This book did not "catch" me as others do. A dead woman is found near Birmingham and she is one of the 5 young girls missing. Criminologist Will Traynor is called to figure out the case.
Thanks, Netgalley for this book.

A cold case with unusual complications and implications

“A Dark, Divided Self” is the third book of “The Will Traynor Forensic Mysteries.” Each chapter is conveniently time-stamped to provide continuity and framework for readers. Characters are briefly introduced within the context of current events, and pertinent information from previous books is seamlessly included in the narrative.
The story is conversation driven, and readers see the participants both as casual, good natured friends, and as dedicated, focused, resolute professionals. The players have other things going on in their lives, but they work together to solve this case. The action is told from alternating points of view, so early on, readers learn something that investigators only learn much later.
The investigation begins as a “cold case;” the remains of a body are found in a remote field. The investigation progresses with purpose and determination, and details are documented day by day, sometimes minute by minute. More victims are identified, and more unanswered questions arise. There are investigations by different people, with different perspectives, and very different ideas about the crime. DNA is found, but without a match; evidence goes missing; the tension escalates.
“A Dark, Divided Self” brings the diverse details of a complex case into sharp focus. The perpetrator is clever and cunning but no match for the dedicated investigating team; they uncover him as the “creeping horror” that he really is. I received a review copy of “A Dark, Divided Self” from A.J. Cross, Severn House, and Canongate Books Ltd. It is compelling and twisted with surprises on every page.

Part of the series, when the decomposed remains of a young woman are discovered just outside Birmingham, criminologist Will Traynor is drawn into a baffling investigation. I thought it was well written, with absolutely flawlessly done characters, and absolutely unputdownable.

When the decomposed remains of a young woman are discovered just outside Birmingham, criminologist Will Traynor is drawn into a baffling investigation.
When the badly decomposed remains of a young woman are discovered in an isolated wooded area just outside Birmingham, the victim is quickly identified as Amy Peters, a Manchester University student who disappeared three years earlier. She is one of five young women who vanished from the streets of Manchester within a two-year period.
Called in to assist the police investigation, criminologist Will Traynor believes they are looking for an intelligent, socially confident individual, someone adept at covering his tracks. But why would the killer transport the victim on an eighty-mile journey from Manchester to Birmingham? If he can find the answer to that question, Traynor believes he has the key to cracking the case.
But at every stage of the investigation, the killer seems to be one step ahead of him. If he's going to outsmart him, Will realizes he's going to have to play this twisted individual at his own deadly game.

This is a wonderful addition to this thrilling series!
Wonderful well written plot and story line that had me engaged from the start.
Love the well fleshed out characters and found them believable.
Great suspense and action with wonderful world building that adds so much to the story.
Such a thrilling read that I couldn't put it down.
Can't wait to read more of these.
Recommend reading.

I was provided an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher. This is my own honest voluntary

A dark divided self by A.J. Cross.
A Will Traynor forensic mystery Book 3.
When the badly decomposed remains of a young woman are discovered in an isolated wooded area just outside Birmingham, the victim is quickly identified as Amy Peters, a Manchester University student who disappeared three years earlier. She is one of five young women who vanished from the streets of Manchester within a two-year period.Called in to assist the police investigation, criminologist Will Traynor believes they are looking for an intelligent, socially confident individual, someone adept at covering his tracks. But why would the killer transport the victim on an eighty-mile journey from Manchester to Birmingham? If he can find the answer to that question, Traynor believes he has the key to cracking the case.But at every stage of the investigation, the killer seems to be one step ahead of him. If he's going to outsmart him, Will realizes he's going to have to play this twisted individual at his own deadly game.
A really good read. Likeable story and characters. 4*.

This is the second book I read in this series and I thoroughly enjoyed it as it's compelling, twisty, and highly entertaining.
It's a slow burning story, there's a lot going on and the pace is a bit slow, and there's a lot of technical discussions which are relevant to the plot.
The mystery is solid, full of twists, and kept me guessing.
Good character development and storytelling.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Bernard Watts had hoped to take early retirement, but instead he is promoted to Detective Chief Inspector (DCI) and assigned to a high profile case. He is again assisted by criminologist Will Traynor to track down what appears to be a serial killer. PC Chloe Judd is also still on the team assisting with important research on the case, along with other detectives and academic experts.

This is the third book in the Will Traynor Forensic Mystery series. I read both of the prior books, but it could stand alone. Although the series is called the Will Traynor series, I think he and DCI Watts are both the main characters and Watts is my favorite. Will is dedicated and brilliant and is able to make many important contributions as to the kind of person who could commit the atrocious crimes that have been committed. However, Watts is responsible for leading up the whole investigation and dealing with all the various team members, securing the resources he needs, and dealing with the pressure to solve the case as soon as possible. He is a wonderful leader and his team members, especially Chloe, appreciate all she has learned from him. Chloe is young and can be impulsive, but I like that her character has shown growth and is becoming a very good detective.

I enjoy the details of a procedural and this story builds slowly and becomes suspenseful as the detectives and academics work to find a resolution to the case. At least five women are thought to have been victims of the killer they’re looking for. It is a very scary case that gets creepier as more and more about his methods is revealed. It reminded me of a Criminal Minds episode - the case is creepy but a (mostly) cohesive team works together to solve the case. I had some suspicions as to who the killer was, but ultimately I guessed incorrectly until the very end. I really like this well-written series and hope this isn’t the last we see of Bernard, Will, and Chloe and the rest of the team. (4.5 stars)

I received this ebook from NetGalley through the courtesy of Severn House. An advance copy was provided to me at no cost, but my review is voluntary and unbiased.

A Dark, Divided Self by A.J. Cross is a recommended procedural and the third book in the Will Traynor series.

The decomposed remains of a young woman are found in a wooded area outside Birmingham. The victim is identified as 21-year-old Amy Peters. She disappeared three years ago and is one of five young women who have recently vanished from Manchester. Criminologist Will Traynor is called in by Detective Chief Inspector Bernard Watts to assist in the investigation. This is a killer who felt comfortable enough about his abilities to transport the victim on an eighty-mile journey from Manchester to Birmingham. Dr. Julian Devenish, a forensic psychologist, also joins the team.

This is procedural that sets a deliberate pace from the start which makes for a rather slow-moving plot. As a third novel in a series, this could be read as a standalone, but perhaps reading the first two would give you a greater investment in the series and this installment. There are several long discussions concerning profiling the kind of person who would commit these crimes that also slow down the pace. As a procedural, the novel does follow the investigation and clues closely, but it is light on character development. This is a well written procedural but it does have issues with the slow pacing and there is no real sense of suspense or tension as the investigation unfolds. I guessed the perpetrator early on.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Severn House via NetGalley.
The review will be published on Barnes & Noble, Google Books, and Amazon.

An Elusive Killer…
The third in the Will Traynor Forensic Mystery series finds criminologist Will drawn into a deadly mystery when a badly decomposed body is discovered in woodland and he’s called in to assist the police. With links to other missing persons, Will soon realises that they are dealing with an elusive and calculating killer and a case where nothing makes sense. With twists aplenty and a compelling narrative this is a gripping and disturbing read. A worthy addition to the series.

The author is a forensic psychologist and has two series of books. This one has Will Traynor who is a criminologist.
The Birmingham UK police team includes detective inspector Bernard Watts ( who was hoping to retire ), his life partner Pathologist Connie Chong, young detective constable - the enthusiastic Chloe Judd as well as various detectives. Will is asked to join the team as remains have been found in a remote wooded area. The young woman who vanished, presumably abducted a few years ago from the Manchester area, There has been a number of missing women from this area. What is the deceased body doing so many miles from home?
When another body is discovered nearby, Watts realises the whole area needs searching which will be time and labour consuming. This and trying to identify and catch the killer but is he still in the area?
When a young girl escapes from being abducted, they have a description of the man they want and his vehicle. The team is augmented by a forensic psychologist Julian Devenish who worked with the Manchester police involved in the missing women. He is known to Watts as he has helped out before. Can the team catch the killer before more women go missing?
A good police procedural. Will is a likeable character. His wife went missing sometime ago and he accepts she has been murdered, which gives him empathy with the victims and their family. He has married again to Jess who is step mother to his adult daughter.
I was uncertain why his team referred to Watts as Sarge? Perhaps this was revealed in a previous book? A good read which is recommended.

Apparently this book is part of a series but can be read as a standalone. It’s a murder mystery/police procedural that has a slow start but then becomes much more interesting. A woman’s body is found just outside Birmingham and a forensic psychologist is called in to join the team. Anyone familiar with British crime shows should find this very readable. Unfortunately it was pretty easy to guess the culprit and there were a number of loose ends that weren’t addressed. The personal lives of the team gave added interest but the actual character development was thin.

Someone is doing their best to undermine the investigation of the murder of young women. Will Traynor. a criminologist is brought in to help when the body of woman who disappeared from Manchester is found in the woods outside of Birmingham. He works closely with Chloe Judd, Bernard Watts, and Dr. Julian Devilish. This weaves the procedural into the personal lives of the team (with enough back story provided so that new readers will also appreciate that Will has a new partner). Less complicated than I'd hoped but still a good read. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

An Intriguing, Complex Murder Case

Erica Trent leaves her tutor at Manchester University and starts walking to a residence to start working on an assignment. She is stopped along the way by a police officer who wants to interview her. The tutor just told Erica that she needs to be more social so she decides to start now and go to a coffee shop with the police officer. She walks with him a short distance to his car, and then she is not seen again. The novel takes off almost three years later with the discovery of a body almost 80 miles south just outside Birmingham.

The main storyline is in intricate combination of threads. The major thread is the investigation of a female body discovered just outside Birmingham. Once identified, she had disappeared from Manchester a few years earlier. That disappearance is connected with three others. The police in Manchester are less than cooperating in providing what evidence they have. A new member rejoins the team, Dr. Julian Devenish, a forensic psychologist, from the Kate Hudson series. I do not want to call the flow of the novel slow, but it was not fast. With a criminologist and a forensic pathologist on the investigation team, several significant discussions occur between the two about the nature of the perpetrator. When there is action, it is not rapid. These and some other threads that I will let you discover drew me in and kept my interest all the way to the end. Some readers may be discouraged with the less than speedy case and the lengthy discussions but do continue to read. As the main storyline proceeds, it becomes much more interesting, including what I call a literary grenade that was quite unexpected.

For the B-storyline threads add new and interesting details into the lives of Will Traynor, Bernard Watts and Chloe Judd. Will now has a live-in partner. Bernard wants to retire early but is denied. Chloe just purchased her first home that comes with a strange neighbor. All of these personal issues have repercussions throughout the novel. Additionally, my reading enjoyment was enhanced by reading how the personal sides of their lives have changed and continue to change.

As for the aspects of a novel that can quickly turn off some readers, a major aspect is language. The good news is that objectionable and impious language is near non-existent. There are not any intimate scenes but a few build ups. There are instances of violence described in the more edgy as it occurs but they are short and quick. Overall, this novel should not be objectionable for most readers.

One aspect after reading numerous British police procedurals, I found that there still were quite a few informal British words and police terms with which I am not familiar. I relied on the built-in e-reader dictionary and easy access to the Internet to learn the meaning of some words and terms. If this is an issue for you, I recommend reading on an e-reader with these capabilities.

On the downside is the apparent slow start. My recommendation is to read carefully the discussions between Will and Julian and continue to read. There are some loose ends not tied up, but given the nature of these crimes, it is not unusual in real life. Otherwise, this storyline was quite believable to me. I also see no reason that this could not be your first book of this series that you read. There is not anything in the main storyline that relies on the previous novels, and there is adequate background from those novels in the B-storyline. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel and am looking forward to reading further novels from this author. The author reaffirmed his standing as a Must-Read author for me. I strongly recommend reading this novel and rate it with five stars.

I received a free e-book version of this novel through NetGalley from Severn House. My review is based only by my own reading experience of this book. I wish to thank Severn House for the opportunity to read and review this novel early.

I found this to be a decent, well written, 3* Good Read.

It's a murder / mystery / police procedural that's part of a series; in terms of characters; but, which can absolutely be read as a standalone.

Will Trainer is a criminologist, brought in by police to help them when a young woman's body is discovered.

The storyline flows well and for those who enjoy police procedurals, this is definitely one for you.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to preview.

Will Traynor is a criminologist who is called in to help a police investigation, when the remains of a young woman are found badly decomposed. It seems that there might be more bodies to find! I really engaged with the characters. The police procedures were well observed. The killer always seemed to be one step ahead.....A great read.... as this is the third in the series I shall have to go and read the first two instalments!

I’d like to thank Severn House and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘A Dark Divided Self’ written by A J Cross in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Over the last three years five young women have gone missing in Manchester, the police investigation coming to a stop for lack of evidence. The remains of one of the women, Amy Peters, are unearthed eighty miles away in Birmingham in an area of forest land known as Brampton, and DCI Bernard Watts with the help of criminologist Dr Will Traynor and forensic psychologist Dr Julian Devenish is called in to find the person responsible.

‘A Dark, Divided Self’ is an action-packed police thriller that brings back newly-promoted DCI Bernard Watts, DC Chloe Judd and Dr Will Traynor whose insight helps to bring a killer to justice. It has a fantastic plot containing everything needed to make it a best-seller, heart-stopping excitement, intrigue, drama, twists and turns, and a team of officers who get answers by good solid police-work. This is a fantastic thriller that’s had me gripped from page one and has had me so involved in the investigation I’ve been unable to stop reading until I’d reached the shocking and completely unexpected ending. I can thoroughly recommend this thriller and can’t wait for the next in the series.

Thank you Netgalley and Seven House for the eARC.
Will Traynor is back, investigating the skeleton of a young girl found in the woods outside Birmingham with the team of Watts, Judd and Jonesy. A second skeleton is found nearby and they believe 3 more bodies may be found in the same area - all young, pretty, with dark hair and good, white teeth. Just dumped on top of the ground rather than buried.
It proves a frustrating case, with pressure from upstairs to finish already, too much time and money is being spent!
It's a good police procedural with characters I really like, especially Chloe Judd, she's tough and feisty, with a soft core and she works well and hard. I was surprised at the culprit when exposed at the ending. An enjoyable read I definitely recommend!

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

This was a disappointing read: too much police procedure and discussions around criminal profiling, and too little actual plot. I guessed the identity of the killer quite early on and never wavered in my conviction.

There was a lot of concern about costs and the police budget, yet the investigation employed both Will as a profiler and Julian as a criminal psychologist, although they both seemed to do routine police work at various points - Julian was even asked to check traffic camera/CCTV footage early on. There were other inconsistencies and loose ends left dangling which I can't write about without spoilers, so I'll leave them, but I think I'll give up on this series.