I was so intrigued by the description of this book and I was not disappointed. This book was written in the POV of our main character a police detective. That being said, it was not your typical police procedural. Our detective has issues and still comes through in the end. Twisty and twisted!!

As someone who is not a big fan of a book with a detective's POV, this one was incredibly captivating and well written. The plot was somewhat complex with some pieces a little hard to follow but the guessing game throughout the whole story was on point. I will definitely be picking up some of the other novels by this author!

The book grabbed my attention from the start and sped through the master plot. So glad to gain access early!

When DI Al Crow is called out to investigate the discovery of two bodies buried under a garden shed, he little realises where the investigations may lead. The bones turn out to be quite old. The first thought is that it is a cold case, however when more bodies of young women turn up it is clear that this is not an old isolated case & there is a clever serial killer on the loose who has been working under the radar for a long time.

This is the third in the series featuring Al Crow, a detective that struggles to overcome the after effects of a bullet to the brain & the repercussions it had for him & his family. It can be read as a stand alone, but as soon as I read it I had to track down & read the earlier two. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book- I now have another police procedural series to love!

A Fatal Pact by H.J. Reed. (DI Crow #3). Inkubator Books, 2024.

The story begins with two bodies buried under a garden shed. One is a young woman with such advanced dental decay there are unlikely to be any dental records to help identify her, the other a very young child.

Once I started reading this book, I did not put it down until I finished it. It is exceptionally well written. Although the situation is complex, details of the crime emerge in a logical order so I found it easy to follow.
It does not take long to realize that DCI Al Crow, the story’s narrator and main character, is a good guy.

Supporting characters include his sidekick, tech expert son-in-law Larson, his Detective Superintendent, his daughter, grandson, ex-wife and ex mother-in-law, long-time friend George, his team of detectives and his dog.

The positive and respectful relationships among the police involved and within DCI Crowe’s family are notably different from relationships in most crime fiction I’ve read. To a great degree, this offsets the horror of this complex and multi-generational crime.

If you’ve not already read the first two in the Detective Crow series, I warmly recommend all three and lean slightly toward recommending you start with the first and read them in order. Even after reading the three of them, I don’t know a great deal more about DCI Crow, other than that he is held in high esteem by those who know him best.

Disclosure: I received a review copy of A Fatal Pact for free via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. #AFatalPact #NetGalley

One of my favorite types of stories is a good thriller with a detective's POV. This novel is very well written and the twists had me wanting to read more and more. Sometimes the details were a little all over the place, and it was hard to follow at points but if I went back and re-read some pieces I was able to piece them together. I really liked the ending and the guessing game it had me doing through the whole novel. Overall a great read, would love to read the other books by H.J. Reed and will look into ordering them on kindle. Thank you!

A young mother and child are found buried in a garden under an old shed that was erected twenty years ago. Detective Crow and his team are assigned to this cold case and believes the murders are linked to a man who Crow put away in prison for committing the same method of killing. While investigating the twenty year old murders, Crow and his team discover other young women who have been murdered, and all have ties to the woman and child buried under the shed. Suddenly he believes he is hunting a serial killer on the loose. Great book that keeps you guessing to the very end.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Inkubator Books for an advance copy of A Fatal Pact, the third novel to feature DCI Crow of Avon and Somerset Police.

The remains of a woman and child are found buried in a Bristol garden. DCI Crow is asked to investigate and what seems to be a twenty year old cold case becomes more recent when the body of a teenager is also found and the longtime owner of the house has disappeared with his eight year old daughter.

I thoroughly enjoyed A Fatal Pact, which is a fun read with plenty of twists and turns. It is told in the first person from Al Crow’s point of view and that is what elevates the novel as he has a unique voice. He is often gruff, especially with his son in law, IT consultant John Larson, but he is also funny, being fairly aware of his own faults and commenting on them. It works very well.

The plot is quite complicated, not so much in terms of what happens and why, but more in trying to keep track of who’s who and where they fit in the overall narrative. I didn’t find it easy, but it’s worth it as the whole picture once revealed in its full glory (or should that be horror?) is clever. I was glued to the pages as Crow moves from one discovery to the next. There is never a dull moment, whether it is more gruesome discoveries or Crow’s amusing take on events and his interactions with others. The novel has a bit of everything.

A Fatal Pact is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.

This book was such an exciting read! There was so much suspense built through the book, coupled with the twists and turns it kept me hooked.

A Fatal Pact by H.J. Reed is Book 3 of DI Crow Series. DCI Crow is tasked with solving what seems to be a cold case, but when the body of a recently murdered teenage girl is discovered in the same house, it starts to get a whole lot warmer.

The story was sometimes hard to follow, but it did have some good action, intriguing mystery elements, and a good plot.

I may recommend this book. I may also go back and read the other books in the series and will look for future books in this series.

#AFatalPact #NetGalley

Great book. An wild plot. Great twists and turns I never saw coming. Was a book that I found hard to put down

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