A gruesome tale not for the faint hearted.
For me it was the ideal thriller with enough red herrings to keep me guessing.
Very enjoyable thriller.
My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my copy.

This is the secon book in the Di Nicki Hardcastle series and it doesn’t disappoint. The characters of Nicki’s team are becoming a well liked group and the villain is absolutely horrifying. The plot has lots of twists and turns and makes this book an riveting read. I would highly recommend this book.

The Trophy Killer by Michelle Kidd is a dark mystery. The descriptions of the dismemberments may disturb some readers. The novel is told from various points of view. One of those views is the unidentified killer. I thought too much emphasis was placed on the killer's upbringing and abuse, which pulled me away from the mystery and police procedural aspect of the story. Mentioning it one time is enough for a reader, but continuing to mention it each time the killer's perspective was voiced got to be a bit much for me.

The premise of the book is three grisly crime scenes. Body parts strewn across the town, where Detective Nicki Hardcastle tackles her darkest case yet. It’s a freezing December night when Detective Nicki Hardcastle gets the call. An elderly theatergoer settling in for the evening performance has received the shock of his life: resting on the faded fabric of his Dress Circle seat is a pair of human eyes.

I enjoyed the characters and getting to know the team. Nicki has her own demons but is a strong female protagonist when it comes to fighting crime and trying to find justice for the victims.

One scene, in particular, made me chuckle and reminded me of my sister sending me home with Christmas decorations to bring cheer to my house. Darcie and Amy had badgered Nicki into adding some Christmas cheer and decorations into her home.

Overall, an okay read and mystery. It just felt a little slow at times, and got a bit bogged down with the various perspectives and timelines. I would recommend this book, though.

#THETROPHYKILLER #NetGalley @JoffeBooks @AuthorKidd

A good, if gruesome, psychological thriller set in the East of England. DI Nicki Hardcastle and her team have a difficult case to solve when a series of body parts turn up around the town. Each has been removed with surgical precision and left in a public place. The killer wants them to be found - but why?

Nicki and her detectives trace the victims, looking vainly for a connection. And eventually they have a name for the perpetrator. But can they stop him?

The Trophy Killer is a good read and moves at a decent pace. There are a few too many flashbacks that take the reader out of the story arc, but overall the unusual tale is engaging.

THE TROPHY KILLER by Michelle Kidd Interesting premise and well written with detailed graphic passages of the villian's dismembering skills which creeped me out. Dark, yes and too dark for me. The novel will undoubtedly appeal to readers who enjoy suspense thrillers with a darker tone.
Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for the opportunity to preview the book.

This book was rather good. Full of suspense and intrigue that kept me going til the last page
5**** from me. Thanks to netgalley for this book

I would like to thank Netgalley and Joffe Books for an advance copy of The Trophy Killer, the second novel to feature DI Nicki Hardcastle of Kent Police, based in Bury St Edmunds.

Someone is leaving human body parts across the town. First it was a pair of eyes on a seat in the theatre, then a tongue on a sculpture and a hand in the cathedral. Nicki and her team are in a race to prevent more mutilations.

I have not read the previous novel in the series, but always enthusiastic for a new series I decided to try The Trophy Killer. It’s not for me for a variety of reasons, even if it is a well constructed novel with an interesting premise.

The novel is told from various points of view, including the unidentified killer, who gets as much air play as the investigation. I have almost zero interest in the upbringing and thoughts of fictional killers, because they are much of a muchness and after a lot of reading it gets boring, abusive upbringing that leads to a twisted mind to sum it up. Throughout it all there is a thread about Benedict trying to discover the secret his neighbours are keeping, which turns out to be big, but not strictly relevant. All the switching of point of view doesn’t make for a strong narrative thread and I found it really easy to put the book down as it didn’t hold my attention and I had no thirst to know more. I would say that this novel is gruesome as there are some quite detailed descriptions of the amputations.

I think that this novel will appeal more to readers who like a psychological thriller as it takes a long look at the killer and contrasts his actions with the slow progress of the investigation (a lack of clues makes it necessarily slow). The only mystery is his motive, which he keeps well hidden, preferring to dwell on his memories and procedures, because his identity is revealed about the 70% mark.

The Trophy Killer is not for me.

The first in a new series starring detective Nikki Hardcastle. Someone is leaving body parts across town. Nikki and her team investigate but have never seen anything like it. Moreover, the killer is playing games with them.

I was a bit confused on if this was the first or second in this series. The synopsis on both Netgalley and Goodreads said first but then on goodreads it has #2 in the search and the author has another one of this detective on the author page. I think for me it would make more sense not as a debut because I felt like not a lot of background was given to the reader about Nikki. The mystery itself was fine, but I felt a bit lost at times with the characters.

The Trophy Killer is set in the winter with the discover of body parts in three separate spots in a town.
A pair of detectives work to solve the mystery before another body part appears.

The mood is set in a snowy, cold period that serves to heighten the mystery. The characters, especially the fortitude of the detectives, propel the book into the final solution.

Great book! This book had a bit of everything! It had high suspense, intrigue, action, murder, mystery, serial killer, a bit of gore, great police work and some crazy twists and turns! The storyline was very interesting and had me glued to my Kindle! I highly recommend reading this book as it was well worth reading! I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!

This book was sent to me electronically by Netgalley for review. Thanks to the publisher and the author. The intrigue and mystery keep this story moving quickly. The characters are realistic. Red herrings kept me guessing. Enjoy