This is the first in this series featuring Kate Matthews and now I've completed it I can say with certainty it was a great read and a good start to a series which is new to me. Kate Matthews has moved from the Met Police following and incident (more is revealed on that later in the book) and is currently working in Southampton on a new Murder Case. Kate is a character people will no doubt love or hate in equal measure, myself included. She clearly has insecurities but takes her work incredibly serious, maybe too much sometimes. As she works a murder case alongside new colleagues it is clear she will have struggles working with some of those around her. I liked her connection with her colleague Laura though and this seemed to balance out her mis-trust of everybody else.


The storyline was strong and well paced with plenty going on. In some respects Kate's borderline personality although being revealed slowly makes for a really interesting read. Clearly her history has hampered her personal life and as you see interactions with her daughter it will begin to make sense. I was happy with how the story unfolded and although I had some doubts over Kate, this introduction to the series has made me curious so I am already on to book 2. A solid book and a great start for a series I hope I continue to enjoy.

This was a great, fast- paced thriller with lots of twists and turns! I would definitely recommend this read.

This was my first book in a while from this author and I really enjoyed it. If you enjoy a crime thiller with plenty of drama & a cracking sting in the tale this is definitely for you.

Read for an honest opinion. Thank you Mr Edgar, Netgalley and Bookouture

A fast paced thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat from start to finish.

Filled with twists and turns and with a totally unexpected ending I loved it.

Dead to Me is the first book in the Detective Kate Matthews series, and I'm embarrassed to say that it's been sitting on my shelf for almost a year. In an effort to get my life in order, I picked the book up last night, and quickly devoured it! It starts off with a bang, and continues to ramp up the tension until the ultimate conclusion, which I didn't see coming.

I really enjoyed Kate as our protagonist, even though she sometimes drove me nuts by going off book and not following rules or orders, and I won't even get into her parenting skills. She's flawed, and her past affects her current actions. We know that someone who worked for Kate was killed and that Kate blames herself, and this is a minor theme throughout the book that isn't delved into much, but that had me very curious about that storyline, so I was pleased to see that it comes around in book 2.

In this particular book, we follow Kate as she scrambles to solve a series of murders, made even more high stakes by the fact that the killer has been able to send Kate messages online, see what she's doing, and even break into her house. She needs to figure out who the killer is before she's in even more danger. That aspect alone made the book utterly gripping, and there were times that I got goosebumps reading it because it was so creepy!

I won't give anything away, but I will say that I had a lot of theories about what was happening, and while I was on the right track, I ultimately didn't have everything figured out, so my eyes were glued to the pages as I read through the end of the book! All in all, I rated this one 4.5 stars, and I'm eager to pick up book number 2! I'd like to thank (and apologize) to Bookouture for my copy of the book! It was my pleasure to provide an honest review, even if it was desperately late! If you're a fan of serial killers or police procedurals, definitely pick this one up!

Great read, 1st in the Detective Kate Mathews series, loo forward to book 2
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC in return for an honest review

I was privileged enough to get ARC's through Netgalley of all three the DI Kate Matthews's books and treated to myself to a Saturday binge read. I will review all three books together as well.
In Watching you (book 1), we meet the kickass DI Kate Matthews. She doesn't take nonsense from the start and gets involved in a murder investigation early on. The difficult relationships with her colleagues, her soon to be ex husband, as well as her daughter gets carried over to the next books.
In Dying Day Kate has to deal with her feelings of guilt - she believes she caused the death of a colleague and friend. The book focuses on these feelings, with quite a twist in the investigation of the DC's death.
In Cold heart (the third book in the series) a young girl goes missing, and Kate gets involved in the investigation of her disappearance. All gets very personal very quick, and makes for brilliant reading.

I honestly enjoyed the three books, and I couldn't put them down. I haven't read anything by Mr Edger before, but will without any doubt rectify that now. Really well done.

This is a brilliant read and what looks like the start of a thrilling new series.

DEAD TO ME is the first book in a new crime series featuring Detective Kate Matthews, by author Stephen Edger. This is the first book I have read by this author, and it definitely won’t be the last. I really enjoyed reading this thriller, with its well-developed fast-paced plot, believable characters and plenty of twists and turns.

The woman lay flat on the table, her face to one side, her wrists bound with thick tape. Deep scratches marked the wood beneath her fingers, now resting cold and still...

When a woman’s body turns up in an abandoned bar near the Southampton docks, Detective Kate Matthews is called in to lead the investigation, but she soon realizes she is being watched both at home and in her personal life. This is where the tension and suspense rises. The author does a brilliant job in keeping the Serial Killers identity hidden… I thought I had guessed the killer, but I was wrong.

Detective Kate Matthews is a very flawed character, while career-driven and irresponsible, she doesn’t have very many likeable qualities. A woman who abandoned her child to put her career first. She must solve this case to prove she is coping with the death of a close coworker.

Kate knows a pile of ripped up newspaper cuttings discovered at the victim’s house must be a piece of the puzzle, but her team keep hitting dead-ends... Until she finds a disturbing clue that convinces her of three things: The murder is linked to the body of a man found hanging in a warehouse, she is on the hunt for a calculated serial killer, and the killer is watching her every move.

Kate realizes there will be another victim soon, and that her own life is in serious danger.

An absolutely NERVE-WRACKING thriller that will keep you guessing to the very last page.
Dead To Me is a promising start to a new crime series, it certainly made for an exciting and intensely twisted read. For those crime thriller lovers who don’t like their books to be too dark or gory, this will be a refreshing change. I think the au
thor has written a book that promises to be the first in a great crime series and I am on to read the next book in the series.

Many thanks to my favorite publisher, Bookouture via Netgalley for my copy.

My Bookouture binge continues with the first Detective Kate Matthews novel, Dead to Me. A strong opening had me hooked right away and left me wanting to read on long after I should have been asleep. The storyline is multi-layered with so much going on but it’s never difficult to follow.

Kate Matthews is a complex and intriguing character. I’m not even sure she’s all that likeable or relatable. As a police officer we see somebody who wants to get the job done no matter what the cost. Normally, that’s what we expect from crime fiction, a sort of renegade detective who doesn’t follow a rule book. But here, Kate makes some ridiculous decisions that almost go beyond being believable because surely an officer of her standing could not be so naive and stupid as to make those decisions. I can’t say what they are without spoilers and thinking about it properly had she acted on certain things the story wouldn’t have been able to continue but just that lack of believability made me enjoy the story less. Also I am used to reading about a team that, for the most part, works incredibly well together with real camaraderie but here the book is full of animosity, backstabbing and jealousy in regard to the team that Kate works with save for one of two characters she could trust. It did make for an interesting and different read and given what Kate did to one of her officers in this story, I can’t wait to see what the repercussions of that are going to be.

Even more intriguing is Kate’s personal life. We all know that fictional detectives can’t hold down a career and a marriage at the same time and that it’s a given that all fictional detectives will have issues. Here Kate is estranged from her daughter and is forced to look after her when her ex’s new girlfriend becomes seriously ill. This is partly why I think some readers may struggle to relate to Kate because of how cold she is towards her daughter at first. It did make her come across somewhat unlikeable but only as the book progressed did we start to see some kind of relationship form and perhaps Kate can redeem herself in subsequent novels.

In terms of storyline I felt it was incredibly strong with a fantastic resolution. At times the investigation was clunky and all over the place and the way in which it was resolved was so far across the boundaries of what a normal police investigation would be that it bordered on being over the top but the closing scenes in particular had me gripped. They were tense, a little bit creepy and incredibly addictive to read. Whilst I worked out one element of the reveal before it came, I did not work it out fully and so was left gobsmacked. It was a brilliant ending that definitely left me eager for more from this series and with Kate being such a complex individual, she is definitely somebody that I can’t wait to read more about in the future. In this genre with so many similar cardboard cut out type detectives everywhere, it’s refreshing to read about somebody like Kate, even if she isn’t somebody who is instantly likeable and who isn’t that perfect detective who can solve every crime no matter what. I’ll be moving on to the next book very soon.

This is a good modern thriller. it's the first in the series about Detective Kate Matthews. I found it easy to read with plenty of murders and suspense which lead to a brilliant twist.

First book I have read by Stephen. It was very good and easy to read. Kate is a bit of a maverick who seems to have an unusual way of going about her job as a detective. The writing was very good and made you feel tense and even gasp a little at some of the happenings within the story, however I had to keep checking there was not another book before this one as it hinted at things that had gone on in her previous force and with her ex-husband and 6 year old daughter Chloe who lives with her father. But you didn't know what. Apart from that very good.

The book was awesome as hell. It's great for those who like mysteries on tv for fiction form

Thank you to the publisher for sending me this for an honest review

This novel took me a while to get into and in fact I read other books in between. I really didn't connect with the main protagonist which was the main problem which was so frustrating.

The plot was very well thought out when you thought you knew what was happening you were led up the garden path.  It certainly was not edge of your seat reading but it was just okay. I did however like the authors writing style. I would also certainly read the next in the series

I was very disappointed with this book. I felt like it didn’t go anywhere very fast and the main character was not easy to connect with.

Whilst I wouldn't call this 'nail biting', I thought this book was okay. It has its moments but overall some frustrating characters that I just couldn't get into.

I found myself struggling with this book until I was about a third of the way into it. I wasn't sure how to feel about the main character, as she wasn't what I would call particularly likeable in the beginning. I think as the series grows, that may change and I do have to admit that I found her more interesting and compelling by the end of the book than I did to start with.

There were, however a lot of other reasons to like this book. The mystery was solid and gave the other characters a good foundation. I liked the style of writing and the way the vents unfolded. The descriptions were good and I felt like I could see things through the eyes of the characters. The author did a good job of giving just enough information to the reader to keep them interested without offering up too much and making it easy to solve the mystery.

Overall, I thought this was a good book and am curious to see what happens as the series progresses. If you like murder mysteries/crime novels, this is one you will want to give a chance.

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher, provided through Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Loved this book. Kate is a strong and likeable character and she reminds me of Helen, the character in Arlidges books. The murder mystery is great and kept me guessing till the end. Can't wait for the second book in this series!

A great start to what promises to be an intriguing series.

D.I Kate Matthews is a bit of a maverick, she's been transferred from the Met under a cloud and has to prove herself to her new colleagues. The way she goes about it is perhaps more likely to alienate them than encourage them to trust her. There were times when I wanted to shake her and other times when I could see why she acted as she did. The main story, finding a killer (or 3 killers) is interspersed with another story, that of her relationship with her young daughter. There are lots of twists in this story, and a very unexpected conclusion relating to the murderer's identity! I'm eagerly awaiting the next in the series now!