I've read other books by Alex Walters so I was looking forward to this. To be honest, I didn't think it was his best - it's very slow to start and could have done with tighter editing. Still, it's a promising start to a new series and I'll be interested in seeing where the characters go.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC without obligation.

Great thriller that kept me turning the pages. Great story, great writing and characters. Really enjoyable and would read this author again.

There is not much I can elaborate on this series. I picked the second up because I already had the first pending and I thought I would better appreciate a series than an individual book.
Firstly, I was wrong in the assessment. Each of these books can be read as a standalone in any order. There are references, but for the most part, they can be ignored.
In the first book, the characters are introduced to us mid-vacation when they stumble onto a body. The case itself is a mystery only till the halfway point, for after that, the readers are also shown a parallel narrative where things are unfolding. There are secret groups, threatening attempts and a few twists thrown in which made the book a quick and easy read. The characters are pretty distinct in their behaviour, and I moved on to the sequel fairly quickly.

Both books in the series thus far are decent police procedurals in which I was moderately invested. They are quick reads, written in a way that keeps the pace constant and the storyline moving. I am not sure if I would pick up the next, although I still think we are missing something when it comes to our lead’s partner.

⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, and the review is entirely based only on my own reading experience.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Small Mercies by Alex Walters. The two main characters are believable, likeable women police officers investigating a ritualistic murder. There is the perfect balance of professional and personal lives and this, together with the fast pace, makes this one a winner in my opinion.

My thanks to Netgalley and Canelo Publishers for the chance to read this one. I recommend it wholeheartedly.

I very much enjoyed this book. It has a good story and excellent main characters. I would definately recommend this book.

While enjoying an off-duty day, DI Annie Delamere and her colleague, DS Zoe Everett while doing a bit of hiking, comes across a man's corpse. He's naked with no identification found, but he's covered in tattoos.

Annie's long term life partner, MP Sheena Pearson, confronts a group of extremists and almost loses her life to a bullet.

A second man's body is found in much the same condition as the first ... no clothes, no identification, covered in tattoos.

Three cases ...all important ... all need to be solved ...pronto before any more lives are lost.

This intricate plot weaves all the unrelated threads together that leads to a surprising, unexpected conclusion. The characters are deftly drawn and the blend of their professional lives along with their personal lives give them more substance. There's plenty of action with lots of suspects to follow. This is the first in a compelling new detective series.

Many thanks to the author / Canelo / Netgalley for the digital copy of this crime fiction. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

Despite a slow start I enjoyed this book once I'd settled into it. It's a solid mystery/crime novel and I'm looking forward to reading more from this author/the series in future. Thanks so much for the copy.

It took me a little time to get into this book, but because it's the first in a new series I think that's probably to be expected because there was a fair bit of background that needs to be explained so the reader fully knows what's going on. Once I'd got into the book I enjoyed it. Some of the storyline, about the MP whose life is threatened (and who happens to be the partner of the main character, DI Annie Delamere) is topical and though it does tie into the main story of the three young men who were murdered and their bodies left mutilated on the Derbyshire moors you don't don't realise this until the very end. I felt there were some unanswered questions about Annie's Police colleague, Zoe, so I'm hoping this is expanded upon in the next in the series.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author and the first in a series. I was actually quite disappointed with this book as when I read the blurb it sounded just up my street but it wasn’t until I’d read 70% of the book that the plot really got started, once it had got going I really enjoyed it but found the first 70% really hard going and not interesting at all .

this book i did not finish as i found it quite slow and repetitive . It wasn't for me i felt it took too long to get into the story . I didn't take to the characters either i felt they were a bit false and didn't feel realistic enough to me

DI Annie and her partner Zoe are off duty and on a walk in the desolate moor highlands. The last thing they expected to find was a mutilated body with indications from the markings that it is indicative that the person belonged to a cult.

At the same time Annie and her partner Sheena an MP are facing personal threats culminating in shots being fired at Sheena and then an attack on her whilst leaving the hospital. Further investigations reveal cameras in trees around their home and all this facing an unknown enemy who has not indicated upto now what he wants.

When not just one but two other bodies turn up with the same markings, the detectives know that they are linked but other than being from the same area, known small time drug dealers and general bad boys there is no reason why they should be involved in any cult. When the dots start adding up into a pattern Annie and Zoe realize that they are facing someone much bigger than they previously imagined and it is going to take a lot of resources and hard slog to get anyone convicted and first arrested.

The story is similar to the killing of a British MP and the investigation and police work would be interesting for those who like following police procedures. Told in almost two separate tales, with the overlap only happening towards the end even I the reader could not see where it was going.

A good take on a mystery detective story.

A decent read with a contemporary plot and intriguing characters but I found the authors use of superfluous, complex wording unnecessary, irrelevant and to be honest at times annoying. It feels like they have swallowed a thesaurus and were bragging about their extensive command of the English language which just isn't appropriate in a crime novel. For example why use promulgate when you can say promote and the average reader will actually understand the point?!

3.5 stars
This new series has lots of potential. Two female detectives with back stories and one is a lesbian to boot. I felt like the mystery had some cliched language and it felt a bit rushed at the end. Regardless I enjoyed the story and hope that the author chooses to write more with these characters.

An excellent start for a new series, an engrossing and entertaining story that kept me hooked.
It's the first book I read by this author and won't surely be the last because I liked the plot and the characters.
It's a bit slow at the beginning but after a couple of chapters you are hooked and I couldn't put it down.
I liked the well thought cast of characters and the vivid descriptions of the setting that made me wish to be there.
The mystery is solid and kept me guessing.
I recommend it.
Many thanks to Canelo and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

I would like to thank the author, the publisher and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of this book. It had quite a good story but it was a little slow at times, I am looking forward to reading more by this author.

Sorry I found this story to be slow and not totally believable in places.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

As much as I love the mystery genre (cozies, procedurals, suspense, classics, etc), I really struggled to read this story. Maybe I didn’t connect with the hero. Maybe Walters style just isn’t for me. I’m not sure what it was, but I struggled through the first third of the book. There were enough characters that it felt like I was jumping into a series without realizing it. The pacing began to feel more natural at a third of the way in, as each of the different story lines had developed enough to start to make sense for me. It picked up speed again at the end as Walters began to draw in all the loose threads. My other struggle was that the plot was too predictable and I found myself wishing for a few more red herrings. There was a quick moment when I thought Walters had tricked me, that was until I realized that the two characters were not the same and just had names that were similar. If you love mysteries, give it a chance. You might appreciate it despite my experience.

Small Mercies is the first instalment in the Detective Inspector Annie Delamere series set in Derbyshire and is a promising start to this set of books. Whilst out hiking in the Peak District, Annie and colleague Detective Superintendent Zoe Everett discover a mutilated, naked corpse of a young man. On closer inspector of the body, they find he has a number of what can only be described as occultist or satanist tattoos and his throat has been brutally slashed from ear to ear. A short time later another body shows up with much in common with the first. Then things go from bad to worse when Annie learns that her long-term partner, MP Sheena Pearson, has been shot and injured whilst confronting right-wing extremists.

This is a ripped from the headlines topical tale and reminded me of the awful killing of British Labour MP Jo Cox who was assassinated by a right-wing agitator in 2016. The investigation is an intense one and the police procedural elements were done well. It's rather complex and convoluted with the plot moving between the different strands of the plot regularly and it's both nicely written and plotted. It is penned in a linear fashion with one event logically following on from another and although the pace is fairly pedestrian compared to what I'm used to I enjoyed it due to the interesting subject matter. Overall, this is a compelling, quick and easy read perfect for a spot of escapism. Many thanks to Canelo for an ARC.

Ritualistic killings, conspiracy theorists, threatened politicians, racist thugs, cults, troubled police officers ... What more could you want in a crime novel? Well in my opinion you couldn't really ask for much more in Small Mercies, the first in a new series by Alex Walters author of the very successful DI Alec Mckay series set in Scotland's Black Isles and the Marie Donovan series set in Manchester.
Small Mercies kicks off with DI Annie Delamare and her colleague Zoe Everett find a body on the moors whilst off duty. This is swiftly followed by an attack on Anni's partner, a local labour MP. The pace is fast with plenty to keep you wondering exactly where this investigation is going to lead. Walters drops in a few red herrings along the way which make the twists even more effective.
I found the Derbyshire setting to be very evocative as, being from Yorkshire, I could really sense the emotions evoked by the settings.
Walters nailed the young drug dealer characters dialogue and expressions and I loved the dialogue between Anni and her boss.
This was a solid first novel in a series and I look forward to reading the next installment.
4 * from me

This is the start of a new series for this author. This characters are interesting with unusual backstories. I found the pace slow but ended with different strands of the story tying together.