I never repeat the blurb but OMG I'd forgotten how good this writer is. No wonder I'm encouraging my mum to read the RAGDOLL series. Awesome. More please!!! This is unconnected to the Ragdoll books but the characters are just as good and the plot fascinating.

This book is fantastic-that's it, that's my review!
I have been eagerly awaiting what Daniel Cole would write next after the tremendous 'Ragdoll' trilogy and 'Mimic' does not disappoint.
Starting in the late 80's , a series of murders which are made to resemble works of art, comes to a cataclysmic end with horrifying consequences for those involved in the investigation.
9 years later, injury has forced one of the original detectives, Chambers, into a more or less desk job and the other, new Constable Winters is doing security work in Sainsbury's. Deeply unsatisfying and being managed by 'Dan the wanker', Winters finds it next to impossible to move on from his first, and last case.
New Narcotics trainee, Marshall, has spotted signs that the art mimic killer has resurfaced and, being obsessed with the original case, wants to open it up again.
But no one could have foreseen the personal connections, the twisted methods and the relentlessness in an artist pursuing their vision to their magnum opus.
I loved the naturalistic banter between Winters, Chambers and Marshall, Daniel Cole has such a great ear for dialogue and it fair carries the plot along., You believe in the relationship between these three , very different personalities as they work towards taking down an evil killer with no boundaries and no regrets.
It's about restorative justice, finishing a job using good old fashioned detective work and in their opposite number,Daniel Cole has created a truly horrific and memorable villain.

I loved the ‘Ragdoll’ trilogy, so was really looking forward to Mimic. This book had a good plot, but the characters just didn’t gel for me. I’m giving this one ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Will see what is next from this author.

Love the Ragdoll series by Daniel Cole so was thrilled to be able to read this. And it was great, a really twisty thriller with good characters (some you may recognise), really enjoyed this! Recommended!

It’s 1989 and Detective Ben Chambers has been called to a body in Hyde Park. He’s met by PC Adam Winter and his partner and shown a pedestal with a body frozen in The Thinker’s pose. When another “sculpture” is discovered, this time a mother and son, both officers are convinced that they are on the trail of a serial killer. With their boss not seeing the connection Chambers and Winters continue to to investigate without his authorisation. A late night chase leads to a tragedy and the end of the investigation. Seven years later Chambers and Winter are reunited when a trainee detective with a connection to the original case asks for their help to solve it. She is sure that one of the suspects from their investigation is the killer and when bodies posed as sculptures start appearing across London.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book from start to finish. A real page turner.

Thanks to Netgalley, Orion Publishing and Daniel Cole for the ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

Dark, twisted and believable enough to be disturbing, this thriller from Daniel Cole ticks all the boxes when it comes to a good crime novel. Cleverly constructed with beautiful line drawings that enhance the reader’s understanding of just how macabre these crimes are. I enjoyed this book a lot, thank you NetGalley for the advance reader copy.

Cole has done it again,a slightly gruesome set of murders,injected with enough humour to have you smiling through it all.
A great trio of detectives that I hope will be around a while,each with their own problems.
This was inventive and fun.
Look forward to the next outing.

Oh I do love a good dark and twisted thriller, and when it comes to the macabre and the bizarre, Daniel Cole never disappoints. This is perhaps not quite as grizzly as some of the scenes in his Ragdoll series, but it certainly has echoes of that very twisted nature and the serial killer is far from a stab and run kind of personality. Their kills are far more ostentatious. More ... staged. They are certainly making a statement. But what it lacked in bloodbathery, it made up for in style, wit and brilliant characters.

Narrated brilliantly by Jude Owusu I was drawn very quickly into this tale of a very dangerous art lover, the story opening in quite dramatic style with the discovery of a living statue. Or a not living one ... Or, well, the jury was definitely out. What wasn't up for debate was the fact that this was going to be a story that captured my imagination and that I was faced with characters, Chambers and Winters, who made me smile, even in the very dark circumstances of their meeting. From the beginning there was something about this pairing that just worked, and although seemingly chalk and cheese, they were on the same kind of wavelength, albeit that Winters added far more of the comedic value to the story. They way in which the narrator skilfully portrayed the two characters, giving them such distinct voices and capturing their personalities, just made the who story come alive.

This is a dark tale - an art aficionado who takes their appreciation of the classics to the next level and then some - but well handled and not gratuitously graphic. It's not the first time that this has come up as a theme in literature, and the tableau style staging of the bodies did put me in mind of certain episodes of Dexter and another book I've read this year. But it's fair to say that whilst the murderer is making a statement, it takes the urging of new Detective, Jordan Marshall, to get anyone in the upper echelons of the Police to listen to what they had to say. In spite of readers playing voyeur at one stage, the idea that the Met may be faced with. a serial killer is well and truly pushed aside in favour of a far too convenient confession.

I liked the pacing on this one, which although slow to start with, picks up with some real edge of the seat and tense moments of action. But it is not all fast paced and it is often the subtle, understated moments of menace and threat that really make the skin prickle as much as those moments where the characters lives are in real jeopardy. We are spared most of the graphic detail of the murders, seeing only the aftermath which is both tragically macabre and highly creative. The reveal when it comes is not as dramatic as you might expect, but it doesn't really matter, as the who, whilst important, is not really the whole point of this story. We know pretty early on just who they are chasing, it's the thrill of that chase, the danger that they are in, that makes this story a winner.

This is billed as a standalone thriller but I really do think this trio of Detectives could have legs (no pun intended) and I'd love to see them back in some form in the future. Recommended for fans of the darkly humorous thriller.

I really enjoyed this book and loved the characters.

I haven’t read the Ragdoll trilogy but will do after reading this.

I loved Mimic
I loved the characters, I loved the story,I loved the fact that I spent time googling beautiful sculptures and learning about them.
Daniel Cole has absolutely smashed it with this one.

I loved the ‘Ragdoll’ trilogy, so was really looking forward to this book. Fab plot, but the characters just didn’t gel for me. I also found it quite disjointed, which lessened the suspense.

Loved the characters in this book and the way in which the storyline twists and turns. Ragdoll was a hard act to follow in my opinion but all of Daniel's subsequent books haven't failed to impress and Mimic is no exception.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Orion Publishing Group For an advance copy of Mimic, a stand-alone thriller set in London, featuring DS Ben Chambers, PC Adam Winter and trainee DC Jordan Marshall.

In 1986 DS Ben Chambers, aided by Adam Winter, is hunting a serial killer who poses his victims like works of art. The killer attacks Chambers and leaves him for dead as he escapes and with Chambers out of commission the case goes cold until seven years later when DC Mitchell uncovers a fresh lead. She enlists the help of Chambers and Winter and unwittingly re-activates the killer’s desire to continue his mission.

I thoroughly enjoyed Mimic, which is a high octane thriller with a few laughs thrown in to lighten the load. They are sorely needed, because the killer is in a hurry and there’s a high body count, all found in extremely inventive positions. I was glued to the pages from start to finish, wondering what would come next.

The novel starts in 1989 and follows the investigation as it happens, then jumps to 1996 and, again follows the investigation as it happens, this time adding Marshall and a more sympathetic DCI. I like the detail offered by this method and the continuity of events untroubled by flashbacks or shifting timelines, as it makes the novel easy to follow. I also like the contrast that, while in 1989 they were seeking an unidentified killer in 1996 they know who he is and are preoccupied with stopping and catching him. So the novel is easy to follow and the mission is clearly defined, where’s the problem? Interpreting the clues and getting ahead of him when you’re not really sure what you’re doing are the answers. Still it’s an action packed read with little room to breathe.

The characterisation is strong in this novel. Chambers and Winter are burnt out in different ways from the first investigation and Marshall hasn’t learned to think first. They seem realistic and are fun to spend time with. I would gladly read more about them.

Mimic is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.

A good thriller that kept me guessing.

The writing is very accomplished and whilst reading I could see it all playing out on television. This would make such a great series for the BBC or Netflix.

Characters are so realistic and not one dimensional which is often the case in thrillers especially with Detectives. And at times the humour has you laughing out loud.

Really intriguing premise as well, If you are a fan of dark humour you will love this.

It’s a bitterly cold night in 1989 and DS Benjamin Chambers is called to Hyde Park where a dead naked body raised up high on a plinth is displayed as a statue which turns out to be a macabre version of Rodin's The Thinker. This dark and dangerous investigation led by Chambers and PC Winter and later joined in 1996 by trainee Constable Marshall, proves to be death mimicking well known and very recognisable works of art.

This is a typical Daniel Cole offering blending the extremely gritty with black humour which seems to be almost his trademark! The writing is clever, some of the humour in the dialogue is laugh out loud and some is a bit cheesy but raises some smiles! The characters are so good, they’re all misfits in some way, they’re all likeable though not necessarily always that good at their job yet somehow they ultimately find the solution. I especially like Marshall who is a very intriguing personality with leanings towards being a Goth and is very much on an angry girls crusade with this case. I like the art angle though I did read a book last year that has similarities of premise although it wasn’t written with quite the same entertaining pizazz. There are occasions where the plot strays into the surreal which I rather enjoy and is certainly shocking and horrifying on occasions. The art links to Greek mythology with the theme of unrequited love and this is an interesting angle. This realisation eventually leads to the chameleon perpetrator finally being apprehended and not before time. The plot is definitely twisty if not twisted and it takes its toll on the investigation team especially Chambers who suffers physically and mentally.

Overall, an entertaining blend of horror and humour, I’d like to read another book featuring this team and hope that’s in the pipeline or the authors mind!!

With thanks to NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group/Trapeze for the arc in return for an honest review.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. I really like this author and everything he has written. This was a page turning thriller that will have you hooked right to the end. Loved it.

I rarely read anything that isn't set in the last decade but this is Daniel Cole so I had to make an exception!
Brilliantly complex characters wound together with the typically dark plot that Cole is so good at combine to make this yet another must read from this twisted genius!