Dead Perfect by Noelle Holten

5 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I so looked forward to reading Dead Perfect by the lovely Noelle Holten, having read and enjoyed both Dead Inside and Dead Wrong.

First things first, do yourself a favour and read these books in order!

I am growing very fond of DC Maggie Jamieson and those in her professional realm. They seem like a good bunch of people to have as colleagues. Much like with the teams in the background of Vera and Banks, I am confident they will soon feel like old friends.

Have to say, I think my favourite character from Dead Perfect was actually the reporter! I really liked her and I hope she will feature more in future books.

The main thrust of the storyline is fabulous, creepy and, at times, hard to think about. The thought of the tap, tap, tap of that little hammer is the stuff of nightmares! Thanks Noelle for making ‘Living Doll’ an even creepier song than it already was – I had the damn thing stuck in my head for days and obviously it is now back as I am writing this. Weirdly for me, it’s not always the Cliff Richard version – have you ever heard the Cliff and the Young Ones version? Go listen to that, while imagining the tap, tap, tap of the little hammer and some weirdo stroking your hair: you’re welcome. Now, like me, you can have an uncomfortable meld of the two in your mind!

Noelle gets better and better with every single book and I loved that ‘Sarah Hardy’ was a character! Oh and as for the ending…

Now, Maggie herself is a bit of an odd character. There seems to be a constant internal conflict going on with her and I hope she will mature and level out, a bit. I feel like she would be hard to be around sometimes – although she knows this and I look forward to more being revealed about her in the future. One thing is for sure though, she is super loyal and caring and those close to her most certainly would feel loved and appreciated.

Overall, these books in the ‘Dead’ series have a wonderful mix of intelligence, a lively sparkyness and a depth of believability all of which are perfectly honed into a gripping thriller.

I can so easily see this series being televised and look forward to the creepiness of the soundtrack for this one – Noelle, please let Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton direct this episode!

Please enjoy my video review (apologies for the sound today…):

Blurb: A murdered woman… When the body of a young woman is found in a local park, DC Maggie Jamieson knows she’s dealing with no ordinary killer. The murder victim has been disfigured; her outfit changed to resemble someone else. Someone Maggie knows all too well…her close friend Dr Kate Moloney.

A determined detective… Maggie is determined to keep her friend safe, but with Kate already struggling with a threatening stalker, Maggie now fears Kate’s life is in real danger. Who else would want to harm Kate and why else would the killer be turning his victims into exact replicas – his living dolls?

Can Maggie find the depraved killer? Or will Kate become his next living doll?

About the author:

Noelle Holten is an award-winning blogger at www.crimebookjunkie.co.uk. She is the PR & Social Media Manager for Bookouture, a leading digital publisher in the UK, and was a regular reviewer on the Two Crime Writers and a Microphone podcast. Noelle worked as a Senior Probation Officer for eighteen years, covering a variety of cases including those involving serious domestic abuse. She has three Hons BA’s – Philosophy, Sociology (Crime & Deviance) and Community Justice – and a Masters in Criminology. Noelle’s hobbies include reading, author-stalking and sharing the booklove via her blog.

Dead Inside is her debut novel with One More Chapter / Killer Reads/Harper Collins UK and the start of a new series featuring DC Maggie Jamieson.

Connect with Noelle on Social Media here:
Twitter: (@nholten40) https://twitter.com/nholten40
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