Eight killers.
One house.
And the almost perfect murder.
A Room Full of Killers is the third novel in the DCI Matilda Darke series by Michael Wood and is due for release in ebook format by Harper Collins later this week on 17th February 2017.
It’s the first in the series for me having not come across Michael Wood’s writing before and I must say I really enjoyed this. As a standalone book it works just fine but I have included the links to Book 1 and Book 2 should you wish to start from the beginning.
Book Blurb:
The third book in Michael Wood’s darkly compelling crime series featuring DCI Matilda Darke. Perfect for fans of Stuart MacBride, Mark Billingham and Val McDermid.
Feared by the people of Sheffield, Starling House is home to some of Britain’s deadliest teenagers, still too young for prison. Now the building’s latest arrival, Ryan Asher, has been found brutally murdered – stabbed twelve times, left in a pool of blood.
When DCI Matilda Darke and her team investigate, they uncover the secrets of a house tainted by evil. Kate Moloney, the prison’s manager, is falling apart, the security system has been sabotaged, and neither the staff nor the inmates can be trusted.
There’s only one person Matilda believes is innocent, and he’s facing prison for the rest of his life.
With time running out, she must solve the unsolvable to save a young man from his fate. And find a murderer in a house full of killers
Starling House, a place where evil, killer teenage boys reside, as society has no where else to put them. All are murderers, having committed the most horrendous crime with very little remorse.
Starling house is curated by Kate Moloney. Kate is tough, She has seen it all having worked there for quite a number of years. But all this changes….
Ryan Asher, another young teenager responsible for a heinous crime, arrives at Starling house. He has no distinguishing characteristics over any of the other inmates, yet Ryan is found, within twenty-four hours of his arrival, brutally murdered.
DCI Matilda Darke attends the scene of what appears to be a rather ritualistic killing but as she delves further, Matilda discovers that all is not as it seems at Starling House. Faced with the formidable Kate Maloney, DCI Darke has to use all her ingenuity and patience to get the bottom of this terrible tragedy before the killer strikes again..
Can DCI Matilda Darke find the killer in a room full of killers before everything collapses like a house of cards?
Will DCI Matilda Darke and her team be able to uncover the truth behind Starling House and the secrets kept within it’s walls?
A Room Full of Killers is one of those books where you sit and just keep turning/swiping those pages itching to see where, who, how, what??
Matilda Darke is a character that evokes a lot of empathy from the reader. She carries a previous life-changing tragedy with her at all times, a tragedy that almost destroyed her. She is trying to prove her ability to do her job properly but yet seems unable to stay within the rules and boundaries of her job. A bit of a maverick, DCI Darke will stop at nothing to get answers, even if it means breaking a few rules.
A Room Full of Killers is a book driven by suspense. As a reader you are totally absorbed as you are introduced to each of the different characters and each of their horrific back stories.
As well as being a work of fiction, I think Michael Wood does highlight the difficult question of what makes someone evil? Is it a personality trait that a person is born with or is this behaviour a by-product of a possible violent upbringing? Can this behaviour be changed if a person is extracted from the source and placed where there are experts willing to take on the challenge?
A Room Full of Killers is fast paced crime thriller that will have your pulse racing as you charge to the finish.
I thoroughly enjoyed it and you can too by following the purchase link and pre-ordering now..
Purchase Link : A Room Full of Killers
Book 1 and Book 2 can be purchased here:
About the Author:
Michael Wood is a freelance journalist and proofreader living in Sheffield.
As a journalist he has covered many crime stories throughout Sheffield, gaining first-hand knowledge of police procedure. He also reviews books for CrimeSquad, a website dedicated to crime fiction.
Ooh this sounds good and would be brilliant for the 144 counties challenge…Might have to treat myself! And it has our Kate in it!!! Great review as always Mairead xxx
It would wouldn’t it…Sheffield and other spots aswell. My geography of UK crap so…. 🙂 Kate is brilliantly depicted… a right vamp with the nails & all!! Thanks a mill Abbie. xx