Crimson Snow by Jason R Vowles

 

⭐⭐⭐⭐

NB All proceeds from the sale of this book go to charity.

You can buy Crimson Snow....Here

The blurb....

London is hit by the biggest snow storm in decades.

Trains are at a standstill. Traffic is gridlocked. And in the chaos, the lobotomised corpse of a City banker is discovered in Hyde Park, their face slashed beyond recognition.

No physical evidence, no clear witnesses, no potential leads

A dangerously unorthodox DCI assigns the case to the murder investigation team's new recruit, DC Daniel Hudson. As bodies pile up, and with no discernible links between victims, Hudson begins to struggle emotionally with the case, nightmares plaguing his darkest hours.

How long can the new recruit hold it together?

With the media at a frenzy and the boss watching his every move, will Hudson and the team learn the secret behind these terrifying murders, before their killer decides to make things more personal?

My Reveiw....

This is the debut novel from Jason R Vowles, and a fine debut it is too. This is the first in the Daniel Hudson series. Daniel , the young,  provincial copper is aptly named as he enters the lions den of major league crime that is London. 

The plot centres around Daniel's first case in the big city, and it is a big one! A serial killer who lobotomises his victims post mortem. The team struggle to find leads, Daniel's mental health suffers. The author does a good job of ratcheting up the tension and pressure chapter after chapter. You can almost feel the stress level reaching breakdown point.

We also follow the killers story in first person perspective which adds to the creepy factor. I guarantee, you will find yourself searching for clues whenever the killers narrative appears.

The plot is clever and offers numerous potential suspects throughout the various profiles of the killer that the police come up with.

The strength of this book, I feel, is the layering of the character of Daniel. He is definitely not your average hard bitten city cop àla Inspector Rebus he is more the impressionable country hick, eager to please and scared of failure much like a Clarice Starling. (or for those with an even longer memory "McCloud.") You really feel for the character and are willing him on, while also feeling his never ending anxiety at the same time.

In addition there is a strong partnership theme that develops with his slightly dodgy, Japanese, DCI. So we get to explore this continually evolving relationship from the angle of the younger, naive DC Hudson. Again referencing old TV cop shows it is like experiencing Regan from the Sweeney  via a young and innocent Carter's viewpoint. I don't know why but my mind surreptitiously cast Ciaran Hinds in the role of Hiraoka. 

Layered on top of this is the whole ensemble team of multi ethnic fellow officers and pathologists. Some he gets on well with, others not so much. 

The other characters including his sister, love interest and landlady add to the depth of the story too. 

As I was reading towards the end I found myself galloping through the pages in an eager quest to find the killer. Always a good sign in a who dunnit!

There is a good twist, which the author does well to keep hidden. 

I am looking forward to the further adventures of Daniel Hudson and messers Hiraoka, Leigh, Hunt, Nguyen, Moreau, Anderson, Nita and Charlie. 

It's tension inducing thrill ride with a gobsmack twist.

I can give no higher praise than to say this book put me in mind of "the Mermaid's Singing" by Val McDermid, which was the first Tony Hill (Wire in the Blood) book.

It is a very good first step on what I hope will be a long literary career.

Selected Quotes...

"You're a London copper now Hudson. More place for scum to hide in bigger cities. They tend to do nastier shit, too"

"Don't ever get promoted too high, Hudson , it turns into bureaucratic bullshit."

"Let's light up this room. I want noise until repeats of Top Gear have finished airing on Dave."

"It dawned on him then, how much he'd gambled on. How big of a thing this all was. Bigger than him. This wasn't just a change in career. A change in lifestyle. This was a change of world."

"Hot chocolate before tea? Are you sure you dont swing the other way?"

"I was greeted by the smell of polish, stale popcorn and some lingering deodorant from some fat, zero hours idiot at the front desk"

"When the blade hit his upper abdomen, a jet of blood fired out from his mouth like punching hand soap quickly"

About the Author

Jason is a young breakthrough author, kicking off his writing career with the DC Daniel Hudson crime series. Based in Cardiff, Wales, he has lived all over England growing up for much of his life in Norfolk. He is influenced heavily by crime and mystery in various forms from around the world, from America to Japan, England to Sweden, Germany to South Korea.