What a slow burner this was. Heather returns home after her mother's suicide, having been mostly estranged from her mother since she left home at 16. On finding letters to a serial killer she begins to realise she never really knew her mother at all. And so starts Heather's quest to trace her mother's past. The plot is quite dark and gathers pace as the novel proceeds. Quite a compelling read.
Three and a half stars!
Many thanks to Netgalley/Jen Williams/HarperCollins UK for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

This was a difficult book to get into. The premise of the story was good and the background to it read well but the main character I found was off putting and unrealistic.

The story introduces us to Heather, who returns after many estranged years to the family home after her mother’s suicide to find letters her mother has received from a notorious serial killer. The book is told in present day by Heather and in the past by Michael, also known as convicted serial killer The Red Wolf.

There are some interesting sections to this which I felt really didn’t gel as a story and the ending was quite predictable. I thought the charterers in general let the story down, although the references to the Grimm fairy tales were an interesting twist.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

When Heather returns to her family home, after the death of her mother, she discovers letters that she had been writing to a serial killer, Red Wolf, who has been in prison for over twenty years. When a body of a young woman is found, dismembered and placed inside a tree, the corpse planted with flowers, questions arise as to whether Red Wolf has someone working for him on the outside.

Really well written, enjoyable, psychological thriller.

I had high hopes for this book, it starts out so well but, unfortunately I got rather bored with it in places and very nearly gave up. Not my favourite read. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

I’d like to thank HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘Dog Rose Dirt’ by Jen Williams in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Heather Evans’ mother Colleen has died and the police say she took her own life. As Heather goes through her possessions she finds a biscuit tin containing letters written by her mother dating back to the 1980’s. The letters are from Michael Reave, the serial killer known as the as he’s asked to talk to her and she agrees as she hopes it will help identity the person who’s committing copy-cat killings.

‘Dog Rose Dirt’ is a disturbing thriller that from the description should have been sinister and scary but for me it just missed out. It was well-written with an interesting plot that at times had me looking over my shoulder but I didn’t find any of the characters likeable or, in fact, particularly interesting. I like horror stories that scare me but this one was way beyond belief and touched ever so slightly on the supernatural. I can’t understand why authors think their narrative will be improved by adding the f*** word in every other sentence, it doesn’t work for me and makes me think less of the story and who’s written it.

When prodigal daughter Heather Evans returns to her family home after her mother's baffling suicide, she makes an alarming discovery--stacks and stacks of carefully preserved letters from notorious serial killer Michael Reave. The "Red Wolf," as he was dubbed by the press, has been in prison for over twenty years, serving a life sentence for the gruesome and ritualistic murders of several women across the country, although he has always protested his innocence. The police have had no reason to listen, yet Heather isn't the only one to have cause to re-examine the murders. The body of a young woman has just been found, dismembered and placed inside a tree, the corpse planted with flowers exactly as the Red Wolf once did. Teaming up with DI Ben Parker, Heather hopes to get some answers for herself and for the newest victims of this depraved murderer. Yet to do that, she must speak to Michael Reave herself, and expose herself to truths she may not be ready to face.
A well written book but I struggled to finish it & read it over several days as I found it dark & disturbing but I needed to finish it to learn the truth. The characters had depth but I found it hard to relate to them. The book started slowly & gradually built. There were lots of threads which at times were confusing.
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read

I enjoyed the premise of this dark and creepy fairytale based thriller and found the initial suspense building good but I did find myself getting a little bored in parts so it wasn’t the page turner I expected.

The story was not naturally flowing for me and I couldn’t really gel with the characters however I did enjoy the ending.

3.5🌟 rounded upto 4.

When Heather’s mum dies by suicide, Heather finds a biscuit tin full of letters from a notorious serial killer. It seems her mum has been writing to this man for years. At around this time there is a new killer on the loose and the disturbing way the bodies are left are remarkably similar to those left by the man locked away. Did they get the right person the first time around or is this a copycat? Heather I then starts to find strange items left for her and she is soon drawn into something dark and disturbing.

I was completely enthralled by this book. Weaving in the darker side of fairy tales with modern day serial killers. Dark and mysterious. Deliciously creepy.

I can't write a review because I didn't finish it The synopsis sounded so promising, but I really didn't like the book. For some reason I didn't like the main character Heather either. Lots of other reviewers thoroughly enjoyed it, but not me. Sorry..

I was quite enjoying Dog Rose Dirt as the prose is smooth and the plot simple to follow, allowing me to be immersed in the story very easily every time I picked it up. Therefore, barring a terrible ending, I was planning on giving it a high rating and a good review to help out the author on release day, especially as its current rating is pretty low and I couldn't figure out why.

Imagine my shock then, as I'm happily coasting past 50% when the author, via her protagonist, completely out of the blue calls me a bastard based solely on the party I voted for during the last UK general election.
I was stunned. Many psychological thriller authors these days love to politically posture because it's socially acceptable to do it as long as you're on the socially accepted side, of course, but being outright called a bastard for my voting choices which are none of the author's business and had nothing whatsoever to do with the plot, is absolutely unacceptable.

How the author, editor and publisher all think it is okay to personally insult statistically well over half of their readership is beyond me and I will never read another book by this disgrace of an author again.

I had very high hopes and expectations for Jen Williams’ Dog Rose Dirt however I ended up being disappointed with a story that was nothing special and very predictable. I also felt that none of the main characters, especially Heather, were that engaging or interesting

Overall is was ok but nothing more

You quickly realise that this is a very dark novel and easily feel the scenes of fear and rage while Heather is living in her late mother’s house and also in the Belmarsh scenes when she visits Michael, a serial killer, who she discovers is an old friend of her mothers.. We initially flit between Michaels abused childhood and then his new life with a neighbour, to the present day when Heather starts to visit Michael both as the daughter of his close friend and as a journalist thinking about the possibility of a groundbreaking story. This set the scene nicely. But I’m afraid I had to stop there. It’s widely known that cold bloodied murderers often start their cruel traits while young, more often than not torturing defenceless insects and animals, so this is where we have the first glimpse of this from Michael when he takes the poor orphaned chicks into the woods. As much as this is deemed an excellent book by many other reviewers, I’ll afraid such cruelty would only leave me upset for days. It’s not the first time I’ve had to abandon a book due to this reason, I hope I’m not alone in this and I hope it hasn’t ruined it for other readers.

Heather Evans returns to the family home after her mums death. Heather is struggling to come to terms with the fact her mum committed suicide as this doesn't seem like something her mum would do. On searching the house, Heather discovers her mum was writing to convicted serial killer Michael Reave (aka The Red Wolf) and whats strange is, The Red Wolf has been in the papers again as there is a copycat killer on the loose.

I really enjoyed reading this book. The atmosphere was chilling at times and it really had me hooked and trying to guess what was going on. My favourite parts were the conversations between Heather and Michael. Michael wanted to tell stories, taking inspiration from Grimm's Fairy Tales, which had me trying to read between the lines for clues 😂

The only thing that annoyed me was the main character. Heather didn't really seem that nice a person and she made some rather stupid decisions, one of which had me rolling my eyes.

All in all, a really good read.

Thank you to netgalley, the publishers and the author for the advanced copy.

Thanks to netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Following the suicide of her mother Heather discovers that she had been writing to a serial killer for years. After years of silence he decides to break his silence and will only speak to Heather. This coincides with the discovery of a body of a woman found in the same circumstances as his victims. Heather decides to talk to him to find out why her mother wrote to him and how he is connected to her. She returns to where the serial killer committed his crime and uncovers a few family secrets she wishes she hadn’t discovered.

Hard to follow at type beginning as the book jumps backwards and forwards.

Oh I loved this book! I thought the characters were well written, and I enjoyed the plot. Plenty happening and at no point did I feel Jen was just trying to fill out the story, I really enjoyed it. I had a slight inkling as to where the story was going, but pleased to say I wasn’t 100% correct and totally approve of the ending. Definitely recommend this book, thank you #net galley

I found this book to be quite disturbing, and not a comfortable read. I can't say I really enjoyed it, although I think it is well written, and very original. I think it could be a marmite book, and some readers will love it.

Sadly, this book did not gel for me as I found the words just did not flow, nor did a story appear fast enough to grab my attention and so I stopped reading and moved on.

A Fantastic read! I loved how the story all intertwined and gradually came together without it being blatantly obvious! Creepy, chilling, intriguing and captivating!

What can I say about this book! It's a page turner for sure with a turbulent storyline that kept my head spinning. A serial killer nicknamed the Red Wolf Killer is in prison and when Heather is sorting through her mother's effects she realises there is some sort of past connection between the two. Did this have something to do with her mother's suicide especially now more murders are happening in the same gruesome way? Michael, safely ensconced in prison has refused to speak to anyone about his past murders but when Heather makes contact he agrees to her visiting him and starts to open up about the past. Is there a link between the new murders and the old? The plot twists reveal the hidden answers.

When Heather's mum commits suicide Heather is shocked and surprised. Even if they weren't close far from it, Heather doesn't understand why she would do such a thing.
Whilst clearing out her old family home in the attic she discovers letters in an old biscuit tin spanning over two decades.
What Heather discovers is the her mum had been writing to the infamous serial killer Michael Reave known as The Red Wolf killer. But not just writing to him but knew him before he was caught.
When murders start up again in the same way as The Red Wolf Heather offers to help the police by talking to Michael as he refuses to talk to anyone else.
Can Heather discover the truth and help stop the killing spree?
Also had her mum have anything to do with the previous murders?
Shocking twists that you really don't expect.