Charlie Gallagher knows how to write a 5* thriller! This is book 6 in the DS Maddie Ives series and it just keeps improving. It sucks you in from the beginning until the very last page. It is so well written and filled with tension and a gripping plot. If you only read one book this summer, make it this one. It's an easy 5 star from me and I highly recommend this author.

This has to be by far the best of the DS Maddie Ives series , number 6 and well all I can say after reading is PHEW

Starting with a flashback to 18 months ago where a young boy witnesses his father beating his mother we then move to 18 months later when a man confesses in great detail to a killing of a social worker but something does not ring true and DC Rhiannon Davies and DS Massie Ives doubt his story .

So much going on that you do not want to put this book down for one minute and after reading you feel that you have been involved in the case and the conclusion

Thank you to Joffe Books and Netgalley for the best read so far

Good to catch up with Maddie Ives once again. A totally gripping and original storyline. Kept me thoroughly engrossed and enthralled as the story unfolds. Great read, thoroughly recommended

A quiet night shift in Major Crimes doesn't usually involve someone arriving at the front desk, admitting to murdering a stranger, and even providing photos! Adrian Hughes, however, is a little different from their usual clientele and even seems prepared for incarceration when he's interviewed by DC Rhiannon Davis and later by boss, DS Maddie Ives. Neither of them are convinced he is telling the whole truth but accept his account of what happened until they can investigate further.

Linda Morris is scared, terrified even, and with good reason. Chained to the floor of a bunker-like structure she has been forced to watch a film showing the location of a dead body and knows she could very well be next. Linda has no idea how she ended up a captive or what she would do when faced with her greatest fear but she could be about to find out.

Serving officer, Charlie Gallagher is easily one of the best police procedural authors available right now. I thought his first Maddie Ives novel was good but every time he releases a new book in this series he takes his work to new levels. Although this wasn't as devastating as the previous book it absolutely was as authentically terrifying as anything I've read in a while.

Main protagonist, Maddie Ives, is brilliantly portrayed and along with partner Harry Blaker dominate every chapter they appear in. Rhiannon Davis and Vince Arnold seem to have become the two slightly lesser police officers and together make an engaging and well balanced team. The antagonists once again plumb the depths of depravity and the situation everyone involved finds themselves in seemed, for most of the story, to be impossible to extricate themselves from.

As I've come to expect there were parts of the ending I had sorted while others left me shocked and wondering how things will continue. I have yet to be disappointed by anything written by Charlie Gallagher and I don't see that changing any time soon.

I was able to read an advanced copy of this book thanks to NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for an unbiased review and would recommend it to anyone looking to dive into the highest quality police procedural fiction; buy this, you won't be disappointed.

Charlie Gallagher just keeps getting better & better. You would expect a police procedural novel written by a serving police officer to be highly credible & this is one of Charlie's strong points.
This is a fast-paced page Turner that throws you right into the centre of the story. One man's confession of murder raises more questions than answers.
Charlie Gallagher ranks alongside Ian Rankin, Peter James, Mark Billingham & Peter Robinson as one of Britain's best crime writers.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Charlie Gallagher for sending me this ARC in exchange for an honest review*

This, unfortunately, was a do not finish for me. I went in with high hopes. I love a good mystery/thriller and from the title, it seemed like it may have a supernatural element to it.

There were several things I liked about this novel; Maddie is smart, capable and ready to do what it takes to solve this though her supervisor considers it solved. She was a real character and I enjoyed seeing things from her point of view. I found it interesting that when the suspect walks in and confesses, she doesn't really believe him. I just really liked reading from her point of view. I thought the story line had true potential to be a really good whodunit.

So why would this be a do not finish. I almost never use this as an excuse to not finish a book that is really grabbing me but I felt like the whole story was told in the first 200 pages. When I checked and saw that this had at least another 200 pages, I couldn't continue. I felt done. Perhaps there is a second mystery in the second half of the book that I missed entirely. And maybe I will pick it up again but as I kept going this time, I struggled to go on.

Could not put this one down. This author is fantastic. I have loved every single bit of this book.
Definitely recommend this one and can’t wait to read more by this author

Thank you for allowing me to discover such a good new author for my repertoire! Great plot line, interesting characters, I will recommend to friends and family.

Another brilliant instalment in this well established series. Gallagher writes with a rare balance of authenticity, grit, strong characterisation and humour, all of which combine to make Damon good crime novels.

#THEDEADLYHOUSES #NetGalley
* spoilers..
Difficult job to review this book. The writing itself is good, engaging story compelling you to keep reading to reach the end though the truth I couldn't like the actual process of reading it, I didn't like the violence that most of the times I found the book took it too far, it left me feeling oppressed and upset.
The fathers couldn't just kill their wives and kids, no they had to make them and the ones who aided them " creatively" suffer before killing them.
It could have earned easy 4 stars for me if not for the excessive use of force and violence specifically towards women and kids.

A man arrives at the police station saying he's murdered someone and provides all the details for police to follow up and while everything checks out they just don't believe him. The Deadly Houses started off strong for me and it was quickly a page turner but then it slowed down for a bit and I found myself struggling to get through some parts. I knew there would be some big thing that was going to blow my mind but it took longer to get there than I had hoped for.

We are thrown into two main perspectives that cover two sides of the story which is what I really enjoyed about reading this and it also created the perfect environment to bring everything together while creating a lot of tension. Once those two sides collide the book becomes explosive and impossible to put down. Seeds are planted along the way so nothing comes out of nowhere but the second half of this book is all twists and turns.

The plot itself is very engaging and you want to know right from the beginning what's going to happen because you know that isn't the whole story. This dark and chilling thriller is a great quick read if you're looking for something that will stick with you for a while.

Because the author is a police officer I found this a lot more believable than other police procedural that I've read in the past and for that alone I recommend this if you're looking for something that will tug at your heart and leave you feeling a little chilled. This book involves a lot of children and family in danger so be aware of that before picking it up.

ARC provided by NetGalley

Four despicable men hit hard and terrorise their families without any remorse.
Detective Maddie Ives is trying to protect these wives and children with the help of a team who organizes their move to a safer place. Their chance for a new life is lost when these dreadful fathers and husbands kidnap and torture members of the team in order to get the information they need to find their families. Charlie Gallagher's descriptions are vivid and spine-chilling. It is sometimes painful to read about the victims' fear and torment without wanting to put the book down and yet the need to know what will happen next is too strong.

Emotionally haunting, dramatic and provocative, yet ultimately this is a fast paced novel full of twist and turns

Detective Maggie Ives Book Six
Caterbury police station Adrian Hughes walks in saying hes murdered a stranger, showing them a picture of the body and a detailed route map of where to find her. the crew especially Maddie have a feeling hes covering for someone else they step in to investigate why she was killed and by who. its one complicated case.
this author never fails me with all his twists and turns in his writing.
you are engrossed chapter after chapter.
when BAM the story hit you like a ton of bricks.
love his style and his books are top to perfection,
they never let me the reader down.
well deserved the stars loved the other five and looking forward to more.

The Deadly Houses is the latest book in the DS Maddie Ives series by Charlie Gallagher and it is another excellent police procedural thriller that kept this reader hooked from the first page to the last.

The plotting and storyline feel authentic as the writer uses his experience as a police officer to keep the book both realistic and interesting.

This is one of my favourite series and The Deadly Houses is a welcome addition.

Highly recommended