An interesting read .When Heather's mother dies and she returns home lots of bad things start to happen which are linked to a murderer from years ago ,and when a copy cat killer emerges things get really gripping. . It was bit gruesome at times but it kept your Interest and things came together at the end .

An ex journalist discovers her late mother who committed suicide was writing to a convicted serial killer in prison. As she delves deeper the time her mother spent at a commune decades before seems central to understanding her mother and where she came from. Gripping thriller, well paced and enjoyable.

This book has me hooked from the first few chapters. Heather returns to her family home after the death of her mother and discovers her mother had been writing to a notorious serial killer for many years. The tension racks up as Heather feels she is being stalked as she finds disturbing things in her old house - a bird trapped in the upstairs, feathers found etc. This is a well crafted, well written book which swivels between current times and the past. An unusual idea which I found refreshing.

Serial killer Michael Reave, known as The Red Wolf, has been locked in Belmarsh Prison for over 20 years for the brutal and ritualistic murders of countless women.

Ex-journalist Heather Evans returns to her childhood home after her mother’s inexplicable suicide and discovers something chilling, hundreds of letters between her mother and Reave, dating back decades.

When the body of a woman is found decorated with flowers, just like his victims, Reave is the only person alive who could help. After years of silence, he will speak to Heather, and only Heather.

If she wants to unearth the truth and stop further bloodshed, she’ll have to confront a monster.

The author has written an incredibly atmospheric and sinister tale, incorporating ancient fairy tales. Parts were very creepy and chilling, giving me goosebumps. The sense of being watched was so powerful, and full of suspense! The parts written in Colleen's house, and in the woods were particularly menacing!

I liked the story, it had a certain dark, brooding, menacing atmosphere that worked well. Heather was a strange character, she was bit volatile. The other characters were less well fleshed out. The pace was a bit patchy and the story lagged at times. But overall I did enjoy this book. It was certainly better done than many others I have read in this genre. I think what mainly spoiled it for me was the Red Wolf himself, and the whole ‘mythology’ if you like, surrounding him. The concept, which I can’t tell you about, didn’t make any sense to me. But Heather said as much towards the end. This should appeal to fans of dark fairy tales and dark psychological thrillers

Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK for an advance copy in return for a fair and honest review

Its been a long time since a thriller has creeped me out but this one certainly did that. I was hooked from the start, its got a good fast paced story line that just keeps giving. Great characters. the female lead is back in her childhood town to sort a funeral for her mum after she committed suicide. Heather is unsure as to why her mum would do this, they didnt have the best relationship and as an adult she was quick to move away. Back in her mother's house Heather find letters written to and from a serial killer in prison, this starts a quest of finding the truth about her mother's past. I can see the book being a massive hit!

I struggle to review Dog Rose Dirt. It ran at a 4 star rating for much of the novel possessing a darkly creepy atmosphere and a mystery that interested me. Heather's estranged mother committed suicide and now Heather has to sort out her affairs. While at her mother's home, Heather finds a bundle of letters from a convicted serial Killer, known as the Red Wolf. Curiously intriguing, eh? Heather then goes about trying to piece together the facts of how her mother came to know such a man. Strange things happen and there is sinister activity afoot, great stuff for a novel.

I was entirely with the story and its gentle unfolding until the end when it felt as if I was suddenly going into the jungle with Rambo. Heather, not really a character I warmed to, suddenly changes into action girl and rushes about on a mission and things go a bit wild. Maybe too high octane too fast but it felt a jarring shift. Yes, it was exciting but seemed out of left field to my view. Exciting? I suppose it was but seemed out of character. A solid story up until then and not necessarily a negative. I've read many a book with highly unlikely developments but here it just seemed too much, too fast.

After returning home, following her mum’s unexplained suicide, Former journalist Heather Evans discovers something very disturbing. Her mother has been communicating with notorious serial killer Michael Reave known as The Red Wolf for around two decades.
Not long after this revelation a body is found with flowers decorating it, the exact M.O as Reave’s.
Reave has said he will help find the killer but will only talk to Heather.
Driven to stop any more deaths, Heather will have to confront The Red Wolf and hope she can trust him to keep his word and prevent any more murders.
A book that grabs you by the seat of your pants and doesn’t let go until it’s dramatic end.
A creepy disturbing book about a serial killer has been done before, but unlike the others this is the real deal. It’s a “keep you up all night book” in both senses of the word. It’s scary as hell and quite brilliantly written. A highly compelling novel that I couldn’t put down. I loved it.

Strange and atmospheric.
Some of the scenes set in the before times made my skin crawl just a little.
It took turns I didnt see coming a mile away,and others I guessed far too soon.
As a whole though,it made me just a little bit creeped out .
That's a good thing.

Losing her job means Heather has time on her hands. Shocked at the suicide of her mother, Colleen, allows her the time and opportunity to sort through her mother’s affairs. Traumatised to discover an ongoing correspondence with an incarcerated serial killer, she is intent on resolving the relationship between them . With the death of another young women showing all the indicators of Reaves, the serial killers previous victims she decides to investigate with neither fear nor thought for the repercussions. Using subterfuge through a relationship with the investigating officer, she obtains information that unleashes a chain of events which unfold in brutal clarity bordering on gratuitous violence. A timeline between past and current events describe and explain the horrific demise of victims to this depraved killer. This does not prevent the reckless actions of our protagonist who is putting herself in the radar as a potential victim. A story , the stuff of nightmares and only for those readers with a strong constitution. Many thanks to author, publisher and NetGalley for ARC.

A superb ripping thriller with a difference. Heather goes home as her estranged mother has committed suicide and she has to finalise arrangements. The story develops at a gentle pace that kept me wanting to find out what was really going on. Everything is very convoluted which adds to the intrigue of the story. The book covers the hippy period, ow people grow up changing all the way, a serial killer and a copycat ne as well. There is so much going on and it is great read.

Ex-journalist Heather Evans returns to her childhood home after her mother’s sudden suicide and discovers something chilling – letters between her mother and Reave, a serial killer known as the Red-Wolf locked in Belmarsh prison, dating back decades and that at one time she had lived in a hippy commune.

Then the body of a woman is found decorated with flowers, just like Reaves victims. Reave is the only person who can help and after years of silence, he will only speak to Heather.

Dog Rose Dirt has a strange air of about it that runs through the entirety of the story. It's a slowly revealed tale that drip-feeds clues about the Red Wolf and his past. As Heather delves further into her mother’s relationship with the killer, Heather realises she didnt really know her mum at all. The narrative is mainly seen from Heather's point of view but there are also a handful of chapters that detail Reave’s formative years.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and I quickly wanted to read it and keep going until the conclusion- it certainly had me gripped and I enjoyed the ending. Nothing too gory about the murders are written about, just the way they are left with flowers in their cavities is possibly the worst it gets.

Only a couple of things niggled me were that if Heather is an investigative journalist then why didn't she look up more details on who owned the land the commune used to be on rather than relying on Wikipedia for all.her answers, Anna's story should have had proper closure and though its set in London to begin with, it mentions her mum was found at the bottom of some cliffs, but not where.

I received this book from netgalley in return for a honest review.

This is a bit disturbing! Very unique and well written book but this felt very dark and darker still and it wasn't my cup of tea in the end.

When Heather goes back to her childhood gone after her Mother’s death she finds letters from a notorious murderer among her things, did Heather ever really know her mum, why was she corresponding with a murderer. A good book that is intriguing and a good page Turner.

This book grabbed me from the very first page. Well written very dark, twisty and keeps you turning the pages.

When prodigal daughter Heather Evans returns to her family home after her mother’s baffling suicide, she makes an alarming discovery–stacks and stacks of carefully preserved letters from notorious serial killer Michael Reave. The “Red Wolf,” as he was dubbed by the press, has been in prison for over twenty years, serving a life sentence for the gruesome and ritualistic murders of several women across the country, although he has always protested his innocence. The police have had no reason to listen, yet Heather isn’t the only one to have cause to re-examine the murders. The body of a young woman has just been found, dismembered and placed inside a tree, the corpse planted with flowers. Just as the Red Wolf once did.

What did Heather’s mother know? Why did she kill herself? And with the monstrous Red Wolf safely locked inside a maximum-security prison, who is stalking young women now? Teaming up with DI Ben Parker, Heather hopes to get some answers for herself and for the newest victims of this depraved murderer. Yet to do that, she must speak to Michael Reave herself, and expose herself to truths she may not be ready to face. Something dark is walking in the woods, and it knows her all too well.

I think there is a moment in everybody’s life when they realise that their parents have a past, that they were young once too. If you’re lucky that revelation isn’t too painful. It might even help you to understand them a little better than you did before. What happens though, if there are secrets hidden away? Dark things that you are really better off not knowing. In Dog Rose Dirt by Jen Williams, a young journalist discovers her recently deceased mother had more than her fair share of skeletons rattling about in the dim and distant past.

Unsurprisingly, Heather exhibits a dogged determination when it comes to uncovering the truth. Having worked in the media, she has developed that uncanny knack of worrying at a story until the knotted threads unravel and all the detail is laid bare. The downside to that tenacity is that when it is something intensely personal, like her fractious relationship with her mother, Heather still refuses to let go. What starts as curiosity quickly becomes an obsession that starts to eat away at her. Heather’s mental state becomes more and more fragile the further down the rabbit hole she travels. How does her mother know a notorious killer? Why is there a copycat that has picked up where the Red Wolf left off? Is Heather jumping to conclusions? Is it just her mind playing tricks or is there something more sinister afoot? I think it’s the mark of a successful psychological thriller when there is a niggling uncertainty in the characters right up until the end.

Dog Rose Dirt has a subtle air of disquiet that runs through the entirety of the story. Williams delivers a slow burn of a tale that expertly drip-feeds us tantalising clues about the Red Wolf and his legacy. The atmospheric narrative continues to build as Heather becomes more and more entangled in Michael Reave’s life. The further she delves into her mother’s relationship with the killer, the more questions Heather has. In addition, there are a handful of chapters that detail Reave’s formative years. This insight helps to flesh out his character and adds depth to his motivations.

Streaming entertainment services need to be making a beeline to Jen Williams front door. This is the sort of novel that is ripe for translation to the screen. Netflix did a cracking job with Sarah Pinborough’s Behind Her Eyes. They could easily achieve the same levels of success with Dog Rose Dirt. You’ll be pleased to know I’m putting together my dream cast list already.

I’ll happily admit I’m a big fan of Jen Williams fantasy novels so I was looking forward to her take on a different genre. I’m glad to report her first foray into crime/thriller territory is on par with her other work. There are some neat, well-executed twists and turns in a story peppered with plenty of suitably creepy moments. Things are unashamedly dark and throughout the novel there are scenes that almost veer into the realms of psychological horror. This gives the entire plot a more realistic air. There is nothing fantastical in this instance, Dog Rose Dirt explores an all too human evil.

Dog Rose Dirt is published by Harper Collins and is available now.

My musical recommendation to accompany Dog Rose Dirt is the soundtrack to Don’t Breathe by Roque Baños. Musically it’s about as tense as you can get. If that isn’t a perfect fit with this novel, I don’t know what is.

Deeply sinister! This book is not for the faint hearted. Brilliantly dark and twisted.

The story follows Heather as she comes to terms with her mother’s suicide. She never had a good relationship with her mother so returning home is difficult enough. Heather then uncovers that her mother had been writing for years to a serial killer known as the Red Wolf.

Heather starts on a path trying to find out who her mother really was and how she was connected to the Red Wolf. The dark and sinister revelations keep on coming until finally we discover the truth.

A brilliantly executed tale.

This intense and creepy thriller follow Heather, who returns to her childhood home after her estranged mother's suicide, and discovers a mysterious packet of letters which suggest that her mother was corresponding with the notorious serial killer, The Red Wolf. Meanwhile, women are being murdered in a similar manner to the Red Wolf's MO - who is the copycat? Heather is roped into the police investigation, and into interviews with the Red Wolf himself, to investigate. What is he hiding, and what connection does he have to her family? This was a quick, intense read and I enjoyed it a lot. Perfect for crime junkies and anyone looking for a good book to get really stuck into - perfect for the upcoming autumn spooky season, I'd say.

Well. This one really is something special. A kind of mash-up of crime, true crime and horror, it sees Heather Evans return to her childhood home to clear up her mother's house after mum killed herself.

Already estranged from her mother (who blamed her for her father's death), Heather is wracked by guilt even as she confronts a plethora of mysteries about her apparently boring mum.

Why has she been in correspondence for years with notorious serial killer ('Jack in the Green, the Red Wolf') Michael Reave?

Who is the woman called Lillian, who seems to know all about Heather's mum but who Heather has never previously heard of?

And what, precisely, is hiding in the shadows at the end of the garden?

Interweaving Heather's story with an older, darker tale and with instances of women being kidnapped, Williams has produced a seriously disturbing story that is almost an assault on any sense of ease or comfort, bringing an atmosphere of threat and, well, simply wrongness into what ought to be the brightest, cosiest moments. Is it, though, a new evil, a new threat, or is Heather simply discovering (or reawakening?) something old and persistent?

The answers seem to lie with Reave, but he will only speak in riddles, cryptic warnings and dark fairy stories. These are illustrated, a little, by passages describing his early life - these are eerie and haunting, but they take us to a hazy, remote world where blood, claw and sacrifice seem more real than teachers or Social Services. There is more than a hint of folk horror about this novel, although I think that it is not that, or not quite. What turns out to be the truth here is more about individual than communal wickedness, I'd say.

Heather is of course determined to find the truth, driven, I think, but some idea that it might set her free from guilt about her mother's (and father's) deaths. She is a complicated person with, as one might put it, anger management issues (she has her own secrets) as as she proceeds with her investigation different parts of her personality emerge and struggle with one another. She cultivates a relationship with the dishy DI Ben Parker, who's investigating a new spot of Reave-a-like killings, and we can see her desire for the company of an attractive and considerate man coiling round her interest in him as a source of information and also around a darker, more instinctive instinct that he represents protection from some sort of danger.

Heather is, in fact, a wonderful, three-dimensional character, from the mess she's made of her personal and professional life to her relations with her family to her delight at meeting up again with her childhood (and teenagehood) friend Nikki Appiah whose family have been more family to Heather than her own ever were (we eventually learn the reason for Heather's messed up family, in another dark thread that connects them to Reave). And as Williams has Heather explore her mother's past and present, she breathes life into a convincing landscape, whether she's describing slightly naughty teen antics in the suburbs or menacing goings-on in the woods. Part of the effect comes from the juxtaposition of mythological and fairytale elements with everyday menaces as when a young man in a pub harasses Heather: 'Got a face like a smacked arse on you, innit? Just saying, you'll feel better off you have a little smile.' But that is, of course, delivered by terrific writing which kept me hurrying through this story, intrigued at first by the mystery, gradually hooked into being concerned for the physical safety of various characters, then increasingly drawn into a worry over their moral fate, as it were, a concern that mounted and mounted into the explosive and frightening ending.

At no point does this story flag - taut and demanding, it's the perfect antidote to all those distractions that can get in the way of reading.

Only, don't, perhaps, read it in the dark on your own...

A great read
Definitely a dark book
With plenty of twists and turns
Make sure you read this book when your not alone in the house
Thanks NetGalley

This story has many elements which make it absorbing and addictive reading.

Heather returns to her childhood home after her mother's death. She is not in a good place in her life and struggles to accept her mother's apparent suicide. Heather, an unreliable protagonist, finds copious correspondence between her mother and a serial killer, 'The Red Wolf'. Unsure what to make of it, and in the light of similar recent murders, she sends them to the police and begins an unorthodox investigation of the past and present crimes.

Atmospheric, and horrifically graphic in parts, it intertwines fantasy, folklore, horror and psychological suspense. The settings are cleverly crafted and provide a menacing ethos. It uses folklore and fairytales, drawing out their darkness, fusing them with psychological suspense and noir characters. It's about good and evil, but the lines are blurred.

This story delivers the shocks of horror fiction, with the illusions and secrets of folklore, making this a creepy, disturbing and often grisly read.

I received a copy of this book from Harper Fiction via NetGalley in return for an honest review.