Michael Wood does it again in this instalment of the DCI Matilda Darke series. The premise of this had me so intrigued when I read the blurb and holy bejeesus it did not disappoint! Sinister, chilling, pacy and literally unputdownable, I am a fan of this series and can’t wait to read the next one.

This was a brilliant read. As soon as I started reading this book I just knew I was going to love it. Highly recommended

Michael Woods has done it again!! Loved it what a brilliant book. The plot twists and turns and the characters, Mat or Matilda is a good copper who uses her gut to find the criminals. It a page turner it very gripping

A Room Full of Killers is the third book in the DCI Matilda Darke series. First of all I have to say that I love the title of this book It sounds very intriguing and it isn't actually what I thought this book was going to be. As per usual I didn't read the blurb. I am a big fan of this series to know that this book was going to be a killer read! And it was certainly that I freaking loved it. My only regret is that I didn't read it sooner.

The story starts off with an OMG prologue leaving me totally hooked. And will have you guessing until the end. Eight Killers. One House. And the almost perfect murder… But who did it is the question?!

Has we follow the story of the investigation The author cleverly weaves in what each teenager did to get themselves a prison sentence in Sterling house. Telling some every dark and chilling events.

What I love about this book is the fact that not only is it dark and gruesome it is also full of suspense. I just couldn't get enough of it. I promise you that you will not be able to put this down.

Matilda is brilliant at her job and I love the team she works with. It would be nice to see a happier positive side to her now that we are getting to know her more. And not forgetting Kate Moloney with her Killer nails...absolutely brilliant.

Roll on book four… if you are looking for a dark nail biting read this is definitely the book for you which I highly recommend giving it 4.5 stars.

Thank you to Netgalley and Killer Reads for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was the third book in the DCI Matilda Darke series and the first I've read. I don't feel that I've missed references to previous books, but will go to read them now. This book was one of those "irritating" books where you suspect every person to be the bad guy, and on the next page you have a new baddie!!! It was brilliantly done and I did not see the ending coming!!!!

Starling House is a secure unit for young offenders, not your average everyday offender, Killers. When a new inmate arrives he is murdered within 2 days, a few days later another inmate is murdered. DCI Matilda Darke has the job of finding out who did it. Not only does she have to solve the mystery but she also has a feeling that one of the inmates is innocent and goes off piste to try to prove his innocence or not.

The story is interspersed with the stories of the inmates and their crimes. I loved these chapters, thought they were fantastically well written and gave the book another dimension, something different. The story reminded me of an updated version of the old fashioned Whodunits that would have been on a Sunday early evening when I was a child, which is a good thing.

Oh and I loved the very ending of the book really wasnt expecting it and what a fantastic way to end a fantastic book.

Highly recommended.

Are some people born evil? A few of these kids may make you wonder about that question. Starling House is full of the worst type of offenders. Children who choose to torture, harm and even kill.

Unfortunately they all tend to end up in the same place, especially if they are still minors. It’s certainly debatable whether certain individuals should be allowed to associate with each other, and in doing so are perhaps more likely to encourage more criminal behaviour.

What makes this such a dark read is the fact these killers do exist. Children who commit the most heinous of crimes. The character profiles sail fairly closely to reality and real crimes. Killers with the faces of cherubs, but the minds of deviants.

DCI Matilda Darke is distracted by one of these young boys, to the point of endangering members of her team. She is almost obsessed by the thought one of the delinquents could actually be innocent.

The cynic in me wanted to shake her a little and remind her how manipulative some of these young boys can be. Has she been blinded by the cute face and the young age or perhaps been misguided by her own gut instinct? Killers can be highly intelligent and persuasive.

Wood has created a solid enjoyable main character in Matilda Darke. Much like the plot, she is unpredictable, but driven by her strong sense of justice and her instincts. It is sometimes an uncomfortable read, and yet also a compelling one.

A very happy paperback publication day to A Room Full of Killers author, Michael Wood and the team at Killer Reads. And congratulations on what is a stunning example of how to write a police procedural. I've read the second book in the DCI Matilda Darke series, Outside Looking In and thoroughly enjoyed it. This third instalment though is something else altogether. I absolutely loved it!

The opening scenes are both horrific and heartbreaking. We're fleetingly introduced to two children. We don't know who they are, how old they are or their circumstances. All we know is that the older child is suffering from food poisoning and has woken their sibling up after being violently ill. What follows made my heart ache and my stomach turn. Such a brilliantly written, attention grabbing opening and way to make sure the reader is giving their absolute undivided attention.

I mentioned in my review of Outside Looking In how much I love DCI Matilda Darke and how wonderfully normal she is in comparison to some other female detectives. I'm still very much a fan but the shine was taken off a little for me whilst reading A Room Full of Killers. Matilda is sent to investigate the murder of a high profile teenage killer at a Young Offenders Institute. But during the investigation she becomes distracted to the point of endangering herself and her team. I think I invest far too much in my fictional leads as I felt like yelling at my Kindle and telling her to buck her ideas up! But weirdly, this added to the whole reading experience for me. (Yeah, I can't explain it either!)

I spent a long time working out how the prologue fitted with the rest of the story. And then it became perfectly clear and suddenly, the gruesome murder of a teenage killer and the complex ongoing investigation faded into the background a little and I was just as distracted as DCI Darke. Such a clever novel and full marks to the author for writing such a tense, heart-rending book.

One of the many things I loved about a A Room Full of Killers is that it's set in Starling House, a young offenders prison. Meaning the majority of the characters are evil, vindictive killers (the type I love to read about!). Each of the young men get to tell their story and the reason they have ended up imprisoned. I loved these chapters. They're so well written and despite being relatively short summaries, they tell you everything you need to know about the killers. Building a clear picture of the evil, sadistic children stuck behind the walls of Starling House.

I loved the mystery element. I love whodunits and this is a fantastic example of how to plot and build on the suspense. Would I recommend this book? Most definitely. I loved this book so I really hope that you get a chance to read it too. It's tense, gripping and a completely absorbing read. I loved the cast of killers and, even though she lost a little of the shine, I still love DCI Matilda Darke. An excellent book which fans of the police procedural shouldn't ignore. I hope we don't have too long to wait until the fourth book in the series is published!

Five out of five stars.

I chose to read and review an eARC of A Room Full of Killers. The above review is my own unbiased opinion.

The third in the DCI Matilda Darke series and A Room Full of Killers is another cracking read from Michael Wood.

A story set primarily within a secure facility where teenage boys, too young for prison, are incarcerated. They are moved from around the country to Starling House on the outskirts of Sheffield. Their crimes the shame of their family (where their family were not victims) and their notoriety splashed across newspaper headlines. Away from the spotlight they are held together in Starling House, a poorly resourced institution where the facility manager is doing everything in her power to keep things ticking over.

A new entrant to Starling House is about to upset the balance and the pressure which has been building is about to blow. A murder – the victim laid out in a public room and stabbed multiple times. The suspects: all the residents or a staff member pushed too far? A problem for the police as there is no obvious motive – all the young criminals were locked into their rooms for the night so how did someone have freedom to roam around and kill a fellow resident.

Crime readers will love the “locked room” puzzle which Michael Wood has devised. When the police attend a crime scene where they know there are already known killers in their midst it throws a highly entertaining curveball and watching Matilda Darke and her colleagues contend with this unwelcome problem is great fun.

As for Matilda, she has had a tough time of it in the first two novels and the memory of a very high profile failure is not going away in A Room Full of Killers. I have been enjoying the ongoing story arc which has been hanging over Matilda in the first three books and it is nicely brought on this time around. NB each book can stand alone, the arc is well explained as is key to Matilda’s character.

Matilda Darke should become a familiar character to anyone that enjoys crime fiction. Michael Wood is building a great series here and you want to ensure you are here for the journey.

Ive read all the books in this series and enjoyed reading A Room Full of Killers, it was a great story that had me hooked, however, the investigation went on a bit too long and started to lose interest but did pick up towards the end! Love the book cover it is very appealing.

Confession: this is the first I have read in the Matilda Darke series (this is number 3) but that really didn't matter on reading 'A Room Full of Killers'.
It was an extraordinarily twisty turny story involving the death of a teenage boy at a privately run secure unit for youth offenders.
The locked room mystery is whether the murderer of the boy is one of the other inmates, a member of staff or a third party with motives for shutting down the controversial building in the first place.
And who would feel sorrow for a boy who had murdered members of his own family?
At the same time as getting the reader to examine the motivations and feelings of the reader, Mr Woods neatly lines up the detectives, real life politics of modern policing, the backstories of these boys and a murder mystery.
He also manages to make it accessible to anyone unfamiliar with the first two in the series by having it make sense but not rehashing the plots of the other two so that you finish this book wanting to read the others.
The only reason it is not a 5 star review is that I personally feel the ending was rushed and a bit nonsensical but that is just my humble opinion. It is still highly recommended!
Many thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for letting me read this book.

WOW Michael Wood's Matilda Drake books just get better and better. A Room Full of Killers is such a great storyline different to most crime books and it works well.
Definitely go and buy it asap
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC in return for an honest review.

This is amazing and smart - a typical locked room scenario underneath with a detective needing to prove herself after a case when badly wrong. The frightened teenagers are psychopaths but still true-life adolescents and the crimes they've committed are repellent but we hear in their own words what made them do it from their files. Matilda, the detective, has a huge job on her plate and when she uncovers an event from the past hidden by the heads of the institution for young serious crime offenders, things take another turn. There are lots of alleyways and dangers and it is all handled with enormous skill. I truly could not put this one down.

Confession time: I did read Michael Wood's first book in the series: For Reasons Unknown. Sadly, I haven't yet read the second one, but this third installment could easily be read as a standalone (ALTHOUGH, there are spoilers for the first book, so make sure you know where you want to start).

The plot was compelling and intriguing and one of those that immediately catch your attention. One body. Suspects: Seven murderers. The novel is set in a juvenile detention center and while Matilda and her team (I love you Rory!) investigate the mysterious murder, every teenager tells us their personal story in seven very disturbing chapters. Wow.

I've read in other reviews that the book was reminiscent of Agatha Christie's novels and I definitely think the same way. There are only a few suspects and anyone could've done it. Honestly, I had no idea who the killer was and while there wasn't a "big" twist, I wasn't able to guess what had happened.

The best books are those that stay with you and make you think after you've read them. Fortunately, A Room Full of Killers was part of that group. I went to bed last night feeling a bit uneasy because of the ending (which I LOVED) and asking myself which crime was the worst. Surprisingly, I couldn't decide which kid was scarier. What do you think? Which one of the characters was more evil? Maybe the car kid? The fire one? For me, as they mention in the book, it's much scarier when there isn't a motive for the crime. When people kill simply because they feel like to. No need for traumatic childhoods, just a pure desire to kill.

I have only two minor complaints about ARFOK. The "past" crime, the one featured in the first chapter, was, in my opinion, too similar to the one in the first book. Did anyone else notice? Also, I couldn't understand how Matilda knew Thomas was innocent after five minutes with him. Especially given that her instinct isn't always the best... I still loved that particular storyline, maybe even more than the central one.

Moreover, I really loved the author's writing and the multiple references. First of all, as a fan of Scream, I found the chapter narrated by Lee both fascinating and extremely creepy. Secondly, Agatha Christie! Who didn't think of Murder On The Orient Express while reading this novel? And I couldn't help but feel so identified with Kate, as I always turn to Friends when I'm feeling anxious. Friends is the best medicine.

The first book that I have read by this author, and the third in the series. Thoroughly enjoyed reading this and would recommend to others, even if you haven't read them all. A great story line with enjoyable characters.

I absolutely LOVE the Matilda Darke series and I am delighted to say that this one is the best one yet!

A Room Full of Killers opens with a huge gut punch to the senses and doesn't let up the pace all the way through! Within 24 hours of arriving at Starling House, Ryan Asher is found brutally murdered. There is one big issue...Starling House is a secure unit for some of the most violent and murderous teenagers in the UK and the only suspects are the other inmates and staff! The pressure mounts and tensions run high - I could literally feel it oozing out of the pages as I read! Seriously I struggled to put this book down! It kept me hooked right until the very end! I had no idea who the culprit was and the clever twists and turns throughout kept me guessing all the way through!

Can I just say, I love Matilda Darke, she has not had her troubles to seek throughout this series and A Room Full of Killers starts with her taking a more positive approach to her life - however - is this case the one that's going to bring it all tumbling back down round about her? She's a strong character with a real sense of justice and doesn't mind bending the rules to ensure she sees it happen. I feel a real connection with her in every book I read.

Kate Maloney - I couldn't work out whether to feel sorry for her or to reach into the pages and give her a good shaking! Seriously woman...what on earth was she thinking! Within Starling House there were a few key characters who made your skin crawl. With the young prisoners, I found it difficult, their crimes were awful, but there was a vulnerability about some of them that made you want to reach out to them...and at other times their actions scared the living daylights out of you.

Apart from murder most foul, A Room Full of Killers makes a short exploration over the Nature Vs Nurture debate and what makes children kill. It's a fascinating area of study and one that gets those old brain cells ticking! Combined with revenge, secrets and lies this book has enough to keep the diehard psychological/crime thriller fans amongst us happy for the journey!

This is the darkest in the Matilda Darke series so far and has easily taken the top spot in my favourite of the series; it has everything I'm looking for in a book...exceptional characters, twisted plot lines, intrigue and twists galore! It left my head reeling and my heart racing and more importantly it left me demanding that Michael Wood hurries up and writes the next one....how can you leave me like this!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for my ARC

Ok. First things first. This is the third full length book in the Mathilda Darke series by Michael Wood but the first one I have read. I am a complete plank. Not because I read book three first, it is easily strong enough to be read as a standalone and I felt I knew enough the characters to carry me through the story. No. I am a complete plank because I have allowed this series to pass me by, a mistake I hope to remedy soon as I've already purchased the first two books and the novella which was released at Christmas. If you have any sense, and you aren't already wise to how great these books are, then you will do the same. Right. With that bit out of the way, what about this book.

Well. As you can probably guess, I kind of loved this book. I came to it having seen a whole host of great reviews from other bloggers, people whose opinions I trust implicitly. I wasn't disappointed. From the very opening chapter I knew this was a book which deserved my full attention and boy did it get it. It was not even so much of what you could see, what the author described, as the simple act of what was implied. It left me wanting more; feeling desperate to know whose eyes we were seeing the action through and what was the atrocity which had clearly taken place.

Cut from the prologue to a scene of a young boy being taken to a youth offenders facility in Sheffield. Was this our mystery voyeur? Was he the person who has seen, or perhaps even committed this as yet undisclosed crime? The mystery went on and on, drawing me in, keeping me gripped until I could find out the truth. It was pitched perfectly, keeping me invested in both the story and the characters, even though these are people who have fallen foul of the law.

And yet... the beauty of this whole opening was that this wasn't even the central premise of the book. The real story surrounded this young man, a boy whose crimes we don't yet understand, who within a day of having been moved to Starling House has been murdered. Released from a room in lock down, one that could only be opened from the outside, and found in another room which was also locked. The staff are all accounted for and the offenders are all locked away. A sort of perfectly imperfect, unlocked-locked room mystery. So who is responsible? The staff of this institution - some of questionable character and dubious levels of security screening - or the inmates - a group of high profile teenage murderers? Seven young men with completely the right character to commit a crime, but no clear motive and no access. Such a quandary and absolutely beautiful to read.

The pacing in this book is brilliant and the setting just perfect. The house itself is imposing; grandiose and cold, beset with issues and subject to such animosity from local residents that they simply cannot employ or retain staff. Add to that the incessant rain which is plaguing the region, isolating the house from the rest of the world and making it so much harder for the police to conduct an already impossible investigation. And the characters are so wonderfully shady and untrustworthy. Clearly it would be hard for anyone to trust a convicted killer, but even the staff are aloof, especially the warden, Kate Moloney, who seems not to want to allow the truth to come out and is as obstructive to the investigation she can be while not wholly stopping Mathilda and her team from doing what they need to do.

This is a superb crime novel. The feeling of authenticity really comes across in the characterisation, from the descriptions of the convicted killers - the chapters written in their own voices as they talk through their crimes are particularly chilling - through to the team investigating the crime. As characters go, I really took to them all, especially Mathilda, a woman who is struggling with her personal demons, ones which are affecting her ability to do her job properly and potentially putting her and her team at risk due to her distraction. I loved to see the way in which Wood portrayed her; her private battle with grief, the panic attacks she struggles to keep hidden from her team, her loneliness and the simple and yet caring relationship with her father and friends. She is a character I have formed an instant 'fictional' bond with, hence my need to go back and read the first books. I want to know more. I want to go back and go on the journey with her.

If you are a fan of a good police procedural with a strong yet crumbling central protagonist, menacing suspects and more than a hint of mystery, then I absolutely recommend reading this book. I read a lot of thrillers and this is totally up there with the best of them, the killer and motive so well hidden for so long that I seriously didn't see it coming. Brilliant.

A twisted and chilling 5 stars.

Brilliant third book by the author really enjoyed the story and that it was a bit more darker

I just LOVE this series so I was really excited to start to read DCI Matilda Darke book 3 especially as I hadn’t had long to wait since reading the short prequel novella The Fallen just before Christmas. I love strong female protagonists in crime thrillers and Matilda is such an incredibly complex character with hidden and unexpected depths that I don’t think I will ever tire of her! If you have enjoyed the previous books as well then you are in a treat as I think this is the best book so far! I was awake till half two this morning finishing it (with a little break for some hot tea and a Tunnocks Teacake at midnight-reading about Sian’s snack drawer always makes me hungry!) as I physically couldn’t put it down until the case was solved.

I think one of the reasons I loved this so much was that it had an unexpected “Agatha Christie feel” to it. After the murder has occurred, all the suspects are gathered together by the detectives in one room which reminded me of the way Hercule Poirot would gather the cast of misfits together, pulling all the alibies apart individually before revealing the murderer. Unfortunately, it’s not that easy for Matilda as her investigation is also side tracked by a possible case of a miscarriage of justice. Interspersed throughout the teams investigation into the murder we hear the backstories of the eight killer’s who have come together at Sterling House and those chapters are truly chilling. These are teenage boys who have committed the most heinous of crimes and one of the team, Rory, really struggles to understand why? What has happened to these boys to turn them into killers? We are back to the nature versus nurture argument, could some people just be born evil?

Kate Maloney, the prison manager, was possibly one of the most frustrating characters I have read about recently (as well as appearing rather familiar for some reason!) so I felt absolutely no sympathy for her predicament whatsoever. And you can’t help but compare her to the fiercely loyal and single minded Matilda, who’s stubborn persistence is unfailing in her attempt to do the right thing and see justice done.

Honestly I am overwhelmed by how much Michael Wood has upped his game here and I’m already chomping at the bit for more DCI Matilda Darke. This is highly recommended by me and if you haven’t read any of this series yet I suggest you start with For Reasons Unknown, the first book and I guarantee you will be as addicted as I am!

I received a copy of this book via netgalley and have chosen to read and review it.

DCI Matilda Darke is a detective that I have somehow not had the pleasure of meeting before. I’m not sure how the first two novels in the series passed me by, but somehow they did and I really need to go back and revisit them. I must stress at this point, that this novel can definitely be read as a standalone, I would just like to read more about Matilda.

Starling House is home to some of Britain’s deadliest killers, none of them old enough yet to be in an adult prison. When their newest arrival, Ryan Asher is found brutally murdered in a pool of blood, the police are suspicious. Despite the violence of the crime, his body is at odds with the rest of the crime scene, it looks to have been staged. And there are no shortage of suspects.

For those outside Starling House, suspicion would naturally fall on the remaining ‘inmates’, but DCI Matilda Darke and her team focus upon Starling House’s staff. If the house is as secure as everyone says it is, then they can be the only true suspects.

After a trying few days in which very little progress is made, there is a major blip in their investigation, another body is found. This time hanging from a tree. It is another of the boys from the house, and his death also seems staged. Made to look like suicide when it was clearly murder.

DCI Matilda Darke and her team must act quickly to find the perpetrator before they kill again, as they know it is only a matter of time before another victim is killed...

A room full of killers is a very interesting take on the traditional crime novel, with its difficult and controversial subjects, and I loved the ending. I look forward to the next DCI Darke instalment.