This book was surprising, but not as thrilling as the original story.
I really did not enjoy the writing style of this book.
However, I did enjoy the multiple suspects throughout this book.
I will continue to read this series.

Although this is book number two in the series, you do not have to have read the first in order to understand and enjoy this one.

While this to me, feels more like a police procedural than a thriller, it sadly fell flat in both categories. The writing comes across as very dry, with nothing to make the characters stand out from each other. So much so that aside from DI Walker, I had trouble keeping the rest of them separated. Added to that, it seemed like every day a new lead came to them freely with little investigating actually done on their part, and while there are numerous suspects brought in over the course of the book, none of them seemed to bring anything interesting to the plot.

Another issue that I had was that despite the author's best efforts at concealing the truth of what had happened in the present-day murders, to me it seemed fairly obvious. So much so that I never believed their prime suspect had anything to do with it despite the original evidence seeming to say otherwise.

There was also the small matter of the one side-story (which to me was a tad more interesting than the main story), is wrapped up in too nice a bow. I would have thought a criminal mastermind such as this character was purported to be would have put more effort into his plan of revenge than what was given to us.

Despite the issues I personally had with this novel, if in the future I come across another with an interesting premise, I would give this author another chance.

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.

I thoroughly enjoyed book one is this series last year, so was very excited to be approved to read this on netgalley. This was another great read. It’s an easy read but still a very enjoyable murder mystery. In fact, I guessed parts of the ‘big reveal’ but that didn’t dampen my enjoyment of it. If this series continues, I will definitely keep reading it.

First I want to say that I have enjoyed all this author's books. This was no exception.
A heart racing crime thriller with twists and turns throughout.
Lots of possible suspects, but not so many that they became overwhelming.
As usual with this author, the main character has a back story which also added to the excitement.
Full marks and strongly recommended.
A great Christmas read.

This follows on from The Christmas Killer but I can't say that I particularly enjoyed either of them. I read this with my book club and I think it would have been a dnf if I'd been reading it on my own. It wasn't an edge of your seat thriller, we all guessed the twists long before they were announced and the writing is quite amateurish. Maybe it just needs a good editor but there were times when I found it quite boring. The concept for the story was quite good though.

Another excellent and cleverly written thriller from this author.

I loved the first one and this one did not disappoint. I guessed the twist but it did not detract from they story.

Excellent and would definitely read more.

I read the Christmas killer last year so I was looking forward to this one.

Although the body count wasn’t as high, I enjoyed the storyline of this one more.

Two sets murders twenty fours years apart, both look like murder suicide, both in the same house.

A really good mix of who dunnit, red herrings and some family twists.

It was good to see DI James Walker back too with his past still trying to catch up with him.

A great chance from the usual festive books .

I honestly couldn’t remember the first book in this series for the life of me. When I requested this book, I didn’t realize they were related, so when I picked this one to read I was searching my brain for the information. It does well being a second book, giving you just enough relative previous information without overloading you with useless facts. The ongoing story of James and his wife and why they left London is still a main story line in this book as well.

The murder itself was good and twisty. Although one main twist was highly predictable, I couldn’t figure out who was responsible for the crime before it was revealed to me. I’m giving this middle of the road rating because I found myself underwhelmed with the ending. It wrapped hinge up and did it’s job, it just wasn’t satisfying.

This is book #2 in the DI James Walker series. I read the first book and really enjoyed it so was keen to read this. Whilst it’s part of a series, it can easily be read as a standalone book as the character’s background is well explained throughout. I don’t often find a Christmas themed murder thriller so, for me, this series is a rare gem! Set in the very cold and snowy Cumbrian countryside, Walker is hoping for a quiet Christmas after what happened the previous year! Sadly, he’s out of luck when a murder/suicide is found at nearby Oaktree Farm...

I really am enjoying this series and like the main character, James Walker. He seems to have settled in the area now following his move to Cumbria from London and the slower pace of life seems to suit him and his, now pregnant, wife. Of course, Walker constantly has one ear open for news of the London crime lord who is vowing for revenge, and this storyline accompanies the main plot throughout the book. I loved the pace of the book, which flowed really well and found the storyline held my interest throughout. The plot gave me the shivers in just the right places (and not because of how cold it sounded!) and it had me on the edge of my seat. It is a little gruesome, but that all adds to the thrill of the story and I couldn’t work out who was responsible until the author gave it to me!

It’s the ideal crime read for this time of year and strangely it got me into the Christmas spirit! The characters were interesting and I liked the ones who I was supposed to like! The location was great and described perfectly, it definitely added to the tension and suspense. There were lots of dead ends and red herrings as the story moved on and I found myself hooked in the book early on. I hope there is another book in the series to carry on with Walker’s story, and shall look forward to it! Would recommend.

I really enjoyed this book! It was a fast paced thriller with short chapters which made me fly through it.

The plot is an easy to follow along police procedural, it keeps you very interested with all the suspense and twist and turns.

The story is told mainly from present day but with some chapters from the past. This helps to give you a good insight to the characters.

Even though I did end up predicting the ending, this had no effect on what I thought of the book as I still wanted to see if I was right.

I heard that Alex Pine is coming out with another book next year in this series and I will definitely be looking out for it!

Thank you @netgalley and @avon for sharing this digital review copy with me in exchange for my honest review!

4.5/5

I was a little worried heading into this book as I generally don't like books from police/detective points of view but as soon I started reading, I was so hooked on the story.

The action picks up straight away and never eases off until the last few pages. The writing was excellent and the pacing was so well done. As soon as things seem to settle down, another mystery popped up.

I genuinely found myself looking forward to getting stuck into this & I had no idea where the story was going at any time.

I did knock off a star because sometimes I felt the way that women were described in this book was a bit off. For example, when the main detective looks at a picture of the victim as a child and then another picture of her as an adult, he refers to her "model figure" and the fact she wears "skimpy tops". It wasn't relevant to the story and I'm not sure why that observation was made. The characters wife also only seemed to stay at home & cook for him which was disappointing.


But, the book did have some great plot twists, that were really well executed.

I gave it 4 stars⭐

This caught my attention on the first page, but unfortunately, I lost interest early on. I think the concept is interesting, but I just couldn’t really get into it.

The Killer in the Snow by Alex Pine is a fantastic suspenseful story. I live in Maine and I love the Snowy aspect.
The characters were well written and surprising. The story was perfectly paced with twists that I never saw coming.

Excellent suspenseful psychological thriller.

I was hoping this book would grip me better than the first one in the series, unfortunately I feel that this author, or at least this series is not for me sadly.

This was such an improvement from book 1 which was released last year.

It’s a fast paced story with the tension building as the plot moves on. I really liked the main character DI James Waker and his team. They piece together lots of evidence to find out why a family was found dead at Christmas time and whether this relates to a similar case that occurred in the same house 20 years ago!

The main plot runs alongside a smaller arc whereby a gangster, who DI Walker put away, has escaped and is searching for revenge.

I did figure out one of the twists about halfway through and there are a lot of additional and maybe sometimes unnecessary descriptions about some aspects of the book which were the only two things stopping this being a 5*!

I haven’t read the first book however for me it didn’t seem to matter & I think this book could easily be a standalone. I loved getting to know DI Walker and he was definitely my favourite character along with his wife, Annie. What I loved most about this book, as it wasn’t too far from home for me and I recognised a lot of the places which was lovely as most books I read are based nowhere near me 🙈

It was such a good thriller and there were so many twists along the way, most of the time I knew what was going to happen but there were a few shocks! I found it so hard to put down and I’ve added the first book to my wish list! 😍

I really enjoyed this book, I read the first one in the series last Christmas which unfortunately I found a little predictable. I did sort of guess the plot of this (24 years ago part of it at least) but I was still shocked by the ending and the revelations that came up.

I was so glad to see DI James Walker for a second outing after I read and enjoyed the first in this series, The Christmas Killer last year. There's no need to worry if you haven't read the first though, it's easily read as a standalone.

The story starts off with the gruesome discovery of a family murdered in their own home. Eerily it's similar to a crime that happened in the same house over twenty years earlier. Are they linked, or is it just a coincidence? It's up to DI Walker and his team to find out.

The Killer In The Snow is a fast-paced and entertaining read that had me glued to my kindle.
DI Walker is still his likeable self and even his wife Annie, who annoyed me a little in the first novel, has grown on me a little more during the novel.

I still absolutely love the setting of Cumbria. It's almost like another character and the vast countryside really adds to the tension of the story.

This story felt a little more on the gritty side than the first, with a few more gruesome scenes which I don't mind and weren't over the top.

I would say the ending wasn't overly surprising, but there were a good few twists in there to keep me guessing.

The Killer In The Snow is a definite must for all police procedural fans out there looking for a crime novel with a festive twist.

read The Christmas Killer last year and loved it, so couldn’t wait to read this and it did not disappoint. I love a good thriller/police procedural and this delivered. This is the second in the series featuring DI James Walker, who has relocated away from the city to the ‘peace and quiet’ of the countryside, to escape a criminal with a vendetta against him. It is however not the peace and quiet he envisaged as the first book showed! This time, a family of three are found brutally murdered in their farm house and the story centres around the investigation in to this.

This massively reminded me of the series ‘White House Farm’ and had the same level of mystery and intrigue. Many theories come to light about the killings, which become even more mysterious when we find out what happened at the same farm 20 years earlier.

I loved the way this was written, packed full of twists and turns and characters you can warm to. I loved the fact that it makes you suspect everyone, and I didn’t guess the twist which I thought was done really well. The plot was complex but easy to follow, and the story was engaging from the start. Perfect for thriller lovers like me, and will be keeping my fingers crossed for more in the series!

Loved this one as much as I enjoyed The Christmas Killer. Perfect thriller to read at Christmas time.