Starting a new life in Snowdonia was always DI Ruth Hunter’s dream. Until a twisted killer turned it into her worst nightmare.
Detective Inspector Ruth Hunter lives with the pain of her partner’s mysterious and unsolved disappearance. About to hit fifty, the veteran police officer trades in the crime-ridden streets of London for a more peaceful life in rural North Wales. But Ruth has barely … But Ruth has barely settled into her new position in North Wales Police, when the body of a brutally murdered woman is discovered…with strange symbols carved into her skin. Teaming up with an obstinate deputy, Ruth struggles to eliminate anyone from a long line of suspects. When another slain victim is discovered with the same cryptic markings, she’s forced to re-think the investigation.
Has Ruth got what it takes to solve the case before the murderer attacks again?
The Snowdonia Killings is the first book in the DI Ruth Hunter Crime Thriller series and set against the majestic backdrop of Snowdonia, a timeless land of Arthurian legend, folklore and myth. If you like dark police procedurals, psychologically complex characters, and shocking twists, then you’ll love Simon McCleave’s pulse-pounding debut novel.
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Great way to spend a rainy day.
Great geography lesson of welsh country
Another brilliant page turner – perfect winter crime reading!
Amazing plot and brilliantly written. Couldn’t put it down!!!
I have read the whole series and am looking forward to book 7 in the Snowdonia killings. They have great characters , the setting is lovely as I live in North Wales so I relate to the area. The plots keep you glued to the pages ! Thoroughly enjoyed them.
I loved this book, first of Simons I read. I wasnt keen on Nick at first but he grew on me the more of the series I read.
I enjoyed the characters. I have read three other of these Welsh mysteries by Mr. McCleave. I find them well written, characters realistic with flaws. The mysteries always have an interesting twist or turn. Ruth Hunter as a lesbian detective lends a different angle to the stories. Nick’s struggle with alcohol is a factor that keeps him human. I will continue to buy these books as long as Simon can keep them interesting.
Easy to read as you become invested in the characters very quickly. A police procedural book which shows the main characters flaws and pressures.
Recommend reading the whole series in order.
I had fun trying to guess the pronunciation of the many Welsh locations. And I loved the excellent descriptions of North Wales. The mystery had me guessing until the very end. I thought I had it figured out but I was wrong!
I enjoy mysteries with compelling settings, and this one delivers. Interesting main characters who are easy to care about, and lots of suspects who seem equally likely to have done the deed. Good reading.
I was not sure when I read the first one but I got hooked on this series.
The Brits write the best mysteries. I finished it and was ready to move on to #2.
Great start to the series. Kept me guessing a great story. I am reading number 2 in this series.
Set in Wales. A very good police procedural with great location description.
Can’t wait to pick up the next volume.
I read his books one after the other. This is a thoroughly enjoyable series.
4 years after her partner Sarah disappeared from a busy train, DI Ruth Hunter is fed up with her life in London. The constant death, destruction and mayhem made her cynical and she’s more than happy to change the hustle and bustle of the Met for the peace and quiet of North Wales. That her daughter lives in Liverpool is also an advantage. To her surprise, the CID at the fictitious town of LLancastel is talented and committed.
DS Nick Evans, a ‘recovering’ alcoholic, sees this new English arrival with a heavy heart. Like many Welsh mining families, he still feels a trace of bitterness towards the London Met since Thatcher send them to break their strike in 1984. He expects a cockney-know-it-all. Their first meeting doesn’t go too well and Ruth thinks him parochial and immature. And it doesn’t take long before she suspects that he has an alcohol problem, but she also notices that when he’s focused he’s a fantastic copper. When he gets to know her a bit better, he also warms to the cockney-‘plonk’.
CID Llancastell isn’t as rural and peaceful as Ruth assumed though. She’s only just arrived and hasn’t officially started yet as a report comes in about a coloured teacher who’s attacked and strangled on the teacher’s parking lot of the school. There’s a strange symbol carved into her hand.
The school paints a rosy picture of the dedicated and beloved teacher, but soon cracks appear in that image. Arabella was a ‘ball-breaking bitch ’ with a chip on her shoulder is a more realistic version of the truth. Though an ex-student admits that she was a good teacher. Ruth can’t believe sometimes how everybody knows everyone in this case and sometimes feels as if she’s in an episode of Midsummer Murders. Nick, her DS is related to a witness and went to school with another, he even attended the school in question and knows several people there.
Then the school principal, an Indian muslim, gets murdered in the same fashion. Nick and Ruth (who were there to question him) see a person in a pig mask run away. What is going on? Someone that hates teachers or people of colour or is it personal?
Here and there the story is interrupted with flashbacks of Nick’s niece’s suicide and Sarah’s disappearance. 2 incidents with a major impact on the lives of both leading detectives. Only one of those is relevant for this case, but it also creates a background for the main characters. As there’s no follow-up or solution for the other one, I suppose that this will come back in the next books.
With a few well-chosen words, the author paints a clear picture of the various characters. You can imagine them right in front of you. The whole book is very visual. The vivid descriptions of the amazing nature in the national park make you want to leave immediately for a holiday. Nick’s preference for Welsh myths and legends gives us an insight into the local history as well.
When I thought ‘not another lesbian detective’ (haven’t we got enough of those already? Before long people think that it’s a requirement), I noticed that she wasn’t all that politically correct, at least she was still smoking. And she has a past: as a youngster, she smoked weed and took ecstasy at concerts. Apart from her past, she’s an excellent detective and an experienced SIO. She’s not all that eager in calling in the help of one of the larger CID’s outside of Wales as she finds out that her own team is competent enough, despite not having too much experience with murders. They do know the community.
Any mistakes? Yes, of course, there are some, the main one is that the age of the teacher is first given as 53 by herself and later as 51 by the team. The reverse would be more likely unless she fibbed to the school. It may also be good to point out that acronyms as CPS have a completely different meaning in the UK than in the USA.
Nick says somewhere that getting of alcohol is more dangerous than coming off heroin. It may be a soul saver for him, but the truth isn’t as forgiving. I know first-hand how bad a cold turkey heroin detox can get with epileptic seizures and all; a close friend of mine had a spontaneous abortion that way. Nevertheless, cutting down yourself, the way Nick tries to do is extremely difficult, dangerous and is seldom successful (that’s true for all addictive drugs!). The thoughts and emotions of an addict (to whatever) are very well put into words. Especially the dread when realising that you can never drink again and the description of alcohol as a trusted friend are so true and totally relatable! It is definitely one of the most accurate and compassionate renderings of this situation that I’ve come across. I can only hope that the author doesn’t struggle with this problem himself.
If anything, the author tries to put an awful lot into this volume with the myths and the addiction problem, the enquiry takes second place sometimes. As for the solution of the case, I had a vague sense that it was going in this direction and I was not far from the truth.
There’s a short prequel to this series downloadable for free from the author’s website. I must admit that I haven’t read it yet, but will repair that in short.
I think that Mr McCleave must have some inside police information because the jokes and police history are too well-chosen and plausible to be mere fictional inventions. They’re quite funny as well, but surely the anecdote about guarding the pm with a handbag must be true.
Overall, I’m very pleased with this new series and the detectives involved. Certainly, interesting enough to read the next books in this series. So, if the author reads this, please send them my way. I thank him for this free ARC and this is my unbiased and honest review of it.
Ah, Wales! I have always been fascinated with this part of the world with its mysteries and stories. When I saw this novel was placed in this area, I was drawn to read it and was not disappointed. Not only does the author craft a wonderful twisting plot, but he skillfully weaves the legends and landscape of the area into the drama. This story also has the internal struggles of two detectives, one a new arrival from the big city and the other a local. As they are thrown together to solve two murders in the small community, they find that they work well together despite their different experiences and origins. Along the way, they also start to encourage each other to rise above their personal difficulties. If you like a good procedural detective story with deep subplots and motives, you’ll likely enjoy this story.
Good cozy mystery.
Awful. Wales deserves better. Good descriptions of Welsh landscape (2 stars instead of 1), though. Too much seemed like filler rather than needed; can skip a lot of pages. Plus no likeable characters. Does the author know any Welsh people as opposed to just some words? Predictable. Can figure out the killer well before the end. Author tries too hard in general and in trying to be politically correct–some of it is funny when it should be serious. Fortunately I got to ‘read for free.’