Blurb:

MEET DETECTIVE NICKI HARDCASTLE IN THIS BRILLIANT NEW SUFFOLK-BASED CRIME SERIES.

Three grisly crime scenes. Body parts strewn across the pretty market town of Bury St Edmunds. Detective Nicki Hardcastle tackles her darkest case yet.

It’s a freezing December night when Detective Nicki gets the call. An elderly theatregoer finds his Dress Circle seat and receives the shock of his life: resting on the faded cushion is a pair of human eyes.

Several hours later, a few miles across town, comes the second horrifying find. A severed human tongue.

Then a worshipper at the cathedral is appalled to discover a human hand under the pew in front of her.

One dismembered body — or three tortured victims?

The pretty market town of Bury St Edmunds has never seen anything like it.

Someone is playing twisted games with Nicki and her team — but only the killer seems to know the rules.

Nicki is in a race against time to track down a brutal murderer — before more victims meet a grisly fate.

Perfect for fans of Helen H. Durrant, Joy Ellis, Ann Cleeves, Angela Marsons and Rachel McLean.

Review:

When I read Guilt (now The Missing Boy) in 2021, I wrote that it was one of the best first books in a series I had ever read. For someone who reads a lot of police procedural, that’s high praise, and it means I started The Trophy Killer with high expectations. These expectations were met and more! Michelle Kidd is a brilliant writer, and she pulled me into this story right from the start and didn’t let go until I was finished. 

The protagonist of The Trophy Killer is DI Nicki Hardcastle. She is intelligent, loyal and determined, so it’s easy to root for her as she investigates, but she also has a brilliantly constructed back story, which forms a fascinating subplot. For this reason, I would recommend reading the series in order so that you are able to follow Nicki’s story. Nicki is ably assisted by her team, especially DS Graham Fox and DC Darcie Butler, who complement her really well.

The chapters in The Trophy Killer are relatively short, and they are headed by the date and location of each scene. As the plot is quite complex, with different timescales and subplot, I found this structure really helped me to follow the story. It also builds up the tension between the scenes, which makes the novel almost impossible to put down.

It is quite early in the story when we discover who the killer is, and Michelle Kidd makes no secret of it. I loved being able to see into the killer’s mind and follow his most gruesome acts. I really wanted to see how he would be caught, and the denouement is really cleverly written. There were a few moments when my heart was in my mouth! 

The ending sets up the next book in the series perfectly and I can’t wait to read it!

The Trophy Killer is available from Amazon.