Dead Inside by Noelle Holton

Synopsis

The killer is just getting started...

When three wife beaters are themselves found beaten to death, DC Maggie Jamieson knows she is facing her toughest case yet.

The police suspect that Probation Officer Lucy Sherwood - who is connected to all three victims - is hiding a dark secret.  Then a fourth domestic abuser is brutally murdered.

And he is Lucy's husband,

Now the police are running out of time, but can Maggie believe her friend Lucy is a cold-blooded killer?

Author: Noelle Holton
Publisher: Killer Reads
Publication Date: 31st May 2019

My Review

To be honest I was a little apprehensive about starting this book.  I have read so many great reviews but what if it didn't live up to my highly built up expectations?  I am so relived to say,  Oh my god, it certainly did stand up and was everything I hoped it would be and a little bit more.  I loved, loved, loved this book.

It is a dark story of domestic abuse and murder but it's told in a very human and touching way.  I felt deeply involved with all the characters, even the ones I didn't like that much got under my skin.

The main thing I liked about this book were that the characters were not just fictional characters.  They lived and breathed on the page like the humans they were portraying.  There was such conflict in each character.  Lucy, a strong probation officer was falling apart inside and ground down due to the domestic abuse she was suffering from her husband Patrick.  Patrick on the other hand was a wife beater but even he was shown to have a softer side.  Deep inside he did love Lucy and his kids but his own upbringing fuelled with violence had cast him onto the wrong path.

Maggie was another one of the leading characters. She's seconded from a Homicide Team to work under the Domestic Violence umbrella.  We know little of her back story apart from that she needed a break after a difficult case.  She's nicely portrayed in the book as a strong female but inside she has been shaken by the events of the previous case and I have a feeling that more will be revealed as the series goes on.

There was a little bit of everything I enjoy in a book. The police investigation, was woven through nicely, just enough without being in your face.  The grizzly murders were given just the right amount of page space without being grim just for the sake of it and the domestic abuse was sprinkled into all the right places when needed.

The story flowed effortlessly and this book kept me awake long into the night.  The saddest part of all was that it had to end and we are left in limbo for a while until we can hopefully follows Maggie's story further and learn more about the characters we have met in this awesome book.