I can say this is still a series I am loving and fully intend to follow further. Book 3 is certainly darker than previous books partly in subject matter but also in style yet I was still gripped from start to finish. I enjoyed expanding on the background stories of the characters I already know from reading the previous books and in this book we had a variety of new characters within the case that each had some backstory explaining who they were and how they ended up at starling house (a young offenders prison). Looking forward to more in the future.

I am thrilled that there is a new release in the Matilda Darke series and this latest release was every bit as good as I was hoping it would be. Matilda is such a likeable character and along with her colleagues DC Rory Fleming, DS Scott Andrews and DS Sian Mills they make a fabulous team. They all have their quirks and together they are a team I love reading about. Matilda has her own issues, one of which is the terrible case that haunts her where she failed to find young Carl Meagan. In this latest instalment, this case rears its ugly head once more. However, Matilda and the team have more pressing issues such as solving a murder that has happened at Starling House.

Starling House has become an unwanted presence in Sheffield as it houses the Country's most dangerous teenagers. When one of those boys is found dead it opens up the other 7 inmates as well as all the staff as potential suspects. This in itself opens up many more threads to a complex and darkly weaved tale that frankly was nothing short of excellent! There are selected chapters written from each boys point of view and I must say that they make for disturbing reads. However, it also manages to make you feel like nearly every inmate in Starling House was the murderer as well as a few others!

There were numerous threads that kept me hooked and the added element of Matilda's past cases keeping her in a state of suspended shock. She madly alternates between her grief and her mistakes all of which make for a character very much on the edge and risking everything to get results. The book is enticing and certainly enthralling and I can honestly say that I loved everything about this book. Matilda Darke (as well as her team) are becoming fast favourites for me and I cannot wait to see where else the series goes. Massively recommended for those that haven't tried out Michael Wood yet!

I thought this was a great read. Enjoyed how Wood introduced the young killers and their crimes. Detective Drake has some flaws but a dangerous one was to go against her superior's order and engage in solving another crime before the one she was assigned was solved . Drake's team was diverse as were all the other characters. A quick but suspense filled read. Thanks netgalley for a first class read.

'Eight killers.

One house.

And the almost perfect murder.'

A Room Full of Killers is the third novel in the DCI Matilda Darke series by Michael Wood and is due for release in ebook format by Harper Collins later this week on 17th February 2017.

It’s the first in the series for me having not come across Michael Wood’s writing before and I must say I really enjoyed this. As a standalone book it works just fine but I have included the links to Book 1 and Book 2 should you wish to start from the beginning.

Starling House, a place where evil, killer teenage boys reside, as society has no where else to put them. All are murderers, having committed the most horrendous crime with very little remorse.

Starling house is curated by Kate Moloney. Kate is tough, She has seen it all having worked there for quite a number of years. But all this changes….

Ryan Asher, another young teenager responsible for a heinous crime, arrives at Starling house. He has no distinguishing characteristics over any of the other inmates, yet Ryan is found, within twenty-four hours of his arrival, brutally murdered.

DCI Matilda Darke attends the scene of what appears to be a rather ritualistic killing but as she delves further, Matilda discovers that all is not as it seems at Starling House. Faced with the formidable Kate Maloney, DCI Darke has to use all her ingenuity and patience to get the bottom of this terrible tragedy before the killer strikes again..

Can DCI Matilda Darke find the killer in a room full of killers before everything collapses like a house of cards?

Will DCI Matilda Darke and her team be able to uncover the truth behind Starling House and the secrets kept within it’s walls?
A Room Full of Killers is one of those books where you sit and just keep turning/swiping those pages itching to see where, who, how, what??

Matilda Darke is a character that evokes a lot of empathy from the reader. She carries a previous life-changing tragedy with her at all times, a tragedy that almost destroyed her. She is trying to prove her ability to do her job properly but yet seems unable to stay within the rules and boundaries of her job. A bit of a maverick, DCI Darke will stop at nothing to get answers, even if it means breaking a few rules.

A Room Full of Killers is a book driven by suspense. As a reader you are totally absorbed as you are introduced to each of the different characters and each of their horrific back stories.

As well as being a work of fiction, I think Michael Wood does highlight the difficult question of what makes someone evil? Is it a personality trait that a person is born with or is this behaviour a by-product of a possible violent upbringing? Can this behaviour be changed if a person is extracted from the source and placed where there are experts willing to take on the challenge?

A Room Full of Killers is fast paced crime thriller that will have your pulse racing as you charge to the finish.

This is a tremendous book! Having read the first two Matilda Darke books, both of which were excellent, and the short story which forms a prequel and clarifies why Matilda is as she is, I was delighted to be sent an ARC of number three, which is the best of the lot. The room full of killers is a detention centre for the country's most violent boys and we gradually learn their back stories. When they start to be killed Matilda is tasked with solving a tough conundrum while simultaneously trying to prove the innocence of one of their number. Gripping from start to finish.

Amazing gripping story that grips you from the very first page . Lover Matilda and all her team .

Having read the other books in this series, I have to say this is one book I have been very much looking forward to coming out. The wait has very much been a worth while one as I don't just think, I know, without a doubt this is the best one in the series so far, even though I did love the others also.

What a story line! I was totally fascinated by the residents of Starling House. In a way the character Rory, who is one of Matilda's team, was acting out how I would exactly be. I was desperate to know why a child would kill and especially in the horrific ways that they carried it out. I was as desperate as Rory was to get into their minds and understand them that bit better.

I loved how every so often a chapter would be throw in, in to how each boy had killed their victims. My goodness it didn't half make for some shocking yet riveting reading. As awful as it was, I literally could not get enough and couldn't wait to come across the next one.

In the search for the murder of Ryan Asher, Matilda comes across another young lad who not only pulled on her heart strings but pulled on mine also. No one else believes his innocence and Matilda risks everything to prove it. This thread of the story was certainly a bit of a heart wrencher and I had tears in my eyes more than once!

A Room Full Of Killers is without a doubt a nail biting and gripping read. Believe me, when you pick it up you are going to struggle to put it back down. Totally loved it and if you haven't read any of the books in the series yet I really urge you to give them a go, as believe me you won't regret it.

Michael Wood's third book is as good as the previous 2. DCI Mathilda Darke returns with her team in this story. Starling House is an ornate building housing young offenders who have committed horrendous acts of murder. However, when one of the inmates is killed during lockdown questions are asked as to who did it. The main story is interspersed with backstory on all of the boys who are incarcerated at this house which works really well. The story digs deeper and deeper and has twists and turns galore. It is an outstanding police procedural and I can't wait for the next instalme

Another brilliant installment in the DCI Matilda Darke series. This one focuses on Starling House and its inmates, young murderers. When one of the inmates is murdered, Darke and her team are called to investigate. What follows is a nail-biting, fast-paced and very twisted tale. Interspersed with chapters from the inmates of Starling House, A Room Full of Killers is Michael Wood's darkest book yet. I LOVED it!!!!

I thought before I read this book that I was quite hardened when it came to crime novel that I could deal with quite a lot (except harming of animals and children), but there were really tough parts in this book that was hard for me to get through and that were the chapters that were the POV of the children, the murderers.

A Room Full of Killers is a dark and tragic book that I devoured. It's engrossing, but at the same time is it not an easy book to get through. DCI Matilda Darke has a lot on her plate, with the release of a book concerning a kidnap case that she was in charge of that went wrong. Also, she is still not completely over her husband's death 18 months earlier. And, now this case at the Starling House. A teenager is dead, and who could have done it? The question of why someone murdered him is perhaps not hard to understand since Ryan Asher is a convicted murderer, but someone got him out of a locked room. Matilda then meets one of the inmates, Thomas, and Matilda is convinced that the young boy is innocent of the crime he is said to have done. Now she wants to find Ryan's murdered and at the same time is she trying to get Thomas free.

I found the book thrilling and intense and the last part of the book had some really great twist to the story. I was a bit surprised on how Matilda could believe someone to be innocent by just looking at him. I mean quite literary just instantly believe his innocent without knowing much about the case. I'm not a police, but appearance can be deceiving, but I guess I much more cynical. Still, it added drama to the story. The side story with the kidnap case was also interesting and I'm really curious to see the impact it will have in the next book. If the kidnapping will be solved. I'm also quite eager to get the two previous books to read!

A Room Full of Killers is an excellent thriller. The characters are well-developed and interesting to follow and the case is interesting and I love the ending!

Thank you NetGalley. What a brilliant book. I will have to now read the first 2 books in the Matilda Dark series. This book is about a detention centre and makes you wonder what makes people do the dreadful things that they do. This book will put you through various emotions, some pity and some anger and most of all sadness. I would thoroughly recommend this book to other readers.

A Room Full Of Killers is the third book in the DCI Matilda Drake series and in my opinion Michael Wood's writing goes from strength to strength with each book he writes. It may sound cliched but it's definitely the best book to date in the series, it's much darker and definitely more disturbing than his previous books. The first thing I must mention about this book is that at times it makes for an disconcerting and uncomfortable read, so be warned! Although fairly graphic at times it is in keeping with the plot, and certainly makes for a frighteningly plausible read.

Starling House is home to some of Britain's most dangerous teenagers, when a young boy is find murdered it's up to DCI Matilda Darke and her team to find a murderer in a house full of killers. Matilda is fast becoming one of my favourite fictional detectives in A Room Full Of Killers Matilda is very much haunted by a cold case where the mistakes she made in the investigation led to a young boy never being found. Without going into spoilers this leads her to making unwise decisions that put members of her team in serious danger and her career at risk. The complexity of Matilda's character add an edge to the plot, as you are never quite sure what she's going to do next. Michael Wood also expands on the characters in Matilda's team and the dialogue between them makes for light relief in this very dark tale.

Personally I found the Chapters told from the boys POV made for a spine chilling read as it vividly describes the events that led up to them being incarcerated in Starling House, each boys story sadly makes for a credible read in today's climate. Their reasoning behind committing such shocking and deplorable crimes made my blood run cold. The graphic descriptions of violent events in the boys past add authenticity to the plot. This book could have just been another average crime thriller, but for me this book has depth due to the subject matter. It begs the question what turns a child into a killer? background? upbringing? It certainly gave me food for thought.


Thanks to the authors descriptive writing Starling House very much comes alive, so much so I had nightmares about it, I kid you not! This is a building steeped in malevolence, it's bleak, claustrophobic and chilling to say the least there's a permanent sense of foreboding that never lets up. Fill a building with killer teenagers and it's the stuff of nightmares, but highly original at the same time, which made this very much a "heart in your mouth" read. Michael wood very cunningly delivers a troubled and tangled tale which literally had me shaking my head as I tried to get one step ahead, fortunately the author never reveals to much so I found myself constantly on edge. Uncomfortable, shocking, and totally compelling, I would highly recommend you put this one to the top of your to read pile.
5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of 5

This review maybe altered slightly and edited prior to publication on my blog

This is the first book in the DCI Matilda Darke series that I have read, and it works reasonably well as a standalone. I must say that I was seriously impressed with it and found it a totally gripping read. It is set in Sheffield where the old and gothic Starling House, a secure private youth offenders institute, is located. It houses those deemed to have committed the most evil of acts, eight boys, all of whom are convicted killers. There is a lot of local opposition to the facility which is run by Kate Moloney . One dark night, Ryan Asher, who murdered his grandparents and has been disowned by his parents is bought to Starling House to begin his sentence.

DCI Matilda Darke and her team are called to Starling House after the body of Ryan Asher is found splayed over a pool table stabbed 12 times. So begins a claustrophobic investigation that suggests that only someone on the staff of Starling House could be the perpetrator, something Kate Moloney does not believe is possible, yet all the inmates are locked in and only staff hold the keys. The staff are convinced that one of the inmates is responsible, after all, they are all killers. We are given descriptions of the murders committed by the boys from each of the boys perspective, a truly disturbing experience that gave me nightmares. Matilda is convinced that one of the boys is not a killer and is determined to address this wrong despite the obstacles in her path. She is aided in this by Pat Campbell. In a case that brings mayhem, chaos, another murder and danger to her team, Matilda struggles to hold it together. This is a police procedural where it really is a team effort that resolves this hot potato of a case but not without a heavy cost to Matilda and those who work with her.

Michael Wood spins an atmospheric, dark and disturbing yarn with panache. The writing is beautifully fluent and the narrative holds the readers attention with ease. He really gets inside the heads of some disturbing boys and makes them come alive. His plotting excels in creating spellbinding levels of suspense and tension. The police team is diverse in its characters, I became particularly fond of Sian with her wonderful drawer of snacks. I am delighted to have encountered this author for the first time, and plan to read everything he has written. Brilliant crime novel that comes highly recommended. Thanks to HarperCollins for an ARC.

Brilliant from start to finish. I love the way Michael writes about the lives and backgrounds of the team as well as the murder and mystery which there's plenty of in this book. It makes for a much more enjoyable read when you feel as if you know the charterers and their strengths and weaknesses. I would personally love to dive into the treat drawer in the C.I.D. office. I would also like to give Matilda a few cooking lessons to save her from the takeaways, scrambled eggs and beans on toast. Thank you for the ARC