Good book, easy to read. Found at times it wandered off course a bit but overall a good book for this genre.

My thanks to NetGalley and publisher Legend Press for the electronic copy.

I really enjoyed this book and although it is not the first in the series, it's easy to read as a standalone. It's well-written with believable dialogue and good main characters.

Helen Lavery is now Acting Detective Superintendent whilst her boss is on leave but she doesn't relish the admin side of that job at all. She's called to a crime scene at a local beauty spot, Blackwell Woods. A woman's naked body was discovered on a path beside a river. A Pentacle had been carved into her chest. As Helen gets her team moving on a possible occult angle to the murder, Assistant Chief Constable Alison Broadbent informs her that they're a DI short and the HMIC were due to audit them within weeks - piling on the pressure to get results quickly, although she's also prepared to allocate resources. Within days another body is found by a lake at a nature reserve.......and then another. All are young women about the same age, all are mothers, and each of them have similar features, all have the same carving on their chest. What else do they all have in common?

Helen is running out of time and the pressure is on; desperate measures need to be taken which could put her own life in danger..........................

Really good. Great main characters and good team interactions. This is a real page-turner,

When a series of women’s bodies is discovered in the heart of rural Hamptonshire with a pentagram carved on their chests, DCI Helen Lavery is forced into a cat-and-mouse chase with a murderer who ultimately turns the tables and targets her.
Meanwhile, she is shocked to discover that her younger son’s new best friend is the nephew of organised crime boss Chilli Franks – the man who has held a grudge against Helen’s family since her father first put him away in the 1990s.
As her personal and professional lives collide, Helen finds herself in mortal danger as she races to track down the serial killer and restore safety to the streets of Hampton.

This is a wonderful addition to this thrilling series!
Wonderful well written plot and story line that had me engaged from the start.
Love the well fleshed out characters and found them believable.
Great suspense and action with wonderful world building that adds so much to the story.
Such a thrilling read that I couldn't put it down.
Can't wait to read more of these.
Recommend reading.

I was provided an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher. This is my own honest voluntary review.

Excellent crime thriller, lots of unpleasant suspects, twists and turns. The detective and her family and colleagues are written sympathetically and realistically. Highly recommended.

There was a real sense of urgency in this book, I felt almost as if the quicker I read it, the more lives I would save. Needless to say I read it in one sitting. This is book 4 in a series but it is easily read as a stand alone. Jane Isaac is a new author to me and I look forward to reading her back catalogue as well as any future books.

I couldn't get into this one. There was a lot of filler text and in-depth description which made it a bit of a chore to pick up.

Evil Intent is an engrossing read, a solid police procedural / mystery in dual-narration format. Although I haven't yet read any of the preceding books in this series, I thoroughly enjoyed this fourth instalment and will be returning to the earlier books to familiarise myself with the character backstories.

The book opens with the harrowing scene of a young woman, Shauna, being pursued through a dark wood by an unknown predator, desperately searching for a place in which she can seek cover. Immediately, the scene is set and the reader immersed in the gritty crime-mystery. Our attention and sympathies are also focussed upon the impact of violent crime on victims and their loved ones.

The remainder of the narrative shifts between the perspective of the senior investigating officer, Acting Detective Superintendent Helen Lavery, and that of Marnie O'Hennessey, Shauna's mother. We follow Lavery's investigation into the attack on Shauna as she balances the administrative pressures of her current more senior role with her own home life and the appearance in Hampton of a close relative of a notorious gangster who's previously threatened Lavery and her family. Meanwhile, Marnie and her husband Darren must deal with the devastating loss of their only surviving child, while ensuring the wellbeing of Shauna's young children and confronting some challenging realities uncovered by Lavery's investigation into Shauna's death.

As the action races towards the dramatic conclusion, the book enters thriller territory, as Lavery puts her own safety on the line in a last-ditch effort to stop a clever and vicious villain.

I felt that Evil Intent was a step up from the usual run of police procedural mysteries, in the sensitive handling by author Jane Isaac of issues surrounding the impact of violent crime on those left to pick up the pieces. In DSupt (Acting) Lavery, she has created an intuitive and relatable main protagonist and an evocative, though fictional, setting in the central midlands county of Hamptonshire. The supporting cast, comprising Lavery's police colleagues, her mother and two sons, and the witnesses and family members with whom she comes into contact, are all convincingly depicted. The mystery itself is twisted, throwing up several unexpected developments as the plot unfolds. Isaacs explores some confronting issues surrounding the challenges facing young single mothers and others who struggle to make ends meet. Short chapters and punchy dialogue make this a read that is hard to put down once started.

I'd recommend Evil Intent to any reader who seeks well-written and complex crime-mysteries. Helen Lavery is a strong female protagonist, whose demanding work and family responsibilities enhance a realistic and stimulating reading experience. I look forward to reading further titles from the series.

My thanks to the author, Jane Isaac, publisher Legend Press, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this title.

I was given a copy of Evil Intent by Legend Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Though this book is number four in the DCI Helen Lavery series, it can also be read as a stand alone book. After reading this book, I will definitely be readying more in the series!

Evil Intent takes off at a fast pace from the start. It follows DCI Lavery as she attempts to catch a killer who is murdering women before carving a pentagram on their chest. I definitely did not see the path this novel would take; however, I did not feel like there was a great deal of tension. While there were a couple tense moments, overall, I felt the case was wrapped up fairly easily.

All that being said, it was an enjoyable read that I kept coming back to. The characters were relatable, and I felt connected to their journey. I'll be looking to read the entire series in the future, and I've found a new author in my favorite genre.

I leapt at the chance to be a part of the blog tour for Evil Intent by Jane Isaac. Having read and enjoyed her previous books, I knew this would be one that I didn't want to miss.

Jane Isaac has a special ability to create characters who come alive on the page, there is such an investment in the people within the story that the reader is completely drawn in and involved throughout.

The descriptive elements are tangible, I was practically running through the woods with the first victim, with leaves and branches whipping at my skin and my own heart raced as she tried desperately to still her breathing so as not to reveal her hiding place.

Then follows the chase to catch this depraved killer before more young lives are taken.

DCI Helen Lavery has to balance her career and her home life as she tracks the killer in Evil Intent. Her professional and personal worlds look set to converge and she needs to dig deep to see this one through.

Evil Intent is a fabulous thriller / police procedural and like the previous books I can easily see this being made into an excellent TV series, especially with the added spice from the nephew of old foe Chilli Franks.

Huge thanks to Jane Isaac and Legend Times for letting me be a part of this blog tour.

I am loving this series, this is a fantastic police procedure book which kept me guessing till the end. Thank you Jane I look forward to reading the next book

Evil intent by Jane Isaac.
Dci Helen Lavery book 4.
When a series of women’s bodies is discovered in the heart of rural Hamptonshire with a pentagram carved on their chests, DCI Helen Lavery is forced into a cat-and-mouse chase with a murderer who ultimately turns the tables and targets her. Meanwhile, she is shocked to discover that her younger son’s new best friend is the nephew of organised crime boss Chilli Franks – the man who has held a grudge against Helen’s family since her father first put him away in the 1990s. As her personal and professional lives collide, Helen finds herself in mortal danger as she races to track down the serial killer and restore safety to the streets of Hampton.
I really really enjoyed this book. Great story and characters. Helen was my favourite. 4*.

I really enjoyed this.

There's a killer on the loose, murdering women and carving a pentagram into them! Why are they doing this? And will DCI Helen Lavery be able to stop them before anyone else loses their life?

I found this book really gripping, I'm unsure at the time of writing this if the book is part of a series, but if its not I do hope its the start of one because the characters were great!

A really enjoyable read. It was more of the police procedure type than my preference of thriller but it was still really captivating and had enough twists and turns to keep my attention. The characters are well written although no doubt if you've read the previous books in the series then you'll have a better understanding of who they are but in saying that, I hadn't read the previous ones and still got a decent enough sense of who they are. I struggled to get into it to start with for some reason but once I got over the initial hump, I did really enjoy it

A solid four star read. Great premise. Well written. Good characters. Page turner. Plenty of suspense to keep me guessing Would definitely read her next novel. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to review it.

If you read this book, you are in for a treat as, once again, Jane Isaac brings us a doozy of a story and although this is the fourth in the series, don't let that put you off as it can easily be read as a standalone.

DCI Helen Lavery and her team are hunting a serial killer who is becoming more brazen as each victim is found. Evil Intent follows their difficult investigation where there are few suspects and even less clues.

With fantastic characters, an excellent story and written at a good pace, Evil Intent is a book full of tension and suspense from start to finish and I have no hesitation in recommending this to others who enjoy this genre.

My thanks must go to Legend Press and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest, unbiased and unedited review.

DCI Helen Lavery returns in the latest instalment in this police procedural series, this time round she is Acting Superintendent, but she is still very much at the forefront of the action that continues to occur in rural Hamptonshire. She and her team are chasing the tail of a serial killer who murders his female victims and carves a pentagram on their chests. The perpetrator is very clever, always staying one step ahead of the team, inciting Helen to do something that could be dangerous, but she is determined to bring the killer to justice.

Evil Intent is the fourth in this series and hits the ground running, as in previous books it's full of characters with colourful lives, which is what makes these books so easy to read. Isaac creates her characters in a way that the reader connects to them, becoming invested in them and whatever life throws their way. Each one of her books is fresh and exciting, the plots are authentic, the subjects she covers are written sensitively, with compassion and integrity, keeping the reader coming back for more. The chapters are short and seamlessly executed and, although this is part of a series, can easily be read as a standalone, though I would recommend you read them in order, to appreciate the backgrounds of the characters. If you love a good detective novel, this author is definitely one to get acquainted with!

I'd like to thank Netgalley and Legend Press for the approval, I will post my review on Goodreads now and Amazon on publication day.

This was my first book by Jane Isaac, so I was jumping into the DCI Helen Lavery series a bit late. However, there was enough context that any reader could pick up the book and enjoy the story without needing to read the three books before it.
I absolutely raced through this gripping police procedural novel by Jane Isaac. In this story, DCI Helen Lavery investigates a series of murders – all women, all found in similar circumstances and all found with an inverted pentagram carved into their chest. Helen and her team are in a race against time to uncover the murderer and their motive before they kill again. Well-paced tension builds steadily throughout the book which kept me flying through the pages.
Evil Intent is an utterly convincing, breathtakingly gripping police procedural – I couldn’t put it down. I think it’s the number of different factors underpinning this that makes it such a great book. Jane Isaac gives you everything, weaving tensions from the case with those relating to Helen’s home life and never forgetting the impact of murder on the victims’ families. The way Isaac delves into human emotions makes for a compelling read and it all feels very real. I also love the way she manages to convey the huge combined effort of, and pressure on, a team working to catch a serial killer, yet still give the reader a strong feeling of connection with Helen as an individual. The combination kept me hooked. Meanwhile, key supporting characters add warmth to the story providing just the right balance to the grittiness. Perfect.

A rather gruesome set of murders for DCI Lavery this time. Well-written and I'm glad that sufficient context is given to help envisage the scenes and characters. So many books these days rely upon the dialogue alone as if the story was written for a TV audience. That added a star for me. The story is complex and refers to historical events in Helen's life that come to the fore again. She is a complex character being both a highly professional detective and a widow bringing up two teenage, or almost, boys. She's very lucky to have a supportive mother living in a granny annexe to teenage sit the boys and not gripe too much about Helen's job.. The police procedures gives a definite insight to the routine tedium of detecting with flurries of moving forward, or backwards, but I have to admit that I'm getting a bit tired of senior investigators going off on the dangerous/downright silly alone episodes. Thanks to NetGalley and Legend Press for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Didn't know until after reading this was not the first book with this character but even without ready I was never lost. The plot seemed interesting and I didn't know who the killer was (as sometimes authors make it obvious) it wasn't my favourite but I would read other books by this author or maybe those that came before this

Brilliant story and characters that grip you and take you through a realm of evil, readers will love this book just as much as i did 5*