This was an interesting tale but as I hadn't read the former books in the series I found myself a little lost as there were definitely parts that were related to those previous stories. I didn't realize this was a series when I grabbed this one so rounding my 2 stars up to 3 as I think this might have been better for me if I'd have read the others.

This is a read I thoroughly enjoyed from start to finish. I've not read the previous book and don't feel as if I've missed anything and so would say this book can be read on its own. I really like the two main characters, Hume and Raine, their history and relationship, both personal and work. Echo is fast becoming one of my favourite characters in this series. Hume investigates a murder where artificial intelligence plays a part - I found Deadtown to be a very good read that drew me in right away and held my attention and interest all the way through. The authors writing is engaging and the plot is quite unique, certainly well thought out and in years to come will probably be all to believeable. I liked that an ongoing thread from the first book had closure. I am really enjoying this series and hope there is another book to look forward to.

4 stars

Firstly, thank you to NetGalley and Joffe Booksfor allowing me an ARC copy to read and review.

Deadtown - Stephen Williams

This book is a super easy read, but didn’t quite hit the wow factor for me - a very easy 3*.

The pace and writing in this book was spot on, credit to the author immediately, but it did unfortunately lack something I can’t quite put my finger on. This doesn’t mean it isn’t for everyone however! Some people might really really love this. It just seemed to try too hard and didn’t quite deliver

I didn't really enjoy this one. Didn't draw me in at all. I skim read it. Thank you for the opportunity to review

Thank you Netgalley and joffee books for this arc. Dead town is a good thriller. You will get sucked in into this book.
Thank you again netgalley!!

Quite a gripping tale by a new author to me. Will certainly make a note of the name. Not unputdownable, but well worth a read.

I found the storyline of this London based thriller intestesting but ultimately I found it a bit disappointing. Although it is mostly fast paced with plenty of action, there are times when the action slows right down, mostly due to some wordy explanations, and I found myself skipping a few pages.

I didn't realise this was book 3 in a series when I started reading and although it didn't spoil the story I did occasionally feel I was missing something.

I'm not sure I would read more by this author.

DI Mary Hume watches in horror as a woman has her throat coat in the video on a burner phone handed in to lost property the other day. Raine, a former police officer is still recovering from the murder of her wife, Mary's daughter, but pursues various leads as a Private Investigator. The two women come together again to investigate the video, they find the place in which it was filmed, no body, minimal forensics, blank wall. Another gruesome murder, again no forensics. Plenty of deceit, mis-direction and an awful lot about social media and AI games, horrifying to think that these may well be out there. Bring in people smuggling as a partial red herring and continuing previous stories. Tidy ending of the main murders, if somewhat unexpected .Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy.

I have very mixed feelings on this book. I have categorized my thoughts into the three main issues.

The first being that I did not realize that this was the third in a series. And while that didn't hinder me from understanding this one, I do feel like I missed out on a lot of the complexities that make the characters of Hume and Raine the way they are. It is obvious that there was something deeper going on there than just former mother and daughter-in-law that I felt like I was missing out on. However, I think Raine's approach to grief was well written and it made it easy to emphasize with some of the more reckless choices she made.

The second was that for all of the action in this book, things seemed to drag on throughout most of it. I'm not sure if this is because there seemed to be so much going on with all of the different characters exploring different things (some things pertaining to Melissa's case, others not), that it just became to muddled or what, but there were times I could easily put this novel down to go to other things.

The final issue I had with this story is entirely a personal one of my own. I feel like this book was trying too hard. At one point an officer tries to help Hume out of the car as they said that the ground was very slippery (mind you she is above said officer in rank). Not only does Hume take exception to being called ma'am, but she also seems almost insulted that the officer offered his hand to help her and even questions if he did that to every officer. Personal pet peeve I know, but people who genuinely act like this irritate me. The officer was trying to be nice to a superior officer, there was no reason to react the way she did. A simple no thank you, would have sufficed, along with her preference of being called guv instead.

I was also annoyed by the fact that both Raine and Hume somehow manage to disarm their opponents by always breaking their wrists (in Hume's case it was with a kick). It was like the author couldn't think of another way to disarm the bad guys than that.

Now those things aside, I thought that the idea of this story was one of the most unique ones that I have seen in a long time. The idea of using artificial intelligence in order to "murder people", as part of a game was intriguing. And honestly, I would not be surprised if a game like this didn't pop up in the future (although hopefully without the horrific truths that this one included). And as I said previously, the characters were all complex and individual which made them stand out against each other, while still working well as a team.

All that being said, I do believe that this book will be well received by fans of the series, and I enjoyed it enough that I will be going back to book one to give this author another chance.

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.

This book was gripping and hard to put down. It didn't feel like everything else you see out there, it felt very fresh. I really enjoyed this book!

I absolutely loved reading this book. It is the 3rd book in the series and I haven't read the other 2 unfortunately, but I would like to rectify that soon hopefully. I totally loved the main characters, in particular Raine but I thought the whole team was great and the book kept me guessing and was really clever writing I thought. If you are late to the party as I was you will still be able to enjoy the read as well as getting to know the main characters, and the story will captivate you if you enjoy a good thriller. you've found one.

Dead Town by Stephen Williams was a real page turner for me. At first you think there are two different crimes going on but soon realize the two become one. Lots of unconventional characters and modern technology make this book intriguing and fast paced.
Really enjoyed the plot and the writing style.

4* Really enjoyed this intro to Hume and Raine.

This tale, it seems, is the 3rd in a series but I had no trouble reading it as a standalone. There's enough that's hinted at to clue you in about the leads and their relationship - MIL and DIL - and what's happened to make them love each other but have a prickly relationship with each other.

For those of us of a certain age, who've not grown up with the tech that features heavily in this book, at time things got confusing. There were small Eureka! moments in Hume's brain as she clocked what was going on via Echo's (her DC) explanations. Thank goodness!

The storyline has some gruesome scenes to it, and a pretty evil character that's not revealed until just before the end, and on top there's a reveal I hadn't seen coming, though in hindsight I should have - blame my age, the baffling jargon and a bit TMI. Wood for trees. There's a lot of detail, the tale is quite slow at times and Raine has an unorthodox MO, and there's not an ending with everything nicely dotted and crossed, which was a tad irritating. It's quite addictive, though, and I'm checking out the others. I'm not sure if I maybe missed a little something because of not reading the previous books in the series, as a lot of history was alluded to, but it certainly didn't spoil the book.

ARC courtesy of Joffe Books and NetGalley for my reading pleasure.

This was a disappointing book for me. It had ingredients I like – quirky characters in a modern setting with twists but it didn't grip me. There were two occasions when the police got a breakthrough because of something unusual they had recently experienced and this felt too contrived.

I'm sure the author has his fans but, even though it's an easy read, it's not for me.

Starts with a bang and has the added quirky feel that many police procedural novels are lacking.
Solid plot with very likable characters.

I wasn’t aware that this book was from a series and I feel like I missed quite a bit.

Ultimately though, this is a good story, not too predictable and it has all the thrills in the right places.

If you love crime thrillers, you'll love this one. It had an interesting plot and Raine is a great character with a heart of gold. The twist at the end will leave you shocked!

This is a very good thriller, filled with suspense and a quirky plot which I loved. Raine is an interesting character, a private Investigator who is very believable and Hume makes a great sidekick! The tension simply oozed from the pages and i was completely immersed in the read. Although this is part of a series it can easily be read as a stand alone. Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.

This is the 3rd book I have read by this author.
Series
Raine and Hume
1. The Skin Code (2022)
2. A Bloodstained Coat (2023)
3. Dead Town (2024)

Thoroughly enjoyed each book and looking forward to reading more in this interesting growing series.
Detective Mary Hume stares at the crime scene in confusion. She’s in an empty flat. Peeling wallpaper. A bloodstained chair in the middle of the room.

But no body.

A story filled with tension and twists throughout. Interesting, believable and likeable characters. Getting to know the main characters over these books has been interesting.
I was soon engrossed in the pages wanting and needing to read on.

At the end of these books you really are left wanting more and I look forward to the next installment. This book will be a great read for any crime thriller fan.

Dead Town is the third installment in the excellent London based series featuring DI Mary Hume and the enigmatic former detective turned PI known as Raine ("like the weather with an e"). With a combination of a twisting plot, several recurring characters from the first two novels and some serious violence, this is a gripping tale.

Dead Town sees a crime blogger gone missing, several linked crimes and a people smuggler with connections to Afghanistan. Raine and Hume try to piece it all together with the help of DS Echo, the Maori tech whizz and several other recurring characters. It's a difficult tale to untangle, but the ending makes it well worth the journey through London's seedier side.