Book Review: Dead Of Winter by Lee Weeks

Dead Of Winter by Lee Weeks

           
 Dead Of Winter is the first in a new series of books by Lee Weeks (author of the Johnny Mann series) and is set in London.

13 years ago police officer (and ex- army man) Callum Carmichael’s wife and child are brutally murdered along with his wife’s friend in a secluded holiday home.  The crime is never solved and, inconsolable with grief Carmichael retires to a farm in Yorkshire.,

Now a mother and child’s skeletons are discovered buried in another secluded holiday home and DNA evidence links the crime to the 13 year old murders.

DC Ebony Willis informs Carmichael that the investigation into his wife and daughters death is reopened and Carmichael seething with vengeance sets off to mete out his own revenge on the culprits.  Meanwhile Willis and her DS Dan Carter pursue the villains with occasional assistance from Carmichael.

Dead of Winter takes us from scenic Sussex to the harsh Yorkshire moors to the seedy underworld of London.  Weeks, again has created great characters; Ebony Willis, a serious black officer with her own personal demons to overcome.  Despite her history she is determined to be an excellent DC.  She is paired with DS Dan Carter, a supposed ladies’ man whose current pregnant girlfriend has left him until he grows up.  At first meeting it seems Carter is a lightweight but very soon we see that despite his casual demeanour he is prepared to work under the wire and cross his superiors if necessary.

I thoroughly enjoyed Dead of Winter.  It’s complex plot unravels at just the right speed revealing interesting twists and turns, exciting chases and corruption in high places.

I can’t wait for the second in the series which, I believe is due out later this year.