I found the style of this book flowed and although there were many characters they each had their place in the story.

The author tackles the difficult subject of domestic abuse, both physical and mental, very truthfully and gives an insight into the reverberations it has to family and friends of the abused.

DC Maggie Jamieson is the head of the new department set up specifically for investigations into domestic abuse DAHU (Domestic Abuse and Homicide Unit). Although Maggie is the lead character in this first book in this series, Lucy Sherwood, the Probation Officer, played a major role in this story and this side of the system was particularly of interest to me.

I highly recommend this book and I am very much looking forward to reading more in this series.

It was a fast-paced read, that's for sure. The short, sharp chapters and slick POV changes kept me reading on. There was plenty of tension; I could feel the frustration among the investigating officers as more deaths occurred but without any leads.

Given that all of the murdered men were domestic violence abusers, it wasn't hard to feel that they had deserved their horrific deaths - in fact, whoever the killer was, they seemed to be doing the police's job in ridding society of these vile creatures.

The scenes of abuse - when these men displayed their tempers to the women in their lives - were intense and tense, showing how quick these men were to anger and react with their fists at the slightest opportunity. I winced on several occasions at their violence. Similarly, the killer's own methods were not for the faint-hearted.

Talking of killers, my suspicions as to their identity were raised quite early on, in fact after less than a third of the story, I was ready to stake my bet. And while I don't want to brag (well, not much anyway) I was pleased to be correct in my summation. (Am I guilty of watching and reading too many crime dramas? Maybe ;) but I couldn't possibly comment further for fear of incriminating myself)

All in all, a good story, delivered with great timing and pace, and with some interesting characters who - hopefully - will feature in more books in the series.

My thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for the chance to read this book.

Dead Inside Noelle Holten

A few months ago I heard that one of the staff at a publishers I follow had written a book. In fact I began to hear a few mentions of DEAD INSIDE by Noelle Holten.

I had to read it, but I was worried, what if I didn’t like it. I talk to this woman a lot and do book reviews for some of the authors she’s responsible for. This could have been nasty.

Wrong, wrong, wrong. I should have known better. If you represent the authors Noelle represents, and write the reviews she puts on line of other books she reads, I should have known she loves the same type of fiction as I do.

But she’s gone one step further than me, she’s written a book, and what a book!

Dead Inside is going to be up there with this year’s top releases.

Noelle has written this book in a way that not many, if any, other books I’ve read have been written before. Although it is billed as “Maggie Jamieson Crime Thriller Book 1” there is no real lead character. Everybody seems to get equal billing and the story is brilliant for it.

I was trying to find a way of explaining this and eventually came up with the analogy that the books characters are like those from a TV soap, everybody is important to the story, when it’s their turn they are front and centre, but it’s the story that takes precedent. The plot is lead chronologically by the character that means the most at that time. So although Maggie is a thread throughout, she gets no more or less page time than anybody else. I really like this style.

So who is Maggie, well she’s a DC who has been moved from a Murder Investigation Team in Staffordshire Police to a new unit. Why has she been moved? Her back story indicates that she was heavily involved in a serial killer investigation, and that maybe she suffered a bit during that investigation.

The newly formed team is the Domestic Abuse and Homicide Unit, and is a multi-agency team set up to quell the growing problem of Domestic Violence, and the deaths associated with it, across Staffordshire.

When the team was set up I would imagine that they thought the Homicides would be mainly women who had suffered abuse at the hands of their partners. So on Maggie’s first day it’s a bit of a shock when the body of a man who was an abuser turns up.

The team start an investigation as the man was known to them and involve the Probation Service in their inquiry, as he was also known to them.

A big part of this story is a group of people that represent a section of society we all know exists but hopefully never have an involvement with.

Women, a lot with drink or drugs problems, gravitating to men with the same problems, or men who will exploit those women when they are at their lowest ebb. Women who get abused physically and mentally, and when they find the courage to move on, nearly always end up in another abusive relationship.

In this story one woman should not be in that category, she should know better, she works with women that suffer abuse, then she goes home and behind closed doors she becomes one of the abused. At times the sections of the story that looks at Lucy and her Husband are hard to read but compelling at the same time.

As the bodies start to pile up another character is introduced to the team. Dr Kate Maloney is a Criminal Psychiatrist, a young Irish woman who dresses in full Goth clothing and has a tongue as sharp as a knife. What a character.

Maggie works the case and introduces the rest of the team as the investigation continues. All of the team have their opinions, and as the book moves on their individual characters are laid open for the reader. Each of them is realistic and everybody who has ever worked in a team will recognise the dynamics, there are some we will love, and there are others who will infuriate.

The story continues with more violence in the almost incestuous community of abusers and victims.

The Police battle against the closed nature of the group and the absolute denial of some of the victims.

But somebody out there is doing something about it, and the way they’re doing it is murderous. Spine-tingly murderous.

So now the abusers are becoming victims will anybody have any sympathy for them. How will the investigating team deal with looking out for peoples safety, when they have been trying to take them off the streets for years.

This book had me hooked from start to finish. It had me holding my breath and making out-loud exclamations. It had me reading way past my usual bedtime and then waking up early to carry on and find out who was safe and who wasn’t.

I had sympathy for the victims of abuse, and at the same time I was frustrated by their lack of helping themselves, and their constant denial of there actually being a problem. Yes, it is very real.

Like all good books it ends on a cliff hanger. One that I really didn’t see coming, but which opens the door for Maggie Jamieson Book 2.

In a strange way I would love to have come across this book after 3 or 4 had been published so that I could have binge read them.

But I am really chuffed to have been in from the start. I hope I’m about to ride a wave that includes many a venture for Maggie and her team.

Noelle Hurry up and write the next one please.

Pages: 293
Publisher: Killer Reads
Publishing Date: 31st May 2019….Just in time to buy for a the summer holiday books.

I enjoyed reading Noelle's debut and am already looking forward to the next book in the series. I had 3 different endings in my head as I got closer to the end and am glad to say I was completely wrong. I would like to thank the publishers and netgalley for letting me have the book to review and the opinions expressed are entirely my own views and are completely unbiased.

Gosh !!! At first I wasn’t keen on the style of writing I felt it was a little detached however once you get used to it, this becomes less of an issue. Lots of characters most of whom are well developed and described in detail. A couple of them I felt were superfluous and perhaps they feature more in forthcoming books.

The story line itself is hard and gritty and leaves little to the imagination in terms of describing domestic abuse (physical and emotional) and makes for a difficult read at times. Not for the faint hearted but worth the effort

I’m looking forward to the next instalment

When I first heard that Noelle Holten was bringing out her debut crime novel, I was more than excited, and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on a copy. Needless to say, it went straight to the top of my TBR pile, and after the chilling and powerful opening, I was hooked.

Dead Inside is a well-crafted debut; I just know that I’m going to be reading every book that follows on in this series. Noelle draws on her own experience of working as a probation officer, and this adds a ring of authenticity to her book.

This is Lucy Sherwood’s story, a probation officer who is currently handling cases of domestic abuse. Lucy speaks to men daily who abuse their partners, and for her, this begins to hit far too close to home. Then we have DC Maggie Jamieson who has just been handed the toughest case of her career when the body of a man connected to a case of domestic abuse is discovered. Then two more bodies are found. And soon the case draws back to Lucy.

Dead Inside can be quite a tough read; you can see where Noelle’s own personal experience from her line of work has fed into her novel, and the emotion in her writing comes through so strongly. The emotions of the team working on the cases of the murdered victims come through very well, particularly as none of the victims are likeable, and many of the police officers feel they have got their just deserves. It must be so hard working on cases similar to this and to try and not let your mind be clouded by judgement. I’m sure there are many who will think that the person carrying out these crimes is doing the public a favour.

The pace in this novel never drops, and Noelle kept me on my toes as I tried to work out what was going on and who was behind the murders that were taking place. When everything started to come together towards the end, I thought I could see everything coming together clearly, but Noelle still had one clever twist up her sleeve which completely threw me and it was one that I didn’t expect.

Noelle sets the scene perfectly for book two in the series, and I for one can’t wait to find out what happens next. If you’re a crime fiction lover, you have to give this a try. Dead Inside wins a very easy five stars from me.

Dead Inside is the story of domestic abuse and the repercussions in the form of murder for the abusers. Lucy Sherwood is a probation officer and has a number of clients that are domestic abusers. She knows a thing or two about abuse because she also lives as an abuse victim at the hands of her husband Patrick. Abusers start to die by being beaten and slashed to death. When her abusive husband is murdered, Lucy is the common tie that binds all the dead abusers together. Did she finally have enough of them and take mattes into her own hand? Or is she a further victim of circumstance?
Thank you netgalley for an advanced reader's copy for my honest opinion.

An absolutely fantastic start to a new detective series . I devoured this book and loved every chapter . A brilliant storyline and some good strong characters . This is Ms Holtens debut novel and it’s a cracker of a read. Highly recommend.

I enjoyed this book. It is well written and the pacing is quite wonderful! I will read more from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley, Harper Impulse and Killer Reads, and Noelle Holten for the chance to read this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Everyone has a motive and you can’t help but think the victims got what they deserve in this dark, gruesome and hard hitting debut novel. Beginning with a prologue that details a woman’s dread as her husband arrives home drunk, how that night something even worse than usual happens as he rapes her for the first time, I knew instantly this would be hard to read in places.

Though this book was filled with lots of characters and is written from more points of view than any other I’ve read, it was never confusing which was a testament to the skill of this author. Some of these were obvious stereotypes while others, like Lucy weren’t. She isn’t what you think of when you imagine an abused spouse and this helped to highlight that anyone has the potential to find themselves in that kind of relationship. Reading her chapters was often difficult but for me the ones I found most sickening were those told from the point of view of the perpetrators. The ones who first come to mind are Patrick and Robert. The insight into their twisted minds, the sheer enormity of their rage over the slightest perceived wrong, and how they recognised and enjoyed their behaviour made my stomach crawl.

Probation isn’t a side of crime usually included in crime fiction so it was interesting and refreshing to read about it in this book. It’s a side of the law I have never really thought about and I was sad but not surprised to read how so many of those convicted of domestic abuse re-offend, as it was to read how many victims are almost complicit in the cycle as they struggle to break free of their abusive partner or spouse.

The unsettling subject matter made this an emotive read. I’d veer from empathy for the victims of abuse to anger and disgust at the perpetrators, to feeling quite glad the men had been killed and thinking the murderer was actually doing society a favour by administering their own version of justice. Though at times predictable, this was a compelling and provocative novel and I look forward to reading the next installment in the series.

Really enjoyed this book, however too many characters were introduced in the beginning making it a bit confusing. Kept my interest until the end. Definitely a good read

Dead Inside is a bold, mysterious and chilling crime thriller about a very emotional and disturbing subject, however the author handles it with understanding and compassion. Domestic abusers are being brutally murdered and DC Maggie is chosen as a member of a team to solve the murders. I absolutely loved this book from start to finish and I didn't want it to end! Exceptional story, a powerful plot and excellent character development. This is an amazing book, with a deep awareness and insight into the minds of abuser and victim. My thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for an advance copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Very different from what i read in general. Yes its a crime novel, I read a lot of crime, but the tough subject domestic abuse was something i had to get used to. The characters are very well developed and they make you think. Its very interesting to see/read and feel the struggle of the probation officers and other care workers.
Besides of the tough subject its also a great read, a solid whodunnit and I 'm really looking forward to #2 in this series.

I remember being at Harrogate when Noelle started to talk about this novel. Her passion and hard work have resulted in a debut that it was a pleasure to read. Noelle is a great book blogger and friend and there's some of the blogging people actually in the novel which was a nice touch.

Writing is sharp, chapters short and snappy and push on the tension. It's a great debut and Noelle has a long history and experience of the probation world which really adds authenticity to it. There's a unique angle to in the way that domestic abuse perpetrators are found murdered. It messes with your head as you almost put yourself in the head of the unknown killer - killing abusers raises troubling questions but it's a hell of a subject for a novel. The author sadly has experience of this too but it does mean that the novel speaks from the heart, battered and bruised as it is at times. This is not an easy book to read in parts due to the descriptions of abuse, but you just know it's authentic

Set in Staffordshire where the author worked. but most places have been made up for obvious reasons

Loved this thriller! Great storyline, character depiction and the writing just flows. Kudos to the author who truly managed to bring the story to life. I enjoyed the book very much and will definitely make sure to read more by this talented writer.

Lucy Sherwood works within the probation services with men who have assaulted their partners. Working along side a police team who want to solve domestic violence crimes until murders start. The murders are of men who Lucy deals with and its starting to get close to home. Wow! This was a gritty, realistic read. I was transfixed with it and couldn’t think about anything else but reading. Thank you Noelle and I can’t wait for the sequel!
Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Killer Reads for the eARC.
It's amazing to me that this is the first book by Noelle Holton, what a great debut! And the good news is it's the first in the DC Maggie Jamieson series...
The subject of domestic abuse is tough and was difficult to read about, especially because my best friend suffered through years of it. But it's handled with sensitivity, nothing lurid about it at all.
Maggie and her team are hunting a killer who targets domestic abusers and I hate to admit I felt no pity whatsoever for the 3 victims. Probation Officer Lucy Sherwood is connected to the 3 men, who were beaten to death. When the 4th victim found murdered turns out to be Lucy's husband she becomes a suspect.
This to me was a refreshing change from the usual serial killer genre - first of all because it shone a light on the world of Probation Officers and secondly because I could not help but empathize a bit with the killer.
I really liked both Maggie and Lucy, couldn't put the book down, loved the ending and can't wait for the 2nd in the series. Highly recommended!

What a debut! Absolutely amazing, fantastic characters, such a difficult subject but so well written. Really looking forward to the next in the series.

Incredible debut novel. Lots of character development and twists and turns. The police officers and their stress and responsibility not only in the murder case but attempting to help the domestic violence victims are apparent in this novel.Unfortunately, these topics are not usually stressed as much in murder mystery novels. We were also able to read about the probation side once the convicted are released from prison. I did not see the ending coming which I credit the author because in this case there were so many possible suspects. I hope Book 2 is available very soon.Thanks to NetGalley, the Publishers and the Author for allowing me to read and review this book.

This is definitely one hot debut novel. The characters have such depth and the story has such promise. I love the way that the story unfolds and truly think one of the better debut novels I have read.