This book had my hooked from the beginning and I found it an easy read throughout with no. Idea or the final outcome. A little more depth to the main detective characters and less drawn out at the end would have found this with a 4.5/5 star rating rather than 3.5/ 4 .. my thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my arc copy which I have chosen to review

Sometimes a book pulls you in from the start with an idea that makes you stop, take a moment and then think “well, I have to see how this is going to end up.”. A Deadly Thaw is one of those books. It’s different from the start, with a dead body turning up and looking fairly fresh despite the victim (Andrew) having being dead for 12 years and his wife (Lena) having just being released from prison for his murder. All nice and confusing, promising for lots of knots to unpick as you watch the police and Lena’s sister, Kat, try to figure out just what is going on.

Lena doesn’t help herself from the start. First the police come to ask her questions, which she basically refuses to answer, and then she disappears. It looks like she went of her own free will, is probably still alive, but it’s really not clear – and neither, it seems is anything about her past or how she could (seemingly) have mistaken a stranger for her husband, especially as he was found in her bed, suffocated. I have to say, as a reader, I loved trying to figure out what was going on – coming up with quite a few solutions, none of which were right in the end.

As far as the plot went, then, this was a brilliant book for me and, for the most part, the same can be said of the characters. I really liked the detectives involved in the case, watching how they interacted with each other and wondering whether the rivalry of the two junior detectives or their seeming liking for each other would win out. They did make a few leaps in logic I wasn’t sure of but, with this type of story, sometimes you have to suspend belief and I was enjoying myself enough to do just that.

Where I struggled a bit was with Kat, the sister, who I really didn’t like too much. There wasn’t anything wrong with her as such – if anything, Lena was the difficult one, the one I should have disliked – but I just found her a bit dim. There was a trail of clues being laid out before her and she seemed unable to make any links (unlike the police who made plenty) between them, her past and what Lena did. I wanted to shake her at times and say “come on, think a little”.

Was it the end of the world? Absolutely not, it didn’t stop me reading the book or turning the pages (I finished it in just a day…well, just over as I stayed up late to finish it). It wouldn’t stop me recommending it either. This is a cracking read, with a strong story line, plenty of red herrings, a great small town setting – where everyone knows your secrets and aren’t always afraid to tell them – and a great twist in the tale. I liked it a lot if you couldn’t tell and, whilst this was my first Sarah Ward, will definitely be reading more in the future.

‘If you really want to know what happened in 2004, you need to unlock the past.’

In spring 2016, a body is discovered at a disused morgue in Derbyshire. A man has been murdered. Detective Inspector Francis Sadler is called to the scene, and recognises the body as being of his old schoolmate, Andrew Fisher. But Andrew Fisher was supposedly murdered in 2004 by his wife Lena Gray. Lena identified the body, admitted to killing him and has served 11 years in prison.

Whom did Lena murder in 2004? Where has Andrew been for the past 12 years, and what on earth happened to the police investigation in 2004?

‘There’s something bigger going on here. And we haven’t found it yet.

There are many layers to this story, and plenty of complications. Almost all of the main characters have complicated (or complicating) personal lives. Lena and her sister Kat Gray share their childhood home, but Lena goes missing after Andrew’s body is discovered. While the police eventually work out who the first murdered man was, this raises even more questions. Another woman, who looks like Lena, is found dead. While her death is apparently suicide, could it be murder? In the meantime, Kat is receiving items, including the murder weapon, from a mysterious teenage boy. Each item appears to be a clue, even though Kat doesn’t recognise them all.

As the police investigate, they uncover a number of rape cases around the time of the 2004 murder. Those cases were handled badly by the police, but revisiting the details now will eventually help them solve the murder cases.

‘A quartet of cock-ups.’

I understand that this is the second D I Francis Sadler novel written by Ms Ward, and I’ll be adding the first to my reading list. There’s a good balance between the private lives of (some of) the police officers and the details of the case being investigated. The novel moves quickly, with plenty of twists and turns that kept me turning the pages and wondering whether there was only one murderer, and who it was.

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Faber & Faber for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for
review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

I’m extremely excited to welcome you to my stop on the A Deadly Thaw paperback blog tour. A Deadly Thaw is written by the very talented Sarah Ward and is book two in the DC Childs series. Having been released in eBook format last year it is now also available in lovely paperback as well (published 2nd February 2017). And what better way to celebrate than with a blog tour packed full of some of my very favourite book bloggers!

It’s 2004 and Lena Fisher is a murderer. After welcoming her husband home and spending some hot, sweaty time in their bed together, Lena suffocates her husband with a pillow. She’s eventually arrested, stands trial and ends up in prison for 10+ years. Fast forward to 2016 where Lena is a free woman once again. She returns to her childhood home; Providence Villa – a large, crumbling, Victorian estate. Her parents are long dead but she has her estranged sister, Kat for company. Lena isn’t surprised when DC Connie Childs and DS Palmer turn up on her doorstep, after all she is a convicted felon. What she isn’t expecting is for them to inform her that her husband’s body has discovered in a disused morgue. That he is very recently deceased with a gaping chest wound and that they know the man Lena killed in 2004 wasn’t her husband. Will DC Childs and DS Palmer be able to uncover the complicated truth? When Lena goes on the run, Kat struggles to understand what is happening and exactly who her sister is. Kat’s muddle is not helped when a teenage boy, who claims to be a friend of Lena’s, starts leaving cryptic clues for Kat. Who will be the first to solve a mystery that dates back many years. And is Kat’s life in danger? Is she the only one….?

A Deadly Thaw is an excellent example of how to write a gripping, multilayered, character focussed crime thriller. It’s full of secrets, family tension and bucket loads of suspense. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will be making a point of downloading the first in the series, In Bitter Chill to my Kindle immediately after finishing writing this review.

Author Sarah Ward has been on my radar for a while now. I remember seeing the reviews for A Deadly Thaw back in the Summer and being intrigued. And who wouldn’t be drawn in by that brilliant blurb. Some authors you read because…well, just because really. Other authors you read because you know deep down, that their words, their story and you will be a brilliant fit. That’s exactly how I felt about A Deadly Thaw.

I don’t know where to begin with DC Connie Childs. You can probably guess that I absolutely loved her. Yes, there are two male detectives who work alongside Connie. Yes, they are also brilliantly written, essential characters. But, for me, they faded into the background. She’s the first character in a while that I’ve found to be relatable. OK, so the fawning over DS Palmer I probably could have done without but it gave an incredibly strong character a necessary weak spot (which probably made me feel for her just a little bit more). I loved the get up and go attitude, I loved the fire in her belly when it came to the treatment of the victims, I even loved her naivety – something which would drive me quite loopy in other characters. Although DI Sadler led the investigation, I felt at times that there wouldn’t BE an investigation if it wasn’t for Connie. She’s definitely high on my favourite character list and I can’t wait to see where Sarah Ward takes her in future.

I found the setting to be suitably creepy and loved the eerie feel of Sarah Ward’s Derbyshire (I’m terrible at geography and have to admit to consulting a map of England to discover where Derbyshire is. Yes, I am British. Yes, I live and have always lived in England/UK/GB. Yes, I feel suitably ashamed!) Whitby also features heavily in the book and that also needed investigation as to its location (rubbish at geography!). Ward paints such a vivid picture of these grey, dank places that I can’t help but want to go and see them for myself. Bampton, Derbyshire felt like a living, breathing character. Strangely mesmirising.

The plot has many different strands to it and at times it is hard to see how they will tie together. But tie together they do in an explosive, nail-biting conclusion. At times, I found myself getting quite upset by the stories unfolding in front of me. I experienced anger as well, at the injustice and poor treatment of the victims. It’s quite a shocking and unsettling read, but oh so good!

Would I recommend this book? Of course I would! But prepare yourselt for a lot more than you expect. Sarah Ward knows how to tell a brilliant story and I can’t wait to read more from her. Dark, creepy and highly addictive (and I may be a little bit in love with DC Connie Childs).

Five out of five stars.

I chose to read and review an eARC of A Deadly Thaw. Many thanks to Faber & Faber and NetGalley for providing me with a copy. The above review is my own unbiased opinion.

This is the second book in the DI Sandler series and although it can be read as a stand alone I wish that I had read the first book to get more of a feel for the characters' back stories.
That said, this is a cleverly crafted crime mystery with a fast paced plot which keeps the pages turning. The story spans events over a 20 year time period with flash backs which slowly reveal motives and actions.
At times you do have to suspend belief but it's a good tale, well told.
My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for this copy in return for an honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book from a great story teller , have read all her books and this one does not dissapoint. Will recommend.

This is the second book in the author's Francis Sadler series is police stories. I'd not read the first however I didn't find that a handicap. I really did like the start of this book a lot. The basic story is that a woman (Lena) is accused of murdering her husband in bed one night. She serves her sentence. Twelve years later a body is found in a long abandoned morgue building and it turns out to be the freshly murdered body of her husband. This then is a tale of a murder investigation coloured by the fact that the police obviously blundered in their original investigation.

There are a few key characters in this. Strangely to me Inspector Francis Sadler - this being a book in his series - didn't really feature that much. By the end I barely knew him better than I did at the start. I found that odd. Connie is a DC under Sadler and she and DS Palmer are a major part of the police presence in this book. I did find Connie a decent enough character I guess however Palmer was for me fairly colourless. Much of the "investigation" is actually done by Kat, who is Lena's sister, and a friend of hers. The two sisters were better characters than most of the others to me however there were hardly flawless and never really gripped me.

The overall story line in this book really appealed to me before I started reading it and it still does now. In general the development of that story line in the book worked well for me too. The pace is good however I simply never really became fully engaged in the story. While some of the characters were not bad some were really two dimensional at best. Equally I found that the story lacked any real tension which I felt should be in this sort of book. It didn't stop me reading it however I doubt this book will stay with me for very long. I also feel peeved in a way because I do think it could have been a better book. That said I'm sure many others will like this book

Thank you Net Galley. An excellent police procedural, with a complex and contemporary plot. I have not read the first book in the series but that did not detract from my enjoyment of this book. Highly recommended.

This was a fantastic read, I couldn't put it down. I enjoyed the story line and the characters, it flowed beautifully and I just had to keep reading to see what happened. Loved it!

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is the second book in the Inspector Francis Sadler series. It’s set in the fictional town of Bampton, in Derbyshire. I have read the first book, In Bitter Chill, and really enjoyed it, but you can read these as standalone books.

Lena is arrested for killing her husband Andrew, and 12 years later she is released from prison. A year after her release the body of a man is found in an old disused mortuary, and it turns out to be Andrew. The police need to find out if this is Andrew who was the man that Lena killed 12 years before, and where has Andrew been all this time.

It’s left to Inspector Sadler’s team to find out the answers. It throws up a lot of questions about police procedures 12 years before. Lena herself identified her husband (who it obviously wasn’t), there were no proper ID checks done on the body during the post mortem and there are also questions as to how women who had been sexually assaulted had been treated by the police officers at the time. This leads to an unsettled team, particularly for some of the officers who had been around 12 years before.

Lena then disappears, and her sister Kat, who she has been living with since her release, is obviously worried. She knew nothing about the fact that Lena had been lying to her for 12 years, and she turns to one of her clients for help. Kat is a counsellor, and has been counselling Mark, an ex-soldier. When Kat is approached by a boy giving her something from Lena, Kat goes against her professionalism and tells Mark everything. The parcel the boy has given her is an old German army gun, and according to police, is the gun used to kill Andrew. But does this mean that Lena has killed again?

Inspector Sadler and his team, DC Connie Childs and DS Damien Palmer have to delve back into time and find out what is going on. Who was the man that Lena had killed all those years ago, and who had killed Andrew now? Connie and Damien also have to fight off their own personal demons – Connie trying to suppress her feelings for Damien, and Damien trying to do the same, especially when his wife is wanting to try for a baby.

This was a good story. To be honest, whilst I know I enjoyed the first book in the series, I don’t really remember any of the characters. The story started well, and picked up pace throughout the book. I didn’t feel any particular liking to any of the characters though, apart from Kat, who I felt sorry for. It was interesting, and scary to be honest, reading about how the police treated women who had come forward to report sexual assaults, convincing them that it wasn’t really in their best interests to report them. It was also interested to see how little the police procedures were followed in those day also. Thankfully (hopefully!!) things have improved immensely!

The story twisted and turned to the end where you find out exactly what had been going on. The twists were good – you think you’ve got it all worked out and then it all changes again. For me, the middle part of the book did slow down a bit, but then picked back up the pace again to the end. If you want a good gritty psychological crime thriller, then give it a try!

I would like to thank Netgalley and Faber and Faber for a review copy of Deadly Thaw, the second novel, set in Derbyshire, to feature Di Francis Sadler and his team.

The novel opens with a great hook which kept me enthralled and absorbed throughout the novel. Sadler and his team, DC Connie Childs and DS Damian Palmer, are called out to a disused WW1 mortuary to view a murdered body. Sadler recognises the body as that of Andrew Fisher, whom he went to school with. The problem is that Andrew's wife, Lena, confessed to and was convicted of his murder in 2004. Now, not only do the team have a murder to solve they have to find out whom she murdered in 2004, but Lena has disappeared.

Told, basically, from 2 points of view, various members of the team and Kat Gray, Lena's sister, the novel has a brisk pace. There are new discoveries and developments in every chapter so my interest never flagged. I like the linear plotline where one piece of information leads to another and new lines of enquiry. There are flashbacks in Kat's narrative to earlier days which illustrate what a difficult character Lena is, but while they are a bit superfluous they are not numerous enough to be intrusive.

I like Ms Ward's writing style - it is easy to read and her pacing makes the novel addictive which is why I have rated it 5*. I'm not so keen on Lena Fisher's motivations which don't ring true, in terms of human nature and her character. I know that this is a bit vague but I can't explain any further without issuing spoilers.

Lena Fisher is a cold, manipulative character but as she disappears she is more a presence in the novel than an actual character. Otherwise the main characters are all very likeable. Kat Gray is surprisingly unsure of herself for a therapist and makes some strange decisions but her heart is in the right place. Francis Sadler is an excellent lead detective, smart, dedicated and unafraid to make his feelings known. Connie Childs has a bit of maturing to do because, although she is a smart detective, she is very impulsive and often acts without thinking things through.

A Deadly Thaw is a great read with an interesting plot, well developed characters and a very easy reading style so I have no hesitation in recommending it.

An intriguing premise and solid police-work keep the book balanced and generally on the side of plausibility. The internal politics of historical police responses to rape give it currency. Despite some attempts to give him some kind of personality, DI Sadler is little more than a name and position, and it's Connie, his DC, who's the real police centre of the story.

The behaviour of Lena proves opaque at times - but overall this is a solid and intelligent piece of crime fiction.

To be posted on Amazon and Goodreads.

A Deadly Thaw took a bit to pick up but once it did it turned into quite the page-turner. I just did not want to put it down and kept wanting to know what came next.

Sarah Ward did a great job creating a dichotomy between mysterious Lena Gray and her down-to-earth sister Kat, and the detective team kept their voices from the first book of the series but also developed in an interesting manner that has created food for thought about what may come next.

There were a few downsides for me besides the beginning:
- There were a few awkward phrasings that put me off, such as (view spoiler)
- I don't understand how Lena could have physically done what she did. (view spoiler)
- There was one character that seemed much too perfect. (view spoiler)
- Lena's explanation for what she did just didn't sit with me. (view spoiler)

However, the book really is well done. I think a large part of what kept me so interested, just as it had happened in the first book, was that the chapters were short. They were nice and straight to the point and finished in a way that made stopping utterly impossible, even when you knew the voice would change and so you wouldn't yet find out what happened. I was just so mad when I absolutely had to put the book down.

<i>A Deadly Thaw</i> was an incredibly suspenseful page turner that I highly recommend, with twists that will set your mind spinning, and I look forward to the next book of the series.

Disclaimer: I would like to thank the publisher and Netgalley for providing me a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I was drawn to the front cover and description of this book. The plot of the story is very captivating and drew me in. The characters involved in the incident are very mysterious and the author gives you little bits about them as you go drawing you in wanting more. This is very well done and made the book for me. When it came to the investigators though I was hit and miss I likes them but I also found them a tad boring compared to the other characters. I will admit I am very picky when it comes to murder mysteries because I find the story line can be fairly outlined and boring. A Deadly Thaw is an interesting storyline though that is unique. I can't say this book is my favourite but I didn't hate it either. Overall an enjoyable murder mystery that stands out for me but is not a typical book I read. People who love murder mysteries will absolutely love this one!

This is a wonderfully chilling twister of a crime novel, the second in the DI Francis Sadler series set in Derbyshire. It is the first book I have read by Sarah Ward and it works fine as a standalone. It begins with Francis looking at a murder victim shot within a disused mortuary. He recognises the man as Andrew Fisher, whose wife, Lena Gray, has completed a prison sentence for killing him. This opens a real can of worms, who was the man that Lena killed? Where has Andrew Fisher been all these years? How come so many people, including the police, failed to make the correct identification at the time? Who has murdered Andrew Fisher now?

Sadler leads a murky investigation, aided by the style conscious DS Damian Palmer and the tenacious DC Connie Childs. Lena's sister, Kat, a therapist, tries to work out what is going on with Lena when she goes missing. Kat gives us a historical insight into her relationship with Lena as teenagers. This is a case that follows numerous leads that takes in secrets, misunderstandings, predators, and which goes back in time when many police officers had repugnant attitudes and refused to view certain crimes as serious. All this led to a perfect storm of repercussions that through the years results in murders, suicide and other misdeeds. In the present, the past brings danger to those currently investigating the case.

The author does a terrific job in bringing to life the characters in the police team and the relationships between them. This novel is really a hybrid of police procedural and psychological thriller. It is well plotted and creates high levels of suspense and tension. The short chapters and the excellent writing never fail to keep the reader engaged. The inclusion of Kat's storyline brings us closer to Lena and a human understanding of the motives behind her actions. This is definitely a series that I can recommend. Thanks to Faber and Faber for an ARC.

Another interesting weaving of present and past in Sarah Ward's second novel. I thoroughly enjoyed her first, In Bitter Chill, and was not disappointed by this second outing for Detective Inspector Sandler and colleagues Palmer and Fisher. The novel centres around social issues affecting women and how they have been dealt with in the past. The theme is subtly interwoven with the events of the novel which is very well crafted, leading the police and the reader through a series of twists and turns to see how the characters and protagonist are connected. Very thought provoking and hard to put down. I look forward to reading more by Sarah.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for a review copy

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

Lena serves a prison sentence for the murder of her husband Andrew, but a year or so after her release Andrew’s body is found in a disused mortuary. Where has he been for the last twelve years and who did Lena murder back in 2004? Who has actually murdered Andrew now? Both the police and Lena’s sister Kat wonder these things and then Lena disappears.

This is the second in the Francis Sadler series and, while I quite enjoyed the first, I thought this one was excellent. There was just the right amount of focus on the detectives’ personal lives; it rounded them out as characters without distracting from the main plot. Each was likeable and sympathetic and there is potential for further development in later installments.

The first two chapters really drew me in and grabbed my interest (especially as I had forgotten the gist of the blurb – I recommend this approach!) Each chapter was short and this added to the pace and urgency of the investigation. I liked the chapters from Kat’s point of view and the suggestion of a romance there. The descriptions of Kat and Lena’s house were effective and added to the sense of lives ruined and hollow. The wider issues within historic policing practices which were touched upon here integrated seamlessly with the plot.

If I had to quibble it would be over the explanation of Lena’s motivations, although within the text characters admit her actions are open to question and criticism. The final chapters kept me guessing, but I was happy with the conclusion.

Highly recommended; I look forward to the next book.