Fantastically horrid! The story grips you until the very end, and whist being a little gruesome in some places, is literally unputtdownable!!!!! Sarah Flint is going from strength to strength.

This was a very well written book and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The characters were likeable, apart from the murderer!!! It kept me on the edge of my seat, and I would have read it straight through had I had the time and not had to stop for other things. Thank you for letting me have an advanced copy.

This is the second of the D.C. Charlotte Stafford mysteries, based out of London. Charlie has been trying to get scum like Cornell Miller off the street and this time it looks as though the charges may stick.When that doesn't happen, Charlie will have to put Cornell on the back burner as she and the entire department must know look for a killer who is even worse than Cornell.

As Charlie and team delve into the bodies being left in cemeteries, all with the same general MO, hearts ripped out and tossed carelessly on the ground, items left in the cavities and one ring finger missing on each victim.

Everyone is keeping some kind of secret, but is any of it worth murdering to keep quiet about it?
Will Charlie end up on a slab before she can figure out who is behind these killings? It will keep you guessing!

Flint's descriptions are great, and her characters are pretty well developed.

As far as my own opinion, the book seemed to go at a pretty steady pace and then at the end things just were over. I would have liked to have seen a little more depth in the characters.

I would like to thank Aria and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘The Trophy Taker’ by Sarah Flint in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.
This book is the second in the series featuring DC Charlotte ‘Charlie’ Stafford who, along with DI Geoffrey Hunter and her colleagues, are hunting for a serial killer who drugs his victims, removes their heart and one finger which he keeps for a trophy. Added to this, Charlie is searching for Cornell Miller who has been arrested for racially motivated GBH and robbery and who then escapes from custody whilst feigning illness.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book which had likeable characters, an intricately woven storyline and enough red herrings to keep me guessing till I reached the end. I’m looking forward to the next one!

Blinding good detective novel. I haven't read Sarah Flintstone debut novel but I will after reading this.
The two main characters DI Hunter and D.C. Stafford have a race against the clock to find the serial killer 'Trophy Taker'. He loves each of his victims, maybe too much as they always let him down.

1/4/17 The Trophy Taker

****

I would like to thank Netgalley and Aria for an advance copy of The Trophy Taker, the second London based police procedural to feature DC Charlotte "Charlie" Stafford.

Charlie has just charged Cornell Miller with racially aggravated wounding and robbery after an intensive investigation and is feeling good about it until he escapes custody overnight. She cannot, much to her dismay, lead the hunt for him as she is called in to assist the murder squad in the death of Susan Barton whose mutilated body has been found in a graveyard. As the bodies count rises the team struggle to make sense of the little evidence they have.

I enjoyed The Trophy Taker. It is a more or less straightforward police hunt for a killer with some interesting side steps. There are three points of view (not my favourite approach) - Charlie's, the unnamed killer and Cornell Miller during his spree of violence. I thought the killer's viewpoint was a bit pointless and didn't add anything to the plot except motive. Omitting it would have ramped up the tension and got me more invested in the hunt. The Cornell Miller point of view is much more interesting and a good counterpoint to the murder investigation, although you have to wonder if a drug addict could be as sharp in this thinking as Cornell is. Charlie's point of view covers most of the novel.

The plot is, as I said, fairly straightforward with various pieces of information leading to others and helping to build the case. I must admit that I guessed the perpetrator before the police but it took me a couple of goes. To me, the best bits in the novel were about Cornell Miller as I think Ms Flint does an excellent job on his motivation and his impact on his victims. My heart went out to Moses, his first victim, for his injuries and the way the attack changed his life. It seems very realistic and sad to me.

Charlie Stafford is a good protagonist. She is smart, scruffy and very caring. Her desire to recapture Cornell Miller to ease Moses's worry is admirable, as is her desire to get justice for Susan Barton.

The Trophy Taker is an easy read so I have no hesitation in recommending it.

Awesome book, loved it! Really enjoyed this read from Sarah Flint, couldn't put it down, loved every minuted of it. A solid 5 out of 5.

Possibly the best crime series I've read this year. The authors history gives the writing a very authentic feel. Combined with well written, complex and damaged characters and a well paced plot Flint' s second book is gritty, gory and refreshingly different to many books in this genre.
Great to see the return of Ben too, highly recommended and looking forward to the next instalment already.

Sarah Flint has written one detailed and surprising mystery. Between her surprising cast of characters, well thought out plot and descriptive scenes she’s able to set a story you won’t figure out ‘til the end.

She uses vivid imagery to set her scenes so you have an accurate picture of your surroundings and the people. It was a nice touch how she included real world political elements such as Brexit and Europe’s ongoing problem with Islamophobia.

She’s created a well-developed set of characters and you can actually connect with the law enforcement in this book as she’s made them into real people instead of just props for the criminals to do battle against. Even her plot lines with the coroner are so realistic I felt like I was watching scenes from CSI episodes or one of its spin-offs. The group dynamics between her law enforcement characters feels real and supported by the personalities and plot lines she’s created. The way she describes how the families of victims process their own trauma from dealing with the death or severe injury of a loved one seems psychologically accurate. Reading the heartbreaking description of what happened to a detective’s brother will squeeze your heart.

Her crime scenes are incredibly descriptive to the point your skin will crawl and stomach heave as you will be forced to confront some of the worst humanity has to offer. Scenes of child molestation and how pedophiles think are vomit worthy and tear jerking. ‘Hearing’ a pedophile justify his actions will make you tap into that hidden side in all of us where we could kill another person with absolute justification.

The bits of historical context she included about various buildings and places was a fun touch that showed Flint really makes an effort to grip her readers attention.

If you’re into suspenseful crime thrillers you should like this.

DC Charlotte Stafford aka Charlie has a great team with Hunter, Paul, Naz & Sabira. They makeup the Community Support Unit. It's like a big lovable family and you really connect with their connection. They have two cases the team is investigating with the Slasher on the loose and a serial killer removing ring fingers. Charlie is very likable and she cares about people. Investigating cases on her off hours and visiting her deceased brothers grave every week.

There was a quick pace to the book. I never got bored. I laughed quite a few times throughout this read. As well as got angry with the prejudice exhibited by the Slasher and priest. I hope to be along on the next case Charlie and the team is on.

I received this book from NetGalley for my honest review.

Good pacy thriller, if a bit gruesome in places, but that seems to be par for the course these days, I must admit I tend to skip over the descriptions some times there are only so many gory scenes I want to read.But there is more to the book than that, I like the pace and the short chapters kept me page turning, just wanting to read one more, I found it quite addictive because the story was good and I liked Charlie and the other team members and I enjoyed this thriller.Thanks to Netgalley and the Publishers for an ARC in return for an honest review.

This review is written with thanks to Aria and Netgalley for my copy of The Trophy Taker.
DC Charlie Stafford and her team are investigating a series of racially aggravated attacks when they are presented with the murder of Susan Barton. Susan was a teacher and appeared to be well respected in the community so the police are unsure why anyone would want to kill her, cutting her finger off and removing her heart from her body in the process. But when two other victims are killed using the same method, Charlie knows that she is hunting a dangerous criminal, and her team must find the link between the victims and catch the perpetrator before he is able to strike again.
The Trophy Taker is the second novel featuring Charlie Stafford, and although I have not read the first, I was pleased that I was able to become acquainted with Charlie and her team fairly quickly, In previous reviews, I have commented that it is often difficult to follow a novel which is part of a series if you are not familiar with what has happened before, but this is not the case for The Trophy Taker, as there is very little reference to the previous instalment. On one hand, this was beneficial, as it meant that I could follow the novel more easily; however, in some places, I did feel that some background information would have been helpful in order to give me some insight into the circumstances that have shaped the characters in their present form.
Charlie's team is a very eclectic mix of characters, and I found the various different aspects of their personal lives very intriguing, as the issues they present are well worth exploration in themselves; for example, Sabira is an Asian lesbian who has acted against the wishes of her family by joining the police force. Although I appreciate that these characters and issues are not the focus of the novel, I found that I wanted them to be explored in more detail. I suppose this bodes well for my enjoyment of the sequel!
As The Trophy Taker progresses, the plot becomes more intricate and several different investigations become intertwined with each other. At first, I felt that the subplots distracted me from the primary investigation, but was astonished to read how they all came together as the novel reached its ending. Flint structures and writes the plot so well, and I loved the way that small details that seemed inconsequential at the beginning played a major part in the resolution of the plot. The detectives in this novel often admonish themselves for not noticing certain things, but by the end of the novel I felt the same!
The Trophy Taker is a slow burner and it takes some time for its brilliance to shine through, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and will be looking out for the rest of the series.

This is the second book in the DC Charlotte Stafford series, and the first from the series that I've read.
I was really impressed by this novel - it had all the elements of police/ crime novels that I enjoy - great characters, a fast but not too fast paced storyline, and an ability to stay within the boundaries of ridiculousness. I often find with some novels in this genre, it strays a little too much in the high action/ drama and gets a bit stupid, but though this novel had some moments where I had to suspend my disbelief a little, it certainly didn't ruin my enjoyment and I didn't feel it was completely over the top, like many others.

Most of all, it has a great police lead character - and a female one at that! Charlotte Stafford is a likeable, caring and above all skilled detective who I enjoyed reading about throughout the novel.

The storyline is pretty gritty and shocking at times, both in terms of gore and horrific themes including racism and violent assaults. Sarah Flint writes very effectively to really get you behind the police force; I HATED with a passion one of the characters in particular (you'll know which when you read it) so I was willing the police force to succeed and find him, as well as a few other nasty characters... The story moves along quickly and is fairly straightforward - hunting a killer and a violent attacker - and easily succeeded at keeping my attention. The narrative draws to a great conclusion with a few twists along the way.

To me, this is just a great police novel which anyone - maybe apart from people who like their crime really soft (isn't that a bit of a contradiction?) is bound to enjoy. I now want to read the first in the series, Mummy's Favourite, and compare!

The Trophy Taker is a second book in the DC Charlie Stafford series and it certainly lives up to its first instalment. It’s clever, fast pacing and keeps you guessing until the end.

Charlie has been through the mill in the first book and seems somehow a little more mature in this novel. When the call comes in about a mutilated body of a woman found displayed in a local graveyard, Charlie is already handling a case close to her heart, a case of a local racist junkie attacking residents of any colour different to his own skin. She gets herself involved deep into each case she handles and makes it her own personal job to deliver justice for the victims.

As Charlie and her team face this new case where nothing seems to link together, they once again prove that team work gets things done. We get little glimpses and notes of their personal lives and the author cleverly hints at the developing relationship between Charlie and Ben whom we have met in the first book.

Sarah Flint has a 35 years’ experience working as a Police Constable for the Metropolitan Police and it shows throughout her books. From the forensic evidence to all the members of the team and their behaviour, you can tell that this is written with an insider’s knowledge.

I cannot wait to see what is waiting for Charlie next. I really enjoyed both of the books and just wish someone would pick it up for TV adaptations. It would make a brilliant crime drama for those long winter nights.

A massive thank you goes to the author, publisher and NetGalley for giving me access to this.

My rating: 5/5

DC Charlie Stafford is back in the 2nd book in what is fast becoming an excellent series. We begin with Charlie already embroiled in a series of nasty racist attacks, one in particular having troubled Charlie on an elderly man, Moses. While Charlie and her team are desperately chasing the vicious attacker, a body is discovered with a finger missing.

As the cases progress, each with bumps along the way, more bodies are found and it soon becomes clear there is an evil serial killer on their patch, and the pressure is on to catch him before he kills again.

I really hope this is going to be a long running series, as I can't help like Charlie and want to read more of her adventures and love the way the author manages to carefully weave the story together.

As with Mummy's Favourite, Sarah's debut novel, I was completely immersed from the very first chapter, and honestly found myself getting annoyed by interruptions when I was trying to read this. I have absolutely no problems recommending this brilliant book which I couldn't award anything less than top marks!!!

The Trophy Taker by Sarah Flint is the second novel in the DC Charlotte Stafford series. I hadn’t read the first book in this series, which I always worry will be an issue, but I didn’t find that I had an issue navigating Stafford’s backstory or the story of her team. This novel can be read as a standalone.

The novel opens with a particularly vicious serial killer who tortures his victims, removes their hearts from their bodies and takes one of their fingers for his own personal collection. He is a trophy taker. Stafford and her team are baffled by these killings, as the victimology is completely different; there does not seem to be any rhyme or reason to the killings or how he is choosing his victims. Stafford is forced to press her limits and dig deep to find the perpetrator.

Stafford as a lead character was awesome, I am always a huge fan of anything with a strong, female protagonist and Stafford fit that mould. In fact, I was impressed with how much diversity Flint brought into this police procedural, especially in regards to the secondary storyline with the racial attacks.

My biggest complaint with this novel was how much was actually going on. Besides the main story and the secondary plot, there were, what felt like, one million characters and one million possibilities happening. By the end, when the perpetrator was finally revealed, I had to flick back pages and try to reconnect everything since the number of characters had me confused.

Overall, I did enjoy the plot and feel that any fans of police procedurals will enjoy this real. It’s fast-paced, realistic and had an extremely likeable lead!

After reading Mummy's Favourite, the first book in the DC 'Charlie' Stafford series, last year, I wasn't convinced that Charlie was a protagonist I would be keen on following, but with this second book, Sarah Flint has me fully on board now. Charlie comes across as more "real" in this installment and Ms Flint has delivered a solid police procedural that should appeal to all fans of British crime fiction. Charlie and her team are busy with two cases: the racially aggravated assaults committed by Cornell Miller who has escaped custody and the search for a killer who rips his victims' hearts out and keeps their ring fingers as trophies. Sounds gruesome, but compared to some of the scenarios in Mummy's Favourite, Sarah Flint has turned it down a lot. I wasn't anywhere near as disturbed as I was reading the first book. If you add the family atmosphere and banter among the team of the Community Support Unit at the Metropolitan Police, this actually had a feel-good tone to it (in parts) with the entire team made up of very likable characters. Charlie's third person point of view covers the majority of the book, but small passages are written from the perspectives of the serial killer and from Cornell Miller. I thought that worked well. I actually felt more invested in the secondary storyline about the racial crimes than in the hunt for the serial killer. The nastiness of Cornell Miller was repulsive and reading about how one of his victims' life was affected was intensely moving. The author did a very good job with the way the two storylines were combined in the end. Overall, this was a well-paced, enjoyable and believable police procedural with realistic characters. I look forward to more.
I received an ARC via NetGalley.

After managing to get the perpetrator of a horrific racist attack to court, DC Charlie Stafford is feeling pretty proud of herself. All feelings of relief are short-lived, however, when he manages to flee custody, leaving a trail of destruction in his wake. Meanwhile, a body is found in a cemetery. While this might not seem out of the ordinary, this body has had its heart ripped out and a finger removed, the finger joining those of the other people killed by the same man. He’s stalking and mutilating his victims but what links them? The investigating team at Lambeth are pushed to their limits as they try to find both men before more lives are ruined and more bodies are found.

The Trophy Taker is Sarah Flint’s second book in the DC Charlie Stafford series. The first, the brilliant Mummy’s Favourite, was published last year and, in my opinion, this one is even better! Like many books of its genre, the story is told from the perspective of multiple characters: Charlie, the unknown killer and Cornell Miller, the aforementioned racist attacker. This helped to move the plot along nicely and gave a good insight into all aspects of the case.

The book is, at times, graphic, as it deals with such heinous crimes as paedophilia and racially-motivated attacks. When a depraved killer is added to the mix, this certainly makes it a book for those with a strong stomach! I found myself longing for Cornell Miller to be caught and admired his victims for their ‘never say die’ attitudes. The horrific nature of the crimes also give us a chance to fully understand Charlie’s personality and how she wants, more than anything, for the perpetrators to be off the streets.

As in the first book, I loved the character of Charlie – a woman devoted to her work but still very much in the real world. It is also refreshing to read a police procedural where colleagues actually get along and there is no animosity between the lower and upper ranks. The other main characters are also well-written and likeable and I particularly enjoyed reading any scenes featuring Ben and hope that he can continue to fight his demons in any sequels.

Sarah Flint has done a good job in keeping you guessing right to the end as she introduces several suspects who could quite feasibly be the killer. I found that there was a moment when the penny dropped and realised that there were little clues throughout the story that I only picked up on with hindsight. I would also like to thank her for piquing my interest in Cross Bones Graveyard in Southwark – an area I have visited but was not aware of the hidden history lurking off the trodden path.

Although The Trophy Taker is the second in the series, it is not essential to have read the first. I would recommend you do, though, as it is another brilliant read.

With thanks to Aria (Head of Zeus), Sarah Flint and Net Galley for the ARC.

The Trophy Taker by Sarah Flint was a book I didn't know anything about besides the title. So I went into it not knowing what to expect. I enjoyed it! I was nervous seeing that it was book two for D.C. Charlotte Stafford though - not all are good as a standalone, but I think this one did a good job!

"He's watching, waiting...and counting". Creepy, right? Love the tagline for this book.

DC Charlie Stafford is back! While investigating a series of escalating racist attacks, there seems to be a new serial killer gaining some momentum. Each victim is found with their heart ripped out, and replaced by symbols of their treachery, and then each are missing a finger. Hence the title, trophy taker. None of the victims are linked to each other by any person or event, so DC Stafford has her work cut out for her this time!

Even though it is book two, I didn't seem to find myself as lost as I have been in some detective novels (at least when I unknowingly start in the middle of a series). Flint did a great job making a strong female lead. I've always enjoyed a good mystery/thriller with a strong female lead (whether she's the detective, villain, or 'victim') that you felt connected with. A serial killer that's incredibly demented, strong female lead, and I wasn't able to predict the ending (always a major plus!) were things that I loved about this. However, the downsides, there were SO many characters that needed to be kept straight. That got confusing in parts of the book - especially because there were two stories going on (the main story about the serial killer and then the racial attacks).

Overall, a great police procedural. Anyone that is a fan, will definitely enjoy this one! It was a quick read and I liked the plot. I loved DC Stafford, so I'll definitely be looking into book one!

I give this 3.5/5 stars!

Thanks to Aria for the copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed reading The Trophy Taker. This is the second novel about DC Charlotte Stafford but is perfect to read as a standalone novel. The story is set in London this time and Charlie is a withered and serious detective. Her hair and clothes could use some improvement but there's nothing to say about her skills, or of those of the rest of her team. They are tightly knit and it was great to see them working together and see the contributions from other team members too.

The story starts out with her troubles with Cornell Miller who carried out a racist attack on an old, kind man who's been hiding in his house ever since. She's vowed to protect Moses and will try her utmost but will have to divide her time chasing The Trophy Taker too. The first victim of this killer is found in a cemetery, her heart is ripped out and tossed on the ground, her ring finger missing.

I was happy to read about some real police work in this novel and thanks to this outstanding detective work suspicion falls fairly soon on not one but no less than three possible suspects. All of these men have something to hide and a possible motive. I never had a problem believing their motive. The author kept me guessing good and let me have a good time figuring it out on myself.

I wasn't entirely surprised who the killer finally turned out to be and I knew for sure a few pages before Charlotte Stafford did, but then I really don't need much to get on the right trail ;-). It was still entertaining to see how it all played out and how she really got on the right track, involving Cornell Miller even in her chase for the killer. She did an excellent job of letting these two storylines mix in the end.

If you like a nice police procedural novel, this novel is certainly comparable to Robert Bryndza's series and I can definitely recommend adding The Trophy Taker to your reading list.

This is the second book in a series featuring Charlie Stafford but I jumped in with no problem at all. I warmed quickly to Charlie, she’s a good cop but she’s not jaded and disenchanted by her job, she’s still eager to find justice for victims of crime and she also has a fantastic sense of humor. The rest of the team she works with are also likable and there’s a genuine sense of family amongst them. Charlie is shuffling two cases at the same time, the first is a series of racially motivated attacks perpetrated by a real scumbag. When he manages to escape from prison, she’s bound and determined to ensure he gets back behind bars, and fast. The second is a series of murders where the killer removes the victims ring finger before brutally killing them. As Charlie struggles to find a connection between the victims, bodies keep popping up and she knows that it’s a race against the clock.

Flint was a police officer for thirty five years and her knowledge is evident in her writing. It’s a standard police procedural and you can really tell it’s written by someone with firsthand experience. Sometimes in crime thrillers there are moments where things just don’t make sense and as an average citizen,even I can spot discrepancies. There was none of that here, everything seemed very genuine. It’s a dark, gritty, fast paced read and there were quite a few suspects to choose from making it all the more difficult for me to solve the puzzle, I definitely didn’t have things worked out. It was a solid read and one that would appeal to any crime fiction fans.

This is an easy four star from me. Told from three points of view, Charlie's, the killer and the evil Cornell. Well written, great characters, suspense, descriptive, imagery and a cracking plot. It kept me intrigued until the end but it stopped just a bit too sudden, otherwise it would have been five stars. An easy read but well worth reading. many thanks to Net Galley for my copy. I would recommend this book. I reviewed on Goodreads.