I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Cold Heart by Stephen Edger Series: Detective Kate Matthews #3
Published by Bookouture on 12th March 2018
Genres: Crime, Suspense, Thriller
Pages: 350
Format: eARC
Source: from Netgalley
Goodreads
Amazon Kindle, Audible
It has been a week since anyone last saw fifteen-year-old Daisy, after she left her best friend’s house and started her short walk home. Detective Kate Matthews and her team have been looking for her ever since.
When a tip-off leads Kate to a disused gymnasium at Daisy’s school, she is shocked to find evidence linking to the murder of a different girl.
Working the two cases side by side, Kate’s blood runs cold when a gift-wrapped box containing a human heart is delivered to her at the station. The heart belongs to yet another unknown victim, but the message is clear: there will be more, and Daisy could be one of them.
When activity on Daisy’s Facebook account indicates she is still alive, the race is on for Kate and her team. Will Daisy be the killer’s next victim? Is Kate prepared to risk everything to stop another innocent life from being taken?
This absolutely unputdownable crime thriller will have fans of Angela Marsons, Peter James and Rachel Abbott biting their nails long after the final twist has sunk in.
Thank you to Bookouture for letting me take part in this tour. Crime thrillers are becoming quite a favourite of mine so I was thrilled to be on this tour. This is the first book I have read by Stephen as crime thrillers are still quite new to me. While this is the third in a series it can be read as a stand alone, which I did.
The book jumps straight in to the action, 15 year old Daisy has been missing for 7 days. The leads have been slow. The team are losing motivation and are struggling with how a 15 year old could have vanished without a trace. When the team find a foot in the old gymnasium things look like they may be about to turn around.
Kate Matthews is a good detective that seems to have had some personal issues in the past. These are hinted at in the book but not covered in detail, I suspect this may be in the earlier books but this knowledge is not essential to the story. Kate is one of those detectives that are married to the job. She barely rests during the case and is determined to bring Daisy home alive. Kate knew just how to handle Daisy’s family when they were getting irate that she was still missing. Kate also has a great team behind her not only the officers working under her but also in the SSD who are crucial in identifying who the body parts belong to.
The suspects in this story were very interesting. All had different reasons for their suspicions and Stephen wrote them excellently. I honestly thought any of them could have been the one. I won;t go into too much regarding them as I don’t want to ruin the story but they were very well written.
I really enjoyed Stephen’s writing. I will definitely be grabbing myself a copy of the first two books in this series and keeping my eyes peeled for the next.
About Stephen Edger
Stephen Edger is a British crime writer, who has been writing since 2010. In that time he has written and published eleven novels, and five short stories. He writes mysteries and thrillers focused on crime.
Stephen was born in the north-east of England, grew up in London, but has lived in Southampton since attending university in the year 2000. Stephen works in the financial industry, and uses his insider knowledge to create the plots of his books. He also has a law degree, which gives him a good understanding of the inner workings of the UK justice system.
Stephen is married, and has two children, and two dogs. He is passionate about reading and writing, and cites Simon Kernick and John Grisham as major influences on his writing style.
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