After being offered the opportunity to read this series I received the first two books. I regret I could not warm to the first title and I return the second unread. I am aware many of my fellow bloggers are big fans of this series and I have enjoyed seeing their enthusiasm and support - this just wasn't for me I am afraid.

This is the second book in the DCI Kate Daniels series. Absolutely incredible.
The story is, a young girl is found dead, was thrown from a helicopter.
Then another young lady goes missing. Then the story begins, Mari Hannah is truly a queen at what she does. The story plot is interesting, heartbreaking, the more pages I read, the more obsessed I got. I had to know what? Why? Who? I absolutely love Kate, I love how her brain works and the persistence of this woman is insane. I also really love Hank & Carmichael, they really are the ones that make the team complete. I was very surprised with how Mari completed the last half of this novel.
I will say I preferred this book, more than the first one because DCI Kate Daniels was phenomenal.

Picking up very shortly after Book 1, Kate is thrown straight back into a murder inquiry unlike anything she has come across before-the body of a young woman had been found, face down, in a field. 

At first, identification seems relatively easy to come by based on the woman's clothing, she seems to have fallen straight out of a blue sky, her death a hideous contrast to the stunning North East countryside.

Shocked and appalled at this level of violence, worse is to come at the morgue when who is believed to be the victim's father, denies she is his daughter, but recognises all the clothing. The race is on to find out just who is dressed in Jessica's clothing, and worse, where is she?

As clue after clue piles up but leads frustratingly nowhere, Kate and her team find themselves dealing with a power shift, dangerous assignments for one of them, and a changing dynamic which challenges her personally, and professionally.

And then, another almost identical young woman goes missing....

After having faced down a serial killer already in her first case as a DCI, could this be history repeating itself?

A case and a mystery which leaves the reader breathless with the twist and turns that it takes, 'Settled Blood' can be read as a stand alone novel. But honestly, why would you when you can start at the beginning and follow her progression through the ranks?

The skills and intuition that she has as a detective are accentuated by her team and what is particularly interesting, is seeing how Kate mentors Lisa Carmichael , her junior, who she is trying to not only set a good example to, but also show the other members of her investigation team that she is not playing favourites.

She is as hard, if not harder on Lisa than the others , like Hank Gormley, or DS Robson-I only know him as Robbo, from the way she talks to him!-, but she is most hardest on herself. Her constant pull by the job to see justice done has impacted on her personal life, and the slow build of her character arc has shown , so far, what she will and won't put up with-as well as what needs to let go of.

It's really clear how the passion and drive of the team leads to mistakes being made, on occasion, in the pure adrenaline rush to locate the missing girl. This is inevitable as they are all only human but each has had the chance to grow, and other characters, such as Kate's new superior, Ronald Naylor, are allowed to take up space themselves.

The story which began in book 1 continues here as you see the cumulative effect of trauma on these individuals who you are becoming familiar with. Kate's banter with Hank is almost diametrically opposed to the way she deals with DCS Phillip Bright, her ex-boss and head of CID with whom she has had to have several very difficult conversations .

And, as ever, the North East -this time mostly placed in Durham and the area surrounding Hadrian's Wall-takes a role all of its own as the place which has grown, and nourished, the formiddable Kate , and provides a back drop for the crimes which we readers are g;ad to have her and her team investigating. For if there is one thing you learn about DCI Daniels from the start, she will sacrifice anything to bring justice to the loved ones of the dead.

This is another fantastic book by the author, this can be read as a stand-alone, but I really felt I got to see how Kate is growing within her role compared to ‘The Murder Wall’.

I enjoyed reading about the case, so freaky! Nothing is held back in this, I really felt I was amongst the team.

Roll on book three! 😊

When the body of a girl is found in the wilds near Hadrian's Wall, the police are baffled about how it came to be there, because of the complete lack of scene-of-crime evidence. DCI Kate Daniels is called in as SIO and is horrified to discover that the catastrophic injuries the victim received came as the result of being dropped from a great height - and that she was probably alive when she hit the ground. 

The case gets rapidly more complicated when a wealthy businessman discloses his daughter has gone missing. Rather than giving the investigation direction, Daniels and her team suddenly become embroiled in reports of disappearing Durham University students bearing a striking resemblance to the victim. This is an investigation that centres on a complex web of secrets and lies, and as the police wade through them all to get to the truth, it becomes clear that somewhere out there is a girl whose life hangs in the balance. Can they find her before time runs out?

Settled Blood is the second book in the DCI Kate Daniels series. It starts with a terrifying bang at a famous beauty spot, and burgeons into a twisty case that brings with it a bevy of red herrings and blind alleys before Daniels and her team can understand what lies behind a shockingly bizarre murder.

Hannah does a fine job of leading you down the garden path multiple times in this story, with cases that cross over each other around missing girls, mistaken identity, prostitution, and the desperate acts of a broken mind out for vengeance. The clues come from oodles of solid police procedural content, which keeps you compulsively turning the pages as the plot flips between tense, slow-burn elements, and pacy action scenes, all the way to the heart-in-your-mouth finale.

There are some meaty themes running through this second book that delve nicely into difficult family relationships, loyalty, secrets, and twisted notions of guilt, and alongside the highly addictive investigative shenanigans Hannah treats you to compelling storylines that build on what we learned about Daniels' personal life and the colleagues that make up her team in the first book, The Murder Wall, too. 

I thoroughly enjoyed my second adventure with DCI Kate Daniels, and am really l

Book two in the DCI Kate Daniels series & what a belter of a book. This can be read as a standalone but I liked the fact that I have recently read book one & so was still in touch with the characters.

A young woman is found at the base of Hadrian’s Wall; dressed for a night on the town & definitely wearing inappropriate heels for the desolate landscape. It becomes apparent that she was dropped from height & was still alive when she fell. Adam Finch is unable to locate his daughter, the description of the victim fits but it isn’t her. However, she is wearing the daughter’s clothes & jewellery. What is going on? Who is the depraved mind behind the killing?

A gritty & no holds barred police procedural, almost forensic in its detail of the minutiae pertaining to investigation. I loved this book & am rapidly moving on to book three.

Not much time has passed since Kate and her team had a difficult case to solve and the impact is still visible. Coping with injury, betrayal and new bosses but it all has to be put to one side when a young woman, Jess, is abducted. Kate is frustrated when her former boss, Bright, isn’t open with her about his connection to the Jess’s father but tries to stay supportive and loyal. I’m sure I won’t be the only one who thought that Adam Finch was a difficult man and often seemed unhelpful in trying to find his daughter. I couldn’t decide if he was just cold and uncaring or incapable of showing his true emotions. There wasn’t many who had a good word to say about him and Hank, especially, found it difficult to be sympathetic and understanding towards him. He is definitely becoming one of my favourite characters, I love his manner, humour and friendship towards Kate.
A harrowing part of this novel was the scenes that featured Jess. Fully understanding of the medical situation what she was facing made the brief chapters she was in difficult to read. Mercifully short, but I was desperate to read them. Hoping that she was still alive.
What I love about this series is the way the author shows the impact on the team. All exhausted, some also have personal situations to deal with but none are prepared to give up and stop looking. Whilst there was focus on Kate, naturally, I felt that the reader was slowly being introduced to other characters. Carmichael and Robson, in particular, both who wanted to shine for different reasons.
I’m really looking forward to continuing reading this series as part of #TEAMDANIELS

Settled Blood is the second book of the DCI Kate Daniels series. And my second book by Mari Hanna. I was eager to get back to Kate and the team. So I made sure I cleared a day at least and sat down to discover what Mari Hannah had in store for me this time.

After The Murder Wall, the first book, I was hoping that this book wouldn't disappoint me. What I found was another tense and truly gripping instalment with DCI Kate Daniels and the Murder Investigation Team. I am now truly addicted to this series!

The body of a young girl is discovered by Hadrians Wall. It doesn't take Kate long to realise that her death isnt as simple as it first appears. We see Kate and her team race against time to save another young woman's life. In order to do this, Kate has to play twisted mind games with the killer. Will they be in time or will Kate be pushed too far?

As the story unfolded the pages went by at an ever increasing speed. I had the 'just one more chapter' vibe going on, exactly as I did with the first book. Mari Hannah knows how to keep a reader in suspense with the twists and turns of the investigation.

One element I do really appreciate is well written and realistic characters. The development of the characters is clearly visible in this book. Although I felt they were very authentic in the first book, Mari Hannah just builds so cleverly on the solid foundations she has set up.

The police procedure felt very real too, but with this authors background I am not surprised. It made me feel that this could be actually be happening somewhere as I read.

Another cracker of a read from Mari Hannah and I highly recommend this series to anyone who has a liking for.police procedurals and crime thrillers. I am off to read the next book and boy, I can't wait!
Thanks to Tracy Fenton, Orion Books and NetGalley for my inclusion in #Team Daniels

After a prologue with a woman chained up in the dark, what begins as a routine crime novel, a young woman’s body found near a Roman at Hadrian’s Wall, quickly develops into something a little more unusual. This is no ordinary deposition site; the woman has literally been dumped from above. The postmortem reveals that nearly every bone in her body is broken and she was likely alive at the time. So, Kate and her team have little by way of forensics at the site to follow up on, all they know is that the killer must have access to a light aircraft or a helicopter.

The difficult job of identification appears to be solved when local businessman Adam Finch, calls in to report his daughter Jessica is missing and the body fits her description even down to what she was wearing. When he arrives for the identification, a shock is in store for all who attend as it becomes apparent that things are not quite as they seem.

There are two strands to the storyline, the central one being the search for missing Jessica, the ancillary one is the report of a prostitute ring preying on students at Durham University. The investigation into one leads to an intersection with the other.

DCI Kate Daniels is at work but very much still recovering from both the physical and psychological effects of apprehending the serial killer in The Murder Wall. She feels she must pitch in though because her immediate superior and mentor, Detective Chief Superintendent Phillip Bright, has been promoted and is covering for two jobs until his replacement is appointed. At least she has reliable Hank as her right-hand man for support and to hopefully prevent her going off the rails. Kate still misses ex-lover Jo Soulsby and hopes for a future reconciliation, but Jo has a new friend one who loves the great outdoors. Kate is not the only one looking for reconciliation as Hank’s wife is back to try and give their marriage another go. So, there is plenty of the sort of character development that a series needs to keep it fresh.

The principal motivation is that of revenge, to strike back at someone cold and heartless, but a deeper examination reveals that this due to a deep-seated obsession. It then become clearer what can happen when mental health issues are not recognised and treated. Greed also plays a part and as they say ‘follow the money.’
The story is literally dark as the search for Jessica is isolated to a specific area and they realise she is being held in disused mine tunnels. Kate manages to raise a search team with the help of the local Fell Rescue Team, and it is they who search the dark and dangerous tunnels, many of which are flooding due to foul weather. The narrative is interspersed with regular updates from Jessica’s view as she slowly deteriorates both physically and mentally. This proves to be a brilliant way of introducing tension and urgency to the storyline as it develops into a race against time. There are nice injections of danger and of course Kate goes against Hank’s advice and ends up confronting some of her own fears.

Its not all dark and gloomy though as there is the regular police banter and joking along with some moments of wit. I loved the description likening a woman’s sexy voice to Mariella Frostrup with a sore throat, a creepy guy has an apt private registration plate of his car and then the summoning of the ghost of Gene Hunt ‘Fire up the Quattro!’

There are some great cameos for the minor characters. The author has the creepy guy down to a tee as well as the administration worker who forsakes professionalism and the requires of GDPR for an opportunity to ‘stick the boot in.’ Several of the male characters have a connection that proves important and provides a ‘band of brother’ spirit in the face of adversity. It’s quickly revealed that Adam Finch is a cold and highly focused individual, and the reader will ponder over how much he is complicit in the situation he finds himself. Can he change, can he find redemption?

I would like to thank Net Galley, the author and publisher for access to the ebook in exchange for a fair review

Ohhhhh I really enjoyed this one!

I felt like 'Settled Blood' was a bit more established than its predecessor and the characters seemed to have found their feet a lot quicker. In this instalment, DCI Kate Daniels and her team were racing against time to find a girl who was feared dead, yet the team had absolutely no idea where she was. Kudo's to the culprit for playing a ruddy good game of hide and seek, but surely it would have been better if, oh I don't know, the 'thing' he was hiding wasn't an actual living person? That would have been far too easy though wouldn't it.

There was a lot of grit in the storyline to sink my teeth in as, from the get go there is a death, an inspector who gets on Kate Daniels' bad side, and evidence that points everywhere but. I thought that the psychological element to the storyline was brilliantly done, so much so it made me question my own sanity at times, let alone Kate's!

It didn't take me long at all to finish reading 'Settled Blood' as I just had to find out whether the unintentional game of hide and seek came up trumps and whether the culprit got what was coming to them, whoever they may have been! I had my suspicions, just like many of you will/had, and I was wrong! I honestly thought I had it all figured out, but I clearly didn't which I was so pleased about as, when the truth came out, I was faced with genuine shock.

Mari Hannah has delivered, once again, a novel that played with my mind, put me on a rollercoaster ride of......something, gripped me from the very start, and completely blindsided me with the truth. If this book is anything to go by, the rest of the series is going to be an absolute corker - I cannot wait!

I enjoyed Settled Blood by Mari Hannah -book 2 of my DCI Kate Daniels readalong.
I received a copy of this book for a free and unbiased opinion.
Settled blood picks up the story after the explosive events of The Murder Wall ( review here) and I loved the fact those events aren’t glossed over or forgotten. Kate has some time off and is back at work but is still suffering the consequences from the last book. This is true of her colleagues and superiors as well. Bright, her friend and former boss is struggling with grief, Hank is trying to patch up his marriage and Robson is trying to make amends. The team is cohesive and again I loved how Kate is respected as a Detective and boss with none of that undermining sexism I’ve come across in other crime novels featuring female leads.
The mystery itself is intriguing or rather the one murder and one kidnapping. The book takes a turn in the middle and the tension ramps up as Kate and her team try to find the missing girl before time runs out for her. There are plenty of suspects, motives and twists that kept me guessing till the end.
I enjoyed Kate’s own growth as character as she discovers some uncomfortable truths about the people she cares about and the way she deals with this is realistic.
As always I enjoyed the name checking the locations- Hadrian’s wall,Westerhope, Hexham and Durham make appearance.
Perfect for Fans
Of gritty crime thrillers with strong female leads

This is the second book in The DCI Kate Daniels book. This time, we are following Kate investigating a homicide, or is it set in the North East of England along Hadrinds Wall? Settled Blood delivers in spades. The short, punchy chapters conclude with a tempting hook that begs you to read just one more page. The pace is breathtaking, the suspense is ramped up, and the emotional investment of a team the group was a credit to their DCI. They worked around the clock, risked their safety by going undercover, and were determined to find the missing girl's whereabouts before time ran out, which made for an engaging read that is rare. I anticipate looking forward to the upcoming instalment and wish Kate Daniels would appear more frequently.








SettledBlood

This is the second novel in the Kate Daniels series and I felt, yet again, absolutely in awe of Daniels.

As a crime lover, I find myself often setting ridiculously high expectations of the plot, characters and outcome, but I can confidently say that this book was fantastic through and through.

In Settled Blood, we had a chance, as readers, to learn even more about Daniels and her personal life - something that I think is utterly integral when providing a protagonist of a series. We learned more about her quirks, her ways of working and previous experiences that led her to this point and it was wonderful to see.

The 'crime' was an extremely interesting one that initially sparked up plenty of questions and theories in my mind. We were introduced to shady characters, manipulated situations and deceit, all of which heightened my interest even more.

Another fantastic novel by Mari Hannah.