With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an open and honest review.

Where Secrets Lie is the second book in the DS Karen Hart series.

The book began with the death of website designer James Hunter. James was a recovering alcoholic who fell off the wagon after two years. During a drinking binge James told a friend from his AA group a secret he had kept for hidden for years. Later James stood on the balcony of his luxury flat and he was thrown over the balcony by his companion.

SIx months later the police were contacted by the neighbour of retired headmaster Albert (Bert) Johnson. She had not seen Bert that morning and called the police when she heard groans coming from behind his front door.

Bert was angry the police were in his house and told them not to go upstairs. Intrigued the officers went to Bert`s bedroom and found a suitcase containing a dead body. In Bert`s home they find a recent letter saying its time to pay for your crime.

Kate and her boss DI Scott Morgan soon discovered the body was Oliver Fox who had gone missing thirty years earlier. Oliver was a teacher at Bert`s school.

Detective Constables Rick and Sophie discovered an allegation of child abuse was made against Oliver. However his older brother was a senior policeman who managed to bury the allegations.

Bert had a heart attack once he was admitted to hospital. Before he died he told Rick it was not an accident and he had been pushed downstairs.

When another colleague of Bert and Oliver is viciously murdered. Karen and the team have to solve a cold case with links to a more recent murder.

Meanwhile Karen is persuaded to go on a blind date which goes wrong. Scott is blackmailed by his ex boss and Sophie is not sure if policework is her true vocation.

Where Secrets Lie was a good solid police procedural. I read the first Karen Hart book and it was like meeting old friends.

I was intrigued by the plot from the beginning and found it hard to put down. As well as the crime I also enjoy reading about the teams home lives . I like Karen who is a good officer, but uses her job to hide her grief.

I recommend this book and can't wait to read Karen`s next investigation.

I really enjoyed his book. It is a fast paced drama with plenty of action in it. When a suitcase containing a dead body is found in an attic it leads to the solving of a 30 year old murder. I liked the characters in this book and their stories. I like being able to imagine peple and their surroundings and feel empathy for them.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

The first thing that called to this book was the cover it just looks amazing and calls it to be a good book. I thought I had the suspect figured out but as the story kept unfolding I realized I was far off. I like books like that!

When Detective Hart and DI Morgan are pulled into the case of a body being found in a suitcase they knows there is a case here but, who would put a person in a suitcase? When we discover who is in it we learn that there is a reason this person was put there. Yet, it will be a race against time as it seems those who may have answers to who this person is are dying. Could there be a connection or just bad luck headed these people's way. I really like how everyone who was involved in the case had a job to do, and I could relate to Sophie how she was building her dreams up and just would feel defeated. Even at her job she questioned her abilities and yet she stood though it and was able to help bring a killer to justice. Even though Sophie was a secondary character it was good I could relate to her in some way.

I haven't read the first book as I didn't realize this was book two but I will be looking into reading it as I am intrigued with Detective Hart.

The suspense was great and built up perfectly and I loved how there was some personal problems or issues going on with the characters but that it didn't deviate from the story.

Three schoolboys keep a terrible secret, as do two of their teachers. Years later, the secret comes out – and all hell breaks loose.
This book starts ominously with the callous murder of a drunk pushed to his death from his balcony. Soon the deaths mount and it’s up to Detective Karen Hart and her team to investigate.
I really liked Hart, who is wonderfully normal and gets on well with her team. There are just enough sneak peaks into the lives of her fellow police officers to make them familiar and likeable. There are also some deliciously awful characters, such as the retired policeman who continues to throw his weight around as he interferes with the investigation.
I enjoyed this well-written, quick read. In a strange way, despite lots of death, this is quite a cosy, homely and comfortable read. Or maybe that’s just me. This is the second in the Karen Hart series; I hadn’t read the first but this didn’t detract from this read at all.

An old man not going out for his paper as usual arouses his neighbour to call for help. What happens next spirals and lots of families are affected by something that happened 30 years ago. You won’t want to stop reading as this story unfolds. There are twists and turns with lots of lives about to be changed forever. Two teachers trying to help some troubled pupils unfortunately do something that will change everyone involved lives forever.

Reading this book was like riding a horse: first you go for a gentle stroll and you are enjoying the ride and wonder if your horse likes to go a little faster, then things ramp up a bit and you are trotting....and then next thing you know, you are going at a full gallop! My horse skipped the cantering completely ;)

Seriously though, this was one good read! DS Karen Hart is back in her second adventure and even though I read the first book, it absolutely doesn't need to be read first for this story to make sense.

Karen gets caught up in a case which is puzzling but it is a cold case and therefore that sense of urgency is not quite there, as there would be in a current case. That soon changes and Karen and her team find themselves running here, there and everywhere trying to figure out how everything fits together. Then the murders start....

There was so much going on in this story, but the author did a great job of keeping the threads going and then making sure all those threads made sense at the end. I enjoyed getting to know the various team members a little better, all those things make a big difference to my enjoyment of a book. It is not just about the case, but all the various people involved in the case and their personalities that makes for a well-rounded book.

I give this book 4.5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer.

First time reading this author but will definitely seek out her other books. I love British crime tv shows and this book is written as well as any of them. Lots of twists and turns and when you think you know 'who dunnit', you will be wrong! I don't give 5 stars often but this one definitely is a 5+! Jacket cover is adequate descriotion, no book report or spoilers from me!

This book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review. The opinions expressed are my own. Thank you for allowing me to read this book!

I struggled to get into this book at first until I was about 20% in and I must say I'm pleased I stuck with it. Although it was based on a cold case I was really rooting for the team investigating it. I disliked the fox family immediately but the other characters were great. The end shocked me to be honest but in a good way. I'd definitely recommend it to others as I thoroughly enjoyed it

Good solid story, interesting characters. This is my first story by this author and the second in a series. It does work as a stand alone.

This story does have a decent amount of twists and red herrings. The key characters were fleshed out enough to give you a feel for them and their relationships as a team. They also evolve throughout the story and it appears that each sequence will build on that. The final reveal was satisfying.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and Amazon Publishing UK for a copy in exchange for a review.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It takes hold from the very beginning when a suitcase with a decomposed body in it is found in the upstairs home of an elderly man. As the investigation into this thirty year old murder begins many things come to light that brings more crime into play. This kept me guessing until the very end. I highly recommend this book. This is the first book I have read by this author but I will read more in the future.
Thank you Net Galley for the advanced copy.

This book had me hooked from the first page, so much so that I hated having to put it down to do other things.

I loved the plot- the catalyst of which being the discovery of a 30 year old decomposed body in a suitcase within an elderly man’s house - and the twists and turns of a cold case becoming a very current one.

This is the second book in the series, but having not read the first I can say that Where Secrets Lie can be read as a stand-alone. I am, however, very much looking forward to reading the first instalment.

Thank you to Netgalley for this advanced copy.

This is the second book if the series but can be easily read as a stand alone. The story was interesting and had many layers. The main characters definitely had their work cut out for them trying to solve this mystery. There was lots of different people involved and the twists and turns meant it was a guessing game throughout!

Thoroughly enjoyable and highly recommended. This is the first of D.S. Butlers books that I have read but I will be reading more.

The discovery of a decomposed body in a suitcase leads Karen Hart and her team on a journey to understand how and when the victim died. Discovering the victim was a teacher who disappeared more than 30 years ago the team learn that sometimes some secrets need to be uncovered and justice brought to the fore

I went into this book straight on from the first book and I'm really glad that I did as I enjoyed this book as much as I enjoyed the first book. I really like the characters in the book, especially the relationship between Karen, Rick and Sophie and also the rapport between Karen and DI Morgan. The writing is fluid and quick and enjoyable. I loved the way the entire investigation and trying to figure out the killer was written. Overall a really enjoyable book and a really good series so far. Looking forward to her next book. Would not hesitate to recommend this book. And a big thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for giving me the chance to read this ARC in exchange of my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC.
This is the 2nd in the Detective Karen Hart series.
An old man is found at the bottom of the stairs of his home and rushed to the hospital. They make a shocking discovery in one of the rooms in the house and Karen are faced with a 30-year old mystery. It proves an almost impossible case to solve: the unsolved disappearance of a teacher and the body they are having analyzed, a daunting task after so much time. Meeting Karen and the team again and getting more of their backstories is one of the reasons I enjoyed the book so much. The mystery is fascinating and the ending tense and exciting. Can't wait for the next book! I recommend this book highly.

You did what you thought was best. A old man has fallen down his stairs and is seriously hurt should be a simple call for the police but everything changes when they find the body in the suitcase. Why does Albert Johnson have a body and did he kill them? DI Scott Morgan and DS Karen Hart have been given the case and this isn't going to be a easy case as the body has been there for many years. Albert the suspect is still in hospital and they have a man waiting to talk to him but he isn't been cooperative so they will just need to be patient. They have found out who the victim is Oliver Fox was 45 when he just disappeared and they will need to find out if Albert killed him. The family isn't too happy about the police poking around in their business but they need to find out who and why Oliver was killed. Things are just about to get harder for the team as the murdered man's brother is a former cop and he wants to be kept abreast of everything but that isn't going to happen. The wife is hiding her head in the sand, the sister in law doesn't believe that her ex lover did anything wrong and the sons have their own problems. Looking into Oliver's background they start putting the pieces together and realize that Oliver wasn't such a good man and that he deserved so much worse for his crimes but they still haven't found the killer. Will they be able to find the killer before they strike again? Can the team put their own problems aside and work this case and get it solved? Karen is missing her family, Scott is dealing with someone from his past that is blackmailing him, Sophie isn't too sure if she still wants to be a cop as she never gets to go out and Rick is dealing with his mother's slow decline.
Can DI Morgan pull them all together to solve this case and put the past to rest?
A good solid read. They are a good team that works well together. Scott is going to be the perfect leader for the group seems like a fair man that admits his mistakes. Hopefully Karen will be able to find someone to share her life with. Sophie might need to change her career as I don't think that she has the right attitude for being a cop. I hope that Rick's mom doesn't have to suffer. I was lucky enough to receive a copy via netgalley & the publishing house in exchange for my honest review.

Another great book in this series. If these books keep being written like this, I'm going to have another new favorite series.

I tried to guess who the killer was numerous times but I honestly wasn't even close.

Well written and exciting. Thank you to NetGalley for my copy.

Thank you to #NetGalley for this ARC of #WhereSecretsLie

This is the second book in the Karen Hart series and it reads well as a stand-alone. Butler does well to provide an adequate background to the characters, making the reader feel comfortable diving right into this novel without having any prior knowledge of the previous storyline.

The plot of this book is complex, weaving through the twists and turns of a murder mystery from the past and that of the present. The narrative is character driven, mainly by that of the book’s main protagonist, DS Karen Hart. Parts of the narrative do stall with time spent on unnecessary details that ultimately circumvent the primary plot. However, while the story is slow to build, and has a few trivial moments where the plot stalls , it does pick up midway through and concludes with that "shock-value" that so many readers of this genre crave. Overall, a good read. 3 stars

I haven’t read book 1 in this series so I can confirm that it reads perfectly well as a stand alone book. What appeared initially to be a cold case enquiry turned out more and more complex as the book progressed. The main character DS Karen Hart was easy company and I rather like that she follows up on her gut reaction to things. I have a minor gripe with the fact that she was referred to as Karen while her boss was always referred to as DI Morgan. That aside, it feels like there should be a few more books to come in this series.