Sadly I didn’t know it was part of a series so some of the story and plot didn’t make sense to me but that’s my own fault not that authors.

Such a great book. Once I started this book I couldn’t put it down.

Would definitely recommend to other people to read.

Love the characters in this book

DI James Walker and his team return in The Winter Killer, third in this excellent police procedural series by talented author Alex Pine. DC Jessica Abbott and her fiancé Sean are attending the glamorous New Year’s Eve wedding of Libby Elliott and Greg Murphy, owner of the luxury lakefront hotel where the wedding takes place. When Rachel, Libby’s sister and maid of honor, disappears during the the reception, a search begins. DC Abbott is in charge, joined by DI Walker when clues leading to a grim discovery are found. Rachel has drowned in the lake after receiving a head injury. Abbott and Walker must deal with the grieving family, over-served wedding guests, and the bleak and snowy Cumbrian winter.

This series just keeps getting better. DI Walker leads a complicated investigation while worrying about his sick daughter at home. Jessica Abbott shines in her first time in charge.The entire team, with both successes and rivalries, is well-described. Wild Cumbria, so near Scotland, is an atmospheric location. I’m looking forward to what comes next for DI Walker. 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon Books UK and Alex Pine for this ARC.

3.5 stars

When a woman disappears under mysterious circumstances, DI James Walker with the Cumbria Constabulary in Kendal is called in to investigate.

DS Jessica Abbott and her fiancé Sean, a paramedic were invited to a lavish wedding by a man named Greg Murphy.

Greg and Sean belong to the same golf club ⛳️ hence the invitation to the wedding. The guests have been offered free accommodation in the lakeside hotel called Fells Hotel—owned by the groom—where the wedding is to take place.

Earlier after the wedding ceremony, Jessica witnesses a tiff between the maid of honor, Rachael Elliot—who’s the bride Libby’s sister— and a bearded man🧔🏻Jessica saw coming out of Rachael’s room.

Hours later at the wedding breakfast, the maid-of-honor who was due to make a speech is absent.

The proceedings are put on hold while the guests and staff go looking for her. Not too long, items belonging to the missing maid-of-honor are found on the hotel’s private jetty.

Worried that something may have happened to Rachael, DC Jessica quickly calls her boss, DI James Walker to report the incident.

Soon after closing the case, James learns from his superior DCI Jeff Tanner that he’s been promoted to DCI following DCI Tanner’s move to the constabulary headquarters in Penrith as superintendent.

James had moved to Cumbria two years earlier with his wife Annie. They both have a six-month-old baby named Bella.

A solid detective story. Would recommend this book.

Thank you to Alex Pine, NetGalley and Avon for the arc of this book.

This is the third so far in a series and I gobbled up the first two. This was no different and I loved it. Good story and I did guess whodunnit but loved to finish the book just to be sure! I think everything was tied up but I would definitely welcome another one !

I enjoyed the story, it is a police procedural style book. The sister of the bride goes missing after the ceremony, everyone starts looking for her, the police are called, and I meet DI James Walker, who lives in the Lake District in England, a beautiful place of beautiful hills, and lovely lakes, too pretty of a place for murder! I wasn't expecting gruesome, suspenseful, but I didn't get it, therefore, I enjoyed the police trying to find the killer, and yes, I knew beyond a doubt before halfway through the book, but I still enjoyed the process. I plan to go back and read the other books, which is a high compliment indeed.
I highly recommend. Thank you #Netgalley #Avon/HarperCollins #TheWinterKiller
carolintallahassee

The third and final part of this winter theme trilogy. I say final part, maybe there be more? Though it does feel a nice place to finish.

❄️ I love the winter theme in these books
🎀 It was all tied up nicely with loose ends - hate having outstanding questions
🩸There was murder, though I preferred the higher body count in book 2
✍🏽Good story with lots of possible suspects to keep the reader guessing and reading on
🤷🏽‍♀️I did figure out whodunnit relatively early, when the pathologist speculated on the weapon. I didn’t figure out the why until much later, or the details of the why. As a reader, I think it is nice to feel like we are being a detective alongside the detectives so I quite like guessing it!
🧠I liked the way the author plays with your mind a bit and, at times, has you feeling sorry for characters that are not really presented as nice people
✔️All in all, a nice themed murder mystery that I recommend!

👎🏽My only thumbs down is how it says at the end that this is the authors third book. It is not as he has published loads of book under other names. Don’t know why this irritates me, but it does!

Having read the first two books in the DI Walker series, I was very pleased to be able to read and review the third.

DI James Walker worked for the Met and lived in London with his wife, Annie, but she inherited the family home in the village of Kirkby Abbey so they decide to relocate. They then have a daughter, Bella, after many years of trying.

The new little family is hoping to spend New Year’s Eve together until James gets a phone call from his colleague, DC Jess Abbott. She’s attending a wedding at a beautiful country hotel – owned by the groom - when the bride’s sister, Rachel, goes missing. Rachel was the maid of honour so why would she leave the reception? It’s a tough investigation because of so many people being in the hotel and, therefore, many possibilities for the perpetrator.

A brilliant, gripping read with lots of twists and turns. I hope there are lots more of DI Walker’s cases to come!

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for an advance reader copy in return for an honest review.

Having really enjoyed the first two books in this series, I could not wait to read this and I was not disappointed in the slightest,
For me, this was my favourite of the three books so far. I really enjoyed it.
It was such a quick read as I literally couldn't put it down and I was engaged the whole way through.
This had a great storyline and it was great to reconnect with some of the characters from the previous two books and see how they fared in this outing.
Alex Pine is definitely an instant buy type of author for me and I'm really looking forward to seeing what he does next.
Hopefully there will be even more in this series going forward too.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Back to the idyllic Lake District for the latest installment from Alex Pine. DI James Walker is getting ready to see in the New Year with his wife and baby daughter. His colleague DC Abbott is at an upmarket hotel celebrating a wedding when the brides sister goes missing. She quickly calls in the troops and so we have another trail to follow.
With all the potential suspects at the hotel you'd think it would be an easy case to solve but there are lots of undercurrents within the guest list making the job difficult for Walker and the team.
This is another great police drama from Pine, I really like the interaction within the team and their camaraderie. There are enough red herrings to make you question who the culprit is. Nothing is as it seems on the surface.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Avon Books for this advanced copy.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. James is headed to a hotel where the brides sister has gone missing. Because they are many guests attending the wedding, their is alot of individuals to question. Libby the bride is distraught at the news. This book kept me interested from the start.

I was expecting more of a serial killer vibe whoch didn't really pan out but it was still a really engaging and enjoyable who dun it. I'd say its more police proceedure than thriller but there were some really clever red herrings and twists to keep you guessing. And much like real life, everyone lies and has their own agenda for doing what they do. I normally am not a fan of this "locked room mystery who dun it" but I did really enjoy this and it kept me captivated throughout. It's a really easy writing style that doesn't drone on or just have paragraphs of filler txt so it really does keep you on your toes and keep the plot moving along nicely

I really liked this book. Although The Winter Killer is the third novel in Pine's Detective Inspector James Walker crime series, it reads as a standalone, and I connected immediately with the central character and his team. We follow DI Walker as he methodically gathers evidence to solve a murder in a snowy, scenic English countryside town. Walker is honest, likeable, and a loving husband and father. His stellar character insured that I was willing to tag along during his painstaking process without ever becoming impatient. The story is well-paced and expertly written. All of the secondary characters on Walker's team are admirable and we learn to trust them, as Walker does. The likeability of the protagonists was a refreshing change in the mystery/thriller genre and heightened my enjoyment of the story. This murder mystery series is recommended for those who love police procedurals.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books for providing an ARC to read and review. This review will appear on Bayside Book Reviews.com and its Instagram page on release day. https://baysidebookreviews.com/
*NetGalley Top Reviewer*

My thanks to the publisher, Avon, NetGalley, and the author for letting me read an advanced copy of this book, The Winter Killer.

What could be more romantic than a wedding on New Year’s Eve at a beautiful resort overlooking a lake? When the maid of honor is a no-show at the wedding reception, it starts a frantic search, and DI Walker is called out from his cozy celebration with his wife. It just so happens that a member of his team, DC Abbott, was attending the wedding, and she was able to organize things before Walker arrived. This sets up a gruesome discovery that leads the team into a full murder situation, and Walker, Abbott, and the rest of the team spend their New Year’s Day and the following days on a search for a killer. Unfortunately, there are too many suspects in the case, and the police must try to sort out who actually committed the crime.

This was a great story, plot, and narrative showing how British murder mysteries play out. The characters were engaging and also showed how different all people can be.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, from Avon Books UK and #NetGalley. Thank you for the opportunity to preview and review. Opinions expressed are completely my own..

Third in an established series it didn’t disappoint.

This is the first book I've read by Alex Pine and I found it enjoyable. The suspects mounted up but it seemed very realistic with setbacks and red herrings. I will look out for further books by this author.

Alex Pine has done it again. Number 3 in the series and another excellent thriller. Hooked from the first page and couldn’t put it down. Plenty of twists and turns and red herrings, I just couldn’t read it quick enough. I can’t wait for the next instalment. Please don’t keep us waiting too long!!. I 100% recommend this book/series and author, you won’t be disappointed.

DI James Walker, his wife, Annie, and their new addition, baby Bella are back in this the 3rd book of the series. This time it’s New Year, not Christmas that brings murder to the Lake District. A wedding has been disrupted at a lakeside hotel, as the sister of the bride has disappeared. One of James’ team was a guest at the wedding, and quickly gets the wheels in motion for a full investigation. But with a hotel full of guests and staff, it’s not going to be easy to track down the culprit.

This is a really good police procedural, it has a ring of authenticity about the lines of enquiry that have to be checked, the numerous set backs that are found in any murder investigation and the tenacity of the whole team to try and find the killer. I love that most of the suspects are not quite what they seem, the lies told and underlying grievances that carry through the whole story. Whilst this is a stand-alone read, I’m glad I read the previous books. It’s nicely paced, some good twists and great characters. I look forward to the next book by this author.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I received an ARC of The Winter Killer, by Alex Pine. Alex Pine does it again, a great thriller. Its New Years, and a member of the wedding party has gone missing. Where is Rachel? If she is dead who killed her?

I throughly enjoyed this book.This is the third book in the series and the series just keeps getting better. The plot,the characters and location are wonderful. The little village feel in Cumbria and and winter like conditions are perfect for reading with a nice cup of tea.I have left a review on The UK Crime Book Club and it it is getting lots of likes.

Having read the previous two books in this series I was concerned that this one wouldn't be as good as them but I was wrong. I love reading series as you get to see the characters grow throughout and this book continued this.
The storyline grabbed me as soon as I started reading and I couldn't put this book down- there were plenty of twists and turns in the book when you would think you had figured out who the murderer was and then you would be confronted with something that proved you wrong. This book didn't feel hurried or rushed at the end and it also doesn't read like the author is just churning out books for sales. I really hope there are further books in this series as I would love to read them.