Not a bad read but not quite up to the standard of the first in this series. Felt a bit short and rather rushed...

My favourite genre , and the Eve Hunter books by Deborah Masson are absolutely excellent, and Out for Blood is no exception. Thoroughly enjoyed this:book: intriguing, thrilling and fabulous, and highly recommended.

A gritty crime thriller featuring DI Eve Miller, an interesting character and I would be interested in reading more books featuring her character. The plot got a little messy and complicated at the end but overall a good read.

I didn’t realise that this was part of a series when I requested it, however it didn’t take any enjoyment away from the book and now I have to hunt out the rest of the series!! Great book, great storyline and very well written.

Brilliant read, great characters I was glued with excellent story .
Highly recommend to any avid crime reader

This is the second book within this series, and I can honestly say that it lived up to its expectations.
The storyline was well constructed and detailed, it pulled me in from the start. The characters were also realistic and layered.
This was an enjoyable read, and I certainly look forward to future books within this series.

A brilliant 2nd novel in this series! I love the characters, great storyline kept me hooked throughout. I hope the series continues! Can’t wait to read more.
Thank you so ku h for letting me read this amazing book

Set in Aberdeen, Out for Blood is the second book in a solid crime-mystery series featuring DI Eve Hunter, Chief Investigating Officer of the Aberdeen Police's Major Incident Team. Eve is still seeing her psychiatrist following a brutal attack on her and her colleague, DS Nicola Sanders, that left Eve with a limp. Her boss, DCI Hastings is reluctant to let Eve handle two new cases. The first is the murder of a young IT consultant, Dean Johnstone from a wealthy and privileged family, found in his flat in the city centre. The second case is the suspected suicide of a young woman, found hanged in the trees at Hazlehead MacKenzie Championship golf course.

Out for Blood is told from an investigative point of view, with a few interjections from an unnamed young woman muddying the waters and creating another dimension. DI Eve Hunter makes a very rewarding protagonist. Her desire for justice, hot-temperament and her personal struggles make her as fascinating as the main plot, giving rise to a novel that is all the more rewarding. Deborah Masson's inspired writing continues to wow me and I especially like that the team are gelling a little more as they had previously often been working in disharmony with each other. In a story that delves into the seedy and repulsive world of human trafficking, the plotting is intriguing and memorable. There is an abundance of twists that I did not see coming and the end is a winner. Overall, Out for Blood is a tremendous tale that definitely leaves me wanting more from both the author and this remarkable team of characters.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel from Random House Transworld via NetGalley at my request, and this review is my own unbiased opinion.

Really enjoyed the first in thus series, and Deborah Masson has started a compelling new serial for me to sink my teeth into. Likeable detectives can be a hard find sometimes in this genre. Lots of storylines in this novel converging gracefully and with some pizzazz at just the right points throughout the book. Enjoyable and would recommend.

OMG, if you are going to read any book this year it HAS to be this one.

Being a massive fan of Deborah Masson's previous novel Hold Your Tongue I was stupidly excited to recieve a copy of Out for Blood. If anything this one is even better!

I was literally on the edge of my seat the whole way through and think I forgot to breathe at times, it's exhilarating, breath taking, engrossing, engaging and just WOW.

Once again we see DI Eve Hunter tackling an unusual crime scene, a Jane Doe with a branding on her neck, the same way you'd see an animal branded. Who is she and how did she end up hanging from a tree?

Still traumatised and haunted by losing her friend (Book 1) you'll see Eve attending anger management/psychiatry sessions which she hates. These sessions really add to the overall story and as a reader really helps you to start understanding Eve a little more.

The plot delves into the stark contrast of the wealthy, privileged and the life of the victims left hanging.

I loved seeing the characters develop throughout this book, the diversity of the team dynamics and also the 'realness' of DI Hunter, showing that she's just as human as the rest of us.

I can not wait to see what Deborah has in store for Book 3!!!

Huge thanks to Random House UK/Transworld Publishers for the ARC.

The 2nd instalment in the DI Eve Hunter series and again it did not disappoint.
I particularly enjoyed the developing storyline of the main characters and discovering more about them.
The main storyline, set in Aberdeen, had plenty to keep the reader intrigued.
Already hoping for a further book in the series.

When a book keeps you reading into the early hours you know you are onto a winner.

I was hooked from the start until the very end.

DI Eve Hunter is a fascinating character and I'm enjoying getting to know her and her team.

Brilliant book and I cannot wait for the next one.

Out For Blood is the second book in this series, having read the first one, hold your tongue, I felt this seamlessly carried on with the lives of Eve Hunter and her team.
DI Eve Hunter is based in Aberdeen and has been called to Hazlehead MacKenzie Championship golf course where an elderly gentleman is in a bad way after discovering a woman hanging in the trees. This also looks like suicide but upon further inspection it can’t possibly be. Later that day Eve and her team are called to the apartment of Dean Johnstone who also appears to have committed suicide but again Eve isn’t so sure.
I liked how this unravelled and was a really gritty crime book dealing in human trafficking and prostitution that still goes on today making this a very real read, together with well written characters this becomes a very good read.
I would like to thank Netgalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley, Random House and Deborah Masson for an ARC in return for an honest review.
This was the last book I read in 2020 and what a book to finish the year with. I struggled to put this down from the moment I started it.
It’s the definition of psychological thriller! A thoroughly enjoyable second book in the DI Eve Hunter series. I would recommend to anyone who likes crime thrillers. It’s dark, gripping and fast-paced. I can’t wait for the next instalment.

Another gripping read by Deborah Masson. Already looking forward to the next one!!

My thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK for allowing me the opportunity to read and review honestly.

D I Eve Hunter is gradually getting used to her new life in Aberdeen. Her team are starting to gel together although there are still some at the station that hold her past against her. A young man is found murdered in an upmarket apartment in the city. According to his neighbour he was a quiet person to live next door to with loud music & loud ladies! Another young man- a close friend of the first had been found dead not too long ago. Was it really suicide? The parents seem very keen to avoid talking to the police. A young girl is found hanging from a tree on a golf course. It may have been set up to look like a suicide, but it is murder. The girl has a barcode tattoo on her neck, & one on her wrist written in Rumanian. This leads the police to believe she may have been trafficked. As the team works on the cases it seems they may be a connection. Eve & her team stir up a hornets nest as there are some very important people who have no wish for their activities to become public.

I really enjoyed the first one in this series & was delighted to get hold of this one. I didn't find this one quite so absorbing as their last case, but it was an enjoyable read & I'll be looking out for the next one.

Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.

A welcome return for DI Eve Hunter and another gritty crime novel. Two worlds cross over with the two young bodies who start off the book. The world of privilege and private school alongside that of prostitution and sex trafficking. Are they linked? You have to assume they are, but I wasn't prepared for how deep this went. A sad, sordid tale in many ways, and shows how you can never quite escape your past. Good to see the police characters and their relationships develop from the first book. #netgalley #outforblood

Murders covered up to look like suicides.

The grounds manager at Hazlehead MacKenzie Championship golf course is shocked when he discovers the body of a young girl hanging from one of the trees adjacent to the course. On first inspection – it looks like a suicide – however – it doesn’t take the forensic team long to discover that this is a murder scene. Meantime, before DI Eve Hunter and her team can get to see the “suicide” they have been called as the body of a man; Dean Johnstone has been found murdered. Is the girl’s murder linked to Johnstone’s?

I enjoyed getting to know DI Eve Hunter and her team as they try to unravel two complicated concurrent cases. The characters were all real, and the murder cases complicated enough to keep me turning the pages. I’m sorry not to have read the previous novels in this series.

Rony

Elite Reviewing Group received a copy of the book to review.

When I read the words "gritty police procedural" and "Aberdeen" in one sentence, I knew I had to try Out for Blood, as via another great series, I have developed a soft spot for the Granite city and its inhabitants - police, criminal or otherwise.
On the recommendation of other readers, I quickly read the first in the DI Eve Hunter series, Hold Your Tongue, before embarking on this one. And I'm glad I did - the first book contains significant character development and backstory which enhanced my enjoyment of Out for Blood. Mind you, this book would also read well as a standalone, as there are non-spoiler "catch up" references to the events of the first book.
The only downside of my Deborah Masson-immersion (two books in two days) is that I now have a really long wait ahead of me for the next instalment!
Aberdeen D.I. Eve Hunter's team are called to two crime scenes on the same morning. Hunter and D.S. Cooper respond to a violent and suspicious death in a plush apartment, while D.S. Mearns and D.S. Ferguson attend what at first appears to be a suicide by hanging near a local golf course.
The dual investigations lead Hunter's team into the world of high-flying alumni of the exclusive Heritage school, whose members are curiously reticent to provide police with any information, even when one of their own has been murdered. They also probe the murky depths of Aberdeen's organised prostitution scene, run by ruthless Eastern European overlords preying on trafficked underage girls. Before long, the team begin to suspect that the two cases may overlap, but with so many shady characters to choose from, the cases throw up many challenges. Interspersed through the narrative are occasional snippets from another perspective, which seem to comprise flashbacks to an earlier time - who is the mysterious narrator, and what relevance do her recollections have to the present events?
Despite the reduction of overt tension between the police characters in this instalment, I felt that the character development and interrelationships remained first-rate. Hunter is a prickly but sympathetic protagonist, and despite her occasional impetuous behaviour, the reader really wants her to succeed. Cooper, Mearns and Ferguson are compelling supporting characters, each playing a valuable role in the team. There are both innocent victims and some really unpleasant witnesses and criminal characters for the team to combat too, which keeps the dramatic tension high.
Deborah Masson's pacing and plotting in Out for Blood is just as assured as in Hold Your Tongue. Revelations and connections are uncovered gradually to the reader, as they are by the tenacious detective team. The conclusion is surprising but deliciously satisfying, given the tangled web of deceit Hunter and her team have had to infiltrate.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading Out for Blood and can't recommend it highly enough to anyone who enjoys a well-written, character-driven crime thriller.
My thanks to the author, Deborah Masson, publisher Random House UK, Transworld Publishers and the Corgi imprint, and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this fantastic title. I can't wait for the next instalment!

I haven't read book 1 of the DI Hunter books, but I will be going to find it! I was gripped throughout Out for Blood. Deborah highlights the awful human trafficking that goes on even in modern day UK.