The Killer in the Snow

Got into this plot very quickly and then couldn’t put it down. Set in rural Cumbria where nothing ever happens! Two unsolved crimes and a plot of revenge on a police officer, this story keeps developing to a end on a high. The characters were well described and easy to understand what’s going on. Really enjoyed the story line and will look for more by this author. Thank you #NetGalley for the audiobook to review.

A very interesting read. You hear about these types of crimes on real crime shows. Things seem very coincidental, but they really aren’t. There were a few points where I could guess what was going to happen next, but there was enough of a storyline to keep the reader interested.
I liked the characters and felt the story was believable. I’m not sure I’ll be popping up there any time soon.
I listened to this book as an audio book and found that narrator made working out who was who a lot easier. His voices were very good.

The narration by Sid Sagar is excellent throughout and added to my enjoyment of this murder mystery. It’s set in Cumbria over Christmas. A former Met police officer, DI Walker has moved away from London for a quieter life after a case which left him and his family being threatened.

The basic story is along the lines of a locked room mystery when three people are found dead in a remote and isolated farmhouse. As the investigation gets underway way, there are curious links to an earlier tragedy at the homestead; is it coincidence or connection? There are various suspects and theories and then Walker is under further pressure when he’s told the Met don’t know the whereabouts of someone bent on revenge. There are various strands to the story and it works well as an intricately plotted whodunnit. The characters are well developed and I liked Walker who isn’t a police character filled with emotional baggage.

It has a few unexpected twists and kept my attention throughout.

My thanks to the publisher for a review copy via Netgalley.

This is the second in the DI James Walker, but I think it could be read as a standalone book.

Two days after Christmas, DI James Walker is called out to Oaktree Farm in rural Cumbria, where the Bateman family is found dead in a possible murder-suicide. The question is whether there is a connection to the murders that occurred at the same farmhouse twenty years earlier? There were some twists and turns right through to the very end!

Huge thanks to NetGalley for sending me an advanced audiobook to listen to for a fair and honest and review.

It's been a year since DI Walkers's first case in Cumbria, and now he faces the challenge of a new case with links to a murder which took place 20 years ago in the same location.

Set once again at Christmas, I enjoyed this snowy police procedural. The plot was interesting and authentic and got my mind ticking over, trying to solve the puzzle. There were certainly plenty of suspects and I didn't manage to work it out until the last minute. It's a bit of a slow burner, and I would have liked a faster pace. I'd also like to see more depth to the characters, but all in all this was a good listen, and I would definitely listen to any future books in the series

Having read book one, I was eager to listen to this AUDIO BOOK, the second book in Alex Pine's series with D I James Walker. The narration is great with changing voices, you easily get in tune with each character.
The narrator, SID SAGAR, is excellent! For me, narration is important in an audio book, you don't want to be lulled into sleep!

The storyline is good and you soon learn the secrets of OAK TREE FARM in the present and in the past. I connected with D I Wilson and his team in book one and this continued with The Killer in the Snow.

I enjoyed listening to this audio book and would recommend.

I give a 4 star rating.

Published Date -28 October 2021
Narrator - SID SAGAR
Listening time - 8 hours & 56 minutes

I WANT TO THANK NETGALLEY FOR THE OPPORTUNITY OF LISTENING TO THIS AUDIO BOOK IN RETURN FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.

It is more rerely that I pic crimes series now but this was a nice oportunity. I got this book grom Netgalley and HarperCollins Uk Audio.

It is a perfect one for a december read. A family is found that. And it is belived is a suiccide. But DI James Walker is not one that belive to coincidences. 24 years an other family was found dead and it was a succide.

This guy is not discovering just happened now but he also discover what happened in the past. There are a few suspects but at the end all is more connected that is seemed. I loved the final turn.

I missed the first book but I could perfecty manage this one.

A family is found murdered in their old farmhouse at Christmas time. As if that's not sinister enough, the crime undeniably echoes that of a similar scene that took place 20 years earlier in the exact same spot. DI James Walker doesn't see how the two can be connected...or can they?

I enjoyed this a lot and found it easy to get into, a solid police procedural that kept me guessing with some unexpected twists - exactly what I wanted. So many people seemed to have a motive, I found it impossible to guess the killer and I don't want to give anything away, but there are things about the old farmhouse that genuinely gave me the creeps. The Killer in the Snow is the second book in a series...didn't realise this until I started listening, thankfully it didn't matter that I hadn't read the previous book and there's actually a whole section at the end explaining a bit of the back story and some background on the detectives. Sid Sager narrated this brilliantly, he made it so easy to tell the characters apart.

An enjoyable police murder investigation. I hadn't realised it was the second book in the series but did wonder at references to a previous case. It still worked well as a standalone. there are many twists and red herrings in the book to keep you guessing but basis for the murders was slightly obvious.
The 4 star rating is for the story, but I was not impressed with the narrator. In his effort to give each character their unique voice, many sounded straight out of Monty Python especially the older female characters.
this is an honest review of a complementary ARC.

I enjoyed the story and the connections with the old case I didn't see that coming at all. I didn't enjoy this quite as much as the first book but still a solid read.

No Hope For Festive Season…
The second outing for DI James Walker and his hope for the impending festive season to be a quiet and peaceful one are about to be dashed. A crime scene in a local farmhouse is to give him cause for consternation. No witnesses, sparse evidence and echoes of a cold case. A compelling and entertaining listen well narrated and well nuanced throughout bringing the story to life. A worthy follow up to the first in the series, although can happily be listened to as a standalone.

Thank you to Netgalley, Avon Books and Alex Pine for an ARC in return for an honest review.

This book follows DI James Walker who has moved to Cumbria with his pregnant wife. This book is the second in the series and directly follows on from the first. There has been a murder at a Farm barn, the same barn where an unsolved murder happened twenty years ago.

I loved this book! It is dark, gritty and thrilling. I haven't read the first in the series but it doesn't overly matter. It is fast-paced and has you hooked from the first few pages. The characters are likeable and plot is enjoyable.

The narrator adds more grit and tension to the book - he really brings it to life. I think the audiobook will be very popular. It adds a lot more tension.

I can't wait to read more by Alex.

DI James Walker is investigating the deaths of a husband, wife and their grown up daughter at Oaktree Farm, Cumbria at Christmas. In fact murders are nothing new to Oaktree Farm as twenty four years prior, death had called here before and DI Walker is suspicious the two might be connected. This book is the second in a series but this is the first audiobook I have listened to by Alex Pine and these can easily be read as a stand alone and I really enjoyed it. The plot is twisty and suspenseful and the setting is atmospheric and snowy - perfect for a Christmas whodunnit and I did not guess the outcome at all! Narrated by Sid Sagar , my thanks go to Netgalley and Harper Collins for this gifted copy of a great festive audio book!!

It is the year after moving to Cumbria that DI James Walker is called out to a farm that has the bodies of a farmer , his wife and daughter inside with blood everywhere. There are footsteps in the snow leading down to the cellar but none leaving. This is a scene that once the investigation is under way leads to more questions and leave the team wondering what has caused this as the suspects are crossed off their list one by one.
I totally enjoyed this audiobook and with all the twists in it did not find the storyline predictable. Well read and look forward to the next book in the series

This is the second book in this detective series from Alex Pine. We are back with James and Annie at Christmas time, and now Annie is pregnant and James is even more protective of her. In this story, a famer comes home on Christmas Eve to footprints in the snow that lead down to his basement, yet there are no footsteps leading away. He is later found dead with his wife and daughter. But who could the killer be? Twenty years earlier, a similar thing happened. But why would the same thing be happening again? I found the first half of the book quite slow and repetitive, but later on, it got better and I found myself more invested in it. Although I preferred the first book in this series, this second book is also good and it is perfect to read at this time of the year, when it's cold outside. I liked the way James and Annie got closer in this book and the way they have a lovely, nurturing and caring relationship, which made me smile. The narrator of the audiobook was very good and his voice was a pleasure to listen to. I look forward to reading the next book in the series, when it becomes available.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Gripping dual timeline murder mystery and police procedural, loosely based around a Christmas theme.

The Killer in the Snow is the 2nd book in the DI James Walker series, set in Cumbria after Walker moved there from London with his wife.

With the previous Christmas seeing a serial killer terrorising the small rural community, everyone is hoping for a less eventful festive period this year. But when Walker returns to work after Christmas, he soon finds himself investigating the brutal murders of three people in their isolated farmhouse, bearing eerie similarities to a previous murder-suicide which took place in the same farmhouse two decades ago, and from which a missing baby girl has never been found.

A compelling read, in which the author pulls together a number of intriguing interrelated storylines and twists which keep us guessing, and with relevant history from the previous instalment included.

Skillfully done and I look forward to reading more from this author.

***ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley.co.uk in return for an honest review ***

It's Christmas eve and a local farmer heads home, his livlihood in ruins. He just wants to get the festive season out of the way before coming clean to his wife and daughter about their financial ruin.

Days later their bodies are found in the farmhouse, their deaths echo those of the previous owners who died 24 years before...

This is a great read. All of the characters are thoroughly likeable. Although I did guess some of the plot twists it didn't change my enjoyment of the story.

Thank you to @AvonBooksUK and Alex Pine for this advanced audio copy of The Killer in the Snow in return for an honest review.

Description 🔖

It has been a year since DI James Walker’s last big case and this festive period, he is hoping for a much quieter time.

Of course, criminals don’t think about that. Not too far away, on Christmas Eve, a local farmer comes home to find footsteps in the fresh snow. They lead to his unused basement in the farm house but there are none leading away. Days later, the farmers body is found along with the bodies of his wife and his daughter.

There are no witnesses and very little evidence to help DI Walker and his team crack this case. The only clues that they have to cling to are those from a strikingly similar murder that took place at the very same farm twenty years earlier.

General Thoughts 🤔

This is the second book in the DI James Walker series. I have read both in the space of two days and I really enjoyed them both. I think that this second book is better than the first and I saw improvements in the writing.

The storyline in this book is slightly more complicated than the first, however it is still in keeping with a theme of not being overly complex. I did kind of know what the outcome of the story was going to be quite early on. Well I exaggerate, not all of it. I had guessed the circumstances and it took me just a little while longer to figure out who the culprit was. I’m not the kind of person to feel disappointed at that though. Even though I had cracked the case, I still enjoyed following the investigative team on their journey to do the same.

Characters 👫👬👭

I felt like DI Walker had found his feet a little more in this book. He hadn’t long moved to the village in the first book and there was a little tension within the team. It seemed like he’d built stronger relationships within his team this time around and I liked to see the rapport start to grow.

James’ wife Annie seemed to feature in this second book a little less. She was still there of course, but more of a background character. I’m not sure how I felt about this. I liked that lots more focus was put onto the case and all those involved in it, but I do also like to know more about the characters background in order to give them depth. Maybe there is some middle ground to be struck. One thing I definitely noticed and appreciated was the absence of the word hun!

Writing Style ✍️

I think Alex Pine settled into his writing a bit more in this book which is natural and expected after writing a debut. The language between characters felt a lot more natural and it was good to see some relationships start to build between the characters.

I thought there was a lot more police procedure content in this book which I enjoyed. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t like watching a hard hitting BBC drama unfold, but I wasn’t expecting that and I don’t think that I will expect that from future books in this series.

Conclusion & Scoring 🎖️

I really enjoyed my last few days with DI James Walker and I’m a little sad that it’s over for a while. I sincerely hope that it is just for a while and that there is more to come from Alex Pine and this series. This would be a perfect December read so if you’re looking for something to get stuck into that’s not going to massively hurt your brain, but will scratch your murder mystery itch, get this on your TBR for winter.