I would like to thank Netgalley and Amazon Publishing UK for an advance copy of The Descent, the second novel to feature DI Louise Blackwell, set in Weston-super-Mare.

When a suspected suicide is found at the bottom of a cliff Louise is suspicious as the circumstances, including the suicide note, are very similar to a previous death. When another body is found and the Press have dubbed Weston-super-Mare “suicide by the sea” Louise starts to suspect there may be some kind of cult at work but her mind isn’t entirely on the investigation as her troubled brother, Paul, has disappeared with his young daughter, Emily and he’s in no fit state to look after her.

I enjoyed The Descent which has a stronger plot line and a more compulsive hook than its predecessor, The Crossing, which I wasn’t overly enthused by. It is mostly told from the points of view of Louise Blackwell and Amy, a woman with knowledge of the deaths. I liked the comparison between the two points of view, Louise’s struggle to understand what is happening and Amy’s inner conflict about what she knows to be happening. I think Amy wins the most interesting story competition as her story has the forward momentum while Louise seems stuck in the rut of little knowledge and going over the same things. I also have to say that I found her inaction over he brother’s behaviour less than credible given she is a senior police officer.

Manipulative cults and their leaders are not unknown in crime fiction but I liked the slant the author put on this tale. I found it interesting and strangely compulsive when viewed through Amy’s eyes. I liked her ambivalence, clear sighted one minute and true believer the next. It’s well done. I also really liked the final deconstruction of the leader’s motives and the way it stripped away all the mysticism. That was very satisfying.

The Descent is a good read that I can recommend.

Matt Brolly - you just know when you see he is the author that the book you are about to open is going to tick all of the boxes - a strong story line, well developed characters and that feeling of time well spent as you progress through it.

Another book that just reinforces that expectation.

This would have been a great read but for the unecessary repeated element of Louise's inner turmoil re her ability to do her job (once was enough).
I liked:
* the fact she kept seeing Emily in the victims.
* her ability to get people to talk.
My favourite character was the IT man Coulson, his back story was good.

Another fantastic book by Matt, a great story set in a great location. It had me gripped till the last page.
Looking forward to reading the next book.

This is the first book by Matt Brolly I have read. It won't be the last. This is crime fiction of the highest order, written with confidence & originality.
In the seaside town of Weston-super-Mare DI Louise Blackwell is part of a small CID unit. Personal problems with her alcoholic brother are intruding on her professional life.
Three young women have plunged to their deaths from high cliffs in quick succession. Louise is convinced there is a link & is determined to find it.
Her first clue is Ayahuasca, a psychedelic drug that users believe takes them to a higher universe & the guardians of paradise.
The novelist William S. Burroughs believed it could cute his opium addiction in the early 1950s.
Matt Brolly's narrative is tense & gripping, & refreshingly innovative.

This is the second book in the series and as I'd enjoyed The Crossing, I was looking forward to reading The Descent, and it didn't disappoint me. Set in Weston Super Mare we follow DI Louise Blackwell as she tries to work out whether a series of suicides are linked and by whom. While this is going on, in Bristol her brother Paul is imploding, a widower with a small child he is an alcoholic and when he vanishes with his child, Emily, Louise is conflicted.

Loved it

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher I read a free advance review copy of the book. This review is voluntary, honest and my own opinion.

The Descent is the second novel featuring Detective Louise Blackwell, set in Weston super Mare but the good thing with Matt Brollys writing is you could read this as a stand alone novel. if you didn't read the first. This novel features Louises family more, which was good to get a bit more background on the character. Louise also has to deal with a spate of deaths which everyone says is suicide but Louise is sure there is more to it.. I look forward to more soon.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for allowing me to read and review this book.

When Detective Louise Blackwell is called out to where a young woman’s body is found at the base of a cliff, it looks like a case of suicide. After Louise will not let the case be closed, other events bring the verdict into question, and she must lead her team to where they can discover the truth.

Unfortunately, she is also dealing with her brother, who’s life has deteriorated after his wife’s death, and she needs to protect her niece from harm.

This book was not just a British police procedural, as it also takes the reader to a place where struggling, young women who are looking for a way to escape are taken advantage of. Is death the only way out?

This was a well-written story, that leads up to a climactic end, where everyone does not live “happily ever after”!

I have read the previous book in the series and even though i enjoyed it I feel this outing was much better. I love the main character and the way the investigation was pieced together step by step. I found myself drawn into the story and could not keep away!

Any book by this author is a good bet. That said, plus the many other helpful reviews of this book, I'll simply recommend this to crime/thriller fans.

I really appreciate the ARC for review!!

This second episode in Matt Brolly's new series featuring DI Louise Blackwell opens with the suicide of a young woman. Louise discovers a number of similarities to an earlier death and is hesitant to sign off the case as a suicide. As she struggles to find more evidence of a link and tries to stop the press sensationalizing the deaths, she is concerned there may be more cases. She's also distracted from the case by her brother Paul's behaviour. Recently widowed, he has taken to drinking during the day and Louise is concerned that her niece, five year old Emily may be at risk.

The unusual plot made for an engaging read with some interesting characters including a young woman who relates some chapters from her point of view. Louise's life needs a bit of improvement. She's lonely and stressed after being moved out of the major incidents team at Bristol to a smaller station at Weston after a dispute with a fellow officer and feels she isn't liked my most of her new colleagues. Her work is also being impacted by worrying about her brother and niece, to the point where it became overly repetitive. The ending of the book suggests that there will be changes for Louise in the future, but whether they will be for better or worse we'll just have to wait and see.

A not uncommon storyline based on the cult suicide/murder theme with a slight twist and based in the UK. Perhaps with the unfortunate demise of her brother, Detective Louise Blackwell will be able to give 100% concentration to any future cases.

Great second installment of DI Louise Blackwell.. Although second in the series it could still be read as a stand alone book.

The Descent was a great mystery novel which I struggled to put down. Whilst facing a challenging series of deaths, Detective Louise Blackwell also faced worsening family drama. An alcoholic brother with his vulnerable daughter take Louise's mind off a case which she needs to focus on.

I struggled to put down this book once I started. The way the narrator switched between Louise and a possible victim made it painful to read Louise's thoughts whilst knowing the answers to many of her questions.

I now need to go back and read the first Louise Blackwell novel, which I foolishly skipped. I am very excited to read any future developments in this series.

The Descent is the second book in the DI Louise Blackwell series by author Matt Brolly. It’s a british police procedural, and a psychological thriller.

It’s now been two years since DI Blackwell got summarily transferred from Bristol’s Major Investigation Team to the small coastal town of Weston-Super-Mare following a deadly setup by her former partner, who was angling for a promotion. Weston-super-Mare is her childhood town, and her parents, her recently widowed brother and her niece all live in the area.

In spite of her success in her first major case six months prior, and a generally supportive DCI, Louise Blackwell still hasn’t put her partner’s treason behind her. She’s as paranoid as when we first met her. As a result, she has trouble making herself at ease with her team. She keeps to herself, hides her personal life from her colleagues, made very few friends among them, and generally trusts no one. Her career has been derailed and, bitter about it, Louise Blackwell would like to get it back on track. All the while, she’s certain other parties will do everything in their power to prevent it. And, as if to prove her right, the harassment from her manipulative narcissistic ex-partner, DCI Finch, starts again. It seems to the reader that she’ll never get rid of him interfering with her life, her team, and her cases.

The new case begins when the body of a young woman is discovered at the foot of a cliff, mere weeks after a similar suicide. When a third woman kills herself in the same fashion, fear of a suicide epidemic creeps in. Then, impossible coincidences link the deaths together, leading them to be all deemed suspicious. But, the investigation of serial deaths all appearing to have been voluntary is tricky. The team has no motive to work from, and no profile of a suspect that might not even exist.

However, the reader gets more insight in these events. Once again, in what seems to be a feature of this series, the perp is known to us from the very start. The narration alternates chapters between DI Blackwell and her team’s investigation, and the point of view of a potential victim to be. We don’t get the point of view of the killer as in the first book. He is nonetheless omnipresent, his strong psychological hold on his entourage weighing heavily even on the reader.

Don’t let the absence of mystery deter you. As with any good Columbo episode, the story is all about the journey, and not the destination.

As I expected, this book proves to be a very welcome return to the town of Weston-super-Mare. The writing and depiction of the locales and inhabitants is as atmospheric as the first time around. The sea, piers, cliffs and islands are as we left them. Adding to the already oppressive mood, voluntarily or not, the victims, the woods, sycamore trees and a mysterious « waiting room » are also highly reminiscent of David Lynch’s masterpiece, Twin Peaks.

The Descent is a deeply psychological thriller, even more so than The Crossing, especially due to the somber motivation and methods of the perpetrator. This psychological aspect bleeds into Louise Blackwell’s personal life, as she cannot help but see parallels between the early lives of the victims and the current situation of her niece, Emily. Unable to cope with the death of his wife, Emily’s father, Paul, fell off the wagon. His alcoholism leads him to neglect his daughter, and his behavior gets increasingly erratic. And, we can guess early that this distressing personal situation won’t be without consequences on Louise Blackwell’s work.

There was only one good possible ending to this story, and Matt Brolly doesn’t disappoint. He leaves us with many questions to ponder, some of an existential nature. As for DI Blackwell and her many problems, the ending only brings us to eagerly expect the next entry in the series.

Thanks to Amazon Publishing’s Thomas & Mercer and Netgalley for the ARC provided in exchange for this unbiased review.

The Descent by Matt Brolly Second in the series featuring Detective Louise Blackwell. Louise is faced with personal struggles within her family and at work. At times the backstory of Louise's family seems repetitive and distracting from the current investigation. All in all a solid police procedural and a good addition to the series.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview the book.

This is the second outing for Matt Brolly’s latest protagonist, DI Louise Blackwell. A body is found at the foot of a cliff in the coastal town of Weston. Everything points to suicide, there is even a note. Nonetheless Louise does the necessary checks. She is also aware that, just a few months ago, there was a very similar death - also an apparent suicide. But when she compares the suicide notes she realises that they have one line in common “death is not the end.” Interesting! So when a third, similar, death is discovered with a similar note, Louise is certain that they are linked. Unfortunately she has no idea how. An eagle-eyed detective finds CCTV evidence of the woman in the company of a man. Finally - a potential suspect

While this is going on Louise also has to contend with a brother (Paul) who has gone totally off the rails with his drinking - thereby neglecting his five year old daughter and Louise’s niece, Emily. However, when Paul disappears with Emily and nobody knows where they are, or if they are safe, Louise’s stress levels skyrocket. She is torn between her professional and familial responsibilities and is in danger of losing objectivity.

This was a terrific story that could be awfully real, for both plot lines, but I don’t want to give anything away. While suspenseful at times, I did find the narrative a bit repetitive around Louise’s dilemma of job versus family. For an engaging story with realistic and mostly likeable characters, it could have been improved with less repetition and hand-wringing. Nevertheless I really enjoyed reading this.

Police thriller with an unusual twist on a common story. This group of detectives are good together and I look forward to the next instalment.

The Descent is the second book in the DI Louise Blackwell series by Matt Brolly and it is another entertaining and very readable police procedural thriller.

A series of deaths which may or may not be suicides leaves Blackwell and colleagues with a complex investigation simultaneously she is dealing with serious issues in her personal life that impacts on her day to day working.

The author has created a good cast of characters and the story moves along at a pace that keeps the pages turning

Recommended

Thank you Amazon Publishing for the eARC.
DI Louise Blackwell, in the second of the series, is still in Weston-Super-Mare, where a body of a young woman is found at the bottom a cliff, a probable suicide. When more bodies are found, also possible suicides, Louise is starting to believe there's a link between the deaths, but is frustrated because she and the team can't figure out how the women were connected. She's also concerned about her brother, who is drinking heavily and neglecting his little girl. She's torn between her job and her family's problems, not a good thing for her career.
The charismatic leader of a small group of women plies them with a hallucinogenic and Louise, when he's on her radar, strongly suspects he's the reason for the deaths and is obsessed with stopping him.
This book is fast-paced, tense and sometimes depressing, and I found Louise at times a bit irritating, but I am looking forward to reading no. three in the series.