The Christmas Card Murders
by
Anthony Litton
This is my next Christmas read and I'm still on track to get them all read before Easter (that's my plan).
Publication Date: 25th December 2017
Series: Beldon Magma Mysteries #4
Pages:182
Format Read: eBook
Source: Courtesy of the publisher via Netgalley
A generation ago a young woman was knocked off her bicycle in the snow and left to die alone.
Decades later, the murders start. The first victim is a semi-disabled couple who are brutally ambushed and killed in their home. Others follow, each killing more horrendous than the last…
And in all the attacks, a calling card is left, a final indignity that suggests that revenge and retribution are at the heart of the brutal murders.
With The Christmas Card Murders, newly promoted Detective Inspector Bulmer and Chief Inspector Robert Calderwood and their friends, and sometimes colleagues, Desmond Blaine-Appleby and Gwilym Owen, have a particularly chilling mystery on their hands, and it is up to them to find out the link between the deaths and to stop the killer once and for all – before yet more blood is spilt.
Decades later, the murders start. The first victim is a semi-disabled couple who are brutally ambushed and killed in their home. Others follow, each killing more horrendous than the last…
And in all the attacks, a calling card is left, a final indignity that suggests that revenge and retribution are at the heart of the brutal murders.
With The Christmas Card Murders, newly promoted Detective Inspector Bulmer and Chief Inspector Robert Calderwood and their friends, and sometimes colleagues, Desmond Blaine-Appleby and Gwilym Owen, have a particularly chilling mystery on their hands, and it is up to them to find out the link between the deaths and to stop the killer once and for all – before yet more blood is spilt.
The Christmas card Murders certainly
wasn’t my usual Christmas type of read. This gruesome murder, mystery takes
place in the lead up to Christmas.
DI
Robert Calderwood, on his recent promotion to Chief Inspector, is asked to
investigate a recent double murder and on doing some checks finds a similar
murder in London. There is an unmistakable connection between the two and he
thinks they may be connected to a local fatal hit and run 40 years earlier. Calderwood’s
team immediately gets on the case but he feels it will be beneficial to bring
local resident Gwilyn Owen to ask questions as he grew up with the victim families.
The
character development is good but way too many characters are brought into the
story and each one has back-story explained which seemed irrelevant.
The
plot was well developed but it was quite obvious we were to feel no sympathy
for the victims as they were all slovenly and distasteful people.
The
astute reader may pick up on the cleverly dispersed hints throughout the story
but I was clueless and certainly didn’t guess the murderer.
The
story reads as a stand-alone but I would recommend reading the series from the
start to get a solid understanding of the main characters.
My rating 3/5 ⭐⭐⭐
Content: murder scenes.
It sounds okay but I don't like it when there's too many characters involved. I'd rather the story focus on just a few or I lose interest.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!
I definitely did find all the character backstory confused me and stopped the flow of the story.
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