A Deadly Promise by Rachel Amphlett
Narrated by Alison Campbell
Publisher: Dreamscape Select, Saxon Publishing
Genre: Mystery & Thrillers
Expected Publication Date: February 5, 2024

A Deadly Promise is the 13th book in the Detective Kay Hunter series by Rachel Amphlett. I had not read the previous books and I enjoyed this as a standalone mystery. I will definitely be reading the other books in the series because this was so good!!!

Wow! Wow! Wow! This book was so intense! I am absolutely hooked on this series! This book was masterfully written and had me captivated! I loved following the police in putting all the pieces together to solve these murders.

I loved the narration by Alison Campbell. She was amazing at bringing the book to life!

I can’t wait to read the other books in the series and hope there are many more to come!!!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Book Title: A Deadly Promise
Series: Detective Kay Hunter #13
Author: Rachel Amphlett
Narrator: Alison Campbell
Publisher: Dreamscape Select- Saxton Publishers
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Audiobook Pub Date: February 5, 2024
My Rating: 3.4 Stars
Pages: 319

When I requested this I was not aware it was a series. I was looking for a good audiobook and the description seemed like it would work for me.
It follows Detective Kay Hunter who is working on a new case and not something from a previous story so I was pleased it wouldn’t be necessary to stop and read some of the earlier stories to try and catch up..

Story starts with a couple staying at a house that is usually rented for extended periods; however they are renting it for one night and are pleased with how large and comfortable it is. They are told it was cleaned from top to bottom however if anything was missed the cleaner could be there quickly. They notice a smell and go to investigate and find a woman dead in the master bedroom. She has been brutal killed. It appears that masked intruders entered the home while the cleaner was still there. She was cut many times before she died.
While Detective Hunter is investigating this murder there are two other attacks, The victims seem to have no connection - Kay and her team are trying to find a motive.

Story was disturbing crimes also well as unlikeable nasty language characters.
Story did have me curious so I continued.
Whodunit was a surprise.
.
Want to thank NetGalley and Dreamscape Select- Saxton Publishers for this early Audiobook.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for February 5, 2024.

When a woman’s mutilated body is discovered in a remote countryside property, Detective Kay Hunter is faced with one of the most challenging investigations of her career. A Deadly Promise is the 13th book in the Detective Kay Hunter and is perfect for readers who love fast-paced crime thrillers.

The plot of A Deadly Promise by Rachel Amphlett was good; it had good twists and suspicious characters. The reason for the killings was explained well and was interesting.

I enjoyed getting to know these characters and liked Kay, the main detective.

The narrator's voice was enjoyable to listen to and held my interest. This book can be read as a standalone. I will check out more books by this author.

#ADeadlyPromise #NetGalley @Dreamscapeaudio

Thank you to NetGalley for gifting me this ARC of the audiobook to review.

I was unaware this was a series, but it was still manageable to read it as a standalone. The only downside to this was that I sometimes had a hard time keeping track of the side characters and would probably be able to connect better to them and what’s going on in their lives outside of the investigation if I had read other books in the series. Nevertheless, the many side characters did a great job of painting a picture of a real police precinct.

I listened to this as an audiobook and Alison Campbell did a phenomenal job with her narration. The tone was set exactly right between matter-of-fact police work, suspenseful theorizing and also the everyday life and struggles of a detective. The story was easy to follow, and I could picture everything very clearly, like watching a TV show.

I got a bit worried that the resolution of the case might be far-fetched when the reader learned that the main connection between the victims was their debts. Because, as the detectives on the case also pointed out, it does not generally make sense to kill people who owe you money. As it turned out, the loose ends could be tied up after all and the explanation of why everything happened the way it happened carried more suspense for me than who did it.

The tone of the entire book is lighthearted (for a crime investigation) and fast-paced, which is something that I like in crime and mystery books. The crimes are a bit gruesome but handled and resolved in such a manner that you won’t have nightmares about them. At the same time, this series is not exactly thought-provoking, but rather a fun, suspenseful read you could listen to while cooking or driving without thinking too much about it when you have to take a break from reading.

I would recommend this book (and probably the entire series) to anyone who is looking for a mystery book or police drama that reads like a TV show and does not go too deep.

The author did an awesome job of writing this book as a potential standalone, even though it is actually number 13 in the series. It made me want to read all of the 12 books that came before it, while also not having any confusion with characters, storyline or background if just reading this one. It was a great mystery novel with similar vibes to all of the clever detective shows I love. The “villain” is scary, but I do think a better motive was needed for how gruesome the deaths were.

This book #13 in a series, which I wasn’t aware of when I decided to read this book. This book really works great as standalone. If the other books in this series are as good as this one you might want to read them all.

The book starts with a couple arriving at a rental for the evening. As the couple gets settled into they discover a body in the bedroom. The victim was a house cleaner named, Katrina who.

Detective Kay Hunter is investigating this murder this brutal murder. Kay is a likable character and a smart detective. Just as soon as she digs into who would have murdered Katrina she has more victims to investigate.

This is a fast paced crime thriller. You’ll be sucked into Kay’s world and looking for who’s behind these gruesome murders. What’s triggering these murders? Are they connected?

I recommend this book as a standalone or if you’d like to read the series (which isn’t necessary).

Thank you to Net Galley Dreamscape Select, Saxon Publishing allowing me to listen to the audio version of this book.

I was unaware that A Deadly Promise was a part of a series, this is book number 13 in the detective Kay Hunter series. With no knowledge of the series this mostly worked fine as a standalone. There were a lot of characters and I kept thinking that if I had knowledge of the other books remembering characters would not be as difficult. That was my only complaint for coming into the series so late.

There was a violent murder with what looks like no motive and that’s when Kay gets on the case. The body count was increasing as Kay was rushing to figure this one out. I like mystery and detective books so I did enjoy this but I also felt it did nothing new and exciting. It was a typical crime thriller.

They let the reader in on some details that Kay was not privy to, at first this felt like a novel idea but it ended up just feeling like more of the same for me and I just wanted a little more.

I plan to go to book one and try the series from the beginning. I’m hoping with more of a knowledge of the characters and the world this book will have a bigger impact on me.

Thank you to NetGalley for gifting me this ARC to review.

I was unaware this was a series, but it worked out just fine as a standalone. It follows Detective Kay Hunter as she tries to figure out who is behind the multiple murders and why.

Detective Kay was an easy character to connect with, even though I hadn’t read any other books in the series. I felt like a lot of the characters were easy to connect with, but there were far too many to keep count of. I got a bit turned around while reading.

This book was a fast paced read that had my interest from beginning to end. It made me feel like I was on the team and trying to figure out what the heck was going on right with them.

The moral of the story is: owing money to someone could end up in murder.

I enjoyed this book, but it’s also one that could be easily forgotten. I liked the ending, knowing how it all started and why the ending was so much blood, but I felt like it was just another thriller. Nothing worth writing home about.

I still recommend this book to anyone who likes crime books. Someone who loves the MC to be cops or detectives. It’s not my go to, but they’re fun every once in a while.

'A Deadly Promise' is a fun, fast-paced crime thriller. There's a high degree of urgency and a less-than-common villain type - evil comes in all sorts of packages!

This is #13 in the series, but it's the first one I've read and works very well as a standalone - I got enough insight into Detective Kay to connect to her, even without having followed her earlier adventures. Those are the best! I'll likely go back and read her earlier adventures, since I had such good time with this one.

Premise - Debt is deadly, and Detective Kay has to find out who/why/how to stop the killing spree.

📚 Series or Standalone: Series, can be read as a standalone
📚 Genre: Crime thriller
📚 Target Age Group: adult
📚 Cliffhanger: no

✨ Will I Reread: maybe
✨ Recommended For: fans of smart detectives who are easy to root for, and complex crimes with a high degree of urgency! I can see fans of CSI loving this (though I'm not a CSI fan and I still enjoyed it a lot).

💕 Characters: 4/5
💕 Writing: 4/5
💕 Plot: 4/5
💕 Pacing: 4/5
💕 Unputdownability: 4/5
💕 Enjoyment: 4/5
💕 Book Cover: 4/5

Thanks, NetGalley and Saxon Publishing, for the gifted ARC in exchange for an honest review.