First of all, thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for giving me a chance to read and review this awesome book!

Dying Breath was chilling, exciting and so very awesome.

I love psychological thrillers and especially the ones with serial killers. I love trying to figure out a killer's pattern, and who he/she might be.

Dying Breath was everything the blurb promised and more! It was exciting, it was full of suspense and just plain awesome.

Lucy Harwin was a strong and real character. I loved her for her dedication to her job, and because she wasn't a super-human ;)

Dying Breath kept me on my toes, gave me goosebumps and made me look twice at everyone I saw for a whole day (seriously, you could turn into a serial killer's next target by just being in the same shopping center with him!)

Basically, I loved it.

Am enjoying this new series. Lucy is an interesting character which I am sure we will see developed. The cast of detectives around her are also interesting and add to the mix. The story itself is full of twists and turns and red herrings.

I could not put this book down! I had read the first book in this series and was excited to get into this one, the second Lucy Harwin book. A great story with gruesome murders that twists and turns right until the end. Highly recommend this series. Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for a copy of this book to read and review

Dying Breath is a good solid thriller with an even more interesting lead character by the name of Lucy Harwin. The voice of Lucy and that of the unnamed killer tell the story and that works really well for this kind of novel as the sad sicko who preys on the victims had me hoping Lucy in the next chapter would hear what he was saying and stop him quick! The crimes are quite gruesome and the voice of the killer was chilling and one of the creepiest I’ve read in a while. I can’t say I worked much out and by the end I was more than impressed. I like Lucy and her team and look forward to book three.

I absolutely loved The Lost Children, this series opener, when I read it earlier this year. So much so that, usual series rules notwithstanding, I would heartily recommend you read that one first. One of the key things for me in that book, apart from the excellent writing and plot, was the interaction between Lucy and Mattie, a partnership that grew on me throughout the first book and, despite earlier misgivings, has developed in this book to my complete satisfaction.
So, the crimes in this book hit the ground running and don't really let up. We start with a woman bludgeoned on wasteland, followed swiftly by a strangulation in an alleyway, then a young family killed in their home. All on the face of things, very different murders with no apparent links. As the investigation progresses, the police eventually cotton onto the fact that the murders are repeats of old, infamous murders and that they have a copycat on their hands. But who and why? And what has the new discovery of a skeleton to do with things, if anything? As things get more personal for Lucy, can she get to the bottom of things in time to prevent more heinous crimes?
Wow! This book started with a bang and didn't let up until right til the last page. It had me going round the houses trying to work it all out ahead of the game but for the most, I had absolutely no idea where we were going. That's not to say that the reveal came out of left field. Not at all. It was just that the author did a very good job of plate spinning and sleight of hand, drip feeding me enough information to keep me going but not enough so that I twigged too soon. All at the same time as not irking me for withholding or sending me down dead end after dead end for the sake of things. A precarious balancing act for sure. We do know the why quite soon though, through flashbacks to someone's past. So we know why they are doing it, we know the kind of person they are, just not exactly who. So I did spend a while trying to match the person from the past to one in the present, again without success. So I gave up completely and just enjoyed the wild and wicked ride that Ms Phifer took me on. And, as I turned the final page, I breathed a sigh of relief and sat back, completely satisfied, thinking quite simply; job done.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publishers, Bookouture, for this review copy given in exchange for an honest review. Also thank you to Kim and Noelle for expertly, as ever, organising the blog tour and allowing me to be part of it.

This is the second book in the Detective Lucy Harwin Series. It can be read as a standalone book but obviously makes sense to read the books in order to understand the story.

Lucy Harwin is back the coastal town of Brooklyn Bay, trying to solve the murder of a woman found beaten to death on some wasteland. It looks like it’s a solitary murder, but then another body turns up. The way they have been killed is different, so are their murders the work of the same killer. When a young family is brutally murdered in their own home, it throws even more questions into the case for Lucy and her team. There’s also a separate case of some human bones being found and Lucy’s nemesis, DI Patrick Baker is drafted in to help. After Lucy’s boss, DCI Tom Crowe, is taken ill, DI Baker is temporarily promoted to DCI and this begins to cause problems for Lucy. Can Lucy and her team work out who the killer is before he strikes again?

Now, I’ve read a couple of this author’s books before, and to be honest I didn’t really enjoy them. So, I wasn’t sure I would enjoy this book when I started it, coupled with the fact that I hadn’t read the first book in the series either. Thankfully my fears were unfounded, as I found this book absolutely fantastic! The story started slow and steady, building up the suspense and tension to a crescendo. It alternated between the killer as a young boy and in present day to the story following Kate. I sometimes find these changes in time, backwards and forwards, confusing, but as the story was so gripping I didn’t really notice that this was happening! I also thought the book was based outside of the UK (the name of Brooklyn Bay didn’t really help!), but was pleased to work out that it is very much a UK based thriller which, if you’re like me and prefer to read UK based books, is great!

The character of Lucy Harwin was interesting. As I hadn’t read the first book, I didn’t know the back story of Lucy, but to be honest you don’t really need to. You pick up bits and pieces about her daughter and ex-husband as the story moves on, but Lucy’s personal life takes a back burner with the killer storyline taking the lead! Again, I don’t know the back story of the rest of her team, but I love the relationship she has with them, and especially the good relationship she has with her boss, Tom Crowe. I’ve read so many books recently where the lead female detective doesn’t get on with her male boss and I’m pleased to see that this wasn’t the case here! I do love her character though. Whilst she is a gutsy and gritty detective, she also showed her sensitive side in several parts of the book. I have to admit to reaching for the tissues several times, which is highly unusual in a crime story! I will seriously be looking forward to any future books in the series to see how Lucy’s character and storyline progresses.

The killer storyline is obviously the big plot in the book! It was quite a gruesome storyline and very upsetting in parts. It doesn’t begin as a fast paced action thriller, but builds everything up so nicely that when you get towards the end you literally cannot put it down. It had a major plot twist towards the end which I seriously did not see coming, and when it hit me in the face what was going on I couldn’t help but shout out who it was, much to the amusement of my husband!

I’m so pleased I read this book and didn’t pass on it because I’d not enjoyed others by this author. It just goes to show that you can’t judge a book by its author!! I will definitely be revisiting the other two books I’ve already read and re-reading them with different eyes. Anyone who can write a book this good cannot write a bad book! I highly recommend this book, if I could give it more than 5 stars I would!

Five stars!!

This was a great page turner which had me enthralled from the getgo. Very well written and paced. I would thoroughly recommend this book and my thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the chance to review it. I eagerly await her next novel.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Bookouture for an advance copy of Dying Breath, the second police procedural to feature DI Lucy Harwin of Brooklyn Bay police.

Lucy is called out to a dead body who has been beaten with a hammer and posed. Her alarm bells are ringing and confirmed when a second strangled body is found a few days later. If that is not enough she has an unearthed skeleton and a new colleague she doesn't like to contend with.

I thoroughly enjoyed Dying Breath as its twists, turns and very likeable protagonist kept me enthralled from start to finish and I read it in one sitting. The plotting and writing are excellent and had me barking up the wrong tree for the whole novel as intended. The novel is told from several points of view but chiefly Lucy and the unnamed killer. I'm not a big fan of this approach as it often makes for a disjointed read but Ms Phifer manages it seamlessly and it flows really well with each chapter adding to the reader's knowledge but still managing to keep the killer's identity and raison d'être well hidden.

Lucy is an excellent protagonist, dedicated, smart and tough and yet extremely compassionate when necessary. I love the scene where she sorts out her boyfriend which seems to sum up her personality. She is not without her sorrows, being in the middle of a divorce, but she just girds her loins and gets on with it. What a role model.

Dying Breath is a good read which I have no hesitation in recommending.

What a book! I absolutely LOVED this breathtakingly fast-paced, tense and astounding story. One of the best crime novels I have read. This author gets better with every book. Her writing is self assured and beautiful, the pace never flags and the story races towards the spectacular denouement. I thoroughly enjoyed this spectacular story and cannot wait for more from this amazing author.

Loved this book so much. I read it in one sitting, i could not put it down, it’s such a page turner. It’s a fast paced thriller with plenty of twists in the plot, that keeps you guessing to the end about who done it!! Highly recommended. I would give it 10 stars if I could.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Helen Phifer for the copy of this book. I agreed to give my unbiased opinion voluntarily.

Another fantastic book by this author.....Everything that she has written has been excellent and this new novel does not fail to disappoint. You can tell that Helen has inside Police knowledge which she puts to good use with graphic descriptions of the crime sites but not graphic enough to give me nightmares (quite the opposite, keeps me awake as I want to keep reading to see what happens next).....I always think that I know who the murderer is, but as there are lots of very good red herrings I usually end up being wrong and totally surprised. Hopefully this will not be the end of Lucy and Mattie and that we do not have to wait too long for the next installment.

Dying Breath is book 2 in the Detective Lucy Harwin Series.

I am finding that the Crime Fiction genre at the moment has some really top class writers producing fantastic books. Helen Phifer is one of them; her new book Dying Breath is just brilliant. Thanks to Helen, Bookouture and Netgalley for the advance copy.

I loved the first Lucy Harwin book The Lost Children so I was super excited to read this and it did not disappoint!

The first words that spring to mind are captivating and thrilling; this one was a hard one to put down. It was extremely well written, it was dark, suspenseful and the twists just kept coming.

I love the relationships between the team members in this series. Lucy is a hard working detective and she has a great tight knit team around her, she is particularly close to her partner Mattie. Lucy does tend to go off on her own and put herself in danger so it’s lucky Mattie has her back.

This book was awesome, I loved it. It is definitely in my top 5 of 2017. Helen Phifer has done an amazing job with this book; I particularly liked the serial killer story line, it kept me hanging on to every word.

I highly recommend this book, I feel that it can be read as a stand-alone but I do recommend that you read The Lost Children first so that you get some of the back story on the characters.

Do not miss this book, it’s an absolute cracker!

Dying Breath Helen Phifer


Detective Inspector Lucy Harwin is back in another realistic crime thriller.

When I reviewed The Lost Children, the first book in the DI Harwin series, I said how good it was to read a book that portrayed a criminal investigation properly. The right ranks-to-roles, the correct terminology, the attitudes and ethos’s of the officers and the relationships between departments. It was one of my favourite reads and put Helen onto the list of my favourite authors

This book is just as good.

The story focuses on two eras’: Lucy and her team investigating a series of modern day crimes; and an anonymous boy growing up with his aunty in the 80’s and 90’s.

The boy growing up is obviously a deviant, and it’s not hard to conclude that he is going to be part of today’s crimes; but what part, and who is he?

There are several candidates but I didn’t guess which one was the murderer until it was revealed on the last few pages. Up until that point it could still have been any one of them.

Lucy and her team pick up the investigation into the murder of a woman who is found battered to death and posed in an unlikely position.

She is the first but not the last. Each victim is killed in a way that appears planned but random. Is Brooklyn Bay in the grips of a crime epidemic or a serial killer.

With each murder being committed in a different manner the team are struggling to link them. When the skeletal remains of a woman are uncovered in some woods Helens boss DCI Tom Crowe decides she needs help and drafts in DI Patrick Baker to take over the body in the woods investigation

Lucy conducts most of her investigation with DS Matthew Jackson, her friend and safety net against getting herself in trouble with the bosses. The rest of her team all take an active part in the investigations, and all have their own character that gives the team a great dynamic. The team are good, highly motivated officers, so when DI Baker appears apathetic Lucy soon starts to lose her cool with him.

This book doesn’t look so deeply at the private lives of some books but we know enough about Lucy and her team to build allegiances. I like Lucy and the connection she has with her team so I felt every frustration she had with Baker. That must be the indication of a good writer.

As the two sides of this story headed for a massive collision at the end of the book I found myself sitting for hours glued to the screen of my Kindle.

Helen Phifer has written another great book that has kept her in my top authors list and I cannot wait for the next instalement.

Pages: 269
Published by Bookouture
Publishing Date: 23rd November 2017

Another great read. Equally as good as the first in the series.

Still suffering PTSD from her last case, Detective Lucy Harwin has returned to solve the murder of a woman beaten to death. She and her partner, Mattie Jackson, don’t at first make a connection to the death of another woman, found strangled to death, but as the bodies pile up, the detectives begin to realize that even though the victims and cause of death differ, they are dealing with one killer. The only thing linking the murders are other crimes, those committed by “famous’ Serial killers. What kind of twisted individual would want to recreate some of the most heinous crimes ever committed? Lucy, Mattie and their team will have to act fast, before the killer decides to include them in his little game. Tense and scary

Thank you very much to NetGalley and Bookouture for the advance copy of "Dying Breath" in exchange for an honest review. Having previously read "The Stolen Children" I couln't wait to read this and it was certainly worth the wait. A woman is viciously murdered and Lucy Harwin and her team are investigating the case but it soon becomes clear that there is a serial killer at large committing copycat murders of infamous serial killers. Lucy and her partner Detective Mattie Jackson must find him before he comes for her!!! It kept me hooked all the way through full of twists and an explosive storyline and really likeable characters provide a great read and I can't recommend this book highly enough.