A Christmas crime thriller with so many layers. A mystery within a mystery along with a separate side story. It's the 2nd book in a series but can be read as a standalone. It's very heavy on the police procedural side of things, following up on lead after lead. But one thing I can say for this author is I have yet to be able to guess the killer in his books. Maybe because there are so many possible suspects to choose from. Keeps you guessing until the very end.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper 360 for this eARC.

The Killer in the Snow is a Christmas mystery (#2 in a series) and is scary as can be.

Footsteps appear in the snow that lead to the basement of a family's home.....the next morning they are all dead. Their home is located in a remote area so there are no witnesses and where are the clues?

The detective must solve this mystery which is strikingly similar to a 20 year old mystery.

A good distraction when the season calls for a quick escape.

I was expecting a thriller, but this book gave me more of a police procedural with some cozy mystery vibes. I love a police procedural, so this was right up my alley. I appreciate the amount of detail into the investigation that the main character provides. I found the actual reveal to be an interesting take in terms of the how it happened more so than whodunit. However, I found some of the recreated conversation from the time of the crime to be a bit stilted and unrealistic. Regardless, this was a page turner with just the right amount of details on the investigation side of things and I really enjoyed it!

I did not realize this was part of a series, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. The author did a good job wrapping in details from the first book so the reader isn't completely lost.
This was a solid murder mystery. Solid writing and plot without a lot of fluff.
Thankful for the ARC

Review featured at www.books-n-kisses.com

This is the second in the series. In this one James has to open up a cold case to solve a recent one.

I thought the concept of having to solve a decades old case to solve a recent one was great. I enjoyed the suspense part of the story.

However, I find it really hard to want to read these books. I am not a fan of the writing of Alex Pine. I wanted to give him a second chance but I still had a hard time. It might be the London influence but there doesn’t seem to be any emotions in the writing. It is very monotone to me.

I am not sure I will pick up book 3 but it might depend on the synopsis and give the series another try.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

This is the 2nd in the series and I really enjoyed it. There is something to say about a true whodunnit. The story starts off with a gruesome murder of a couple and their grown daughter on their farm with a past haunting as their own. DI James Walker has just started putting last Christmas killings behind him when he is called to this murder scene. The evidence is piling up and the suspects turn out to be a longer list than expected. Who killed this family and was it connected to the murders on the same farm 24 years ago?

Thank you for this ARC for an exchange for an honest review.

Interesting thriller. Not too scary and just right.

❄️ B O O K • R E V I E W ❄️
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Title: The Killer In The Snow
Author: Alex Pine
Rating: 4/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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Okay, so remember back in December when I read the first book in the series and I wasn’t overly impressed but I also didn’t necessarily hate it, that I said I just needed more? Well, Alex Pine sure listened and delivered because this one was awesome.
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We are back with the familiar characters of James Walker and Annie (as well as a few other) and immediately you’re thrown into a ghastly murder scene. This time however, Pine throws in a twist and makes this more of a mystery, because 24 years ago, a similar murder occurred.
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Pine does a great job with the dual timeline, keeping the reader intrigued and creating a story with not only a murder mystery but a very eerie setting with long buried hidden secrets. I really found myself wanting to read more and more about this murder and the murder that occurred 24 years prior, I needed to get answers. Pine also does a great job at keeping you guessing until the end, with a vast arrangement of characters, your are not quite able to pinpoint exactly who is responsible until the very end.
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I enjoyed this story much more than the first, this one gave me exactly what I was looking for in a police procedural. While I do believe this could be read as a stand alone, I would still suggest starting from book 1, as there are a few things that carry over.
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I’m super thrilled that I stuck with this series because Pine has definitely grown as an author and I’m super excited to read more of his work.
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Thank you to @netgalley and @avon for the copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased review.
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#thepastmeetsthepresent #dualtimeline #murdermystery #policeprocedural #growthofanauthor #netgalley #thekillerinthesnow #dijameswalkerbooktwo #alexpine

This is my 2nd Alex Pine book and I'm officially a fan and will read anything he writes! I really hope there will be more to come for DI James Walker - I've thoroughly enjoyed both books in this series. This 2nd book in the series has a complicated, but well written and easy to follow plot. Several characters are back from the 1st book and they are all fabulous. I would have enjoyed a bit more of the townspeople in this one, but I felt like we got to know the police crew better. If you read the first book, this is an excellent follow-up, but it also stands alone just fine and there's no need to have read the first to enjoy this one. I don't always love police procedurals, but this one is done well and DI Walker is a likable and relatable character. The story kept my interest from start to finish, and I was still surprised with the final "whodunnit" reveal. Recommend for fans of police procedurals, mysteries / thrillers, or just a great winter read.

Thank you to NetGalley, Alex Pine, and the Publisher for the advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

This is Alex Pine's 2nd book in his DI James Walker series. A farmer's body is found alongside his wife and daughter. It is the 2nd family who has been murdered at the farmhouse in 24 years. In order to solve this crime, DI James Walker needs to figure out what happened 24 years ago. This is a fast-paced plot that kept the pages turning to the very end. With plenty of suspects and lots of twists the murderer was hard to figure out but the two crimes were solved to everyone's satisfaction. I am now looking forward to the 3rd book of the series as I do enjoy the author's writing. His descriptions of the area made you feel like you were along for the ride. I would like to thank NetGalley and Avon books for a copy of the ebook for an honest opinion.

Alex Pine does it again! Another fantastic thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat and keep those pages turning! Highly recommend this one!!

This was just an ok detective book for me. I had guessed one huge part of the mystery early on and I just found myself trying to finish the book to end it. Not my favorite.

Another read that was just ok for me. I didn’t read book one but I don’t feel like that had an impact on this one. I felt like it was easy to follow and I don’t feel like I missed much from skipping the first.

I didn’t really like the characters here and that’s the most important part for me when reading. I found myself skimming a bit and the ending fell short for me.

It’s another Christmas in Kirkby Abbey and after last years murders the village is finally ready for some festivity. Unfortunately they did not make it through the holidays unscathed as once again there was another bout of bloodshed. On Christmas Eve a family of three were murdered on a farm in Cumbria, near Kirkby Abbey. A farm that saw another violent act twenty four years ago when a murder suicide took place and their infant daughter was never found. Is the farm cursed? Are the two killings connected? After all the families were friends and the men worked together. DI Walker is once again in charge of the investigation along with DI Abbott. It’s obvious that the family died in violent circumstances and there are more than a few suspects. Not only is Walker neck deep in this investigation, a hardened criminal that he helped put away is lying wait to even things out with those who helped incarcerate him. What happened at Oaktree Farm on Christmas Eve and will Sullivan be caught before he catches DI Walker? This is the second book in the DI Walker series and they can be read in either order or as stand alones. Pine writes a twisty good police procedural and I’m hoping for more of DI Walters and Abbott in future books, but perhaps the small village of Kirkby Abbey deserves a nice Christmas next year ... maybe the Fourth of July😉

When I started reading, I was filled with a sense of foreboding. I kept turning one page after another realizing there is no way I could put this book down. It's a bit dark but very thrilling. I definitely recommend this book.

This book was a page turner from beginning to end. Very captivating with amazing character development. A unsolved murder and years have passed. And the ending - never ever saw it coming. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I enjoyed this book. It kept me guessing about the murderer until nearly the end. I had thought Charlotte was Megan so that was not a surprise.

Oh my stars! Brilliantly done! Although this is book #2 of the series, I haven’t read the first one and don’t feel like I was missing anything as the author gave a brief introduction to the main characters at the beginning of the book. I got completely sucked in and found myself engrossed in the story. The plot was easy to follow yet there were lots of complications that added depth. Although this is heavily laden with police procedures (which I like!),there is still lots to the story that will keep those that might not like it as much engaged. Will highly recommend this!
A cozy Christmas season is here, unlike last Christmas when a serial killer was on the loose. Then a call comes in that a family of 3 has been found murdered in their home and DI Walker is the lead investigator, despite his desire to have a quiet Christmas at home with his pregnant wife and try to forget about the events of last year. In starting to put the clues together, he finds a hidden wall where someone has clearly been watching the family without them knowing. Could they have seen what happened? Who is it that’s been watching? On top of that, it turns out that this is the house where a 24 year old cold case took place. They have to be connected somehow, right? DI Walker believes so, but he has to figure out how all while dealing with the threat of someone he arrested previously coming back for retaliation.
If you like a complex scene but is at he same time easy to follow and well developed characters, this is a book for you.
Thanks to Avon Books UK and Netgalley for this Arc in exchange for my review.

Yeah, so this is three stars. You see, one truth of everything was pretty obvious way too quickly. I mean, I got to the point where I was literally just reading to see if I was right – I was.

I did start out curious about the relation between a couple of different crimes, but I just got a little bored too quickly. There was a wee bit of a surprise in the end, but it was more of an out-of-left-field surprise, that did not satisfy.

Honestly, not sure I’d revisit the author in the future.

This one just got an okay from me.

*ARC via Publisher

My thanks to Harper 360/Avon, Alex Pine and Netgalley.
This was a caricature. Everyone might have been cut out dolls.
There was nothing here. The people were wooden. Stiff. Just the speaking back and forth was awkward.
I knew from the 30% mark what had happened. Yet, I kept reading and waiting for something else. That "else" didn't happen.
Discounting all that, I believe the worst of all is how this author wrote the women.
The hysterical, puking and crying pregnant wife of "our hero." Also, "no spoilers" but the whole rest of the story.
We women and our vapors and hysterics!
Woe is me!
This author needs to get real. I've no intention of reading anything from this author again.