Well put together plot and backstory give the female protagonist the edge in this gripping serial killer tale. Has the feel of Red Dragon about it from the beginning. I must admit to nailing who did what and where fairly early on but the book was still very good even as my assumptions turned out to be correct.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for this ARC.

David Fennell is a new author to me and I thought the premise of the book looked like my kind of read. I thought this book had an excellent, cleverly thought out plot line and I was drawn in to the story right from the start. I liked the authors writing style, and that the story was told through different characters. I found the book to be very engaging and it held my attention all the way through. DI Grace Archer is a likeable, believable and interesting character with a good background story. She starts a new job and on her first day has 3 murders to investigate, as well as a missing person case. I enjoyed reading of her working relationship with her DS, and the little glimpses into her home and personal life. The book had many twists in it, the murder investigation becomes a race against time and it raced to a thrilling conclusion. . I hope there is a second book featuring these characters and I would definitely read it.
Overall a good, enjoyable, well written book that was full of suspense. 4 stars

It must be very difficult to launch an eye- catching crime procedural in a crowded genre, but David Fennell has done it with his excellent debut The Art of Death.
DI Grace Archer has a troubled history and a new job. Heading a reluctant team, she has her work cut out when the bodies start piling up on her first day. Nothing new here maybe, but the writer steers a hefty team through the maze of a mass of victims with confidence.
The action is dark and clammy and on the right side of gory, while the police teamwork the way you imagine they would (more or less) in real life.
I really wanted to like this one and I absolutely loved it.
With thanks to Netgalley and Bonnier Books UK

Firstly a big thank you to the publishers for my copy to review. This is a fantastic debut and magnificent crime thriller. I read 2 debuts over the weekend and can forsee 2021 as a good year for books!

Incredibly clever and fresh voice but also the concept behind the plot. Eerie and chilling!

This gets under your skin and lingers in your mind.
My children are budding artists so was fascinating to read a darker side of art.

Be warned once you start you wont stop so cancel your plans. Addictive and compelling reading.

Highly recommend and can see it flying off the shelves. Perfect for fans of m craven and Helen fields.

Published February 4th

A good story with a really good set of characters. The main premise of a killer using social media to stalk his victims, before catfishing them on dating apps is clever. The fact that once he’s killed his victims he turns them into art exhibitions and leaves them around London is brilliant
But the inaccuracies in it left me cold. Without those it would have been 4 stars
If the killers identity wasn’t so easy to predict as early as it was it would have been 5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Bonnier Books UK Zaffre for this advanced copy. I enjoyed this story and although it was fast paced and the crimes gruesome, I felt that it maybe just lacked that "killer" punch. It hurtled along but then seemed to just leave it. I hope there are further books featuring DI Archer and DS Quinn and I felt that this debut is a good foundation for the series. A good read and I would certainly read more.

D.I. Archer a newly promoted officer is transferred to Charing Cross Police Station. There the previous D.I. had been a subject of investigations which Archer was involved in.
A series of gruesome murders displayed publicly by the murderer results in Archer being the SIO. A personal history of Archer follows her through the investigation and tries to thwart her at every move.Who can she trust?

The book is a wild journey of excitement that moves at crackling pace . This is not a Police Procedural do not expect characterisation and descriptive narrative that creates atmospheric reading. Excitement on every page ,if that's your thing this book could well be for you.

My thoughts about this, brilliantly written,tensed, gripping,serial killer debut, police thriller,was outstanding. Author David Fennell’s The Art Of Death, grips you from the first page, until you reach the end, was nail biting, what a fast tensed well written thriller, that has a dangerous serial killer, who plans, a show of art, by murdering his victims, that took my breath away. Debut author David Fennell, not only does justice to story, he does justice to the characters that truly is remarkable. David Fennell’s The Art Of Death, is one of those serial killer thrillers, you won’t be able to put down. The characters, have been so well written, that deserves appreciation. My favourite character, is DI Grace Archer, who is a fearless detective, who I thought was just fantastic, her team up with DS Harry Quinn, and there working relationship, finding the killer is unviable. What I loved about the story, was when the serial killer, who plans to kill his victims, he is one step ahead of DI Grace Hunter, in the game of cat and mouse, DI Grace Archer does not realise, that the killer has other plans,was outstanding. Take a bow David Fennell, The Art Of Death, is a masterpiece, blockbuster in the making, that will do wonders, in 2021, what a debut. A brilliantly gripping story, that will give you chills and take you on a rollocoster ride. Highly recommended. I would like to say thank you to Author David Fennell, Publishers Zaffre Books, and Netgalley, for giving me a chance to read and review this outstanding thriller that packs a punch, I would like to say thank you to Eleanor from Zaffre Books, for kindly sending me a physical proof copy which I’m eagerly waiting. One of the best Debuts to watch out for, Bravo.

It was creepy, intriguing and addictive. This book is good, even more so as it's a debut. It will take you on a journey like no other, the characters are likeable and the crime, heinous. Read it through the night if you dare.

Rating: 2.0/5

When it's your first day in a new job ... having just been promoted to DI ... replacing the same DI that you have just exposed for corruption ... and who was having an affair with the woman who is now your new boss ... the last thing you need to is to suddenly find yourself investigating a twisted serial killer.

That is the situation that Detective Inspector Grace Archer finds herself confronted with in this debut crime thriller (though not debut novel) from David Fennell. A Banksy-style underground artist has left three glass cabinets in Trafalgar Square that contain the corpses of three homeless men - the culprit has also promised that there will be more to follow.

There are clear influences from M.W. Craven evident in this book, even down to featuring an unconventional police data analyst ... M.W. Craven's Washington Poe series has Tilly, with Asperger Syndrome, while David Fennell's "The Art of Death" has the talented Klara, who is transsexual.

The author clearly hopes that this will be that start of a series of books and he invests a good deal of time and effort in divulging the backstories of the key protagonists. The lead characters, most notably DI Grace Archer, are credible enough. However, there is too much emphasis on trying to establish the central characters at the expense of progressing the serial killer plotline. There were times when it felt like the backstories of the key characters were being crowbarred into the narrative rather than unfolding naturally as the plot developed.

The serial killer storyline and the way he set about finding his victims and perpetrating the crimes was generally well executed (!). These sections were captivating and well paced. Unfortunately, there were too many other times when there were serious lulls. The aforementioned focus on backstories, as well as drawn out police procedures, certainly contributed to this, but it wasn't helped by dialogue that was sometimes quite clunky and prone to coming across as woolly padding.

Overall, I was left with the impression that there was the basis for a good book with engaging characters, but it lacked the polish to really make the most of its potential.