i stopped and started so many times. I finally finished but there was just too many swaps and changes i got a bit confused at the beginbing where i was and kept having too flick back. I fealt like some bots werent necessarily needed.

though i enjoyed the overall plot.

This book was not the fast paced gripping thriller it was promoted to be. Until 65% I was honestly bored. Even after things started to pick up, it still wasn't super exciting.

Too many characters and plots going on. Did the book really need to follow any prisoners? No that storyline could have been left out and the book would have still made sense. There was just entirely too much going on that didn't need to be there. Also the constant character swapping in each chapter was confusing at first and wasn't necessary. I'm glad I finally finished this. (I stopped reading it for at least 2 months but knew I needed to finish it in order to post a review for it.)

I enjoyed "Three Broken Bodies", a typical police procedural book. Even though it can be read alone, I'd suggest reading the previous installment as this book references events in the previous one. This second book in the series revolves around the investigation of a particularly grisly murder. Even though this is a standard crime fiction novel, the story is engaging, and if you're into crime and police procedural genres, this series is definitely worth checking out

A good read with a great storyline. A bit confusing at times with so many characters but got used to it. A promising start to the series.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me the chance to read this book ahead of time in exchange for a review.

A gripping tale of a crime that will keep you on edge during the whole book until the end. Sometimes is hard to keep up with so many things happening at once but it’s part of the story and how the crime works.

DI Jack MacIntosh has a grisly case. Bodies are being discovered with their lips sewn together, but during the post mortem investigation the pathologist finds a severed rat's head was placed inside the mouth before death. Meanwhile a journalist's wife has been kidnapped and a ransom is demanded...
Three Broken Bodies is the fifth book in the revised and redeveloped DI MacIntosh series. There are follow on aspects to Jack's personal life and the murder case that relates to his mother so there are spoilers.
Jack's latest case is very unpleasant. I liked how the natural revulsion of the police characters is depicted, showing that exposure to such atrocities can still affect them emotionally. There is a gang element to the plot and the violence is as graphic as you might expect.
The book is written in the third person throughout to show the different layers to the plot. This allows us to see a variety of perspectives and feel the fear of the characters in danger. We witness the police investigation, gang members, potential victims, prison residents and a panicked husband of a kidnapped woman. There are lots of threads of plot which are woven together cleverly by the author.
Jack is a complex character and doesn't always follow the rules. He works to his own code and keeps secrets from his friends and colleagues. His past plays a significant role in a number of the plot elements, for example his antagonistic relationship with the missing woman's journalist husband and the murder of his mother.
Three Broken Bodies is a tense and enjoyable detective thriller with a fab lead character.

Another brilliant book by Michelle i an loving this series . The storyline is easy to follow and engaging. I was gripped to the end. I look forward to reading more

I enjoyed the mystery in this book. But, I think it was all over the place. Too many characters, too many points of view, and settings. I had trouble keeping track of who was who and what was going on.
With all that being said it's a solid start to what I hope will be a long series.

DI MacIntosh and team have two major threads - brutal murders of young people, hands and feet tied and with, of all things, a dead rat sewn into heir mouths. On top of this an annoying reported reports that his wife has been kidnapped. Surely there is a connection. The chapters jump location and we are told very clearly that location at the beginning; each chapter also more or less always ends on a cliff-hanger which is just annoying. Once or twice maybe but it becomes (an un=necessary) a feature of the writing. The ending does tie up some of the murders but, as usual, there's a "what next? coming soon" effect - also annoying. Otherwise there is plenty of good policing and some dodgy policing but a well-written story overall. There are rather a lot of graphic details which could affect some readers. 3.5* rounded up. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy.

Full disclosure, I believe that this is a case of the writing style just not working for me. And while I struggled to finish this one for reasons I will go into in a moment, I do firmly believe that other people will enjoy this one much more than I did.

To start with the positives, I found the plot to be interesting. The author definitely knows what they are doing when it comes to weaving together a cohesive story even when it seems like none of the elements will cross-over. The characters, for the most part, seemed well thought out (although one or two of them, to me at least, felt like they fit into the stereotypical mold of good guy vs bad guy).

Here is where I lost interest.

To begin with every chapter or "location change" was met the same way.
Time: x.xx am/pm (depending)
Date: Day of the week, monthly date
Location: any one of the many locations

To take an example straight from the book it looked like this:

Time: 5.15 pm
Date: Saturday 20 August 2014
Location: Metropolitan Police HQ, London

This immediately pulled me out of the story. Especially because that grouping of items immediately meant that there was not only about to be a location change, but a change in character(s) / plot-lines as well. I feel like this story would have done better had the chapters been longer and focused on what was happening in that specific location instead of jumping around. For example whilst at the Police HQ, they could have talked about the two cases and how where each team was at in their own investigations. I didn't feel like we needed to jump from something happening at the police station, to something happening with one of the many criminals who also featured in this novel.

The second issue I had with this one is also admittedly a pet peeve of mine. You do NOT need to end every damn chapter on a cliffhanger. Now and again to keep things moving I can understand, but this story had it happening at the end of literally every chapter. It was though the author didn't trust their writing to be strong enough on its own to carry the story forward without relying on that tactic. Which really was a shame as I have said before, the author's writing style IS strong.

It's just all these little things that I feel will make it unappealing for readers like me, while still attracting a following all its own of other readers.

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.

I do like Jack MacIntosh, he is such a likeable character! Three bodies discovered in the space of a few days and Jack is busy investigating. I would recommend starting with book one in this series for background information but this can be read as a stand alone. Filled with twists, a degree of violence, excellent characterisation and a fast pace, everything you wish in a police procedural. Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.

Three broken bodies is the 5th book in the DI Jack MacIntosh series, however it could be read as a stand alone thriller (which is how I’ve just read it) and I found it easy enough to follow 🙂

3 bodies are found on 3 different nights, however they are all found in the same condition, their hands and feet are bound, there’s a dead rat stuffed in their mouths and their lips have been sewn together. DI MacIntosh and his team are put on the case, however with no witnesses or leads it’s clear from the off that this isn’t going to be the easiest of cases to work on.

As the book progresses there is a kidnapping thrown into the ring. Jack gets a call from a local journalist whose wife has just been abducted. Jonathan Spearing (the journalist) knows his wife is being held to ransom. He has been told not to contact the police of his wife Katerina will be killed.

Jonathan pays the kidnappers £10,000 but when they then up it to £100,000 Jonathan has no choice but to go to the police and seeks out Jacks help.

I really enjoyed 3 broken bodies, at times I found my brain a bit frazzled as there was so much going on I found it hard to keep on track, as the book progressed I love the way the 2 different cases became connected and I thought the story line worked really well.

I was hooked right from the start of this book there was plenty going to to keep the reader interested from start to finish, and at some point in the future I will be going back to read some of the other books in this series.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an open and honest review.

This is the first Michelle Kidd book that I’ve read. She’s very graphic & rather gruesome in her detailing of the crimes. There’s a lot of characters & events to piece together. Short punchy chapters, further broken down by snippets of time & place activity. Intriguing!
I received an Advanced Reader Copy from NetGalley & Joffe books. I am writing an honest voluntary review

DI Jack MacIntosh is called out to the body of a young woman found dead on the South Bank - her hands and feet are bound together, and she’s badly bruised, but what really shocks the investigation team is the fact that her mouth has been sewn shut, and the head of a dead rat is discovered on removing the thread.

A second body is discovered the next day, followed by a third discovered in a derelict brewery. All with the same MO.

At the same time, a local newspaper reporter receives a ransom demand after returning home to find his wife missing. Does this have anything to do with the recently discovered bodies? Well, DI MacIntosh and his team are determined to find out.

Though these murders did make me feel a bit squeamish, the storyline itself was riveting, with lots of twists and turns, aided by excellent use of smoke and mirrors. Recommended.

DI Jack MacIntosh London.
The South Bank and a second body is recovered, it's the perfect dump site another one in the white tent with the crime scene blue and white tape up.
The pathologist states to Jack all the hallmarks are there, another female with empty eyes staring up covered in bruises, with the mouths of both girls sewn shut its sickening to see.
Two then become three dark twisted murders, Three Broken Bodies, with no ID, this is one big investigation, find out who are these poor girls and to find the murderer before they strike again.
Oh Boy I totally was gripped into this book getting to know all the characters, with such easy laid back chapters to follow to almighty twists right through. I loved it .

Good police thriller, suspenseful,, action packed story. I thought it was worth reading.
Has a gripping plot and good characters, especially Jack.
The suspense will keep you turning pages.
Given arc by Net Galley and Joffe for my voluntary review

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and author for this eARC.

This is a very good police procedural that really hit the mark with me. I've read the first book in this series, then this one.

Three Broken Bodies can probably be read on its own although there are references to previous events so I'd suggest you read the series in the correct order.

Michelle Kidd has come up with a great book here - I really like the main character Jack Macintosh and his team. They investigate a particularly gruesome murder and the case soon escalates, whilst another team investigates a kidnapping - are these cases linked? The authors writing style is really good, the story grabbed my attention and interest very quickly and held it all the way through to the last page. I like the short, punchy chapters that complemented the story and had me turning the pages wanting to know more. There are a lot of characters and it took time for them to fall into place in my mind. This isn't a gripe though, and if I'd read the previous books I would have been more familiar with some of them. The story pacing is perfect in my opinion, and the plot line well very well thought out, and certainly kept me guessing.

There isn't anything I didn't like about this book, I'd definitely recommend this author and series if you like crime, police procedurals. I'll be reading the books I've missed when I can so I can be up to date and ready for the next book.

4 stars

First time to read Michelle kidd this book was so good . It's the type of book you can't wait to get to the end to see who done it really worth a read .

Thank you to NetGalley and Joffe Books for the eARC

Jack MacIntosh is called out to the body of a young woman on the river bank. Found naked, her hands and feet bound, lips sewn shut but when opened, the head of a rat stuffed in her mouth. Trouble is there's been more than one body found like this over the past weeks. What's going on? Is one of the local gangs cleaning house? How does it relate to the kidnapping of the wife of a local journalist, or does it?

There's plenty of twists and turns, as well as an overreaching plot carrying into the next book, to interest the reader. It wasn't difficult to the follow the twists and the storyline was very engaging. This is number 5 in the Jack MacIntosh series. They're a good solid police procedural and I'll definitely be reading the next one.

This was a cracking story. Although some scenes did make me feel a tad icky. But as usual very good love he way these characters are coming along