Dead Wicked by Helen H. Durrant is the tenth book in the brilliant
Detective Calladine & Bayliss series and I have just loved reading these books. Helen's books have always been a gripping read from start to finish and this latest book was no different.

The first victim is found on waste ground, with his tongue that has been cut out and stuffed down his throat. Detective Calladine & Detective Bayliss are now in a hunt for a vicious killer! before they kill again!

Then, another body is found dumped in a lake up in the hills. With the same gruesome murder method is used.

With a twisted Killer on the loose, both detectives are working on the latest murder's they now have a new boss!
The incredibly difficult Stephen Greco!

Meanwhile, Ruth Bayliss’s personal life is falling apart and someone is targeting local businesses with ransomware.

The prime suspect is a criminal Calladine thought he’d seen the last of.

But, who is the serial killer?

and who is their next victim?

This book was excellent and I highly recommend Dead Wicked. One thing I loved about these books, you can read them as a standalone, but I do highly recommend you read all books within this series as you will get a great feel for all the characters especially Detective Calladine & Detective Bayliss, who will grow on you,

I didn't realise this was a series so was a little confused - good storyline though and good characters

have chosen not to continue further with the 'Dead" series - just too slow for my taste
please note I will not be leaving a public review for this book as I have not paid for it.

Was a good thriller. The pace kept moving and held interest. I like this author's writing style and the way she develops her characters. The plot might have been a bit far fetched, but overall an enjoyable read.

I would like to thank Joffe Books and the Netgalley website for allowing me to read this book which is the tenth book in the Calladine & Bayliss series.

It features Detectives Calladine & Bayliss who are on the hunt for a vicious killer.

A first body is found with its tongue cut out and stuck in its throat on a vacant lot.

Then a second one is found in a lake with the same similarity of murder used.

Stephen Grego is going to be their new boss.

As for Bayliss' personal life, it falls apart as local businesses are targeted by ransomware. The suspect turns out to be a criminal that Calladine thought was definitely dead.

A book read in one sitting so hooked on the story so gripping, captivating, addictive, filled with intrigue, suspense and twists and turns with very engaging characters. Can't wait to read the whole series.

Another brilliant, captivating read by Helen H. Durrant. Loaded with tension and drama, this story was fast paced and thrilling from the start.

The storyline was plotted perfectly, and I found myself well and truly invested in discovering who the perpetrators were and what had pushed them to commit such a crime. The author allows you to feel a connection with the characters as we also take a look into their lives away from being detectives, and this for me added another depth to this fantastic book.

I certainly can't wait to get stuck in to future books by this author, and would highly recommend this book to everyone!.

This book is written so well. I haven’t read anything by this author before, but loved the blurb, so wanted to dive in and read it straight away. I am so glad I did, as it is brilliant!

The pace of the book matches the story well. It flows nicely and has moments where you are thrown into the deep end, trying to guess who is behind it and why, but then you are given details and exciting twists to bring you back, wondering what else may take place and how they will find the person responsible.

The characters are excellent. tHey have great characteristics and a good level of detail, making it very easy to feel the story is realistic and easy to connect with, from start to finish.

Overall, a great read!

This time Calladine , Ruth Bayliss and the team are chasing a murderer with hardly any clues. They are joined by a new DCI Greco, who isn't popular. Things change, there is drug dealing, kidnap and blackmail. Things get a bit personal for Tom Calladine and Ruth has her own problems but gets on with her job with Tom. There are many twists and turns, a suspect dies and Calladine has one of his "instincts" -- for once I was with him and very suspicious of a certain someone!! A cruel , murdering drug boss surfaces but he evades capture but not before more murders. The blackmailer is caught -- I was right ! A brilliant story, full of different angles to get the brain working.

This was my first introduction to this series of books and I was pleased that I was able to read this easily as a standalone. Calladine and Bayliss make a formidable team and I particularly liked the rapport between the two and also the human , family elements to the story. I think that's my next binge read set up for me.

This is the tenth in the series and my fourth (lucky me I have six more to pick up unlike those of you who have read them in order 😄). Professional relationships are harder than personal ones, yet in both you have to constantly adjust, reevaluate and compromise to keep them intact especially when both of your personal lives are off track. Also a deadly combo when you are two of the best detectives on the written page. These are real, gritty, unpolished detective stories written about brutal and gruesome crimes in a drab, uneasy town in the industrial north of England. Tom Calladine and Ruth Bayliss are thrown into a visous series murder/drug case that is complex and has various despicably ruthless characters and unexpected plot twists. Hard to read crimes, undercurrents galore, trust issues and broken lives mount up quickly So our detectives need to stretch and grow themselves if they are to come out on top.

So, it is only three days since finishing Dead Wicked during the Readathon and I have finally some time to write down my thoughts. However, I found I had to strain myself recalling who the bad guy was and why. I think that sort of sums up rather how forgettable this one was.

The bodies pile up, resembling yet another one of Calladine’s cases, and internet crime which seems loosely connected. When things get personal, there suddenly is a complete change in MO which didn’t make a lot of sense. I felt the bad guy was inserted mainly for the shock effect, but it was so random to me, I didn’t like it.

A lot of time however is spent with the private lives of – in this case for a change – Bayliss rather than Calladine, though he manages to patronize her time after time (and is certainly being hypocrite given his past). I still don’t like Calladine and I feel they should be pushing more for that early retirement…

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I love these calladine and Bayliss books, they’re so addictive and this one didn’t disappoint.
The plot grabs you from the start, with twists and turns along the road. Fab setting and character depth.

Great mystery plot. Let me on the edge of my seat. This is the first book by the author I came across and I look forward to reading more from them.

Great book this is the first book I have read by this author and I'm excited about reading more lots of twists and turns some which I wasnt expecting

A heart-stopping police procedural that will chill readers to the bone, Dead Wicked is a brilliantly addictive thriller from best-selling author Helen H. Durrant.

Detectives Calladine and Bayliss are used to dealing with the dark and twisted side of the human condition, but when they are called onto a crime scene where the victim had his tongue brutally cut off before choking to death, it looks like the two detectives have got a depraved killer on their hands who will stop at nothing to achieve their vengeful ends. But what reason could the killer have for killing Kieron Ramsay? As Calladine and Bayliss begin their investigation, they do not discover anything about Ramsay which could drive somebody to cruelly murder him. Ramsay was fastidiously clean, a loner and an asthma sufferer who seemed to keep himself to himself. Although when he drank a little bit much, darkness consumed and overwhelmed him…

When another body is found dumped in a lake up in the hills, the same cruel and barbaric method is used. Are
the two bodies linked? Or is this a copycat killer? In a race against time, Calladine and Bayliss need to focus, trust their instincts and leave no stone unturned in their quest for the truth. As they find themselves coping with new bosses that get on their nerves, tumultuous personal lives and ghosts from the past, can Calladine and Bayliss catch their killer before he strikes again? Or will he end up slipping through the net?

A nerve-twisting page-turner that will leave readers breathless, Dead Wicked is a gritty and gutsy thriller that is certainly not for the faint of heart. Packed with humour, red herrings and shocking twists and turns, Dead Wicked is a gripping thriller crime fiction fans will not be able to resist devouring in a single sitting.
In Dead Wicked, Helen H. Durrant has written a first-class crime chiller that is sure to satisfy fans of Peter James and Val McDermid.

Another riveting story from Helen Durrant. I am amazed that she can keep up the quality. I love the duo of Calladine and Bayliss and this book, with its twists and turns, brings out their personalities even more. I would recommend this book.
Thank you Helen Durrant, Joffe Books and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to give my unbiased opinion.

A Series Of Gruesome Murders....
Book ten in the Calladine and Bayliss mystery series finds the detectives with a series of gruesome murders to solve. Interesting procedural with plenty of personal touches thrown in. A quick read and fitting with the series as a whole.

Another brilliant book in a fantastic series. Calladine and Bayliss are one of my favourite cop duos. In this book they are faced with a ruthless killer and a ransomeware kidnapper, and Calladine is faced with an old adversary. We also see the return of Stephen Greco.

For once Tom Calladine isn't juggling a complicated love life, but things are tough at home for Ruth Bayliss, and they get worse as the book progresses. The book is fairly short but with such a great story packed into it's pages and I read it in one sitting because I had to know what happened before I went to sleep!

Although this could be read as a standalone I would highly recommend the rest of the series.

My thanks to the Author publishers and NetGalley for providing me with a Kindle version of this book to read and honestly review.
This is the tenth book in this series, but my first and while there are some references to previous cases and partners it still worked as a standalone book. A well written Police procedural with an interesting assortment of well drawn characters, absorbing and interesting from the first page. A clever mystery though I found the conclusion somewhat forced and rushed as if there was a page limit.
Recommended.

Quite a good story line with strong lead characters but unfortunately the plot was a little predictable and the perpetrator was clear from the outset.