We're in Stoke on Trent. A group of young women who study at Dunwood Academy are running the cross-country course. One of them - Lauren Ansell - stops behind to tie her shoelace and is murdered, to the shock and devastation of her friends. Twins Courtney and Caitlin Piggott, Sophie Bishop and Teagan Cole cling together for support - or do do as much as they can given that their parents are understandably reluctant to let them out of their sight. One of the parents is journalist Simon Cole, boyfriend of DS Grace Allendale, who is charged with investigating the murder under the guidance of DI Nick Carter. It's a struggle to keep their professional lives separate.

Allendale has a good team around her in the incident room. There's DC Sam Monkton, DC Perry Wright who's the office manager and Dave Barnett the senior crime scene investigating officer. She's thankful that they seem to have moved past earlier difficulties which involved her own family. Although I haven't read book one of this series I suspect that there are major spoilers for that book. If the concept of the series appeals to you it might be better to start with Hush Hush, the first book in the series.

There's a well-developed cast of characters falling broadly into three groups - the kids, the teachers and the police - and they all came off the page well. I particularly liked the teachers, with some of them being suspiciously close to the children: there was a real atmosphere of suspicion. Nathan Stiller, the headmaster, and Jason Tranter who ran the youth club were well drawn. The city of Stoke is a character in its own right and I felt as though I knew it.

I was less impressed by the plot. At one point I put it down and completely forgot about it for a few days. When I went back to it I had to go back a few chapters to remind myself about what had happened. As I got further in, the story became more compelling and the denouement came as a complete surprise: I had someone else inked in as the murderer!

Would I read the next book in the series? Yes, I think I would. I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag.

This book was just the right amount of murder, police work, and intrigue that I started off enjoying it immensely. However, the ending just killed it. There was really no reason to explain how the killer was able to manipulate people the way that they did. It felt like there had been this huge thing building up throughout the book that the ending felt felt anti-climatic. Even the why of it didn't feel like it was explained successfully. Looking back, I am also a little confused about the first chapter (its sort of a prologue if you will). Considering, I would have thought considering that the jump would have been obvious and they would get their first lead sooner rather than half-way through.

I also found that sometimes the story jumped points of view from Grace to the killer, and those occasionally weren't obvious at first. In fact there was one scene that I had to re-read and had actually marked as not making sense due to something that was said when I realized it made perfect sense coming from the killer.

All things considered, I do see a lot of potential in this author and this series, so I would give this author another chance.

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.

Thank you to Net Galley, The Publishers and of course Mel Sherratt, a member of my group "A Good Thriller", and a friend on goodreads.

In the city of Stoke, a teenage girl is strangled while out for a run with her friends, it shakes the city of Stoke to its core. Why would anyone want to hurt a child? And who would have the audacity to murder in broad daylight?

DS Grace Allendale and her team are brought in to bring a swift resolution, but investigating the case brings up no leads. It is as if the killer chose the girl at random and then disappeared. And then another young woman is found dead...

A killer without fear, and no pattern except random acts of violence: can Grace stop another girl getting hurt before it's too late

TICK TOCK... Two days later, a young mother is abducted. She's discovered strangled and dumped in a local park. TIME'S UP... DS Grace Allendale and her team are brought in to investigate, but with a bold killer, no leads and nothing to connect the victims, the case seems hopeless. It's only when a third woman is targeted that a sinister pattern emerges. A dangerous mind is behind these attacks, and Grace realises that the clock is ticking... Can they catch the killer before another young woman dies?

Mel Sherratt returns with a breathtaking thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat, and a great second book in the series with DS Grace Allendale.

A strong, gripping thriller, tense and well paced.

A clear four stars, but not quite as good as Book 1

In the city of Stoke a 16 year old girl is murdered in broad daylight, within minutes of her friends departure on a cross country run. The school is just yards away and when they turned around and walked back, they found her dead. Two days later a young woman leaving after work is abducted and her body found strangled in a field.



DI Grace Allendale is tasked with the job of finding who this serial killer is and when a third girl is attacked, the agency knows that they are in trouble. There are no clues, no links between the victims and only when an online chat line becomes a common link do faint clues appear.



Dealing with psychopaths and trying to unravel what goes on in an irrational mind must be an almost impossible job and this is what these detectives have to face. A tight knit community, and when children are hurt things can get ugly for the police as well.



There are differing points of view shown in the story - from the police side and from the "other" side. It added a lot of interest and kept one on your toes throughout.



A real page turner.

Here we have the two things I usually don't like in British crime: Way too much personal stuff about the main character and too may details that have nothing to do with solving crimes. In addition, this book lacks any special things to make it interesting; it just grinds along. But there is a story here, and it's well written.

DS Grace Allendale was born in Stoke but moved away when she was a child. She returned to the Stoke area a few months ago after working in Manchester.
She’s still keen to earn her new colleague’s trust after her previous case which involved members of her estranged family.
A powerful story, it begins when a schoolgirl is murdered during a cross-country PE lesson at school. It gave me the creeps, every parent’s nightmare.
It’s close to Grace too, as the girl was a school friend of her boyfriend Simon’s daughter.
Another woman is found dead a couple of days later, but is there a link to the first case?
Grace and her team battle to find a link, and when they do I was totally not expecting it!
There are lots of twists and turns in the plot, lots of suspicions, making it a real page-turner.
Very gritty scenes, and so well described.
It can be read as a stand-alone, but for more understanding of Grace and her Stoke family I would recommend reading Hush Hush first.
Being a Stokie myself, Mel Sherratt’s books really hit home with me more than any other author. The story criss-crosses my city, passing by the end of my street and in a nearby park. It seriously creeps me out, even when I’m driving around I think about the author’s books. I just know where it’s all happening even if some of the place names are slightly different. I even put faces to the local newshounds!

I always like to see a new book by Mel Sherratt. This one fits very well with the rest, twists and turns abound. Is it a copycat killer? Why are there so many disparities between the victims? There's only one way to find out...

Thank you netgalley and Joffe publishers for this arc.

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Status
April 27, 2019 – Shelved 2 Show more
Review Tick Tock is the first book I've read by Mel Sherratt -- but having missed the first installment in this series (Hush Hush) didn't set me back a bit. Sherratt did a good job with those unobtrusive lines that fill in the blanks without slowing down the narrative. So, yes, this works fine as a standalone.

The really good things about this book are myriad: the small-city setting of Stoke-on-Trent in Northern England; the growing camaraderie among the murder investigation team; the insight into how murder and other atrocities affect the investigators' emotions. Admittedly, this was "lite" fare as a thriller, with a very high niceness factor and a very low grit score.

Sherratt is a good writer, and she deftly handles the shifts in points of view. The ingeniously-crafted villain and cohorts kept the team and us readers guessing until the final pages. Which brings up the book's biggest flaw: The ending, which felt rushed and incomplete, didn't live up to the rest of the book, and a late, brief passage about one of the villains' motivations didn't make sense to me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins Publishers for an advance readers copy of this book.

I loved the first one in the series and couldn't wait for this one, it didn't disappoint, I really like Grace's character, she's tough hardworking but still shows her real and vulnerable side. While trying to find a serial killer before they strike again this case is close to home as her partner's daughters friends have been targeted will she be next!!
I really hope there's more in the series. I like the way her half brother still looks out for her despite her saying she doesn't want it, it appears she does like being part of a family who care.

This is the second book in the DS Grace Allendale series and I really enjoyed it.
Grace and the team are called to a school where a girl has been found dead, following a cross country run.
Grace can’t believe the killer would do such a thing out in the open, in broad daylight, and vows to find the killer.
Soon another person is murdered and again her body is left out in the open, and easy to find.
I thought there would be more of a link to Grace’s family, like in the first book but they very much take a back seat in this book.
Grace and the team are soon working against the clock as they realise there is a pattern to the killings and have to race to save a life.
This is a gripping crime thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat.
Thanks to Avon Books UK and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

Another great read in the Grace Allendale series. Grace is again working on a case close to home, when her boyfriend Simon’s daughter and her friends lose a close friend. The race is on for Grace to get to the bottom of what’s going on before anymore young girls are murdered. A fab read

This is the second book in the DS Grace Allendale series. A bit of a slow burner but I was really glad I stuck with it. Another grim case for this detective and her team. A young girl is murdered in daylight. Two days later a young mother is found murdered, the same MO no witnesses, no DNA and No clues. As I said before this slow then takes off like a rocket. So many twists and turns and suspects galore.
After reading the first in this series Hush Hush and awarding it an easy five stars and this read does not disappoint. This book had me gripped tapping my kindle faster and faster I HAD TO KNOW!!!!! When it came to the big reveal I was shocked and was definitely not who I was expecting. A thrill ride and almost five stars.
I would like to thank the author, Avon Books UK and Netgalley for the ARC in return for giving an honest review.

This is the second book in the series which features DS Grace Allendale.
A gripping story from the start.
A girl gets murdered in broad daylight and no one sees a thing...then a couple of days later another woman is murdered.
They appear random but are they linked? Grace and her team work hard to try and find the killer.
The characters are likeable and the relationships between them all work, we get more of Grace’s own past in this book which enhances what we learnt in the first of the series Hush Hush. This can still easily be read as a stand-alone without reading the first book.
It was a real page turner and I wanted to know what happens next. Lots of surprises.
Great Book

This is the first of Mel Sherratt's books that I have read, so pleased to say, that it won't be the last.
I liked Grace, her enthusiasm, her tenacity and her loyalty.
I enjoyed reading about her relationship with Simon and her colleagues.
The story was well thought out and I didn't see who the killer was until the last moment, that doesn't happen very often as I read lots of similar books.

Great story, well thought out, great plot, what more do you need.

Thanks to Netgalley, Mel Sherratt and Avon Books for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Tick Tock is the second book in the DS Grace Allendale series by Mel Sherratt and I just loved it. I was hooked from the very first few pages and I just wanted to read the whole book without going to sleep.

A school girl is found strangled during a cross country run, whilst at school! DS Grace Allendale and her team are called to the scene. However, there was No clues or DNA have been left on the school girl's body.
A few days later another young mother is abducted. She’s discovered strangled and dumped in a local park.
No DNA, No Clues and No Leads left.

Grace and her team have nothing to go on and they need something to start this investigation!

Are they connected?

Can they find the connection before the killer strikes again?

This book is full of twists and turns that will have you hooked and guessing throughout.

Brilliant read and I just loved this book.

The first book by Mel in this series was called Hush Hush. and was also a brilliant read.

Highly recommended.

Big Thank you to Avon Books UK and NetGalley for my advanced copy of this book to read.
All opinions are my own and are in no way biased

Tick Tock is the second book in the DS Grace Allendale series. I thoroughly enjoyed Hush Hush and I am pleased to say that I enjoyed Tick Tock even more.
Young school girls and a young Mum have all been murdered. Can Grace and the team catch the killer before anyone else is killed? I have enjoyed having Grace and the team back together in this story. The author writes great characters into her stories. I found myself on the edge of my seat at times, it was an intense read. I would highly recommend this book and Hush Hush to read first.

Having very much enjoyed the DI Allie Shenton series, I was a little apprehensive of this new set of books featuring DS Grace Allendale, from the excellent Mel Sherratt. I needed not have worried--Hush Hush was very good indeed and Tick Tock is even better! Having relocated from Manchester to Stoke, Grace has a somewhat uneasy relationship with her boss Nick, but her team work well together and she can rely on them in a tight situation. When a number of local women are attacked and killed, Allendale faces a race against time to find the perpretators, and at times the case comes close to home. A very enjoyable read and I look forward to more!

This one started off strong and soon had me hooked.

A teenage girl is found murdered whilst out on a cross country run with her class, a few days later a young mothers body is found, she has been strangled and dumped. Can DS Grace Allendale and her team figure out who the killer is before they strike again?

There are a good cast of characters, I particularly liked Grace, she's a multi dimensional character, I liked how strong she was but there was a more human, vulnerable side to her too.

I did like how the book played out but I just felt it fell a bit short at the end, like it felt a bit rushed to wrap everything up and that the conclusion of the case could have been a lot stronger.

This is the 2nd book in the Grace Allendale series, this can be read as a standalone but I definitely think you would benefit from reading the first book before this one as there are mentions of past incidents and I did find some of those parts confusing when you have no frame of reference.

I'll definitely check out more from this author in the future and would be interested in reading the first book in this series

This was the first book that I have read by Mel Sherratt, but I don't think it will be the last.

Tick Tock is the second book in a series about DS Grace Allendale, but it can definitely also be read as a standalone book. The story is about Grace solving the murders of several women. We get to know Grace and her colleagues as well as those Grace is involved with privately. Grace is very likeable and the story kept me entertained from start to end, wanting to know would they catch the killer/killers before more die or...

I would put this book in the same category as crime novels by Martina Cole and just as good, so perhaps I will also start collecting books by Mel Sherratt.

A really enjoyable read from start to finish, great charecters and a story told well and wrapped up nicely