5 Stars from me ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
As a long time fan of Michael’s books and the Matilda Darke series in particular, I admit to being more than a little apprehensive about book 13 in the series – knowing that it wasn’t set with ‘the team’.
In this book, we find a broken Matilda. She lives on the edge of sanity at the best of times but here she has taken one too many blows and is barely hanging on. The Meagan’s welcome her in with open arms to their haven in the anonymous wilds of the Lake District. There she re-connects with Carl and the Woodys: a lovely relationship in the midst of a huge amount of ugliness.
I had to take myself on a bit of a journey to get into the right headspace to fully embrace this book – my mind craved a police led book in Sheffield with all of Matilda’s team. Interestingly, for me, Worse Than Murder demonstrates just how skilled Michael is at character creation – and writing, of course, because this book still had that comforting embrace of a DCI Darke novel, and the characters are so well developed that Matilda and Carl could almost carry a story on their own.
I may have mentioned in my last review for a Michael Wood book that if he so much as scribbles ‘sossigis‘ in blue crayon on a beer mat, then I’ll be here to read it… Hard to top that as an endorsement but I will say that if Michael keeps writing them, I’ll keep reading them.
The cliff hanger helps too…
My thanks to Netgalley, One More Chapter and Michael Wood for an ARC in return for an honest review.
Please do yourself a favour, to really understand Matilda and get the most out of this series, read the DCI Matilda Darke books in order:
The Fallen
For Reasons Unknown
Outside Looking In
A Room Full of Killers
The Hangman’s Hold
Victim of Innocence
The Murder House
Stolen Children
Time Is Running Out
Survivor’s Guilt
The Lost Children
Silent Victim
Making of a Murderer
Below Ground
Last One Left Alive
Worse Than Murder
Last One to Die
Blurb:
RUNNING FROM HER PAST
Leaving behind Sheffield, her friends and her job, a grieving DCI Matilda Darke finds solace in the wild, untamed beauty of the Lake District. But she can’t outrun her reputation.
A COLD CASE
PC Alison Pemberton is living in the shadow of her twin sisters, who were abducted thirty years ago. As the only witness, Alison has spent her life trying to remember the details of that fateful summer day and discover the truth about what happened to her sisters and why, a few months later, her father also disappeared.
A TRUTH THAT SHOULD HAVE STAYED BURIED
Matilda finds herself agreeing to try and unearth the truth about the Pemberton twins. With nothing left to lose, Matilda throws herself into the cold case, but someone doesn’t want her digging up the past and will do anything to keep the truth hidden…
Read and Rated 