(AUDIO) BOOK REVIEW
Serial Killers Strike, Detective Teams Investigate
Book reviews of The Snow Killer, The Soul Killer, and The Ice Killer by Ross Greenwood
I normally don’t listen to more than one book by an author but prefer to alternate between authors. This doesn’t mean I won’t come back later to listen to another book of an author I had enjoyed, such as K.L. Slater.
However, once I had listened to The Snow Killer by Ross Greenwood, I was so hooked on the story about a British detective, DI Barton, that I listened to two more books… and have a couple more lined up!
The author, Ross Greenwood
Born in 1973 in Peterborough, United Kingdom, Ross Greenwood grew up and stayed there until his early twenties. When he left, he lived and worked all over the world, but every time something went wrong in his life, he returned to Peterborough.
On one such occasion, he met his wife while walking the family dog, and before he knew he was married and had two children. The pace at which it happened still stuns Greenwood.
Ross started his first book, Fifty Years of Fear (2017), in 2011 and only finished it in 2016, as family and work life took over. He held different jobs — from share trader to data input to call center manager — but it was at his last job as a corrections officer in a prison that he completed this book, working on it in the early hours of the morning.
There are three books in Greenwood’s ‘Dark Lives’ series — Fifty Years of Fear (2017), The Boy Inside (2018), and Chancer/Lazy Blood (2022).
His DI Barton series has six books — The Snow Killer (2019), The Soul Killer (2020), The Ice Killer (2020), The Cold Killer (2021), The Fire Killer (2022), and The Santa Killer (2022).
The Snow Killer was number one on the Apple Audiobook Charts for two weeks, and The Cold Killer has twice been a top 10 Amazon Audible bestseller.
Besides those, he has four standalone books — Abel’s Revenge (2018), Shadows of Regret (2019), Prisoner (2021), and Jail Break (2022).
It’s expected that Death on Cromer Beach, the first in the DS Ashley Knight series, will publish in 2023.
In my opinion, if you look at the dates of publication, the moment Ross published his first book, his writing took off!
The Snow Killer
Three years after a family is gunned down, the surviving child takes revenge. Police investigate, but never solve the crime and they shelve it as a cold case.
Fifty years later, while it snows, another murder follows. Then, the next time it snows, yet another murder. The police race against the clock, trying to make sense of the murders, despite the lack of leads.
How do you find a killer who hides in plain sight?
DI Barton and his team — a rich cast of characters — scramble to put the pieces of the puzzle together, leading the reader to an unexpected twist in the story.
The Soul Killer
DI Barton is called out to investigate two apparent suicides, but only realizes they should be treated as murders when they find the remains of another body.
The investigation team pieces clues together, arrest the murderer, and puts him behind bars, fully convinced they have solved the crimes.
What they don’t know is that the danger still lurks between them, and the killer believes life is but a rehearsal for eternity.
No soul is safe while the killer is still at large.
The Ice Killer
When Ellen discovers the secrets her mother has put in place, she realizes her history is darker than she has imagined.
As winter approaches, her heart fills with ice.
Ellen differs greatly from the person others have mistreated and exploited, sending her on her own private mission.
How can DI Barton find the truth when all victims and witnesses are dead?
Detective Inspector Barton
What I love about the DI Barton series by Ross Greenwood, is that we read not only about the crimes, but we also learn more about DI Barton. He is married and has two children, and is forever trying to be home on time to see them.
In one of the first three books, he sits down for Christmas dinner and then is called away because a body has been found.
We learn about his mom’s dementia, and how he and his wife decide to take her into their own home when she can’t live alone anymore.
DI Barton’s story starts in book one, continues in two and then again in three, and I am sure it will also be the same in book four, which I intend to listen to in 2023.
Well-told stories
All stories are told from two perspectives — that of the detective and that of the killer. This gives the reader the unique perspective that in some books, you know who the killer is before the police do. I found myself literally willing the police to find the clues.
You might think knowing who the killer is will take away from the tension of the story, but it surely doesn’t.
Every book is a thrilling read on its own!
