself putting the book down just to try and get them out of my head.

Overall though, this is a good second instalment and I look forward to how it develops going forward.

Rating

4 stars

Recommend

Yes - beware some triggering scenes that may upset some.

This book was very kindly gifted by the publisher in exchange for an honest review as part of a Blog Tour

This is my second date with Monica Kennedy and yet I feel there is so much yet to discover about her. I was slightly ambivalent about the first book because I didn't warm to Monica. I still haven't made up my mind about her but now I am so intrigued I know I'm going to continue reading about her. I feel she has a lot of secrets and is a deep character and Mr Halliday has pitched it exactly right. The case in itself is totally weird and freaky, DI Kennedy is definitely a bit 'out there' and as for her team, both men seem to have some issue that needs investigating and resolving. It's an entirely dark and disturbing novel, the villains are devilishly evil and need catching quickly. The whole will she or won't she survive around Annabelle was brilliantly done. When the police seem to contain as much darkness as the villains, it's a story that you simply can't put down. I think this will be superb on audio and will be investing in a copy upon release. Very clever writing that gently entraps you and once caught, you'll be in there forever.

I was hooked from the outset and struggled to put it down. I loved the main character and setting, both of which I could clearly visualise. I’d recommend this to my friends and family.

G R Halliday's second book to feature DI Monica Kennedy and based in Scotland is a tremendous read and it amply fulfils the promise of its predecessor. The action takes place in and around Inverness and the descriptions and sense of place are tremendous. The plot and the relationships between the characters are somewhat complicated at times but the novel is never less than engrossing. Monica's home life and her relationship with her mother, daughter and colleagues all add to the interest of the book.

From the outset I was drawn into this story.

I said in my review of 'From The Shadows', the debut novel and first in the DI Monica Kennedy series: "...there is scope for the development of the police characters in future novels." My prediction has proved to be correct. Indeed to go further, this book adds some interesting details to Monica's earlier life.

Once again G.R.Halliday has managed to create a novel which is extremely strong in pace and tension. He has developed the characters very well in this second book.

I won't go into too much detail about the story line for fear of spoiling the plot. However, suffice to say that I found it hard at times to identify the genre of this book: Is it a crime story?, is it a horror story?...

In keeping with the nationality of the author, It made me ask myself is this book where Mo Hayder meets Ian Rankin? There are some very disturbing passages in this story, but it is very well crafted.

Without any doubt I will look forward to future novels by this author.

Once again I give my thanks to Netgalley and Vintage Publishing/Harvill Secker. For a copy in exchange for this review.

This is the second Monica Kennedy book I tried, and this was a definite improvement (couldn't finish the earlier one). It is set in one of my favourite places in the world, the Scottish Highlands, even though the grimy side of it portrayed is not at all awe-inspiring. There is a dark, twisty mystery at the centre, and plenty of characters in the story. I would love to see how this series evolves.

There is a lot of repetition in the narrative, for example, the multiple references to the traumatic events of the previous book. I think I got it after the first dozen times. We never get to know what exactly happened, perhaps a bit not to spoil it for readers who aren't reading in sequence.

(Review copy from NetGalley)

for some reason I kept putting off reading this one! Big mistake, I was hooked after the first few chapters. Good storyline and interesting characters. Really enjoyed it.