I love a new detective series to get my teeth into and I really enjoyed meeting Beth Young. At the start of The Silent Dead, she is just beginning her first week with the Force's Major Investigation Team, and I liked that, as readers, we are learning about her role and the dynamics of her team at the same time as she is. Beth is tenacious and smart and has a colourful past behind her. I look forward to seeing where Smith takes her in future. Beth's colleagues also have interesting personal lives, which have also intrigued me in this novel and have the potential to create interesting plot lines as the series continues.
I like my crime novels to be full of blood and guts and gore, and Smith takes this to another level. There are some scenes in The Silent Dead where even I was gasping in horror at the enormity of the crimes in the novel. However, this did not put me off in the slightest, and I wanted Beth to find her perpetrator.
The Silent Dead has short chapters which contribute towards an incredibly fast pace. The tension is always high, and with leads at a premium, there is definitely a feeling that Beth and her team are in a race against time. This is heightened by the chapters from the perspective of the perpetrator (or are there two?) which gave me an idea of how twisted they were but also kept me guessing.

For some reason I just could not get into this book. It felt slow and drawn out and I could not connect with any of the characters. I thought maybe it was because I was tired on the first day I started it so I put it down and picked it back up the next day and still just could not get into it.
A man is kidnapping people to be his angels and he is the dragon master. He led a bad childhood with a monster of a mother which you do know from the beginning so it is not a spoiler. Even though I love police procedurals and psychological thrillers, there was just something lacking here and can't quite figure out what it was.

This is the first of Graham Smith’s books that I’ve read, and I really enjoyed it.
Beth is new to the team and finds it hard to fit in at first. Her boss is firm but fair and Beth soon learns not to take things too seriously.
Her first job is the discovery of a body in a cellar in an old building, but nothing can prepare her for the way the body has been left.
All the team are shocked and realise they’ve got a really twisted killer on their hands.
More bodies are soon discovered and they’ve all been tortured and had wings attached to their backs.
Beth and the team have a race against time to find the killer, but soon one of their lives are in danger.
This is a gripping read and the final few chapters will have you racing through the pages to see how it ends.
Thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

A police procedural showing the difficulty of finding serial killers. It has a great plot, excellent characters and it's well written except it would have been better with less unnecessary descriptions.

The Silent Dead, the first novel in a new police procedural series featuring DC Beth Young and set in Cumbria, is highly original, deeply interesting and immersive right from the first couple of pages. The unique storyline really drew me in and was what attracted me to the book initially. I enjoyed the writing and the pace, however, I had correctly guessed the killer very early on which led to me getting a little bored over the rest of the novel as there were no more surprises and tension was at a minimum. Although I liked Beth as a character I did find her difficult to understand as no background was given of her previous employment before joining the Cumbrian Force Major Incident Team (FMIT) and her fitting in right away with many of her colleagues readily confiding in her seemed highly improbable and unrealistic to me.

The premise was a sound one but unfortunately, it was lacking in terms of execution. This makes me sad to say as the concept was so, so good. If you enjoy dark, disturbing and brutal crime fiction then this may be a perfect fit for you. I hope in the second book we get to know much more about Beth and see her character develop and evolve over the passage of time. I also hope the perpetrator is as twisted and intriguing as he was here.

Many thanks to Bookouture for an ARC.

DC Beth Young has only been with the Force Major Investigation Team for a week before she got her first murder case. This is not just some ordinary run of the mill killing. The body of a man was found in a derelict building with a burned mouth and wings on his back. Beth believes this killing is the beginning of something much much bigger and much more sinister than anyone realizes. A killer is on the loose, one that Beth believes is just getting started. When the body count starts to rise and the FMIT is no closer to catching the killer, Beth is left trying to decipher the clues before anyone else turned up dead. But now, Beth has captured the attention of the killer. Will Beth be able to stop him before she becomes the next victim?

The Silent Dead is the first book in the Detective Beth Young series and it starts out with a bang as you are thrust right smack dab in the middle of a murder investigation. Beth is the youngest detective on the FMIT and she sees clues and has a knack for picking up things others may have missed. But, not everyone on the team is happy with her being on the FMIT which makes Beth’s job just a little bit harder. She wants to be accepted as an integral member of the team, but in order to do so, she needs to keep her head in the game while making sure she does not screw up and become the butt of any more office jokes.

Beth is one tough cookie though. She is scarred both on the inside and outside and she does not cower easily. I love a female protagonist that can hold her own especially in a field primarily dominated by men. But, Beth does have some issues for me. At times, I wished she would have spoken up more, bu then again as the newest member of the team I can see how she did not want to muddy the waters. Beth is very smart and thinks out of the box. She looks at things as if they were a puzzle as she slowly puts together the pieces. I found her to be a great asset to the team. We do learn some of her backstory which I am sure will be further explained in later books in the series. I am really looking forward to learning more about Beth.

The plot of the story is pretty original. It is quite gory though, which I absolutely loved. The narrative is primarily told through Beth’s eyes, but we do get chapters dedicated to the killer where we get to learn more about him as well. I love when an author takes the time to include a killers thought and actions as it makes the book even more sinister. Graham Smith has penned an imaginative story centered around our killer and this is where the book really shined for me. This killer is completely deranged. The things he does is utterly shocking and made me squirm quite a few times.

While I loved the story, I did have a few issues with the overly descriptive text and felt that a few things could have been left out, but in no way did it take away from my enjoyment as a whole. I will definitely be continuing on with this series as Smith is a brilliant writer and holds nothing back and brings new meaning to the creep factor. I just love a story that can make me go “oh ewww,” while secretly enjoying every minute of it.

The Silent Dead is a riveting and intoxicating police procedural that takes the creep factor and kicks it up a notch. If you love a thriller/police procedural with just the right amount of gore and mystery then you will love The Silent Dead. I highly recommend you pick yourself up a copy and immerse yourself into the mind of madness.

I devoured this book, such a page-turner! If a crime has me still debating 'whodunnit' right up to the very end then I'm a happy reader! It was very clever writing making you question which of 2 people it could be and which was the red herring.

Let me state straightaway that it feels a rare thing indeed for a book to be set in my beloved home county Cumbria. It was such a delightful change to read about places that I know and love so well and definitely helped my enjoyment of the book....however in saying that the story alone would have kept me captivated.

Detective Beth Young is new to the major crime team in her native Cumbria and has a whopper of a case for her first one - someone is killing people and posing them with bird wings surgically attached to their bodies in some kind of ritualistic manner. Beth faces a race against the clock as the killer raises their game and starts killing quicker - and in more fiery ways! (There may or may not be an intended pun there - suffice to say some of the detail was gruesome without being too much to be off putting though.)

I found Beth's development within the team fascinating and really enjoyed her logical ways of thinking through the case, I so do not have brains for the police force! Can she solve the crime in time and stay safe in the process? You honestly need to read this to see for yourself!

I can't recommend this highly enough- fast-paced and gripping, literally kept me wanting more and so nice to see such a strong female lead who was likeable and who I was rooting for. I will certainly be looking up more books from this author and beyond hope that this isn't the last we've seen from Detective Beth Young!

My thanks to Bookouture via NetGalley for providing me with this advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is book #1 in the Detective Beth Young series. Based in the North of England, in the Lake District area, Beth Young is a new member of the team for the Cumbrian Major Crimes Team. The team are working on the case of a body found by a bride on her wedding day in an old castle. As more bodies turn up, Beth and her boss DI Zoe O’Dowd are having to work hard to work out what is going on.

This is the second book I’ve read by this author, with the previous book being part of another series. This is a real gritty crime book with plenty of gruesome mystery and lots of suspense and tension. The characters are perfectly suited for this book, with the newcomer Beth Young being a particular favourite. Beth is very likeable and you can relate to her character in so many ways. She’s also like a dog with a bone and fights for what she thinks is right! The other characters all work well with each other and there is plenty of room for future storylines with them all.

The book begins with a horrific discovery and the unsettling feeling that this gives you right at the beginning continues right throughout the book. As in the previous book that I have read by this author, the gruesome and chilling nature of the murders makes you wonder where on earth this author gets the ideas from! There are plenty of twists and turns and I found myself rushing through the pages just to get to the end to find out what was going on.

This book set my teeth on edge, gave me the shivers and made me want to check all the doors and windows….several times! It is a really exciting start to this new series by a great author. If you love a gritty, chilling thriller of a story, then this is your book. Would definitely recommend!

Take an out of the way historic building being used for a wedding ceremony add a gruesome element and you get a taste of what's to come in this latest addition to Graham Smiths repertoire. The last thing the bride expected to see was a dead body on the happiest day of her life but this brings us in touch with Beth Young and the Cumbrian major crimes team. Beth is the newest member of the team, still finding her place within the tight unit when they answer the call to the scene. A body displayed in a ritualistic manner for all to see greets the team and its their job to track down the killer. Luck is on the teams side as Beth has the ability to read scenes and clues in ways different to the rest. The tenacious young detective bears scars externally and emotionally and she will fight for justice and resolution. As they are met with more bodies its a race to find what or who the victims have in common in order to bring the killer to justice.
The author has gifted us yet another flawed , tenacious and justice driven main character that we the readers can relate to and grow to enjoy reading about. As the book unfolds we follow Beth as she strives to find her niche within the team and how they start to let her into their close little team.
The book is a gripping read from an author who understands his audience and boy he delivers yet again. A thrilling first novel of what I'm sure will be yet another successful series of books with Beth in the driving seat.. The author knows how to craft a book and a main character that readers engage with from page one and keeps you wrapped in its pages till the final full stop.

In this new series set in Cumbria we are introduced to DC Beth Young who has just joined the major investigation team FMIT.
The team is lead by DI O`Dowd and in Beth`s first week she is thrown into an investigation involving the discovery of a mans naked body, displayed in a ritualistic manner, his arms extended and a pair of wings surgically attached.
More bodies turn up with the trade mark wings, posed in derelict stately homes throughout the Lake District.
FMIT struggle to make sense of the killings.
Beth a lateral thinker and finds her love of puzzles giving her an advantage in her pursuit of this twisted serial killer.
As they search for a link between the victims we learn the gruesome manner of their deaths as the killer strives to reach his goal.
This is a gripping police procedural that grabbed me from the beginning.
The characters are interesting and the team work so well together, we learnt a little of their personal stories and I for one want to know more.
I look forward with anticipation to the next book in the series.
Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the chance to read this as an ARC.

Graham Smith is an author I have heard a great deal about,but had never read any of his books. So when I saw that he had a new series coming out, I thought this would be the perfect place to start. I do love the beginning of a new series, as you start to get to know the characters, find out about the protagonist and their strengths and weaknesses and begin to understand something about them. The layers that these characters have start to settle in your mind and before you know it you are hooked.

I have a strong feeling that Beth Young will become a firm favourite.

By now it’s no secret that I like my crimes to be dark and sinister and if they make huge ripples in their own worlds, so much the better.Beth Young’s first case is a cracker and a wonderful start to an excellent new series.

D.C. Beth Young has transferred from CID to the Cumbrian Force Major Investigation Team. Reporting to DS Thompson and Head of the FMIT, DI Zoe O’Dowd, she is keen to make a good impression. Her skill lies in her ability to look at a case from all angles and see what others can’t – to discover patterns or links in cases that are not immediately obvious. An intuitive thinker, she’s ambitious, but not forceful.

Beth’s first challenge comes in her very first week with her new team. Emily Welton is getting married in a grand country house hotel when she stumbles across a hideously disfigured body Angus in the grounds of a decaying once grand country mansion .

Clearly staged and displayed the bride has the presence of mind to call on her cousin, a policeman, to call in the police while she tries to put the scene to the back of her mind and get married to the man of her dreams.

Beth’s backstory is one that she carries with her. She has facial scars from an incident in a pub when she was younger when she was younger and this sometimes makes her quite defensive. She’s not immediately impressed by DS Thompson who straight away calls her ‘Young Beth’ which gets right under her skin.

The other principal member of the team is Unthank Hewson. Hewson and O’Dowd don’t seem to get on, yet Beth quite quickly comes to realise that he can see what an asset she could be to the team. This is a unit that doesn’t quite gel, yet which needs to work closely together if the crimes are going to be solved.

It isn’t long before more grotesquely displayed bodies are found in dilapidated stately homes across the Lake District and Beth’s powers of observation and lateral thinking will have to be at the forefront if this case is to be solved before anyone else dies.

This is a fast paced novel where the gruesome finds do not seem to offer up any obvious clues. Throughout the novel, we hear from the unnamed voices of two men who seem to play a part in these gory and unpleasant deaths – but who are they and is one the murderer?

In a race against time, Beth will be up against a deadly, twisted killer and my heart was in my mouth as I got caught up in this deadly game of cat and mouse. Smith keeps up the tension and this dark, intense thriller is just the thing for dark winter nights when you know that you are safely inside,away from the clutches of a warped serial killer.

Smith provides both clues and red herrings to keep the reader’s mind churning and I was totally caught up in the story as the next victim was stalked in a deeply creepy and fashion.

As I watched Beth try to piece the puzzle together whilst finding her way in this new team, I realised I was willing her to succeed and that she had caught my imagination in a big way.

Verdict: A great character in what is bound to be a successful new series.

Some of you may be familiar with Graham Smith's other brilliant series featuring Jake Boulder. If you're not, please go forth and fix the error of your ways 😉. Now, Graham Smith has decided to walk a different path with a new crime police procedural.

The Silent Dead introduces us to Beth Young, who has just recently started working at the Force Major Investigation Team (FMIT). Beth is indeed young, determined and ambitious. Spurred on by the scars she carries herself, her main focus is justice for the victims and their families whose lives have been changed forever because of a crime.

When the body of a man is found in a derelict mansion, Beth and the rest of the FMIT team face an uphill battle. Who is the victim? Why was his body left in this particular place? What did he do that could possibly warrant such an incredibly gruesome death? It becomes clear quite early on that the killer has a plan and they won't stop until their mission is completed.

The investigation is an utterly frustrating one, a feeling I very much shared with the team. I wasn't able to connect the dots at all and was left to think I was missing vital clues somewhere. But Beth has an uncanny way of thinking slightly out of the box, which is pretty admirable. Despite that, I didn't really like her all that much, although I can't quite put my finger on the why. That said though, I really enjoyed following a character at the start of their career as opposed to an experienced and often disillusioned DI.

The Silent Dead has a great plot and crisp writing, as I've come to expect from Graham Smith. It creates the perfect foundation for a brand-new series and is an exciting and brilliant first instalment. Beth has a rather different background than most of the detectives we tend to meet in this genre and it will be interesting to see how that develops. If at all. I can't wait to see where Graham Smith takes Beth and this series next.

Who can tame the Dragon Master?

"Whatever demons were haunting this killer needed to be contained, preferably by a lengthy confinement at Her Magesty's pleasure."

The first victim was found in a cellar. DC Beth Young, newly assigned to the Force Major Investigation Team in Cumbria, is horrified by what she sees -- wings glued to the dead man's back and a scorched mouth. Under the direction of DI Zoe Dowd along with DS Thompson and DC Unthank, this team begins an intense investigation even as the body count goes up. With few clues left behind by the forensically aware killer, all are aware that they have a diabolical mastermind intent on a mission. The manhunt is extensive with the FMIT running down every possible lead in hopes of bringing the psychopath to justice. NO SPOILERS.

What a great start to a new series! I love crime thrillers with all the grisly details, great police work and unique characters. This case was quite absorbing and there was lots of action along with the description of the tedious nature of chasing down every possible angle. Putting the jigsaw puzzle together is something that DC Beth Young excels at. She is very relatable and has a great backstory and I can't wait to see how she grows in her job as the series continues. I was quite pleased that there was no romantic angle in the story! The team is forming strong bonds and are becoming multi-dimensional as well. I enjoyed the quality writing, especially as the author has quite a humorous turn of phrase at times. Since the reader also reads the point of view of the killer, the motivations behind the psychopathology become known to us long before the FMIT piece it all together. This author was previously unknown to me but I definitely will be most eager to read the second book in this series and have no doubts I will devour it as quickly as I did this one!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the e-book ARC to read and review.

Well ... if you want a dramatic way to make a wedding memorable, then you can't get much more so than the opening scenes of The Silent Dead. You'd think that a remote and slightly crumbling stately home or castle would be a lovely and romantic place to set your wedding. And that would probably be true if there wasn't the small matter of the body in the basement. And not just any body. A man who has been killed in the most horrific of circumstances and had wings attached to his back. And, unfortunately for the Cumbrian Police, he will not be the killers only victim ...

The Silent Dead introduces a whole new police force, and a new protagonist in the form of DC Beth Young. Newly appointed, Beth is a determined and quite fierce young Detective, but one with a lot to prove - to her colleagues and to herself. She has a troubled past - not in the traditional sense that you find in many police stories of this ilk - but it certainly makes her stand out from the crowd so to speak. She doesn't let it define her, but it does put her in an awkward spot as the story progresses. She is keen on puzzles, quite astute and, despite being the youngest and newest member of the team, regularly a confident to the other officers, even those who out rank her. I really liked Beth and she's a character I'll be intrigued to see more of in the future as I think she has a lot of potential to develop.

Story wise, Graham Smith has really pushed the boat out in creating a unique and rather grotesque manner of killing his victims. There is little pattern to the people who are chosen and the manner of each death seems to grow in violence but also in refinement as the killer perfects their craft. He manages to create misdirection in the way in which he frames the narrative, introducing passages into the story told by two mystery male voices. But which, if either, is the killer? Well you'll have to read to find out. Both are a tad disturbing if truth be told, and there were times when the skin was crawling while reading the book. The motivation for the murders is not unusual, the chosen method of execution bizarrely unique.

The pacing is spot on and the camaraderie, and often the lack of it, between the team of Officers add a touch of authenticity to the story. While they work together when the chips are down, it's unrealistic to expect perfect harmony at all times and this is reflected in the story. I'll be honest, I struggled a little with Beth's DI, Zoe O'Dowd, who was quite a strong character and not always likeable. Likewise DS Thompson comes across as a bit of a dinosaur and a bullish character, but the more you learn about them, the more sympathetic they both become. Still not sure I entirely liked O'Dowd, but I'd warmed to Thompson a bit more by the end.

If you ware looking for a unique, edgy police investigation based read with a very dark selection of murders perpetrated in what should be picturesque and idyllic settings, then this will definitely be the book for you. I really liked the setting, the premise and Graham Smith's new, fiesty protagonist and I can't wait to read more.

I enjoyed the plot and Beth's characterisation, although at times the author is a little heavy-handed. O'Dowd and the rest of the FMIT team develop as she gets to know them. They have complicated personal lives and histories, and felt like real people. I liked the misdirection of two anonymous creeps narrating their chapters. It was very confusing, but I worked it out with Beth.
There's potential for a really good police procedural/thriller series here and this is a good opener. Who'd have thought the picturesque Lakes could be so full of fire and death.

Full review on blog after 2/12/2018

This is a really good read. The plot is really good and full of suspense and twists. The characters were interesting and engaging and the whole book was well written. I hope there are more books to come in this series.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

The Darling Dead is the first book in the Detective Beth Young series, and I was hooked. The book started out with OMG! and did not disappoint. It was Brilliantly written, dark with lots of twists and turns and so much suspense throughout I would highly recommend this new author. This is my first book from this author, it certainly will not be the last.

Big Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for an advance copy of The Darling Dead, the first novel to feature DC Beth Young of the Cumbrian Police.

The first in a new series from this outstanding author is, The Silent Dead, Beth Young Book 1. What a treat I think we are in for if this first book is anything to go by.
Detective Beth Young has just joined the Cumbrian major crimes team, so her first case is going to be something she'll be remembered for. Able to think outside the box, Beth is going to be a great asset to this team.
When a body is discovered in the grounds of a hotel, discovered by none other than the blushing bride, who is not going to let anything spoil her big day.
It's down to the Major Crimes team to figure out what has happened. When more bodies start to turn up, it becomes a race against time.
Not only is the clock ticking, so is your heart, in this superb, disturbing, thrilling, twisted, edge of your seat, race to find a killer.
For me, Graham Smith has smashed it again with another read you will not want to put down. Don't just take my word for it, read some of the other reviews. Better still read the book and make up your own mind. I don't think anyone is going to be disappointed, certainly not fans of Graham's writing.
If like me you have to play armature detective and try and figure out who the killer was, then I think you are going to be getting it wrong. I certainly did. That to me is the sign of a great book, not being able to guess who it was until the very end. As I've said, there was some great tension throughout this book and it really does help make it and edge of your seat read. It really does amaze me how, after so many books authors like Graham Smith still manage to come up with some of the idea's they do. Where does that mind go to when writing. Wherever it is, keep going there.
I think Beth is going to be an amazing character over the course of this series, I know from past books I have read by this author that he has a great ability to develop characters into loveable, likeable, readable characters. Beth will have plenty of room to grow and I look forward to getting to know her a whole lot more. There is just something brilliant when you know you have just found another series to follow.
Happy Reading folks.

Don't you just love it when a favourite author creates a brand sparkly new series for your reading pleasure?  Since I've discovered Graham Smith's writing, he's gone on to create the fantastic Jake Boulder and now the tenacious Beth Young!!
The Silent Dead kicks off with a horrifying discovery on what should be Emily Welton's happiest day of her life, her wedding day! And what follows leads into a dark and twisted crime thriller from Mr Smith.
I feared for all the characters once I'd read the post mortem of the first victim.  I won't spoil the shock factor for you but this is a truly unique MO which I don't think I'll read about ever again!!
I adore Beth, she's eager and open to thinking outside the box so to speak. She's a spunky new DC who is keen to impress those around her.  The team around her aren't perfect but that makes them human.  I had images in my head of Unthank, Thompson and O'Dowd as they progressed through the investigation.
I love the rapport between Beth and Hewson.  There is a mutual respect for each other's thoughts and skills.  Hewson soon cottoned on to Beth's thirst to learn and explore less-than-normal avenues. I can't wait to see this relationship develop especially given the animosity yet quiet respect between Hewson and DI O'Dowd putting Beth squarely in the position of piggy in the middle.
"He was more than just a twisted killer, he thought he was better than everyone else"
Now our killer....he is one sick individual. It's amazing what thought patterns go through people's heads and with this particular individual, Mr Smith has created a despicable individual with a warped mind for murder.
I normally hate it when people say that an author's new book is their best yet but this time I genuinely believe Mr Smith has written his darkest, most chilling crime thriller to date. I can't recommend this book highly enough if you love your crime fiction!

Can a smart young constable help solve this latest case? Beth Young is the newest member FMIT team and she is here to prove that she has what it takes but her boss isn't so sure. A body is found and it is a horrific scene. The victim has been staged and had wings attached to his back. Can the team find this sick killer before another victim is found? Unfortunately they are too late and more victims are found and the team is racing against the clock. Beth thinks she knows what the killer is trying to do, he is trying to create dragons and that means that his victims have suffered terribly. But what is his motive what has driven him to this point? Beth knows that she can find the answers and she just needs to figure out who he is. But can the team put all their personal issues aside and work together to stop him for good?
The killer is hiding in plain sight and he knows that he can get away with his crimes and he has Beth in his sights she will make a perfect victim. In his mind they all deserve to die he won't stop until he has found them all.
A great read keeps you wanting to turn the pages to see what is coming next. I really hope that Beth can find the answers that she is looking for and that she will be able to find the person that changed her life that night.
I was lucky enough to receive a copy via Netgalley & the publishing house in exchange for my honest review.