I'm really sorry but I could not get away with this book. I did not like the writing style and the subject matter.

Thank you to Storm Publishing and Netgalley for allowing me to review this book. I very much enjoyed this story about Detective Inspector Nikki Gill as she faced her first case in Oxford. A murder of a University Professor, followed by a second 2 days later. were they linked? Why had Nikki moved back to Oxford? The flashbacks are relevant and help to understand Nikki's background.
I felt the author wrote well and builds the various characters well. They felt believable. The child abuse issues come out at the beginning, but it is not immediately obvious why.
I can recommend this book to crime fiction lovers.

✨My Thoughts✨

Nikki has just transferred from the Met back Oxford which is her hometown. We don’t get to find out why straight away but something happened to make Nikki move.
Before she’s even had her first proper day as the new D.I she’s face to face with a dead body!.

This was a huge 5 star read for me , I could really tell that the author has written previous books even though this is the first that I’ve read.

The story was plotted perfectly, it had me wanting more by the first chapter.

Who knew that this case would lead to Nikki and her past? Not me that’s for sure.

I loved the storyline and how the past and present weaved together, even thought the subject of a child abuse was disturbing.

I absolutely loved this book and can’t wait to read more in this series.

A good thriller. I found it a little bit hard to follow at times with all the college building descriptions and jargon about the colleges but its a good story with some clever twists and the lead character is very well written. It's a mystery that goes back a long time that needs to be solved and Nikki is closer to the case than she wants to admit to anyone. Its sad but very believable, especially with what we know about kids homes back in the 80's & 90's in the UK. And, not just the UK.

BOOK: STOLEN SOULS
AUTHOR: M.L ROSE
PUB DATE: 01 SEPTEMBER 2023
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REVIEW
Thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for this ARC. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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First of all, I didn't expect this book to be as heartbreaking as it was. Let me just say that the victims deserved what happened to them and more.
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This book was good, I loved the mystery, the suspense, the settings and the characters. I liked Paul and Tommy's POVs, they were the most heartbreaking, but I prefer to read the bad experiences of the victims so I appreciated that.
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I enjoyed the Oxford setting, it was very confusing because of the different colleges, but I still liked it. I'd have preferred a direct ending with all the perps punished and the epilogue about them rotting in jail(more than they deserve)
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I hope this is a series because I'd like to read more about DCI Nikki Gill and the rest of her colleagues and more of her personal life.

Detective Nikki Hill book 1.

On a crisp winter evening, Detective Nikki Gill is taking a peaceful stroll through New College Oxford grounds before starting her new job at Kidlington Criminal Investigations unit the following day. But when she hears a blood-curdling scream coming from one of the buildings, she discovers the lifeless body of Professor Brian Allerton in his office and his wife kneeling by his side.

Getting thrown in the deep end Nikki and her new team try to find who could possibly want to brutally murder a well respected professor.

Then she discovers a link to the very children's home her brother lived in when she was a child. With her own demons to overcome can Nikki put her personal feelings aside to find the killer?

This is a sometimes harrowing book to read. My heart was breaking reading it. I flew through it in two sittings as I didn't want to put it down.

I look forward to reading more from this series.

A gripping thriller with a disturbing storyline with many twists and turns. Great characters and a lovely location.

This is my first read by this author, and this book is the 1st in the Detective Nikki Gill series. The book is set in Oxford and the book opens with action from the very beginning. It starts with two boys who are living in a children's home where they are sexually abused daily. Nikkis brother Thomas used to live in the children's home, but he died many years ago and Nikki was told it was an accident. This really set the scene for the rest of the book as the book moves around in time between the Dunston Hill Care Home, Nikki's own childhood, and the case she is trying to solve.
When Detective Nikki Gill returns to Oxford after years away, she is immediately embroiled in a murder case of a professor who is found dead in his office. Nikki dives straight into the investigation and when another professor is killed, Nikki finds there is a link with the children's home and the two professors.
Nikki realises she must stop this killer who is seeking revenge from the abuse he suffered years ago, and Nikki finds that this will test all her police skills and Nikki’s sanity as she learns the truth of what happened to her brother all those years ago.
M.L. Rose has done a fantastic job with beautiful descriptions of Oxford and This is a fast-paced crime whodunnit book which is a real page turner. As other reviewers have stated, this book needs a lot of editing before it goes to print but well worth the read and I look forward to reading more in the series. Thanks to NetGalley and to the publishers of this book for giving me a free advance copy of the book to preview and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Really enjoyable thriller, it pulls you in from the start. Very sensitive topic but handled well. Great characters that can go far in this series. Thank you netgalley for the advanced copy

A well-paced police procedural with a female detective and a crime that has unexpected links to her past. This is an immersive story where the characters and the setting draw the reader in, and you are soon part of the investigation. Elements of the story are disturbing but sensitively written and integral to the plot. I like D I Nikki Gill, the setting in Oxford and the easy-to-read writing style.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

Stolen Souls by M.L. Rose held so much promise. With its captivating cover and gripping synopsis, it was a new author I was excited to read.

This book started out well and immediately grabbed my attention. The tragic story of two boys in a children’s home and the abuse they have to endure (alluded to but not described), and the way it ties in to the Detective’s current day murder mystery that she is trying to solve.

With this taking place at Oxford University (and personally being from the States), I found that the ongoing descriptions of the university systems structure, layout, and history to be somewhat confusing and took away from the overall plot of the story.

I had to force myself to finish this as it just did not hold my attention.

Thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for this release in exchange for my honest opinion.

Pub date: 1 Sep 2023

This was a nice mystery that moved at a good pace and has fleshed out characters. I liked how it had me hooked at the beginning and didn't let me go until the end. The main character is likable and I'm looking forward to the next books in the series. Special Thank You to M.L. Rose, Storm Publishing and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy prior to publication in exchange for an honest review.

This book was so good. It had me hooked from the beginning. I’m a thriller girlie. Thank you for netgalley for this amazing arc.

Ahh, I usually keep an eye on archive dates so nit many get past me, but this one seems to have slipped through the cracks, so I didn't get the chance to download in time. Apologise for any inconvenience.

The first of a series about the main detective Nikki. She has just moved from London to Oxford and becomes involved with a murder even before she starts her new job. The book is told across different time periods which makes it feel a bit disjointed at times, but as the different strands come together the plot becomes more cohesive.
I did not take to Nikki straightaway. Yes she is a woman in the police force and as such perhaps subject to discrimination, but I did not see the need for her to throw her weight around as she did before she started her new job. I did not feel that relationships with her collegues or family members were well portrayed. Hopefully as the series is more established, this will get better and the characters will flesh out more.
The book is fast paced though and the cases interesting. Trigger alert for child abuse, which some readers may find upsetting. The investigation was fragmented , good in parts, other parts rushing off on a whim , I like suspicions to be well grounded in evidence and to give me the opportunity to see reasoning behind solving a crime .
Not a bad book when all is said and done and hopefully the basis for a good series. THanks to Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

**Trigger warning for child abuse**

This is the first book I've read by this author and the start of a brand new series so I was delighted to be approved for an early copy from Netgalley and Storm Publishing.
This series has started out so good and I already really enjoy the setting of Oxford and Detective Nikki Gill and her team are fabulous. There was good character development as we got to know the background of Nikki. I already really like her.
This was a fast paced read which was hard to put down and kept my interest throughout.
I can't wait to see what comes next for Nikki and her team

At times this one is difficult to read. I thought the tension was high and I really liked Nikki. I did figure things out fairly early so it wasn't as page turning as I thought it would be. It's a good read and fans of detective mysteries will enjoy it.

First book I've read by this author and the first in a new series!! A dark and gritty story with some great characters. Really looking forward to seeing how the characters develop as the series continues.

Really enjoyed this one!

Thank you #netgalley and #stormpublishing for the eARC.

A great read in a beautiful setting!
I liked the character of Nikki and the way her background and that of her brother became more and more interwoven as the plot progresses.
As Nikki draws ever closer to discovering the perpetrator a second body is found and throws the investigation into disarray for a while- leaving Nikki to work out the new links and relationships to secure a conviction.
fast paced and incredibly well written.

Stolen Souls by M.L. Rose is the 1st in the Detective Nikki Gill series, and with an eye-catching cover, plus an enticing plot, it sounded like my sort of read. But although the plot was good, the execution was very poor. I was surprised the publisher let this one through even though I know (I hope) the published edition will be fixed. The editing in my copy is woeful - for example - "the paramedics loaded the black body bag into the back of the ambulance, complete with body, and drove away; then Detective Gill, her offsider and the doctor went into the room where the body was, as they searched for clues, turning the body over..." There were more...

Nikki's younger brother Tommy was in a boys care home in Dunston Hill when she was still a child, and she remembered him and the trauma that surrounded their lives back then. Now it looked like the murder of the Professor in the Oxford College was connected to that time at Dunston Hill, and when another Professor was discovered, murdered in the same way as the first, Nikki and her team knew there were others in the way of the killer. But could they discover who it was, and why he was brutally killing his victims?

With child abuse the focus of the book's beginning, I felt I'd be bogged down. But it wasn't "in your face" as such, and the latter part of the book centred mostly around the crimes. I'm not sure at this stage whether I'll look at the second in the series, but discounting the editing, it was a good police procedural.

With thanks to Storm Publishing via NetGalley for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.