An intriguing twist on the locked room murder. Sergeant Belinda "Billy" Kidd is driving home from visiting her sister in Australia when she gets stuck on the highway leading into a tunnel in gridlock. A bomb has exploded in the tunnel, and the motorists are stranded. A dead body is soon discovered in a car on the shoulder, and the victim has a metal spike sticking through his neck. As Billy realizes that no help will get through because the police are dealing with the bomb situation, she realizes that she is in charge. All the stranded motorists become suspects, and no one is admitting to knowing the victim, or seeing anything.

I found this to be a new and interesting take on the locked room mystery. The character of Billy was very interesting, with some backstory. The story jumps off the page from the get-go, and draws you right in. It is entertaining- but I found that the further I read, I lost interest. There are so many characters, and the story is told through multiple POV's. It started to get quite confusing at times because there seemed to be no transition between voices. There was also very little character development. I find that some of the most effective locked room mysteries that I have read rely on good character development- with information given so that you can put the pieces together. I think trying to keep the characters straight, and figure out who was talking, made the pace drag.

I did enjoy the character of Billy, and there were some surprising twists. Overall it was a somewhat entertaining read- but nothing that kept me on the edge of my seat.

Thank you NetGalley and Zaffre Books. This is my honest and voluntary review.

A very unique (in a good way) take on the locked room mystery. Instead of a typical "room" we have a car on a gridlocked highway. This novel is an absolute blast—a fantastic heroine and page-turning tension keep it fresh and exciting.

Thank you NetGalley! I loved the premise of this book, as a locker room thriller but on a traffic filled highway. It started out great and I was pulled in by the characters. I just couldn’t finish it

Billy is an "on leave" police officer returning to England after spending time away in Australia. She gets caught in the middle of a major traffic jam due to terrorist bombings, one of which closed down the tunnel. Soon, she is reluctantly involved in a murder investigation and all on her own as all the police are busy with the attacks throughout the city.
I thought the beginning was a bit slow moving, but overall, I really enjoyed the book. The author did a nice job of revealing who was who one bit at a time, rooting out the suspects, and the final reveal. There were enough red herrings thrown in there to keep you guessing.
I would have liked to have seen a more in-depth background of Billy and Dom's characters, as well as more attention given to the tension/resolution relating to the terrorist attacks. I thought the ending was a little weak, again, like there was too much missing information.
Thank you, Net Galley for the ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance feedback copy of this book.

What good is a locked room mystery without a locked room? In this case, the locked room is a stretch of British motorway ensnared in a massive traffic pileup due to...reasons. Perhaps a bit larger than the typical Victorian-era library or sitting room, but a clever idea and the setting works quite well.

It took a while for things to get going properly but when the story really picks up steam it's a difficult book to put down. There are a few issues with the pace, sometimes barely anything happens while at other times a lot of information is thrown the reader's way, but overall the short chapter structure helps to mostly mitigate those pacing issues.

The cast of characters is varied, although at the beginning there's a lot of them and when they are now being established it's difficult to keep track of who is who, especially when there is a switch from nicknames to real names. It gets a lot easier later on in the book to tell each one apart and any newer characters are introduced more rarely.

While I enjoyed reading and the book was something of a page-turner once things start moving along, I won't say that the plot is the most grounded. There just seem to be a bit too many coincidences and coincidences for everything to be 100% believable. But nothing is impossible, and it did keep me reading, so that's a plus.

The author has a solid foundation should they decide to go further from here with this character. It serves as a good introduction and there are a couple other characters I'd be interested in seeing pop up again.

It's not an absolute must-read, but you won't be disappointed.

It's rush hour on a busy motorway when a commuter's life is snuffed out in an unusual way. Soon-to-retire police officer Belinda 'Billy' Kidd sees the murder victim moments after it happens and does her best to secure the crime scene without evidence bags and a little help from a nurse. She speaks with those in vehicles nearby to get their perspectives. Everyone is a suspect. There is no way to leave the area which is flanked by traffic and a tall barrier, especially as terrorist activity in the city is draining emergency responder resources.

Like everyone, Billy has a past, fears and problems of her own but was given a fresh start. Her character realistically grated on me but interested me nonetheless. This story is more than a locked room mystery; it's about emotional growth and mindfully making better choices.

This claustrophobic novel is original, smart, character driven and told in multiple points of view. I felt the frustration, heat, and the desire just to get home after a busy day. A few circumstances are implausible but overall the novel was enjoyable, especially the fresh new crime scene idea.

I enjoyed my first experience with this author's writing a couple years ago, and I've been meaning to read more of her work ever since. I admit it took me longer than expected, but as soon as I first heard about the premise of Dead Mile last year I knew I simply HAD to read it. I love a good locked room thriller, and while this premise isn't a traditional locked room, the fact that the characters are locked in on the motorway with nowhere to go has the exact same effect. And while the pace wasn't always consistent, as a whole it was still an entertaining read.

The story is mainly set on a small section of a motorway after all traffic has come to a halt and there is no way out, although the last part is more dynamic. The plot is cleverly done and the premise is without doubt very original. Is it a plausible situation? Not exactly. Did every development and twist make sense? I don't think so. BUT. If you are able to suspend your disbelief, the journey itself is quite entertaining. I was a bit underwhelmed by the final part and ending though, as it left several threads unfinished and seemed too much like an easy way out.

The limited setting in Dead Mile also means there is a lot of focus on the main characters in play and their actions, although there wasn't quite as much character development as I thought there would be for a character-driven story. Instead, the main focus of the story seems to be on the fact that a man was murdered in the middle of the motorway, and the killer couldn't have gone away... With basically every character in play being a suspect along the way. Not a bad thing as it kept you guessing, but more character dept would have probably made it easier to keep the different characters apart. Without it, it took me some time to remember who is who (especially with the nicknames), and this slowed down the pace. The pace in general wasn't exactly consistent, and especially the middle dragged considerably. There were parts that were repetitive, and the story ended up being a lot slower than expected.

Dead Mile uses a multiple POV structure, although the main focus is on Billy. I kind of wish we would have just gotten her POV to be honest, because the other POVs could get quite distracting and I wasn't a fan of the style they were written in with its incomplete sentences and sometimes incoherent thoughts. Billy made for an interesting character despite the cliches, although she did frustrate me at times. I think Pat is the character that stood out most to me though.

While I didn't end up loving Dead Mile as much as I thought I would, I can't deny that the premise is very original and the story itself is still entertaining enough despite its flaws and once you adjust to the pace.

I finished this book in a couple of hours it was full of suspense, action and intrigue. There was literally something happening on every page

ON TREND: Evening Standard's 2023 trends piece predicts the locked-room mystery will continue to thrive this year and beyond! Good book!! This book had a bit of everything! It had suspense, intriguing, action, murder, mystery, terrorists, bombings, a good who done it and a few twists and turns! The story was interesting! I definitely recommend reading this book! It was a thrilling mystery! Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!