This is the second book in the Kate Fletcher series but it can easily be read as a stand alone. There are a lot of police procedurals out there but I found this to be one of the more realistic ones. The story held my interest and I liked the characters. I'm looking forward to reading the first in the series now.

My first experience of Heleyne Hemmersley's work, but it won't be my last - I've already downloaded the first in series as the second is so very good.

DI Kate Fletcher finds herself with an unexpected death on her hands when a body is found floating in the canal. With no identification, she has enough on her plate but then has to deal with a confession to assisted suicide. As that seems quite straightforward, Kate doesn't predict it taking up much time for her team and concentrates instead on trying to work out the identity of the deceased. However, it appears all is not as simple as first thought and - as strange as it sounds - Kate begins to wonder if there is a connection between both cases.

This is a fantastic crime thriller, an excellent police procedural and one where the investigation details are incredibly authentic and really work the reader's brain cells. It's a book which I have been completely invested in, and I loved everything about it. The characters are true-to-life; the investigation team are all individuals with differing personalities which is touched upon but not allowed to dominate the story. The writing flows beautifully, the plot is captivating and I really appreciate that, although this is the second in series, there is no constant harking back to the first one. This truly is a stand-alone read and, for me, it is worth nothing less than a full five stars! If you are a reader who enjoys a really great British police procedural, then this is one I strongly recommend.

My thanks to publishers Bloodhound Books for approving my request via NetGalley. This is my honest, original and unbiased review.

Happy Publication Day! Merciless is book two in the DI Kate Fletcher series. I have done it again! Read book two before book one HOWEVER, I have book one so I can go back and read it at some point. Merciless reads well as a standalone.

I must admit Caroline has to be one of the most clever, twisted and nasty characters I’ve ever had to endure during a book! I found Merciless and easy, fast paced read that I just had to devour… Two different cases but are they linked? It’s not always a conincidence! A cleverly written story, which will have the reader hooked! A real page turner. An unexpected dark outcome!

i cannot praise this book enough! a real page turner with likeable characters. a fantastic example of a brilliant police procedural storyline.

many thanks to netgalley and the publishers for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Two bodies, one apparently an accidental fall, the other a mercy killing of late stage cancer patient.
But all is not as it seems. Follow DI Kate Fletcher as she investigates. Could there be a connection?
Heleyne Hammersley has created a full cast of interesting and believable characters mixed with a storyline full of twists and turns.
Who is “J”?
#merciless#netgalley

Merciless is the second book in the author's DI Kate Fletcher police series set in Doncaster and whilst it does not quite reach the heights of the first book it is still a well written and interesting story

The book is more of a how and why rather than a who dunnit as it tells a large part of the story from the viewpoint of the perpetrator rather than the police team. This is something which I don't prefer in a crime novel as I like to read a story from the detection point of view. This is though a minor quibble and more a personal preference.

The story has a number of twists and turns and kept me page turning from the beginning to end.

Hopefully there will be further books in this series which I look forward to reading

This is another great book with DI Kate Fletcher.
A body is found floating in the canal and with no ID it takes a while to confirm who she is.
Kate is called back to the station as a woman has admitted to killing her father but will only speak to her.
Caroline seems very cold and detached to Kate but she takes her statement and then releases her pending further investigations.
More and more information comes to light and the team find themselves deeper and deeper into something none of them can quite grasp.
This is a gripping read and I loved the last few chapters especially as they really pulled you into the story.
Thanks to Bloodhound Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

I enjoyed this book! I didn't realize it was the 2nd in a series when I requested it. However, with the exception of a couple of references to the past of the main character, I didn't feel like I was missing anything. This could be read as a stand alone, but I am looking forward to reading the next in the series. Thank you #netgalley and #bloodhoundbooks for the eARC.

Early in the morning Detective Inspector Kate Fletcher is on her early morning run down by the canal when she comes across a woman's body floating in the water. Back at the station a woman has confessed to killing her father and will only speak to Kate.
The woman is the daughter of a stage 4 liver cancer patient and she has been looking after him. Kate now has two cases and her gut is telling her that they are connected but HOW.? When she delves deeper she discovers that it all leads back to when Caroline was a child. If Caroline hated her father with a vengeance, why did she come back to look after him?
This book was easy to read and I soon became enthralled with the story. It was a very good read. This author is one to look out for.
I would like to thank the author Heleyne Hammersley, Bloodhound books and Net.galley for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for giving an honest review.

DI Kate Fletcher is in the middle of a crime scene where a woman’s body has been found in a frozen canal when she gets word that a woman is at the police station and will speak only to Kate. Caroline Lambert confesses to leaving pills next to her husband’s bed side and then leaving the room. Dying from liver cancer, the man was in agony, and Caroline admits she left the pills there for him to end his life. Meanwhile, the woman in the canal remains unidentified until a man steps forward, believing the woman to be his mother, an oncology nurse. As Kate investigates, she is able to see that the two crimes are connected. Told through both Kate and Caroline’s perspectives, this is a mystery with strong character development and details

This is the second book to feature DI Kate Fletcher. Don't worry if you haven't read the first book in the series as it reads well as a stand alone


The story flicks between past, well to a matter of weeks leading up to, and present day. We get to see Kate in the present day trying to solve the identity of a body as well as dealing with a lady called Caroline who has handed herself in for the murder of her father.


The weeks leading up to the present we get to know Caroline better and see her relationship with her dad. There is obviously something from Caroline's past that is troubling her and I was intrigued to know more.


I like how the author weaves the story so that we get to see all sides. It draws you in and holds you there. Kate is a character that I had a lot of respect for and I liked the way she works and that she has a certain amount of compassion.


Merciless is a really intriguing read that is packed full of suspense. It certainly kept me on my toes and each chapter left me wanting more making it an impossible book to put down. Definitely a series that seems to be going from strength to strength.

Sam Cooper, a detective who lives on the waterfront, finds a female body on the waterfront. She calls Kate, her next in charge to report this. Kate does arrive but is soon called to hear the confession of murder from Caroline Lambert. Caroline admits to leaving morphine and whisky on her cancer-ridden father's tray. After visiting the scene of this "crime", Kate is dragged into Brenda's house. Brenda tells Kate how she has known the family for over 20 years and Caroline all of a sudden shows up - that she killed her father. And did Caroline's mother really commit suicide. Brenda is in her 70's and a bit sketchy.
7 weeks ago; Caroline receives letter from her sister (?) explaining how awful her dad is and she will know the right thing to do. Caroline, indeed, lets herself into her father's home - but only to gather things to bring for him at the hospital. Her dad, Dennis, is not a friendly sort.
Maddie meets a nurse at the hospital and they go out for drink. After plying Maddie with alcohol, Carolyn finds out that the nurse is deeply in debt. She bribes Maddie with $15,000 to get morphine and tranquilizers. Maddie becomes essential for more drugs to dose her dad and Caroline takes advantage of this debt.
The police, meanwhile, are putting the pieces together. Is this truly a mercy killing? Yes, dad dies, and guess what? Caroline does a "runner"' The police find her abandoned car and a letter inside says "Find Jeanette".
Everything begins to unravel when the police find Jeanette's best friend from many years ago, Julie Wilkerson.
A surprising conclusion to the well written and thought out story! Recommend! Many thanks to the publisher and NetGallery for this opportunity!!!

I'd like to thank Netgalley and Bloodhound Books for an advance copy of Merciless, the second novel to feature Doncaster based DI Kate Fletcher.

Kate is attending the scene of an unexplained death in a canal lock when she gets a call to return to the station where a woman wants to confess to killing her father but will only speak to Kate. The woman, Caroline Lambert, confesses to helping her father kill himself but one or two things niggle at Kate. Meanwhile the body in the canal remains unidentified although the pathologist can confirm she was murdered.

Merciless is a solid novel, well thought out and logical with every discovery leading to more information and an eventual solution. It also has some neat twists. It did not, however, capture my imagination and I found it an easy book to put down in favour of doing something else. Much of this is due to the format which is a mix of police procedural and psychological thriller, alternating between Kate and Caroline's perspectives. With Caroline explaining how she did everything as the novel progresses, except her motive although that is easily guessable early in the novel, the reader is left to follow Kate's investigation as she plays catch up.

Caroline is obviously smart and motivated to kill her father but her personality has undergone a massive change to get to that stage. I'm not sure it's overly convincing. Kate is drawn on more old fashioned lines where she is the dogged investigator but little is learned of her life outside work or thoughts and feelings.

Merciless is an easy way to pass a few hours.

4 stars

I read the Kindle edition.

DC Sam Cooper is an officer in the CID. She finds a body partially in a bin bag in the locks near her narrowboat. DI Kate Fletcher attends the scene. The woman has no identification. The pathologist will have to do a post mortem to learn the cause of death and see if he can get an ID.

While still at the scene, Kate receives a call from her DCI. There is a woman confessing to the murder of her father and she is at the station asking specifically for Kate. When she interviews the woman Caroline Lambert, Kate learns that her father Dennis had liver cancer and was in a great deal of pain and discomfort. She didn’t actually deliver the drugs to him, but left them in reach of his bedside and then left the house. He apparently took them himself.

The neighbor woman, who intimates that she had a “relationship” with Dennis Lambert, claims that Caroline didn’t come around for years and suddenly showed up a few weeks earlier. She claims that Caroline obviously murdered him. Of course, she doesn’t know that Caroline has already confessed.

The story is interspersed with letters to Caroline from an unknown person with the initial “J.” They are very informative and set up background information beautifully. From this information and other tidbits, we learn that Caroline is a liar and conniver. There are also flashbacks showing just exactly what happened to Dennis Lambert.

Kate attends the post mortems of the unidentified woman and Mr. Lambert. The woman’s death was due to a blow to the head; possibly with a brick. Dennis Lambert certainly had liver cancer, but not to the degree that her was terminal – yet. The results of his toxicology tests may ascertain more. DC Hollis, Kate’s right-hand officer and go-to favorite, comes up with the idea to interview the hospital staff to determine if there was anything off that they saw in the relationship between Dennis and Caroline.

A young man named Ethan Cox comes into the police station. He thinks that the dead man is his mother. Her name was Maddie Cox. She worked as a clinical nurse specialist in an oncology ward. Ethan has a photograph and Kate sees that it is the woman from the locks. The police begin to investigate Maddie’s life and work.

They begin to see a connection between the two cases. Further investigation shows that they are indeed connected. There is a race to the conclusion and things get pretty exciting with the missing Caroline showing up once again.

This is a good book. It is my first Heleyne Hammersley novel, and it won’t be my last. I immediately went to Amazon to look for others of her books. I like the way Kate’s team gets along. They work well together and make a good group of people. I like Kate’s management style. She is relatively easy going, but can put her foot down when she needs to. The book faltered in places, which is why I gave it only four stars. But, all in all a very good effort. Well done, Ms. Hammersley and keep writing.

I want to thank NetGalley and Bloodhound Books for forwarding to me a copy of this book to read, enjoy and review.

A great crime novel! The connections were done very well and I loved the characters. The plot was well executed and I am looking forward to read more from this author

A big thank you to Sarah Hardy at Bloodhound Books and to Netgalley for issuing me with my review copy of the book and for inviting me to participate on the blog tour!

Bloodhound Books really know how to pick addictive thrillers and this is probably one of the best I have read.

I couldn't read fast enough as I tried to guess where the story was going. Although this is the second in the series featuring DI Kate Fletcher, I didn't feel like I was missing too much on any essential information although I have purchased the first book as I enjoyed this one so much!

We follow Kate and her colleagues as they try to investigate a body that has been discovered in the local canal. With no idea on who this woman is, they certainly have their work cut out as they try to identify her. There is also the slightly more straightforward case involving a mercy killing. Or is it? As more and more discrepancies come to light, we learn things aren't quite what they seem...

We read about both investigations in alternate chapters and the author is certainly a master at leaving you on a knife's edge! When we learn how the cases are linked, the penny finally dropped for me and the storyline ramped up some more. Some of the storyline is very unpleasant to read but it definitely added to the plot and made you understand the actions of some of the characters. Heleyne Hammersley writes so well that you do feel a certain amount of sympathy for some characters which is hard given the situation.

I haven't read anything else by the author so she is a new name to me but I will definitely be reading more as I thoroughly enjoyed Merciless. I really warmed to Kate and can't wait to go back and read the first in the series!

An excellent written story with a gripping plot - what more can you ask for!

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.

This is the second in a series, but stands well on its own. DI Kate Fletcher and her team are investigating the body of a woman found floating in the canal, when Kate is called back to the station to deal with some one who wants to confess to a mercy killing. Of course the two cases turn out to be connected.

I found the switching between the different perspectives (that of the police in the present and Caroline in the recent past) a bit distracting; I would just get settled in to one narrative and then it was time to switch to the other. The Caroline segments were hard to read after a while as they were so unpleasant. I thought the pace generally was fairly slow; it was pretty obvious what had happened from at least the halfway mark and then at the end when Caroline says she is going to tell Kate what really happened, it turned out to be exactly what we knew already.