Member Reviews
This really is one of favourite books by this author.
She always goes to the top of my reading pile and never ever disappoints.
Her specialist team has been featured on a TV fly on the wall documentary so they have a bit of celebrity status.
After some apparent suicides set in seaside resorts, Amy Winter and her team are called in to help the over-stretched local officers. It’s at her DCI’s old stomping ground in Essex. The latest death is a member of DCI Donovan’s old team, so he feels especially close to the enquiry. We see Donovan from a different aspect too.
The ongoing saga with her real mother carries on, Lilian is a truly twisted character.
One of the officers on Amy’s team goes undercover and gets friendly with some suspicious teenagers. It was quite heart in the mouth stuff at times. A real page turner that I couldn’t put down. I thought I had it worked out, but I never do with this author!
The chapters featuring the character Mo with the therapist were emotional and totally caught me out.
There were some happy parts to this that warmed my heart.
I know the author worked at this station in real life, and I felt like I was there too.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the author for the early copy in which I give my honest opinion.
Flesh and Blood is another great crime thriller from this author. A police detective has apparently committed suicide in a seaside town, she was a previous colleague of the DCI, Donovan who is now DI Amy Winters boss and lover. He is adamant she must have been murdered as she had left a message on his phone just prior to her death.
Joining forces with his previous team Donovan and Amy soon see a pattern of local suicides that are actually murder. The team starts investigating and all manner of heinous acts are discovered.
There is so much going on in this story, Amy’s mother the serial killer is now out of prison, her sister is looking for the child she gave up for adoption, homeless teenagers, paedophiles, plus looking for the true causes of death in these ‘suicides’ and who is murdering them is enough to make you dizzy.
But what this writer does is bring every strand of the story together brilliantly and when the reveal comes it is breathtakingly good and so close to home. I hadn’t suspected who the culprit was at all.
And the finale....bring on the next book, and no pressure, but soon please!
My thanks to net galley and publishers for the opportunity to review this book honestly.
It's no secret that I absolutely love this series.There I was thinking it was a trilogy.I was over the moon when I found out Caroline was writing a fourth book! So you can imagine how excited I was to read this book…..VERY!
So once again I am back with Amy Winter. A character that I love and the fact that her mother is a serial Killer makes Amy even more fascinating and unique.
Carolines uses her police experience and brings us another cracking read. I
Flesh and Blood is another winner and will have you hooked from the very first page actually read this book in one sitting. I couldn't tear myself away. This book is so addictive.
Brilliant book, brilliant series I cannot recommend it enough. Giving it all the stars.
Thank you to Amazon publishing for an ARC all thoughts are my own and not biased in anyway.
This is the fourth book in the DI Amy Winter series. Amy is the biological child of people who let's just say didn't care for their children and were quite evil. I will leave it at that in case you haven't read the earlier books. There has been quite a lot explained about Amy's upbringing, her adoptive parents, and what went on in the house of horrors she came from. She has had an uneasy relationship with her past, and the prior books provide a lot of detail on how Amy came to be, well, Amy.
The case is a real puzzler. One of DCI Donovan's old colleagues committed what appears to be suicide. Knowing her personality, he believes she must have been murdered and takes over the investigation in Clacton. Other suicides come to light, but what is the connection, if any between them? When all the pieces are revealed, not only is a murderer exposed but some truly terrible crimes.
In Flesh and Blood, we start to see Amy becoming more of her own person and less controlled by the past. She has a relationship with DCI Donovan, her team is becoming more defined and capable, and the ending implies that there might be big changes in store for Amy.
It is always good to spend some quality time with Amy. There were enough red herrings to have me guessing whodunnit and why throughout the book. Oddly enough, I actually kind of missed the interactions between Amy and her biological mother Lilian. She was present in the story, but not nearly as much a thorn in Amy's side. After thinking about it for a bit, I guess she will have to play a smaller role if Amy is going to get a shot at happiness. Still, I am sure Lilian has some more tricks up her sleeve. An enjoyable read and fingers crossed that things work out for Amy in the next book!
Another fantastic addition to Caroline Mitchell's DI Amy Winter series! Clever and twisted with many surprises along the way. It will keep you up late reading this one! Looking forward to seeing where all the characters go and their pursuits along the way.
An excellent, complex, well-plotted mystery! I've read books 3 and now 4 in this series, and they stand alone well. I sure wish I'd been aware of books 1 and 2, though!
DI Winter is smart, independent, and a good leader. She's also a bit of a mess in some ways, due to her shocking family situation. In this book, Winter and team take on a cop's suicide (maybe) and a string of suicides (maybe) in seaside tourist towns. Mitchell wrangles a fair-sized cast of characters, making them all distinctive and memorable enough for me to keep track (which is a feat). It's a rich and disturbing mystery with a satisfying resolution. Suicide, murder, sex, foster care, corruption...lots of big themes, but the story isn't a soapbox. Just a dang engrossing read. Looking forward to book 5!
Review copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Flesh and Blood is a page-turner, I needed to know who did it, how they did it and why they did it. The journey to getting there was indeed well crafted. The scene is very well set, we are in a seaside town and you can really feel it with the detail. The characters were definite, I knew who they all were and wanted to find out more about them, what made them each tick. This was the first Detective Amy Winter story I have come across, but I'm intrigued enough by this first read to want to go and check out the others in the series. The ins and outs of the team of police officers was woven in with the mystery story, which I didn't guess until I was meant to. Twists, turns and a great sense of place. I will be recommending!
This is the fourth in the DI Amy Winter series, and after having read all of the previous books and loved them, I had high hopes for this one. Unfortunately, I was a little disappointed, there was just something missing from the book, and it didn’t grip me the way the previous books had.
I felt like the investigation came secondary to all of the officer’s lives and their own troubles. We did get to know some of the other officers a little better as a byproduct which was great, but this side of things was too heavily focused on. A lot of reviewers have said there wasn’t much of Lillian; however, I disagree; I think it was too heavily focused on throughout the story. I think Amy needs to move on from her past and concentrate on her job.
We are so used to Amy being proactive in the investigations in the past that her response to this one came as a bit of a shocker. Even though she keeps saying she must get back to the station, she spends way too much time in coffee shops either with her sister or other people that insist on meeting her there rather than the station.
Donovan’s actions were frustrating, also. He was keeping too much secret and jeopardising the investigation by doing so. Again, in the past, he would have reprimanded officers for doing what he was doing.
The ‘Mo’ sections, I really enjoyed until it came to the unveiling of who she was. It appeared when reading her recollections that it would be relevant to the current investigation; however, it isn’t, and I was left wondering what the real point to this part of the story was. It didn’t, in the end, really add anything.
I felt like we were being kept out of the loop of the investigation and the ending felt forced as a result. It just didn’t flow. The overall story felt lackadaisical, and it just didn’t grip me. It took me a while to get into the book as it is really slow, to begin with. It does pick up slightly towards the end but is still not in keeping with the high standards the previous books had set.
Another great installment of the Winter series. I liked that this wasn't too heavy on the Lillian story as that often detracts from what else is going on.
Flesh and Blood is the new book in the DI Amy Winter series. This book takes Amy and her team to the south coast where after a spate of suicides, the next person to die is a police officer. Any and her team are convinced foul play but there seems to be more to this case. Could a mysterious group of teenagers hold the key?
This book throws you straight into the action from the beginning and the plot moves along at a great pace. I was totally hooked from page 1 and found it impossible to put down. Thank you to NetGalley, Amazon Publishing UK and the author for the chance to review.
I have been impatiently awaiting the fourth book in the DI Amy Winters series, Flesh And Blood, as it’s one of my favourite crime series. If you haven’t started the series yet, it’s one that’s best started from the beginning as Amy has such a fascinating backstory, I promise you it will be time well spent! Was it worth the wait? It’s a HUGE fat ‘yes’. I will not say much about the plot as I don’t want to give away spoilers, but Amy doesn’t get an easy ride in this instalment that’s for sure, not only does she have a complex investigation to deal with, but her serial killer mother has been released from prison. The plot is complex, dark, and ominous, it’s one of those “heart in your mouth” crime thrillers.
This is a series that has much to offer the crime book junkie, although I always enjoy the police procedure element of the authors book, I have really loved learning more about Amy and her family, especially Lillian her twisted serial killer mother (I’m hoping at some point Lillian will get a whole book to herself). Amy’s team is another fascinating part of this series, I’m appreciating the complexities of their relationships within the team, they feel like an authentic team with their banter and their own personal issues.
Caroline Mitchell is one of my favourite authors for a very good reason, I consistently find her plots imaginative, she grabs the reader’s attention with an intriguing prologue, and then takes the reader on a journey to a dark place where monsters hid in plain site. There are the usual twist and turns you would expect in a crime thriller, with a few surprises along the way that keep the reader firmly on the edge of their seat. I enjoy a plot that veers towards the darker side of crime and Flesh And Blood is certainly dark, uncomfortable and at points desperately sad. I really appreciated the way the author left a trail of subtle clues that allow the reader to become an amateur detective and feel part of the investigation. Although this isn’t my favourite book in the series, it is another stellar addition to the series,
Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book.
This book is the 4th instalment in the DI Amy Winter Series, and it was brilliant. Amy is situated with her team in Notting Hill, but when a police officer washes up in Clacton, they all head there. What seemed like a suicide, actually points to a murder. And Amy and her team will not stop until the case is solved. The story then escalates when other bodies are found to have washed up in other seaside resorts. Amy knows it is all linked but not sure how. We also see more of Amy’s mother, Lillian, who is a convicted serial killer, recently freed on appeal. The whole story weaves together, and I really like Amy. She’s such a diverse character, strong willed and the polar opposite of her parentage.
This story has twists and turns, and some shocking revelations.
I loved this book, and can’t wait for the next instalment.
Another great book in the Amy Winter series. I really enjoyed the plot, the character development, the seaside setting and the pace.
'Mo's ' back story is a great red herring too. Excellent ending for Chatty Matty too, who was an endearing minor character, although I would have liked to know April's outcome. The killer was a shock; I had no suspicions at all, even though the clues were there. This is what I call a proper police procedural, following the clues to find the answers. Can't wait until the next book.
To begin, I’d like to thank Amazon Publishing UK for sending me an ARC of this book, and to NetGalley for facilitating. And of course, a big thank you to Caroline Mitchell for writing this.
As always there will be no spoilers in this review.
I’ll start by saying I have read every book that Caroline Mitchell has released, I love the Amy Winter series so I was so excited to see this title on NetGalley. But I found this to be my least favourite of them all.
The characters were still themselves - wonderfully layered and unique. Amy with her “cut-to-the-point” style, Molly with her quirks, Donovan with his gentle approach. But it was missing someone key to this series, someone who has played a major role in the previous books - Lillian. She was present, in brief glimpses but held the role of an “extra” in this book and it felt hollow without her. The story less exciting, the pace far slower. She was needed in this book I feel.
The actual premise of the sex trafficking case was obviously a difficult one to write (and read) but again, it felt slightly hollow - too little about the teenagers themselves. And I felt that in places this book was sped up - the main storyline of the trafficking case was solved without many hints for the reader to catch on to, and then suddenly the murder aspect was also solved (seemingly out of the blue) with information that the reader didn’t have. Part of the joy of these books is trying to work out who did it. But we as readers weren’t given the information until the perpetrators were confronted.
It was a very slow burner until right at the end when it seemed to go too fast (and I actually did check back to see if there was a chapter missing at one point because it seemed to have jumped ahead of itself).
The book was readable - and perhaps if you hadn’t been following the series this would be a great read - but I think because of what has come before, I expected more and was left wanting more.
Obviously I will continue reading the series if there are more because the Amy Winter series had been one of my favourites - I just hope for more consistent pace, more excitement (and more Lillian) in the next instalment.
Flesh and Blood is another great book by Caroline Mitchell. The DI Amy Winter Series is full of well developed characters, hard hitting storylines and interesting back stories! I highly recommend and look forward to reading more!
DCI Donovan gets news that a former colleague has died. It is believed to be a suicide but after he hears a voice mail that she has sent he is convinced it is linked to a number of suicides in neighbouring seaside resorts. Amy Winter agrees that her team will investigate and in doing so they open up a case involving possible trafficking and revenge. Amys sister Sally Ann has decided to search for the baby that was taken from her and she has persuaded Amy to help.
This is another great instalment featuring Amy Winter and her team. This book shows us an insight into Donovans background and we see more of SallyAnn.
Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for granting an ARC in exchange for an honest review
Wow, this book was like a rollercoaster, Amy, Donovan and their team go to Clacton after one of Donovan's old colleagues is found in a supposed suicide, he's adamant she wouldn't do that, they here of several other similar "suicides" in seaside towns and seek to find a link.
Young people being trafficked, colleagues who can't be trusted, Amy helping her sister find her child, their mum in hospital, Amy and Donovan's relationship developing. Action packed from start to finish
Yet another five star novel from the excellent Caroline Mitchell. Her lead cop is a fascinating character; Amy Winter is the daughter of a serial killer who has now been released, and in addition to her incredibly tough job, Amy has to cope with her inner demons. Here she is faced with a baffling case which involves a series of apparent suicides in seaside resorts, the latest death being that of a policewoman. What is the link? Well-written and intriguing from the outset, this is a tremendous story.
Another excellent book by Caroline Mitchell. I love her style of writing, I got drawn in from the first page and so engrossed in the storyline I couldn’t put it down. Plenty of twists and turns that kept me guessing right until the end. If you haven’t tried this author yet make sure you do as you will be in for a treat. I 1000% recommend this book and author. Bring on the next one.
My second novel by Caroline Mitchell featuring Amy Winter and the fourth in the series. DI Amy Winter and her boss DCI Donovan investigate a suicide in Clacton when a fellow police woman throw herself into the sea. A tough investigation for Amy and is not helped by by the release from prison of her serial killer mother. This is a series that is best to be read in order to get a sense of Amy's past life. The investigation throws up more suicides in other seaside towns and Amy's sister also needs her help to find her lost son. Full of twists and turns, you will be gripped by this story.