Dead Wrong by Noelle Holten

I'm absolutely thrilled to be taking part in the blog tour for the new novel from blogger extradonaire and publicist Noelle Holten. Thank you to the lovely Sarah Hardy at Book on the Bright Side Publicity & Promo for inviting me, and to the publishers for my review copy. I have since bought my own eBook.

The Blurb:

‘Nobody understands the criminal mind better than Noelle Holten’ M. W. Craven, CWA Gold Dagger Award-winning author of The Puppet Show

The serial killer is behind bars. But the murders are just beginning…

DC Maggie Jamieson's past comes back to haunt her in this dark and gripping serial killer thriller.

Three missing women running out of time…

They were abducted years ago. Notorious serial killer Bill Raven admitted to killing them and was sentenced to life.

The case was closed – at least DC Maggie Jamieson thought it was…

But now one of them has been found, dismembered and dumped in a bin bag in town.

Forensics reveal that she died just two days ago, when Raven was behind bars, so Maggie has a second killer to find.

Because even if the other missing women are still alive, one thing’s for certain: they don’t have long left to live…

Dead Wrong was published by One More Chapter as an eBook on 14th March 2020 and in paperback on 14th May 2020. You can purchase it from Hive, Waterstones and Amazon. Or why not see if your usual indie bookshop is accepting orders? Many are, and they could really do with our help just now.  

My Review:

This is the second book featuring DC Maggie Jamieson but the first one where she takes centre stage. Noelle's excellent debut novel, Dead Inside, focused on the story of probation officer Lucy Sherwood - you can read my review here - so it was great to get to know Maggie better in this book. Don't worry though if you haven't read the first one as this works great as a standalone. 

Maggie's secondment at the Domestic Abuse and Homicide Unit has come to an end and she's back at Staffordshire Police Station. And she's returned to a bit of a mess, a potential crisis. Two years ago, Maggie worked to convict Bill Raven, nicknamed 'The Chopper'. He had admitted to abducting and murdering three women but their bodies were never foumd. Now Raven is appealing his sentence and body parts from one of the victims have been discovered. And she only died a few days earlier, calling into question Raven's conviction and thus the original case, in which Maggie played a huge part.

Maggie is easy to like, but a little frustrating too! She is hard working, tenacious, determined and pig headed. In the original enquiry Raven got under Maggie's skin and there's a chance he might do the same again this time around. She risks putting the current investigation in jeopardy more than once with her determination that her theory about things is correct. She works pretty much constantly - even when she's not in the office she's working at home. There are a couple of bright spots though - her brother Andy who is living with her, and forensic psychologist Kate Maloney with whom Maggie has a warm friendship - even if they do mostly talk about work! But Kate also has things on her mind that she doesn't really want to share.

Bill Raven is very creepy. He's sure he's got the upper hand and he's determined to use that to his benefit. The scenes in the prison when he is being interviewed by Maggie and her colleagues are really quite chilling. Holten had years of experience in the UK criminal justice system backed up by relevant qualifications so she's absolutely the right person to write this stuff  But back to the story - Raven is not the only suspect on the police's radar - there are a few other dodgy characters dotted around.

The characters are all well drawn and the plot feels real. The plot thickens as the police get more frustrated but all the more determined.  Action and tension increase as we race towards the conclusion  And the ending! OMG! No other words!

Dead Wrong is a fab, enjoyable police procedural/serial killer story with a wee peek into the criminal justice system and authenticity running all the way through it. I can't wait for the next book!

The Author:

Noelle Holten is an award-winning blogger at www.crimebookjunkie.co.uk. She is the PR & Social Media Manager for Bookouture, a leading digital publisher in the UK, and was a regular reviewer on the Two Crime Writers and a Microphone podcast. Noelle worked as a Senior Probation Officer for eighteen years, covering a variety of cases including those involving serious domestic abuse. She has three Hons BA’s – Philosophy, Sociology (Crime & Deviance) and Community Justice – and a Masters in Criminology. Noelle’s hobbies include reading, attending as many book festivals as she can afford and sharing the book love via her blog.

Dead Inside was her debut novel with One More Chapter/Harper Collins UK and the start of a new series featuring DC Maggie Jamieson Dead Wrong is the follow up.

Author Social Media Links:

Twitter: (@nholten40) https://twitter.com/nholten40

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/noelleholtenauthor/

Blog FB page: https://www.facebook.com/crimebookjunkie/

Instagram: (@crimebookjunkie) https://www.instagram.com/crimebookjunkie/

Website: https://www.crimebookjunkie.co.uk

Bookbub Author page : https://bit.ly/2LkT4LB