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Moving from city life to village life is going to be so different for DI James Walker. He's moving for an easier pace of life. Just knowing that you know that where ever he goes it is not going to be quite. He's going to be dragged into something. That is exactly what happens. In twelve days, twelve deserving people will die. DI James Walker is on the case. He is new to Cumbria. He moved to Kirkby Abbey from London with his wife, Annie for their own protection. The story drags out and the pace is slow. I had not idea who the killer was and this always makes a book a bit more interesting. The clues are cleverly hidden. There's a mixed bunch of characters and they all had secrets. This isna promising start to a new police procedural series and I look forward to reading the next installment. DI James Walker is hoping to spend his new year's weekend with his family, when he gets a call from DC Jessica Abbott, who is attending a wedding function with her fiancee, Sean at a famous hotel in Cumbria. The owner, Greg Murphy of this chain of hotels, known as “The Fells” is getting married to Libby Elliot. Her maid of honor and sister Rachel Elliot has been reported missing since the morning breakfast and when she did not turn up until late evening, Libby began to worry and soon realized that something was very wrong. DI James Walker is heading the investigation and soon they recover her body from lake Windermere adjoining the hotel. Annie and James are a young couple who re-locate to a village in Cumbria, Annie's family home, to get away from the "bright lights of London" and a criminal who James, a police inspector, had put away. Little do they know that days before Christmas, a serial killer is "on the loose" in the Cumbrian village, but who is the killer and why "the twelve days of Christmas?" This is the first I have read of this author and it's the first in a series, that means I know I will have more to look forward to in the near future.
I started reading this book when I had a few minutes spare and couldn't put it down. The snowy Christmas scenes are very atmospheric and add to the sinister nature of the killer moving quietly through the village. James was such a vivid main character. I absolutely felt his mounting anxiety as the investigation dragged on and I enjoyed seeing the story through his eyes. I certainly couldn't predict who the killer was and I enjoyed how the story concluded, but I was just expecting more blood and more snow, so it just wasn't as exciting as the previous two instalments in the series.
When DI James Walker opens an early Christmas present left on his doorstep, he soon realises it is no gift. Inside is a gruesome surprise, and a promise – twelve days, twelve murders. Not long after, the first body is found, half frozen in the snow. The ending also feels a bit rushed, I wish it was a bit more fleshed out cause I would like to know more of what happen next. This book is a must-have on your Christmas reading list! You’ll never sing ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ nor sing another Christmas card again without thinking about Kirkby Abbey. Detective Inspector James Walker and his wife Annie have fled to the safety of a Cumbrian village after the threat of vengeance from a London crime boss. In this seemingly quiet, picturesque village of Annie's childhood, with friendly pubs and carols on the Green, past resentments simmer, love affairs are carried out in not-so secret and your darkest deeds and crimes are known to all.
DI James Walker is ready for a quaint family Christmas with his wife and extended family in their quiet village of Kirkby Abbey. But those plans are soon scuppered by the arrival of an unexpected gift on the Walker’s doorstop; a gruesome surprise and a promise in the form of a note – twelve days, twelve murders. Shortly after, the first body turns up half frozen in the snow. James's wife Annie, grew up in Kirkby Abbey and has a secret of her own, unbeknown to her husband. There are twists and turns, murders, infidelity, revenge all the things you would expect from a murder mystery with Christmas thrown in!!I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Avon and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.
I could overlook that if the story was descent- but there isn’t much here for me to recommend. The characters and dialogue are wooden and stiff, and I guessed, not only who the killer was, very early on- but the motive was also apparent, which didn’t give me much incentive to hang around to see how DI Walker would connect the dots. Maybe it’s because I am a complete Christmas Elf myself, but there is something about the atmosphere of an English Christmas that always appeals to me, and to me, Alex Pine captured the atmosphere of an English village at Christmastime beautifully. Granted, the language was sometimes a little bit stilted – I honestly don’t think people speak quite as formally as Pine’s characters do – but the book read easily and I zoomed through it, finding it an easy and engaging read all round.
Small village cut off from the rest of the world by snow. Close knit community and a serial killer who decided to make this Christmas period extra special by performing his own version of 12 Days of Christmas. I needed more. The story was often repetitive with the reader constantly reminded of the progression of events. And several of the twists, including the final reveal, were quite predictable. I also didn't see the point of the detective being so uncharacteristically worrying as it served no real purpose in the story. Let this trait hinder or compromise his investigation or, better yet, let it be an asset in solving the case. It's almost Christmas and Walker's thoughts are about decorating, buying presents, and his wife has invited his whole family to spend Christmas with them. Returning home after another long day, he finds an early Christmas on his front porch.
When D
Author Alex Pine has successfully captured the essence of that cozy feeling of Christmas in a small town and, with such descriptive detail, makes readers want to live there to experience it for themselves. Pine’s career in journalism and television production in addition to his childhood summers spent in the Lake District no doubt contributes to his success as a writer. Pine’s storyline has all the essential ingredients for a great mystery - means, motive and opportunity – and doesn’t focus on sordid details, but rather allows his protagonist to focus on the detective work. I look forward to my next read about DI Walker. Think 12 days of Christmas ... promising a body for every day until Christmas. This was just the first. It's not too long before another body is found, buried in the snow. And as DI Walker arrives on the scene and the investigation begins startling revelations come to light. Not only about the victim, but the family too. Detective Inspector James Walker and his wife Annie move to a quiet village in Cumbria after a notorious criminal is released from prison and may pay them a visit for putting him in there!
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