Lenny Stallard has just escaped from prison. Two years earlier during a robbery by Lenny, an elderly woman was stabbed to death. To this day Lenny says he was framed ... he did the burglary, but not the killing.

DS Kate Lewis is given the job of speaking to everyone who particpated in his trial, plus all the friends. Kate is certain he will show up somewhere close ... and worries that revenge might be on his mind.

Her worries might be coming true as the bodies of trial witnesses begin to mount up. But DS Lewis thinks this is not an open and shut case.

Kate takes this case very personally as her second in command, her husband DC Hayden Lewis is attacked twice by Stallard, once coming close to killing him.

AS she gets closer to digging out the truth, she also gets close to personal danger ..and it's closer than she thinks.

Lots of twists and turns in this one. Not everyone tells the truth, not even the truth they believe. Not everyone is who they say they are. And so many people with a credible motive.

I wasn't enthralled by the characters. Kate seems to think she's entitled to call her own shots ...like not calling for backup when it is clearly warranted. She talks to her husband like he's a second class citizen. He's a slob but has a sharp mind. Their supervisor is a man who seems to do more than his fair share of yelling. I just didn't connect with any of them.

My thanks to the author / Endeavour Press / Netgalley for the digital copy of this British crime thriller. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

While this book was a good read there were a few areas that I had issues with. The book is a British police procedural with a female protagonist. I loved the setting which was the Somerset Levels, not an area I have seen often in novels. The plot was great, I didn't get "whodunnit" until the main character figured it out. I had an issue with how the main character treated her husband. She called him fat man, complained that he was lazy, and said rude things about his clothes. She was also his superior in the police force and was horrible to him when he forgot the chain of command. I had a few other problems but they may give away the plot when I discuss them.

Very good read, really enjoyed it. The plot kept me engaged all the way through the book, it was hard to put down. I enjoyed the story line and the characters, a solid 5 out of 5.

DS Kate Lewis leads the search for an escaped killer who appears to me on a murder spree.
As the evidence points to Stallard and they are searching for him, her husband, DI Hayden Lewis
is critically wounded and in a coma. She carries on doing things against orders from Roscoe and
ends up in deep trouble.
The plot has a lot of suspense and action that carries throughout the story. It flows along
at a good pace and the characters are all very believable. I was impressed with Kates ability to continue
after Hayden was injured. It made her a strong lead for the department even though her boss was a pain.
I enjoyed reading it and would recommend it to others who enjoy a good mystery thriller.

Deadly Secrets is a very well written Detective book. I loved the plot and the setting for the book. This is my first book by this author but definitely not my last. I highly recommend this book.

Deadly Secrets by David Hodges is a mystery and thriller read.
You just can’t keep a good woman down…

Detective Sergeant Kate Lewis once again finds herself up to her neck in dead bodies and suspects.

Not only that, but feisty Kate believes that her own number is up when she finds herself staring at the wrong end of a double-barrelled shotgun on a sodden stretch of Somerset marshland.

She is on the trail of villain Lenny Stallard who has just broken out of the prison where he was serving time for the murder of the elderly wife of Colonel Stephen Slater during a robbery at their country residence near Bridgwater.

Revenge appears to be the motive and for DS Lewis’s superiors it is a cut-and-dried case as the corpses of trial witnesses begins to mount up.
I loved this book. Great story and great characters. Kate was my favourite character. Loved her personality. I loved the ending too. Will be reading more of this author. 5*. I voluntarily reviewed an advanced copy of this book from netgalley.