Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

Although I have yet to read any of the other three books in this series by Michelle Davies, I was happy to dive into this fourth book, Dead Guilty and I think it worked well as an individual thriller as the story was reasonably self-contained. This was a mightily impressive, cleverly plotted, utterly engrossing read that threw out twists leaving me fizzing with tension throughout!

Ten years ago, Katy Pope, then 17, was brutally murdered on a family holiday in Majorca. Despite her mother’s high rank in the Met and the joint major investigation between the British and Spanish police, Katy’s killer was never caught. Ten years later, Katy’s family are returning to the Spanish island to launch a fresh appeal for information. Meanwhile, DC Maggie Neville, having recently transferred from Nottinghamshire Police to the Met, is feeling put out because her boss doesn't think that she is cutting the mustard in her new role. She is thrilled therefore, to have been seconded as the family liaison officer to the Pope family and heads off to Spain with the rest of the team of investigating Met detectives. But Maggie’s first international investigation rapidly goes awry when another British girl there goes missing...

Dead Guilty is told through the eyes of a variety of people, and I appreciated the way the author structured the novel, switching the point of view from Maggie to one of the victims, then their family, and even the killer. This approach gave the reader a comprehensive overview of the story, but never divulging too much that it may have spoilt the story before the truth was intended to be revealed. Michelle Davies possesses some admirable character development skills - I enjoyed the parts including Maggie, who I found to be intuitive, determined, and realistic. She wasn't always the main event of the story, but helped things nicely along nudging the reader towards the satisfying conclusion.

The international setting was fun and I'm looking forward to the next instalment, as well as catching up with Maggie in the first three books. Ingeniously plotted and perfectly executed, Dead Guilty is an absolute treat. Very highly recommended, I am certain that psychological thriller aficionados will love it!

I received a complimentary digital copy of this novel, at my request, from Pan Macmillan via NetGalley and this review is my unbiased opinion.

This is the fourth novel in the DC Maggie Neville series, Dead Guilty, and once again Ms Davies has exceeded all expectations. The book was well written, fast-paced from beginning to end. This was good read, and I can't wait to read another one by this very talented author. Recommended.

#DeadGuilty #NetGalley
A true thriller.
Katy Pope was seventeen when she was brutally murdered on a family holiday in Majorca. Despite her mother’s high rank in the Met and the joint major investigation between the British and Spanish police, Katy’s killer was never caught.
Ten years later, Katy’s family return to the Spanish island to launch a fresh appeal for information, taking with them the now skeletal team of investigating Met detectives, and newly seconded Maggie as the family liaison officer.
Narration of the story is excellent and characters are at their peaks.
It's a true thriller that goes into your veins to thrill you.
Thanks to NetGalley and Pan for giving me an advance copy of this book.

This is the second book I have read in this brilliant series. Maggie is sent to Spain to take on the role of FLO for a family that lost their daughter Katie to a brutal murder ten years ago. The family have travelled back out to the resort to hold a memorial service and also hoping to bring their daughters murderer to justice as the local police were still nowhere near catching him. During all this another young girl is abducted in what looks like similar circumstances. It's a race against time for Maggie and her team to work alongside the local police to find the missing girl before it's too late
A nice easy thriller that keeps you guessing till the end.

This is one of my favourite mystery thriller reads of the year so far. The reader follows multiple perspectives, one of which being DC Maggie Neville, who this series focuses around. This is the fourth book in the series, though you don't need to have read the others to pick this one up. I hadn't, and it didn't impact my reading experience at all. I enjoyed this book that much though, that I do intend to go back and read the first three books now, so you may wish to do that before reading this, just because the writing and plot is that good.

The main plot of this book focuses on a cold case of a girl being murdered ten years ago while on a family holiday. The family are planning to go back out to Majorca where this gruesome murder happened, so that they can hold a memorial service. Through various perspectives we see that the destination could still be as dangerous as it was back then, especially since the killer was never caught. Will they kill again? Have they killed in other places since? The plot takes so many twists and turns and leaves you guessing the entire way. I found myself second guessing who the killer could be constantly, and I loved the atmosphere and sense of fear that came with suspecting various different characters along the way.

I don't want to talk about the plot more than that, as the less you know going into this, the more fun you will have with it. The writing was wonderful though, it was suspenseful, twisty and left me filled with fear for the safety of many characters including Maggie herself. As with other books that follow this sort of police procedural direction, you do get an insight into Maggie's life, with her past from previous books mentioned. This wasn't too an irritating level though, and indeed Maggie was so likeable and fleshed out, I welcomed spending time with her and getting to know her. This is another reason why I want to go back and read the other books, I feel like we are friends now, and I want to get to know her even better.

I highly recommend this book if you enjoy a good twisty thriller and don't mind the odd gruesome page here and there. The multiple points of view throughout can make this slightly slower to get into, but the pacing is wonderful and the plot and characters fully fleshed out, so it's definitely one worth sticking with.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an open and honest review

I have read and enjoyed all three DC Maggie Neville books. I was excited when I found out the author was due to release a new book.

In Dead Guilty Maggie had transferred from Nottinghamshire Police to the MET (Metropolitan Police) I n London. Maggie was disgruntled because her new sergeant did not think she was suitable for the MET. She also felt she was not given responsible tasks because her bosses didn't trust her.

All that changed when Maggie was asked to br FLO to the Pope family. Ten years earlier seventeen year old Katy Pope disappeared on the island of Majorca. Kate had stormed off the beach after a row with her Mother Patricia. Kate was not seen again until her dismembered body was found in the grounds of a luxury hotel.

The Spanish Police suspected Kate`s boyfriend Declan who was also on the trip. The police were so certain Declan was the killer that they failed to interview other eyewitnesses. When Declan`s alibi.checked out, the police had no other suspects and the killer was still free

Maggie and a small team were to accompany the parents back to Majorca for a ten year memorial service. However whilst there another British girl called Jade Reynolds was kidnapped from outside a shop. Can Maggie and her team help the Spanish Police to find Jade.

I enjoy this series because I like reading about an investigation through they eyes of the FLO. It was nice to see Maggie investigate a case outside the UK. I was glued to see this book from the first page, the chapters were short begging me to read a little bit more.

During questioning Patricia and Philip found out that Katy had secrets of her own. The book had red herrings galore. I would guess who had done it, then something would happen and I change my mind again.

I thought retired Chief Superintendent Patricia Pope, Her husband Philip and son George were interesting characters. I suppose there must be extra pressure when a member of the victims family is a high ranking officer. I liked Philip but he was definitely brow beaten by Patricia. I was glad when he stepped out of Patricia`s shadow to help Jade`s family

I don't want to give to much away but there is a shock in store for Maggie at the end of the book. I can't wait to see what happens next.

I highly recommend this book.

Dead Guilty is the fourth book in the series from Michelle Davies featuring FLO Maggie Neville and in my opinion this series just gets better with each new book. Although this, like each of the other books, is a standalone and could definitely be read on its own merit as we are provided with some back story, I would personally recommend starting at the beginning to get to know who Maggie is as a person.

In the few years since we first met Maggie she has been on quite a roller coaster of a journey, both on the career and home front, but now it's time for a fresh start with a transfer to the Met in London although everything isn't quite as rosy as she had hoped. But it's not long before she's given the chance to use her FLO skills again when she's assigned to Operation Pivot, the cold case team investigating the high profile murder of Katy Pope in Majorca in 2009.

As the tenth anniversary of Katy's disappearance and subsequent murder, her family are returning to the island for a memorial and are hopeful that if they can bring the case back into the spotlight then they might finally get the justice they desperately crave. The family understandably want answers, especially her mother who is an ex Met officer herself, as to the reason for Katy's abduction and what happened in the week between her disappearance and the subsequent discovery of her body, and the killer brought to justice of course.

From the moment Maggie and her colleagues arrive on the island of Majorca it's clear that the Spanish police are not happy that their original investigation is under scrutiny. As you'd expect from a cold case, original witnesses and suspects have come and gone so it won't be an easy time for the team to try and piece together events from the past. One thing is for sure in a tourist hotspot such as Saros is that there are no end of potential suspects, locals, tourists as well as friends of the family, so it won't be an open and shut case. With each historic statement they review, and new information that they obtained I was constantly trying to piece together clues to try and figure out who the killer was and their motive for this heinous crime. And let's just say a few red herrings threw me completely off track!

But it's the disappearance of another British tourist, in similar circumstances to Katy, whilst Maggie and the team are in town, that provides them with the chance to work alongside the Spanish police to try and locate the young woman and establish whether the same person is responsible for both cases. The chapters from the abductor's point of view are really creepy and give you a real insight into his devious mindset, it's clear that he's got a timeline that he is working to and that his underlying obsession lies elsewhere but that Katy and Jade were the innocent pawns who were unfortunately in the wrong place at the right time for his purposes.

Maggie is a character that you cannot help but like even though she's flawed and certainly not perfect. She seems to live by the mantra 'Act first, think later' which had me shaking my head at some of her actions. It's almost as if she's hell bent on destroying her own happiness with the decisions she makes although from the closing chapter it looks like her life could be turned upside down again, we'll just have to wait and see what Michelle Davies has in store for her next.

I am a huge fan of this series and was really glad to get stuck in to this story, the fourth outing for DC Maggie Neville.
Maggie is now with the MET and not at all happy in her new role or with her new colleagues. So when she gets the opportunity to join Operation Pivot as they go to Mallorca for the 10 year anniversary of an unsolved cold case, she jumps at the chance. Maggie is a very experienced FLO, but the task of supporting the formidable mother, who also happens to be an ex-chief of police, after she has already chased off several others is daunting even for her. When another young woman is reported missing during the memorial, Maggie and the team are drawn into the new investigation. They believe that there are similarities to the cold case, but find themselves up against the Spanish Police who are reluctant to take their advice.
I love the character of Maggie, and have done throughout this series. She is normal, likeable and brilliant at her job in a quiet unassuming way. Adding in some new fresh characters and the change of location really worked, but it kept the link to the series with the added undercurrent of Maggies life back home.
This is an excellent crime read with lots of suspects, red herrings and twists. It will work as a stand-alone, but I highly recommend this whole series.

# Dead Guilty # Netgally
A really good storyline. It was enjoyable. However I thought it was a little slow to get going at first. Then it really picked up, great I thought so here I was enjoying the story line, going at a twisty turner rate. Just got of the rollercoaster of a mind, say on the edge of my seat with my harvesting faster. Started the next chapter. Came down with a bit of a bsng. Everything fell into place it started to slow down and on top of that the ending was no surprise at all. Now that was a.real shame. Once it really got going I. Was in my element of pure joy when it literally slowed right down. I really would of liked to have given it a minimum of 4 stars. I can't do that now. I could or the storyline. Not for how it just slowed right down again

Mallorca is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, just off the Spanish coast. Beautiful, exotic, a fantastic place to go on holiday. But it was also the setting of the kidnapping of Katy Pope, a young English girl on holiday with her family and boyfriend. Her body was found mutilated a week later and her killer was never arrested. Ten years later, Katy’s family is visiting the Spanish island again hoping that the memorial service will draw new attention to the case and it will help the police to find her killer, at last.

DC Maggie Neville has recently joined the Met, but she is not finding it easy so when she is asked to join the team still investigating Katy’s murder as the family liaison officer, she doesn’t have to think twice. Sure, Maggie has to endure the continuous demands of Katy’s mother, her conflicting and unprofessional feelings for Katy’s brother, and the encumbrance of the uncooperative Spanish police, but this is her chance to prove herself. When another woman goes missing, for Maggie and her colleagues is a race against time to find the killer before it’s too late.

So, this is the fourth novel featuring DC Maggie Neville, but it’s my first time reading this series and I loved it. I am definitely going to read the first three books and whatever comes next (especially after reading the shocking revelation at the end). Maggie is determined, intuitive, and good at her job. I can’t say I always liked her because I didn’t like some of the choices she made, but being flawed and making mistakes made her more realistic and relatable.

I loved how the author structured the novel switching the point of view from Maggie to the family of the victims, from the killer to one of his victims giving the reader a 360° view of the story, but never giving away too much so that I didn’t figure out the truth until it was revealed.

DEAD GUILTY is self-paced and with the tension building slowly. The author plays also on the emotions of the characters: Maggie’s insecurities, a family in mourning, a young scared woman trying to survive. These feelings are vividly drawn and make the characters feel more real and the story more intriguing.

DEAD GUILTY is a suspenseful and compelling procedural novel, highly recommended to all crime lovers!

Another great title that sees DC Maggie Neville head to Majorca with a cold case team to investigate the brutal murder of a young woman whilst on holiday.

Full of mystery and tension the story kept me guessing to the end, with a raft of potential suspects gracing the pages. The book sees Maggie under great pressure to perform, as well as jeopardising her personal life when she becomes too attached to one of the victims family.

A truly gripping story that will have fans thrilled. Laced with edge of the seat moments I raced through it in no time.

Full review to follow.

Really enjoyed this novel. The writing flowed and the characters were depicted very well. Couldn't wait to find out what happens next.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for an advance copy of Dead Guilty, the fourth novel to feature DC Maggie Neville.

Maggie is now with the Met and not particularly enjoying it when a chance interview with a drop in leads new developments in the ten year old murder of teenager Katy Pope. Within hours Maggie has been seconded to the skeleton team of Operation Pivot and shortly afterwards on her way to the Mallorcan resort of Saros where Katy was killed and her parents are planning a memorial service to draw fresh attention to the case. Then another British girl goes missing.

I enjoyed Dead Guilty which is a good procedural with the twist of a foreign location and a lack of jurisdiction. The novel is told from several points of view which gives the reader a close up view of several suspects and allows for a fair amount of speculation which I failed at miserably, unable to guess the unidentified killer or his motive. I’m not so sure that these were totally convincing when revealed but I had fun along the way trying to guess. Having just read a couple of high octane novels this seems slow in comparison so it took a bit of time for me to adjust to the pace. It’s not slow as it has regular developments and a good mystery but it’s more cerebral action than tension and physical action.

I like Maggie Neville as a protagonist as she is smart, level headed and good at her job but she is also human and makes mistakes along the way. I also like that Ms Davies moves her character along, first with the move to the Met and then with a rather unlikely bombshell at the end.

Dead Guilty is a good read which I have no hesitation in recommending.

Katy Pope was seventeen when she was brutally murdered on a family holiday in Majorca. Despite her mother’s high rank in the Met and the joint major investigation between the British and Spanish police, Katy’s killer was never caught. Ten years later, Katy’s family return to the Spanish island to launch a fresh appeal for information, taking with them the now skeletal team of investigating Met detectives, and newly seconded Maggie as the family liaison officer. But Maggie’s first international investigation quickly goes from being more than just a press conference when another British girl there on holiday goes missing, and Katy’s killer announces that it’s time for an encore.

Oh my goodness thank you so much to Davies for restoring my faith in crime reads! I have read a lot recently and they have felt stale and dull, this is exactly the opposite. The plot, considered on its own is out of this world, a really great premise with lots of suspects and twists along the way. Should just say there are a couple of scenes the squeamish will not enjoy. So, just looking at the plot we have an enthralling, enticing read that kept me on the edge of my seat and meant I devoured this in one sitting.

Then we come to the other aspect that makes this read so amazing, Maggie Neville. She is one of my favourite characters from recent years, she is likeable, grounded and flawed and I have come to see her as one of my friends and I just adore getting to catch up with her. I feel like Davies took a risk in this, it is no spoiler that this is set in another location and this could have failed but it really pays off and then some! Moving the location meant this read feels fresh and unique and has not become stale, as can often happen with a series. This felt like a whole new chapter in Maggie's life and I loved it.

The other aspect I loved is Davies is always developing Maggie and there are some major developments in 'Dead Guilty'. Again it ensures the read feels fresh and means the reader always has something to learn about Maggie and something to cheer or scream at her for!

'Dead Guilty' really is the perfect crime read, couple with the sensational character that is Maggie Neville means this is a pure delight for readers. I am only jealous of everyone who has not yet read this as you get to discover these delights for yourself! If you only read one crime book this summer, make it this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for an advance copy.

Dead Guilty by Michelle Davis

This book is the 4th in the series about Maggie Neville - family liason officer in the police and how she supports families and victims of crime.
There are some references to her previous books but you do not need to read the others to read and enjoy this one.
The story is about young girls going missing in Spain and how the Police investigate it.
The author sets the scene and introduces you to the characters, the story goes back and forth but is not confusing. The plot kept me gripped and made me want to keep turning the pages. The characters felt real and you could relate to some of them.
I would recommend this book to fans of crime mysteries, but not younger readers as there were mild sexual references and some swearing.
Excellent book, well written and I can not wait for next one.