Another excellent read from Helen Durrant!
Next Victim is a fast paced thriller, which has the reader rooting for Rachel King, the Detective who, although separated from her husband is keeping a huge secret, not only from him, but also her colleagues and her daughters! When the first victim is found badly burned and mutilated, it is the beginning of some seemingly unconnected killings - is it a serial killer, or more random? Is it a coincidence that the local bad boy Jed McAteer, has got back in touch after an absence of many years? What does he know about the crime and what does he want from Rachel? As the murders continue, her daughter Mia who has insulin dependent diabetes goes missing. Will she be the killers next victim? Does Rachel have to reveal her secret to the team in order to find Mia? How can she enlist the help offered by Jed without disclosing her relationship?
I found the characters in this story very believable and their different personalities added real interest to the storyline. It is a well written crime fiction book that I feel has the capacity to run into a very healthy series. More of Rachel King please!
Thanks to NetGalley for my digital copy, and to the publisher Joffe Books, and not forgetting Helen Durrant herself for allowing me the privilege of reading and reviewing this book. All opinions are my own.

This was an excellent book that I thoroughly enjoyed, having read all previous books by Helen Durrant.
It keeps you enthralled from beginning to end and DCI Rachel King investigates a killing of a young gay man in Manchester and a villain who was once the love of her life has re-entered her life.

The author wrote a thriller that started with a bang and just kept going! The twists kept coming, so I couldn't put it down. I cannot wait to read more from this author!

Exhausted, overworked and trying to deal with two teenagers with little help from her ex; what Rachel King doesn’t need is an early morning call to a murder scene. Added to her complicated life is a series of text messages from an ex-boyfriend/lover who wants to reconnect with her. She loves him but a major problem is that he is a well-known villain, active in an around Manchester.

Leaving the chaos of her home behind her, she arrives at a grizzly scene. A young man has been tortured, cut up and burned then tossed into the canal. There are few clues, a homeless man who heard the cries of the young man while being tortured can give them no help.

And then another body appears on the scene. The only apparent link is that they are gay, beautiful young men.

While all this is happening, Rachel’s younger daughter is kidnapped but there is nothing to suggest where the murderer might have taken her. Meantime, Rachel is trying to keep her relationship with the crime boss a secret from her team but relies on him to help find her daughter.

The story unfolds with many twists and turns until the final reveal, which for me was totally unexpected.

This is the first of Helen Durrant’s novels I have read, but give it 5 stars as a totally readable and engrossing story.

Thanks, Netgalley for another great crime story.

This is the first book in a new police procedural series, featuring DCI Rachel King and her sidekick DS Elwyn Price, set in and around Manchester.

Rachel is mother to two teenage daughters, lives next door to her ex-husband, and her true love is the local villain Jed McAteer. When the body of a young man is found tortured and thrown into the canal Rachel is assigned the case. There is also a sub-plot where a friend of Rachel’s eldest daughter is trying to find her missing twin brother who disappeared mysteriously as a child.

This is my first Helen H Durrant book and I found it easy to read, and very enjoyable. The character of Rachel is well fleshed out and Rachel herself is a likeable character. I would have liked a bit more back story for the other members of her team, but perhaps that will come in future books in the series. The story is paced just right and the many twists all come together nicely to give a satisfying ending.

A great start to a new series and I look forward to reading the next one.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is book one in a new series to feature detective Rachel King. Set in Manchester with Rachel juggling raising her two teenage daughters with her ex husband living next door. This is very well written and promises to be a cracking good series. I really enjoyed it. My thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.Reviews on Amazon, Goodreads and Facebook.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the book in exchange for an honest review.
This is the first book by Helen Durrant that I have read and I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I would like to read more of DCI Rachel King of the serious crime squad for east Manchester CID and hope that there will be more in this series. I thought the storyline was engrossing, thought provoking and well written.
Highly recommended.

This is the first book I've read by this author but it certainly won't be the last.

The storyline had enough twists and turns to keep you hooked and it all tied up nicely at the end.

The characters are flawed and real and I look forward to reading more about them.

Great book.

This is the first in a new series by Helen Durrant and I was very excited to read it.

The main character is DCI Rachel King. Mother of 2, with her ex husband living next door and an on off relationship with one of the bad guys this is a real roller coaster of a read with a lot of focus on Rachel's personal life which makes it different in a very good way.

Helen has expertly managed to develop a character via a case. As work becomes entangled with her family and emotions we learn a lot about Rachel, the person at the same time as following a case (or cases) with more twists, turns and false leads than a game of snakes and ladders.

A young man is murdered after being tortured for some time. There is no motive, no clues and no evidence. The team is struggling to find a way forward. The only small lead they have is to Jed, a man with fingers in the dark world of crime but for whom Rachel has very deep feelings.

As we join the team on a rocky journey through evilness and secrets we learn a little about the team Rachel manages. A mixed bag of detectives some loyal some not so it is a very realistic team who work well together despite the differences.

A brilliant book I couldn't put it down and I am looking forward to many more in this series.

5 golden stars from me

Helen Durrant has done it again with this gripping and addictive police procedural!

So Next Victim is the first in a new series featuring Detective Rachel King, not to be confused with Helen Durrant’s other ‘Victim’ series featuring Matt Brindle, they are two very different detectives!

Rachel has a bit of a messy home life, with two teenage girls, an ex husband living next door and an ex who she still in love with, who is a gangster! Her only escape from the madness is work but this new case has her doubting whether she can still do her job properly, especially when the killer makes it personal and both her home and professional life collide.

Also throughout the book we hear from an unknown extremely disturbed killer, targetting young gay men, who is extremely creepy yet intriguing.

I have to be honest, I had an inkling from the beginning who the villain of the book would be but there were plenty of twists and turns that kept me on my toes and doubting whether I was right or not.

I’d recommend Next Victim to anyone who loves a police procedural with main character who’s personal life is almost as complicated as the cases she investigates.

Next Victim is the first book in a brilliant crime series by best-selling author, Helen Durrant. This novel features detective DCI Rachel King, a thirty-nine-year old divorced mother of two teenage daughters. Having enjoyed reading most of her novels, I look forward to starting a new series.

The novel is set in the Cheshire, ten miles outside Manchester.

A young man’s body is found burnt and tortured by a Manchester canal. DCI Rachel King, from the serious crime squad for east Manchester CID is assigned the case. Together, with her 3-person team including DS Elwyn Pryce, DC Amy Metcalfe and new to the team, DC Jonny Farrell. They all work together like a well-greased machine. Each had their own skills.

Rachel lives with her two teenage daughter, Meg and Mia, with her ex-husband, Alan living next door. What a setup?

But Rachel has a secret, the love of her life, Jed McAteer is a well-known villain. He has recently come back on the scene.

“She never really loved Alan. Jed McAteer had been the man she wanted. She had been smitten ever since her teens and had never got over it. As soon as she found out what he was, she dumped him. If she wanted to keep her sanity-and her job-Jed had to go.”

A killer-a serial killer with a taste for “young, smooth-skinned and blonde men” was on the loose.

As the murders continue, can Rachel keep her family together and stop the killer?

This is a well-written crime fiction novel, with engaging characters and a great start to a new series that shows much promise. Looking forward to book two!

Many thanks to Joffe Books via Netgalley for my digital copy.

This book was an action pack sit on the edge of your seat kind of thriller. I thought I knew who was killing the blonde headed young men but boy was I wrong. Detective King who heads the investigation has a past that comes back to haunt her will this be what ends her career. The next victim is a page turner that you want to get to the end to figure out who done it. The twists come at every corner. Detective King she loves her job to the point that she sacrifices spending quality time with her two daughters will this damage her family. This is a must read for those thriller lovers who love plot twists and a quick read. The story flows it is believable in the end it is not far fetched. This is my first Helen Durrant book and I will definitely be reading more of her books. She knows how to develop her characters to keep you reading.
I want to thank NetGalley and Joffe Books Publishing for allowing me to read the book for free for an honest review of the book. I want to thank Helen Durrant for entertaining me with this book while I was participate in the 24in48readathon. It made time fly for me.

Stonkingly great book - I read it in a couple of days but not because it was an easy read, I just couldn’t wait to see what happened next !!

The villain was well hidden in plain sight as all the best ones are and the characters of Rachel and Elwyn are well conceived and well executed. I’m looking forward to seeing much more of them

As for Rachel’s relationship with Jed McAteer well that is going to be a long running story I’m sure !

Well, this certainly was one of the quickest book that I've read recently and I don't mean it in a bad way at all. It was gripping from the go and was a brilliant page turner. The characters in the story, especially DCI King was really well crafted. The fact that she was shown as a strong police officer but a struggling mother was really interesting. The characters came over as very real, even the killer who was killing people for an absurd reason. Overall, this is one of the better books I've read recently and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone. A big thank you to NetGalley and Joffe Books for giving me the opportunity to read the ARC in exchange of my honest review.

Really enjoyed this Rachel King story, her ex husband has bought the house next door, wants to build and extension connecting the two and they have joint custody of their 2 teenage daughters. The love of Rachels life is a well known criminal, for her career she has tried to sever all ties but he’s recently been texting and calling her.

There are several strands to this story, Alice believes she has a twin brother but her father denies he ever existed and the first murder victim has made an enemy of Alice through his actions. As the story unfolds Rachel is caught between the professional and the personal as her ex’s name keeps coming up in the investigation.

A really fast paced exciting read and I look forward to hearing more of Rachel King and her team.

I enjoyed reading this book. It had a good story to it. I liked the variety of characters in it. It was my first book read by this author. I hope to read more books by this author.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Joffe Books and the author Helen H. Durrant for my ARC in exchange for an honest review. I chose this book because I knew the author, I've already read one of her series, so I didn't read the synopsis, I saw that I could read a book of an author that I knew for free by giving my honest opinion and I immediately applied for it. Obviously I read it in English.

The book is set in Manchester, England and the protagonist is Rachel King, a detective at the head of the homicide squad. The book starts with a mystery, a 15-year-old girl who believes she had a twin brother named Alfie in the past. 3 years later and the body of a 20-year-old boy with a tattooed name, Alfie, is found.

Is it the boy's name? Is he Alice's twin brother who disappeared so many years ago? Alice's father continues to deny having a son but why not clarify that better?

I like the style of the author, I like when the killer talks and has a dedicated chapter, I like short chapters so I read more and I like the fact that there is a crime, investigating police force while the killer prepares for the next murder. I loved the mystery about Alfie from the beginning and I imagined that it had to do with the murders. I must say that the case was simple to understand, for one who reads a lot. I got the various connections of who was who and what all involved but despite that the book was pleasant and quick to read (it took me less than 24 hours). I like when the author doesn't write so much about various facts but he immediately comes to the point without neglecting anything.

The only thing I din't like was Rachel's story with Jed. I don't like when the police officers are involved with criminals especially when these police officers look like girls at the first crush. It's my personal taste, I know, but especially when the boss is a woman and gets entangled in shady deals, I lose interest.

I repeat, I liked the book, the case is fascinating and engaging, but I don't know if I will continue to read the series because the protagonist is entangled with a criminal (at what level you have to find out for yourself because I don't want to give any anticipation) and this will surely lead to problems with her boss in the future. But if this doesn't bother you, I recommend this series.

Brilliant storyline, great Author, really looking forward to more in this new series, loved the new Detective, can't wait to see how things progress.

Thank you to Joffe Books and NetGalley for this book. This is the very first book I have read by Helen H Durrant and I can say with confidence that it will not be the last. Set in Manchester it is the first in the series featuring DCI Rachel King and her team where they are hunting down a serial killer. It was so fast paced my fingers couldn't go quick enough swiping the pages on my kindle!!!! Absolutely brilliant. Believable characters and an excellent story. Cant wait for the next one in the series. I have no hesitation in recommending this book.

A very enjoyable read! I was very interested in getting my hands on this one after I read the blurb and I am pleased to say that I was not let down.

The story is written very well and the characters are interesting and jump off the page. I would recommend this read!