Meh. It's a fairly decent read. It focuses on the typical grizzled detective who likes the bottle a bit too much. He has a painful backstory complete with family/relationship issues. I really wanted to like this book, mostly because of the dog! But I didn't.

The "mystery" wasn't anything to write home about and was fairly easy to predict. I did like reading Sophie's perspective, but even that started to drag on. The author played a bit of a mind game about the "creature" which I didn't like. Turns out, the only monsters are human, who knew?

If you're into slow paced Procedurals, you'll love this.

If you're a fan of British police procedurals, you'll love this book. I read it in one sitting and fell in love with the descriptions of the moor and the well-written characters. I'm now following the author so I can read the next books in the series. Can't wait for book 2!

A fairly short book with plenty of action. Jacob is working in Devon as a detective inspector when a woman goes missing on Dartmoor. This echoes an unsolved case from 6 months previously when a woman disappears from the same area. There is not much to go on, but later there is an attempted abduction from the area. Meanwhile, some of the book is told from the point of view of Sophie who has found herself in a cave system underground with 2 other women and a small child. Jacob Knox, the main detective also has complications in his private life, including an alcoholic brother and is developing a romantic interest in his dog-sitter Lucy.
I enjoyed this fast paced book, the investigation is well thought out but the conditions in which he women were kept in captivity were graphically described and nasty to read about. I`ll definately look ot for more in this series.
Thanks to Net Galley for the ARC

Hollow Ground by Freya Wallace


In the rugged wilderness of Dartmoor, school teacher Sophie Parsons vanishes without a trace during a weekend trek. For Detective Inspector Jacob Knox, Sophie’s disappearance stirs unsettling echoes of a previous case involving another woman who vanished in the same desolate moorland six months earlier.
A very enjoyable read that has just the right amount of intrigue and twists to keep you guessing.
Loved that it was set on Dartmoor which for me had that slightly spooky feel that things can easily go very wrong on it so the subject matter and plot completely fitted the,well described area. I could almost feel the chill of the place.

Thank you to Hamya Press and NetGalley for the advance ARC of this book. An excellent kick off to what I hope will be a long running series.

Teacher Sophie Parsons is taking a weekend break in Dartmoor from her partner and her school teacher lover when she disappears. DI Jacob Knox is called in. The disappearance resembles that of another young woman just six months earlier. Are the disappearances linked? Or is Sophie's the product of the secrets in her life?

The investigation is full of unforseen twists and turns with a thrilling ending. An excellent first book in a series. 4 out of 5 stars.

Wow this was such a great book. It had me on the edge of my seat. I highly recommend this book if you like to read mystery and thriller books.


I received a copy of this book for my honest opinion.

What I liked most was following the police procedures. It was interesting to see how Jacob and team put together the clues. It was also somewhat horrifying to see the victim’s POV.

What I found lacking were the characters themselves. The MC is Detective Inspector Jacob Knox. We mainly follow his footsteps as he tries to find some missing women. We also get a glimpse into his personal life with the introduction of a love interest, Lucy Harper, and his alcoholic brother, Caleb. However, both these characters seemed one dimensional.

While she does appear a couple times in the story, all we get to know of Lucy is that she dog sits Dylan (Jacob’s dog), has high cheekbones and is always smiling. Caleb, the brother, is a drug addict and alcoholic. While the reader finds out that the addictions were exacerbated by their parents’ deaths when the boys were teenagers, there is no further explanation as to his demons. Nor I did not feel Caleb added anything to the story.

Even the villain was flat. He was described as a loner, weird and fixated on survivalism but there were no reasonings or motivation to his life choices.

A strong start to a new series. I picked this becuase I was interested to read a book set in Dartmoor. I liked Knox, his personality, his back story and the bond with his dog Dylan. With the case itself, I felt quite anxious in the periods underground with Sophie experiencing her abductor's warped sense of reality and was glad that the author explained Theo's aims without lingering on graphic violence. I'll definitely continue with the series. Thank you

When Sophie goes for a run through the woods, the last thing she expects is that she may never return home. Just like she was taken, two other women were taken as well. It becomes Detective Inspector Knox’ duty to find them and their abductor, all at the same time as he is helping his brother fight his demons. This is a twisted tale in similar flair to an episode of Criminal Minds. This chilling crime drama delivers an abundance of mystery, suspense and thrills! I am definitely looking forward to reading more books in this series as it kept me truly on the edge of my seat throughout!

Thank you to Net Galley and Hamya Press for this free ARC book in exchange for my candid review.

Detective Inspector Jacob Knox is a compelling protagonist, a seasoned detective whose haunted past and relentless pursuit of justice make him both flawed and relatable. Knox’s investigation into Sophie’s disappearance is skillfully layered, peeling back the complexities of her personal life, from her affair to her strained relationship with her boyfriend. These revelations add depth to the narrative, making Sophie’s absence all the more poignant.

Recommendation: For fans of atmospheric crime fiction


*thanks to Netgalley for the copy of the book. All options are my own

Intriguing premise and interesting cast of characters. I enjoyed seeing the victim’s POV and that she wasn’t a helpless, perfect female. I liked the setting and watching the story unfold from both the detective and the victim’s side.

However, what did not work for me was that the writing was some what dispassionate. It came off clinical and observational, I wanted more emotion and “showing us” rather than telling us what was happening. To me it read more like a screenplay than a novel. Which I think resonated with many of the other reviewers, I know I’m in the minority, I just felt like the storyline was recited but not told as a story.

I also felt like I didn’t always get a great sense of the characters’ personalities. I heard from everyone else what they were like. But the characters themselves did not exhibit these traits. In the case of the detective’s love interest we only ever read that she was smiling and had high cheek bones. What were her likes and interests? We heard the detective unburden himself to her…but what was her story? She seemed to exist only to provide him with a dream girl love interest. What about her personality made him fall for her? Similar, to the villain. We heard from other he was an oddball, loner…but not much about why. He barely even spoke. We heard from his victims how Sophie was expected to behave but he was kind of vague.

Sophie was by far the most interesting character. I felt she was the most fleshed out and realized. She was determined, driven and as we heard from everyone else: fit. We heard from others she wasn’t trusting and she was independent. Then we heard a bit from her POV some insight into her logic and reasoning. I’d love to see her in the future as a citizen partner to the detective. She’s not perfect but she owns it and has great insights. She almost got away on her own, without any help from the detective. That was compelling. I want more of her in subsequent novels.

Overall, a compelling, quick read that had a unique POV.

4* Decent police procedural, but needs an edit, some tightening, and needs a less-rushed ending. The latter spoilt the tale, as it was too quick, convenient and easy.

This is a decent tale set in the UK, which automatically earns it brownie points. In my book, pun not intended, what loses it points is the (on the spectrum?) unlikable, cheating Sophie, and tbh, I was rooting for Rachel, not her.

The tale itself is believable and well done, and the male detective is a decent guy. I'm not sure why his family drama/s got pulled into it, but neither his ex-wife nor his alkie brother added to the tale in any meaningful way, so reading about them was an irritant and detracted from the pace and feeling of danger - an editor really could've helped this decent first-time author out here.

The tale ends sort of as expected, but unrealistically so with how quick and easily the bad guy gets duped and subdued. For me, this equated to build-up but a letdown ending. Again, I think the issue of pacing needs addressing by editors.

ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Hamya Press, for my reading pleasure.

A good start with a new detective - DI Knox. A fairly typical character- moved to Devon from the Met, wife left him, alcoholic brother always in and out of trouble. There's quite a lot of this background but, hopefully, mainly setting up the character for the future. A woman goes missing on Dartmoor; a similar cold case from 6 months before haunts the local detectives. She had an open lovelife, tangled, was very keen on fitness, outdoor running etc. Old University links to the previously missing woman. Rather horrid story and some really unpleasant, paranoid people there. Well-written, a good set of characters, lovely evocative descriptions of Dartmoor - you can almost hear the Hound of the Baskervilles at times. Talking of which the media, of course, have the Beast of Dartmoor as the perpetrator. Things felt rather rushed at the end and I would have liked to know more of the final locations (don't want to spoil things though). A promising start, definitely keep the dog, go easy on the romance, please keep it in the background. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy.

This was great start to the DI Knox series with plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader engaged! I can’t wait for the next instalment! It was a great read!

With many thanks to Netgalley for this free arc and I am leaving this unbiased review voluntarily
I did promise myself that I wasn’t going to start another new police procedural series but I just couldn’t resist the premise of this one and I was instantly hooked. Jacob Knox is an intriguing character and one I liked straight away. The book has a really nice flow to it, it’s well written, nicely paced and has that familiar feel to it that you get in say book 3 or 4 of a series. It did feel slightly rushed at the end - the author could have quite easily added another few chapters in here expanding on the detail. All in all this was an easy read and a promising start to the series. I look forward to the next one!

I'll start by saying: I really liked the book! Overall the storyline grabbed me from the beginning and kept me dying to know what else was going to happen.

My only issue is that the story was building up so well, and then I felt like the last 1/4 of the book was SO rushed to end. It felt like such a big lead up to such a fast ending where everything kind of wrapped in a neat bow. I just wish the author had taken time to expand on the end as it deserved.

Firstly, I love books that are set locally to me, and this was. Reading the names of places I know gives a whole other element to the book as I can picture them perfectly.

The writing was easy reading and the plot was interesting and kept your intrigued right the way through. It's a fairly straightforward police procedural without any big twists or reveals, but is thoroughly enjoyable and the start of a series I feel I am sure to love!

From the very first page, this book grips you and refuses to let go until the end, leaving you wanting more. Freya Wallace has crafted something extraordinary. The writing is superb, and the characters feel so real and well-researched. With its tightly woven, compelling subplots, I was completely transfixed from start to finish.

Set in the dark, brooding landscapes of Dartmoor, the story follows Detective Inspector Jacob Knox—a troubled but brilliant soul navigating a complicated life. He has a budding love interest, an alcoholic older brother who constantly stirs up trouble, and a cheerful, loyal dog who brings some light to his world. When two women go missing, Knox dives headfirst into the case.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say this is Robert Harris meets Fred West, but it does carry certain elements that make it a chilling and dark horror novel. At the same time, it’s surprisingly uplifting and inspiring, taking readers on an emotional rollercoaster.

I have written a blog post on this with more conent that you can find linked here.

Hollow Ground is set mostly in the bleak and desolate environs of Dartmoor,a place I know and love ,so I was particularly keen to read author Freya Wallace's debut.
When teacher Sophie Parsons disappears on the Moor Detective Jacob Knox sees parallels with a similar disappearance 6 months earlier. With a reporter publishing lurid claims linking Sophie's disappearance with a mythical beast Knox also finds not only her complicated personal life also hampering the investigation but also the resurfacing of his wayward brother, a very troubled man with a drink problem.
This is an assured debut and a good introduction to Knox, a man struggling with life after divorce and relocating to Devon from London. There were a few times I raised my eyebrows at improbable events and the apparent ineptitude of the police who occasionally appeared to stumble across things that a bit more competence would have unearthed sooner.
It's good rather than great but kept me interested enough to want to read the next book in the series.

Thank you NetGalley for the advance copy of Hollow Ground. In the rugged wilderness of Dartmoor, schoolteacher Sophie Parsons vanishes without a trace during a weekend trek. For Detective Inspector Jacob Knox, Sophie’s disappearance stirs unsettling echoes of a previous case involving another woman who vanished in the same desolate moorland six months earlier.