The Tattoo Thief by Alison Belsham

I'm so pleased it's come round to my stop on the blog tour for this fantastic book. As soon as I read the blurb for The Tattoo Thief I knew I had to read it, and jumped at the chance to be part of this tour. Huge thanks to Tracy Fenton for inviting me, and to the publisher for my review copy of the book.

The Blurb:

A policeman on his first murder case
A tattoo artist with a deadly secret
And a twisted serial killer sharpening his blades to kill again...

When Brighton tattoo artist Marni Mullins discovers a flayed body, newly-promoted DI Francis Sullivan needs her help. There's a serial killer at large, slicing tattoos from his victims' bodies while they're still alive. Marni knows the tattooing world like the back of her hand, but has her own reasons to distrust the police. So when she identifies the killer's next target, will she tell Sullivan or go after the Tattoo Thief alone?

The Tattoo Thief is published by Trapeze and was released on 3rd May 2018.

You can purchase it from Waterstones, Amazon and other good bookshops.

My Review:

This is Alison's first crime thriller, and it won the Pitch Perfect competition for new crime writers at the 2016 Bloody Scotland Festival. It's easy to see why. This is one hell of a genre debut and I raced through it in two days. Original, exciting, and just a wee bit gruesome. At Bloody Scotland this year, I was lucky enough to meet Alison and hear her talk about the book at a festival event.

Firstly, I have to say I really like the cover - it's very striking and dramatic. This is the second cover. My ARC had the previous, equally stunning black and red cover, but my bought copy has this one.

Francis Sullivan has recently been promoted to Detective Inspector at a relatively young age, this is his first case and his boss is just waiting for him to fail. His immediate subordinate Rory Mackay feels he should have been promoted to DI in place of Sullivan, so isn't keen on working for him. Antagonistic Mackay tries to oppose his boss, but also begins to recognise his wisdom and skil. I found Sullivan really interesting. He seems quite innocent, despite his job and senior position. He lives a quiet life and has a strong faith, in which he usually finds support and solace.

The first body is found by tattoo artist Marni Mullins, who I adored. She's a woman in a man's world, gutsy, with a no nonsense, no bullshit attitude. But she has a dark history and is not a fan of the police. Can Sullivan change those views?

I was delighted to find that the book was set in Brighton. I lived there for several years, and knew many of the places mentioned. It remains one of my favourite places, and offers a real eclectic mix of people, activities and places. The perfect setting for this story.

We are thrown headfirst into the story with a gruesome first chapter from the point of the view of the killer. It took my breath away. From then the story is told from four viewpoints - Francis, Marni, Rory and the Tattoo Thief. I particularly enjoyed the chapters from the perpetrator (I hate to imagine what that says about me!) because they gave me an insight into a skewed, off kilter mind. They are quite gory and bloody, mind. Didn't bother me at all, but worth mentioning.

After this fab opening, the pacing is perfect. The story zips along, it's full of action and the tension builds towards a brilliant climax. And there are a few OMG moments. It's clearly been very well researched, and the author's acknowledgements provide some details about that. 

This was a fantastic read, and I recommend it to anyone who likes their crime a wee bit on the dark side. I was excited to hear there's to be a follow up, and am waiting impatiently.

Oh I forgot to say, I'm a little bit in love with Thierry, but don't tell anyone, eh?

The Author:

Alison Belsham initially started writing with the ambition of becoming a screenwriter and in 2000 was commended for her visual storytelling in the Orange Prize for Screenwriting. In 2001 she was shortlisted in a BBC Drama Writer competition. Life and children intervened but, switching to fiction, in 2009 her novel Domino was selected for the prestigious Adventures in Fiction mentoring scheme. In 2016 she pitched her first crime novel, The Tattoo Thief, at the Pitch Perfect event at the Bloody Scotland Crime Writing Festival and was judged the winner. After signing with agent Jenny Brown, The Tattoo Thief was bought by Trapeze books and published in May, 2018.