I'm a big fan of this author and his Ragdoll series so I was very much looking forward to getting my teeth into this, his new stand alone. Although, for me, it didn't hit the heady heights of satisfaction that Ragdoll did, I found it a good solid read in itself.
Set in 1989 we follow DS Chambers and DC Winters as they try and capture a serial killer. If you have read the Ragdoll books, you'll know the twisted mind of the author and here too we have some rather heinous, gratuitous crimes. In this case, the killer is using his victims to re-enact some of the greatest works of art. But then he stops, or appears to, and the trail goes cold.
Fast forward a few years and there's a new kid on the block in the guise of DS Marshall. Long story short... she has always been fascinated by the unsolved case and when there's a new murder she thinks it's connected and wants the case reopened... But remember that old adage, careful what you wish for...?
Maybe it's cos I never really connected to the characters that made this book fall a little flat. I certainly didn't get on with Marshall and all her personal stuff. Or maybe it was that my expectations were too high. But there was something that didn't quite gel with me with this book. I don't think I was ever 100% convinced by the time in which the book was set. That said, the banter was good and the crimes deliciously heinous and I do love a bit of gratuitous shock with my serial killers so I was well catered for there. And for all I didn't connect wholly with the characters, they did seem to complement each other and there was some really great interaction and banter to be found peppered throughout the book.
All in all, a good solid read that did hold my attention throughout and although didn't quite wholly satisfy, came to a good conclusion nonetheless. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

This is a really clever, inspired thriller, with thoroughly likeable main characters who play off each other. The plot is ingenious, using art as the inspiration behind the crimes. Kept me captivated right to the end.

As I never reveal any plots when doing a review (that´s the publisher´s job with the book blurb), all I can say is I would thoroughly recommend reading this one.

My thanks to NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group for giving me the opportunity to read and review an advanced copy.

I chose to read and review a free ARC copy of Mimic but that has in no way influenced my review. .

I am a HUGE fan of this author's books. His Ragdoll Series featuring Detective 'Wolf' Fawkes is superb and I heartily recommend it if you've not had the pleasure of reading it yet. Mimic is a brand new standalone novel featuring a new team of detectives but with Cole's trademark wit, ingenuity and perfect pacing. I absolutely LOVED Mimic.

DS Benjamin Chambers is called to a very unusual scene where the deceased has apparently taken their own life by choosing to freeze to death. On closer inspection, it becomes clear to Chambers that not everything is as it first appeared. This is the first victim of a twisted killer who is using his victims to recreate famous works of art. Partnered with the near-hopeless PC Adam Winter, Chambers sets out to catch the killer before he adds more bodies to his collection. But the investigation falters, Chambers is nearly killed in action and as a result, the case goes cold. Fast forward seven years to 1996 and police trainee, Jordan Marshall, is determined to crack the case. She calls in the help of now ex-detective Adam Winter and eventually persuades DS Chambers to take another look at the evidence. But it's not long before new 'masterpieces' start appearing. The killer has returned to finish off what he started and it's down to Marshall, Chambers and Winter to stop him in his tracks, before it's too late....

Absolutely bloody marvellous! By far the best police procedural I have read this year. I loved everything about Mimic from the moment I cracked open the first page to its breath-taking conclusion. I was 100% hooked and completely immersed in the story. Expertly written, featuring some of the most interesting characters I have come across in a long time and I hope this isn't the last we see of this brilliant crime-fighting trio. There were moments where I laughed out loud, moments where my smart watch was beeping at me because my heartrate was, apparently, too high (pah!) and moments where I just couldn't tear myself away from the story. I loved this book.

Chambers, Winter and Marshall were the perfect team. Each bringing their own strengths (I'm still trying to work out what Winter's strengths were but he was my favourite character! ) to a tricky investigation which kept me turning the pages late into the night.  I know the Ragdoll Series has a lot of fans (me being one of them) but I'm going to be controversial here and say that Mimic is my favourite book by this author. I was completely smitten with DS Chambers. Winters had me chuckling to myself with lots of well-timed hilarity and Marshall's growth as a detective had me rooting for her.

Would I recommend this book? I would, yes. Mimic is a perfectly paced, expertly balanced novel. An absolute joy to read from start to finish. I loved the retro feel the author gave the story by setting it in the 80s and 90s (I'm obviously FAR too young to remember them myself! ). I thought the characters were superb and I would love to see more of them in the future. The investigation was fascinating and I loved the addition of the hand drawn images at the end of each chapter (so even if you're not an art aficionado, you can see what the killer created!). This is an absolute must-read for crime fiction fans and I will be recommending it to everyone! Highly recommended.

I chose to read and review a free ARC of Mimic. The above review is my own unbiased opinion.

I simply loved the Rag Doll series and jumped at a chance to read this new standalone book. It did not disappoint at all! It had a few more characters which could get confusing at times but a great story and plot. I loved it!

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book..

Clever without being irritating - I normally hate books that tell me about art but I really enjoyed this one.

I loved the RAGDOLL series, each book was contrasting in style and I really engaged with this variation and creativity. Daniel Coles books are always fun to read, despite taking you into dark places, minds and events. The thrillers are carefully plotted with both dramatic and creative deaths and crimes – so be warned, this isn’t for the faint of heart.

There’s a great and slightly unusual character driven team working on the central investigation: DS Ben Chambers, PC Adam Winters and the modern newbie DC Jordan Marshall. The crime investigation initially begins in 1989 shifting to the reopening in 2006 and I enjoyed the changes of both the investigation, the development and changes of the 1989 investigators.

A part of Cole’s books that add to their charm, even though it’s rather macabre at times, is the humour, which I’ve also really enjoyed in previous Cole books – so please expect a chuckle along the way, if dark humour works for you?

With the theme of art, specifically Rodin’s ‘The Thinker’ sculpture opening this crime mystery, Cole has created an intelligent cold case crime at the heart of this thriller. The reader follows the team as they hunt the perpetrator of the sick crimes that haunt them, to find closure on the case and to seek justice.

A gruesome crime thriller based on recreating famous works of art in the most macabre way. An intelligent, absorbing and addictive read.

A good dark humoured as always book from the author ,occasionally a bit confusing as to where we are with the characters and plot but that aside another winner from Daniel Cole that would be fantastic for TV/ film

I loved the Ragdoll trilogy and was hoping for another amazing thriller, but this just wasn't anywhere near as good. It had lots of potential but it felt really muddled and I got confused as to what exactly was going on in places.
There were some great ideas and the whole thing was entertaining but it was a bit disappointing.
There were a couple of things that didn't feel finished, and some of it just wasn't plausible.

I loved Daniel Cole’s Ragdoll series, and I was very excited to see that he had a new standalone novel coming out. His latest book, Mimic, is a very creative serial killer thriller, and I loved the characters. In 1989, Detective Benjamin Chambers was hunting for a sadistic serial killer trying to recreate his victims as great works of art from around the world. The killer is never found. Now seven years later, they are on the hunt for the same killer again. It seems that Daniel Cole is not short of brilliant ideas for macabre serial killings.

This is an exhilarating read. Daniel Cole always keeps the tension turning up a notch, and I loved his new cast of characters. I loved the dialogue between them, which was witty and very engaging, particularly between Chambers and Winters. I’d love to see them both return in future books. I think creating engaging characters is one of Daniel Cole’s strongest writing skills. I loved Fawkes and Baxter in his Ragdoll novels, and I loved Chambers and Winters.

In the scenes set in the 90s, I liked that Winters is no longer a police officer but works as a security guard in Sainsbury’s. It was interesting to see how he and Chambers worked together, particularly as Winters is no longer a serving police officer.

The case they are investigating is quite complex, and it has been on their minds for seven years. Daniel Cole presents us with a very intriguing serial killer. It made me want to find out more about why they were killing their victims in the way they were. It made me ask the question, what had happened in their life to make them like this.

It seems to be a battle for Chambers and Winters to get the rest of the Met Police on board with them. It made me wonder if they would continue to search for them on their own. Also, if they would be willing to put themselves close to danger to bring the right person to justice. The tension gets really high in the final chapters as they try, and I had no idea how things were going to pan out for them or if they were going to succeed in bringing the killer to justice.

If you love high octane crime thrillers, then Mimic is the book for you. Daniel Cole has done an outstanding job in creating a new cast of characters who you’ll be rooting for from the beginning. This is highly entertaining crime fiction. I loved it! I can’t wait to see what Daniel Cole has in store for us next.

This is a great crime thriller.
Having read Daniel Cole’s other books, I’ve been looking forward to this one.
This is a standalone book but I’d like to hope more will follow with these characters involved.
The book is told over two timelines, 1989 and 1996.
In 1989 Winters and Chalmers are trying to find the killer who is killing his victims and then posing them into famous pieces of art.
They’re not given much support from their superiors and the case eventually closes with an unsatisfactory outcome for both Chalmers and Winters.
Seven years later Marshall approaches both of them and asks for help as new information has come to light about the murders.
Reluctantly they agree to help as the case affected both of them deeply but they want to catch the killer.
Their investigations seem to spur the murderer into killing again so the three of them have their hands full.
There’s some great banter between Chalmers and Winters and Marshall works well with the two Detectives.
This is a great crime thriller that I found hard to put down.
Thanks to Orion Publishing Group and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

In life she was his muse . . .
In death she'll be his masterpiece

It's 1989 and DS Ben Chambers and DC Adam Winter are chasing a serial killer whose victims are recreated into some of the most memorable works of art the world has ever known, then Chambers is involved in a situation that nearly takes his life and the case goes cold. Fast forward seven years and DS Marshall, who was a teenager back in 1989 has obtained new evidence and, together with Chambers and Winter, are assigned to the reopened case when another 'masterpiece' is discovered. After what happened seven years earlier, both Chambers and Winter have personal reasons to bring this monster to justice and won't stop until they do.

Mimic is told across two timelines; 1989 and seven years later, it's a dark and gritty thriller with a lot of black humour and sarcasm between Chambers and Winter, it's a slow burner which picks up the pace when Marshall arrives on the scene, and progresses quite quickly after that. The main characters are all likeable, forming an unlikely trio who all have the same goal in their sights, to bring this killer to justice. The plot is well drawn, and all starts to make sense when the perpetrators ex-girlfriend, Eloise starts to piece together the reasons behind the murders. This is a standalone novel, which I hope will develop into a series as I'd like to see more from these characters and they definitely have more to give.

I'd like to thank Orion and Netgalley for the auto approval, I will post my review on Goodreads and Amazon.

My Thoughts: I really enjoyed this story, it drew me in quite quickly, the writing flowed easily and I really enjoyed the humour of the story with the very serious undertone!

I’ve never read a book with a story line quite like this, murders are being committed and the bodies are being left looking like famous sculptures, so death has become art, it gave me the creeps and fascinated me at the same time.

It seems like DS Chambers and DC Winters just keep hitting brick walls when it comes to trying to solve the case, they’re both getting frustrated and give it one last ditch attempt which ends up with dire consequences for one of them?

The case is ‘forgotten’ for 7 years before being picked up by new blood Jordan who manages to convince both Chambers and Winters to help her solve the case despite them both having new jobs! – they’re reluctant at first out soon the pull of the new evidence and the possibility of finally getting to the bottom of it proves too much!

Unfortunately in reopening the case they seem to have reawakened the murderer, can they get to the bottom of who started this awful new collection of art before it’s too late?

I thoroughly enjoyed the story and felt the audiobook added a whole new level too it making it feel more real, or had me laughing in places, whilst cringing and on the edge of my seat in others, this is my first dive into Daniels work and it’s left me eager to discover his previous books!

Having loved the Ragdoll trilogy by Daniel Cole, I was looking forward to his latest offering set in London, and whilst it contained the author's trademark comic touches with the grotesque and grisly murders, it didn't quite have the same impact and made for more of a mixed bag of a read. There were aspects that really worked well, but at times the humour often left me cold, and the characters on occasion too bungling, slapstick and unprofessional. It is 1989 and a sadistic art obssesed serial killer, a demon in human form, is on the loose, recreating classic sculptures with his victims. The first is on a freezing cold night is in Hyde Park, where a plinth has a frozen man depicted as Rodin's The Thinker and the second is the recreation of the mother and son in Michelangelo's Pieta.

The investigating officer, the black DS Benjamin Chambers, is weighed down by a useless and vindictive boss, DCI Hamm, who refuses to accept that the 2 cases are linked. Chambers works with DC Adam Winter in which their inquiries yield 2 likely suspects, however, everything goes to hell with a tragedy and Chambers himself almost dies at the hands of the killer. 7 years later, the case is resurrected by trainee narcotics officer, Jordan Marshall, a woman with a personal stake in discovering the truth. She is a tattoed goth with heroin track marks on her arm, and as she ropes in Chambers and Winters, who have been left haunted and traumatised by the original case, the dormant mimic serial killer returns with a vengeance with a murdered young woman displayed to look like the Venus de Milo, and he is far from finished.

There is no doubt there are is much that is entertaining, engaging and dark about this novel which I enjoyed, but perhaps this was a book that suffered from the excellent books I had just read and truly loved. However, I think Cole's potent mix of blackly comic crime fiction alchemy in the Ragdoll trilogy is not as strong here, and perhaps he might think of developing as a writer further to add something different to his future output to what has so far been a commercially successful formula. I am certain that many crime and mystery readers will love this more than I did, so I suggest reading other reviews on this prior to making a decision to read. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

Listening to audiobooks is a relatively new thing for me so I jumped at the opportunity to listen to the new novel by this author. His Ragdoll series was one that I enjoyed a lot.

A dual time framed novel, the first part concerns a series of deaths. Chambers and Winters are convinced that they are linked but with lack of help from their superior officer, a somewhat unconvincing confession and finally a tragic accident the investigation is dropped.

Jump forward seven years and a young female officer, Marshall, who had known one of the victims, wants Chambers to look at the case again and find the killer. Despite misgivings and breaking a promise to his wonderful wife Eve he agrees.

Life hasn’t been kind to any of them. All three have suffered during the seven years and I really hope that there are no members of our police who are like this trio. Not because I didn’t like them but because they have all been damaged by what happened. To the extent that I worried for their safety and sanity. Marshall was very much an open book, you knew immediately how she coped and some of the trauma she experienced. Winters was more reticent, in some ways I felt he suffered more than Chambers.

But despite their issues they had a friendship that went beyond the job. Chambers was very much the father figure and managed to help both of them. In particular Marshall who he quite easily could have had removed from the investigation. Instead he showed encouragement and a belief in her abilities.

Whilst the case was an interesting one, that sent me to the internet a few times to learn more it was the relationship dynamic they grabbed me. This felt like an honest example of a team. Working on their strengths and supporting their weaknesses. And there was also some dark humour, mainly caused by frustration.

This novel is described as a standalone but I feel that there could definitely be a follow up. There is certainly potential.

I was thrilled when I got approved for this latest Daniel Cole book Mimic I have read all his previous books and loved everyone of them and so was hoping this latest book would be just as good, well it lived up to all expectations and was absolutely brilliant.
When you see the name Daniel Cole you know you are in for a read that’s going to be something special he has the uncanny of being able to draw you into a story from the start and keep you guessing to the end. This book had everything a gruesome and clever plot , fantastically flawed characters and the thing that I loved most the trademark humour they made me laugh out loud and thats what makes this author somebody special.
The book goes a fair old pace and wow I didn’t see that ending at all and although I was desperate to find out who and why I now feel bereft as I miss these great characters already so I’m putting out a plea to Mr Cole please ,pretty please can we have more from them in the future !!
So more than a five star read and can only say don’t miss this one it really is exceptional and many thanks to Daniel Cole for giving me so much from a book.
My thanks also to NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group for giving me the chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Daniel Cole returns with standalone thriller Mimic to the world of his Ragdoll series, with a nerve-wracking new story about a serial killer who mimics the world's greatest works of art with the bodies of his victims. 1989. Detective Benjamin Chambers and his sidekick Adam Winters track down a serial killer who has a bizarre passion for imitating history's greatest works of art using the bodies of his victims. But the case is dead due to lack of evidence. The killer goes underground, his collection is unfinished. Seven years later, Detective Marshall comes with new evidence and joins in to reopen the case. However, that also triggers a new wave of horror. The team walks a fine line between seeking justice and playing their own judge in their pursuit of a monster far more dangerous and intelligent than anyone ever imagined.

This is a riveting, nail-biting and compulsively readable serial killer thriller laden with wicked twists and dizzying red herrings with Cole ensuring that there is never a dull moment throughout. Moving at a killer pace, this sinister read is sprinkled with some wry humour to break up the heavy subject matter, and I found it so enthralling I flew through the pages in one sitting. It's as high octane as a thriller can get and is studded with action that grips you from the very beginning and the peculiar motives and high body count feed into its scintillating nature. Clever, original and absorbing, Mimic reads like the best action movie, and you can not help but be swept up in its mass tension and excitement. Cole has crafted his most accomplished and brilliant book to date and it all culminates in a spectacular and explosive finale you're not likely to forget anytime soon. Highly recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

This story focuses on a detective called Chambers. We read the story first set in the 1980s while Chambers is hunting down a serial killer, who stages his victims like statues. Chambers gets so close to catching him that the killer injures Chambers, and manages to get away. During this case Chambers has the help of Winter, who isn’t the best police officer in the world. Then we read 7 years later, and narcotics officer Marshall starts to look at the case again, in the hope of finally catching him.

This was a good, solid story from this author. It’s a police procedural, with dark humour. It was really cleverly written and has great details and descriptives. I liked the characters, especially Chambers who is a great detective, and loves to push the boundaries. And with Winter and Marshall, they make a great team, with dry humour making the book have a comedic element. I liked the way the story panned over seven years and how crimes aren’t solved straightaway unfortunately. It was a great, solid police procedural story, from an author who never fails to write a great story.

Mimic - Author: Daniel Cole
Publisher:Orion Publishing Group
Publication Date 19/8/21

4.5 ⭐️ out of 5

NO SPOILERS


Strong follow up to the Rag Doll series which is one of my favourite detective reads of the past few years and a very tough act to follow.
Mimic has an intriguing opening. The story then jumps forward a few years and the pace quickens before slowing a bit towards the end.
I enjoyed the dialogue between the 3 main characters which is realistic and infused with some great dark humour. Although billed as a standalone thriller there did seem to be the potential to continue with this trio and I for one would definitely be interested to read another book should there be one

Highly recommended

I’d like to thank the author, publisher and netgalley for providing me with this advance digital copy in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

A pacy and involving read typical for Daniel Cole with ironically hilarious characters and a darkly horrific killer at large.

Mimic fairly rocks along and will make for an excellent t.v. show, if you loved the Ragdoll series you'll really enjoy this.

For me it didn't quite hit the dizzy, addictive heights of the Ragdoll trilogy but was still a wildly entertaining read that I completed in one sitting.

This is a thoroughly enjoyable serial killer crime book. I feel like I've read thousands of these types of books and felt this one was a bit different, the characters felt a bit more real and it was an easy read.. It had a good pace and there is some dark humour throughout which I enjoyed.