This was an enjoyable book to listen to. It was thrilling and full of twists and turns like the previous books in the series.

Having read the other books from this author I was eager to get this one! My expectations were met! I enjoyed the fast pace of the story and trying to link all the clues up for all the different people involved. A great book once again!

Thank you to netgalley, the author and the publisher for this opportunity to listen to third instalment in this series in return for an honest review.

A great 3rd instalment too. I thoroughly enjoy the writing style of these books. Set always in winter they come with a good level of mystery and intrigue that you would want from every crime story. In this, we learn that the sister of the bride has gone missing from the wedding before the wedding breakfast. When items turn up, she is feared dead. From here we see local constabulary and old favourites come in to investigate and unpick a complex plot to find out what has happened to her. I was 88% through this audiobook before I even knew it. The narrator was as captivating as the audience and it was such a great read. I love the outcome and the “who dunnit” in this third book.

Definitely worth a read or a listen. And you can read these independently although the characters do build as the books progress too I feel.

This is the third book in the DI James Walker series and I loved the first two so I was super excited to read this one!

One of the Team is at a wedding on New Year’s Eve when the brides sister goes missing. DI Walker is called in to investigate a suspected murder and he begins to question the wedding guests to identify suspects.

This was fast paced and very gripping with short chapters which I always enjoy. There were lots of red herrings and I suspected almost every character at some point throughout the book and it kept me guessing all the way through! I did suspect the correct person, however didn’t work out the whole story so I was shocked at the end which I enjoyed!

This audiobook was narrated perfectly and I loved it so much!!

4⭐️ from me and I would definitely recommend this series as a series or stand alones!!

I picked this one out because the cover really drew me in. I am usually such a stickler for reading a series in order so I broke my own rules by reading this one before the preceding two books however it was easy enough to pick up with the characters from this point.

The story follows the DI James Walker and his team after a wedding turns into a murder scene. One of James’s own staff is a guest at the wedding - DC Abbot. As the team try to discover what happened to the victim - the Bride’s sister - the potential suspect list grows.

This was more police procedural than the thriller I thought it was however I still mainly enjoyed it. I don’t often watch police
procedurals (Line of Duty excluded) and this is the first one I’ve read. I enjoyed the narration and found that I listened quite quickly. The narrator, Sid Sagar, was very versatile and transitioned between characters and accents seemingly with ease.

3 of 5 stars
https://lynns-books.com/2022/11/29/the-winter-killer-di-james-walker-3-by-alex-pine/
So, here I am again crashing into a series part way through! Anyway, this book can definitely be read as a standalone as the mystery is tied up nicely, although, of course I may be missing a bit of character interaction/development from the first two books in the series.

The Winter Killer is a murder mystery set in a countryside location where a wedding is taking place on New Year’s Eve. I enjoyed this and I certainly didn’t guess the ending, but, it didn’t quite blow my socks off and I think an element of that may be that I simply misled myself into expecting something else. When I picked this up I had in mind a cosy, locked room style murder mystery. Now, I’m not sure that I would call this either cosy or locked room and I also wouldn’t call this a thriller. This is much more a straightforward police procedural, although now I cast it in those terms I think I would also add the word cosy back in because this isn’t one of those gritty, dark police procedurals where cynical cops are trying to drink themselves into oblivion or have become so hard bitten that nothing affects them. So, cosy police procedural.

The scene is a remote hotel. The guests are gathered and in their finery and things seem to be going accordingly until the bride’s sister goes missing. Foul play is suspected fairly quickly and DI Walker is called in. Before long, the lake is being searched and indeed, a body is found.

I liked the start of this one. It kicked off really well, the author pulled me into the location with ease and then began to demonstrate that in spite of the beautiful setting and the top notch event tensions were simmering beneath the scenes and lies and deceit lay just below the surface, ready to be dragged forth during the questioning.

In terms of the characters – well, I wouldn’t say I formed any real attachments. DI Walker certainly isn’t a character that I disliked but he felt a little bland. There were a number of suspects and leads being followed to help draw you down the wrong path and also a number of other extras such as DC Abbot, who is a member of Walker’s team but was also a guest at the wedding and so on hand to immediately contain the crime scene.

To be fair to the author I’m not quite sure I can pin down why this one didn’t wow me. The writing is easy, the story moves along at a good clip, I enjoyed listening to the audio version and I never suffered from the dreaded book fatigue that sometimes happens if a book isn’t quite able to work it’s magic. I think it was more that the characters failed to really make friends with me – or for that matter really make me dislike them, and I felt the ending and the eventual reveal left me a little underwhelmed. I don’t know what I was expecting really but instead of experiencing that ‘ah-hah’ moment where you begin to rethink some of the key moments in the book to try and pick up the trail of breadcrumbs you’ve overlooked along the way I just felt a little flat.

To conclude. I certainly wouldn’t discourage anyone from giving this a go and it definitely has a seasonal feel, it just wasn’t quite what I was hoping for when I picked it up.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.

Thank you for the opportunity to listen to this advanced copy of ‘The Winter Killer’. Having read the two previous books in the series and thoroughly enjoying them, I was delighted to have the opportunity to read the this new addition. Again the action focuses around the festive season with Walker and his team called in on New Years’ Eve to deal with a woman who has gone missing from her sister’s wedding. The missing persons’ enquiry quickly turns into a murder investigation once a body is discovered, but who is the murderer?
Another great book in the series that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Another good murder mystery audio book from Alex Pine
I have also listened to the the first book in the series the Christmas Killer so I really need to pull in the 2nd book now
Di James Walker is the main detective in the series and I enjoyed both books
Plenty of twists just how I like them

Another great book in this series. Love the twists and the cost christmas/new year setting. 3 out of 5 stars

Audiobook 🎧
Duration: 8 hrs 30

Yes I've jumped straight into a new crime series at book number 3 🙈. But what an enjoyable audiobook. Loved the wintery Lake District setting, it always adds an extra level of enjoyment when you know the setting of a book. You will find the full synopsis at the end.

I really warmed to the main character DI Jame Walker and his team of officers.

I thought the narrator was well selected, as I could visualise him telling the story as the police officer. I also found this a great book to listen to whilst sewing, not too complex that you lose the trail of the story whilst multitasking.

I didn't exactly pick out the killer, but that's no bad thing. Who wants to be the person that thinks like a murderer...not me.

A nice pleasant crime novel, if that's not a contradiction. Will be reading more in this series, as earlier this year I agreed to a December buddy read of the first book in the series,

4 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Many thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins Audio UK for a review copy

Really enjoyed this audio book didn’t realise is was a series & look forward to going back & reading previous books. Enjoyed the characters & well thought out plot that kept me guessing would highly recommend this book.

Another year, another festive murder mystery from Alex Pine. At a gorgeous hotel in Cumbria, the owner’s New Year’s Eve wedding is ruined when the sister of the bride goes missing. DI Walker receives the call to investigate, and before long the police are searching the lake for a body. Pine delivers a great whodunnit, lots of twists and turns and depictions of chilly, Cumbrian landscapes. A gripping thriller for a wintery night.
My thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy

I considered a lot before picking up this book because I’m not a fan of winter time + detective stories, but after going through Alex Pine’s novel, I’ happy with my decision and hope you will do too!

When I selected this book, I wasn’t aware that this was the 3rd volume in a series, but thankfully there is an intro chapter which gives an overview on who the characters are, what their relationship is, some non-spoiler highlights from the previous books and it makes the listener / reader feel confident to continue without having all the details. I think the synopsis from the cover gives just the right amount of info, so I’ll include it below for reference:

“*Christmas has arrived in Cumbria, and wedding bells are ringing.*

*But an ice-cold killer is waiting in the fells…*

*As the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve, DI James Walker receives a phone call that puts paid to his Christmas break. During the wedding of the year at a lakeside hotel, the bride’s sister has vanished.*

*When Rachel left the wedding breakfast before her speech, newly-wed Libby was furious. But as the night went on with no sign of her maid-of-honour, Libby started to realise something was very, very wrong…*

*Before the wedding night is out, the lake is being searched for a body.*

*Something old, something new. One guest is a killer. The question is: who?*”

From the very first pages, author Alex Pine has his talent of getting the reader to view the world (and case) from detective James Walker’s eyes with all the fast pace, urgency, and attention to details that one usually gets to experience from watching a detective movie. You could almost feel the sense of urgency and literally get in James’ shoes as he races time in an effort to find the killer. Narrator Sid Sagar was definitely a great choice to go with this novel! The way in which he gives voice to the characters makes the listener want to binge listen to the book and start all over again once you get to the end.

Really looking forward to the next book in the series and catching-up on the previous two! Happy listening / reading!

Special thanks to NetGalley, HarperCollins UK Audio, Avon, and the editorial team for giving me the opportunity to review the ARC in audiobook format and to you, my reader, for taking the time to read this honest personal book review.

If you are interested in other of my book reviews, make sure to follow me on GoodReads!

#TheWinterKiller #NetGalley #LifeLongLearning

I was really keen to read this book as I had heard good things about the author and the plot sounded intriguing. The idea of a winter wedding with a murderer in its midst was chilling (no pun intended) and I had high hopes. Overall I found the book OK, but there were a few things that let it down for me. I found the extraneous detail distracting and somewhat annoying. The dialogue felt stilted and overly formal in places. As soon as we met the person who turned out to be the killer I wondered if it was them. There were parts of the plot that made me change my mind and think the killer may be someone else though. In general the book felt more like a police procedural than a thriller. I didn't feel that there was much tension. The characters were not particularly engaging. The narration was good, especially the characters with accents, unfortunately this book fell flat for me. 2.5 stars rounded up

A great modern version of an 'Agatha Christie' type of murder mystery. Of course murder is not fun in reality but this is a good mystery, another great DI James investigation.

I really enjoyed this audiobook. I’ve read the first two books in this series and loved them so I pleased this one didn’t disappoint. It’s not essential to have read the other books, this works very well as a stand-alone

After reading the first two in the ‘DI James Walker’ series last year, I couldn’t turn down the chance to read the thief instalment. It was another great addition to series, but could also easily be read as a stand-alone if you hadn’t read the previous ones.

I enjoyed trying the audiobook with this one, the narrator managed to capture the emotions and feelings throughout, really well! It added another layer to the story by giving the characters a voice and being able to emphasise things to fit the

Another classic style murder mystery, police procedural with a great storyline. The characters have developed so much in the previous books and continued to do so in this one. The pacing was great and I flew through it really quickly. As with the previous two, the writing hooked me from the start and the twists kept me needing more throughout.

It seems to be a theme with my experiences of this series, but the ending let it down for me. It was a bit random and seemed to come out of nowhere, so the whole build up almost felt completely separate to the actual ending. I don’t know, maybe I just read too many thrillers.

Would definitely recommend to people who’ve read the others and those who are fans of the genre. Although you could read it as a standalone, I’d definitely recommend reading the first two to get a good feel for the characters.

With thanks to the author, publishers HarperCollins UK Audio, and NetGalley for providing me with an advance copy of the audiobook of this work in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

This was a really enjoyable murder mystery, with a plot that was expertly woven by the author so that any number of people could have been and had apparent motive to be the killer, and despite all of this the author still managed to spring a surprise on me when the murderer was finally revealed.

I really liked the lead investigator and his team, and their no-nonsense approach to solving the case. I also found it interesting that they seemed to have a mostly positive relationship with the press, something which seems rare based on other police procedurals that I have read.

I was not aware when I started that this was the third in a series and, while there were some references to past differences between team members, I didn’t feel that not having read the previous instalments impacted on my enjoyment of this book, and it stood quite well on its own. The narrator also did an excellent job, and enhanced my enjoyment of the story.

I will certainly look to catch up on the rest of the series after reading this one!

Your thrown straight into the storyline and it’s fast paced and gripping but then it slows dramatically and just lacked suspense, fear and urgency. It could be repetitive at times for the reader. I really liked the investigative team and how they worked with each other but I did have to question the lead detectives constant inner thoughts when it came to the investigation as it didn’t really add anything to the story. I did find the events that unfolded predictable and lacked anticipation. It was an ok listen but one I’ll likely not remember in a week.

Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins UK Audio for the opportunity to listen to #TheWinterKiller

A good audiobook with an excellent narrator.
The story was interesting enough for me to listen to it throughout a couple of days.
An easy to listen to crime thriller.
Looking forward to the next one in the series.