The Deaths of December - Susi Holliday

Reading Challenge Category: A Christmas book

Official Blurb:

It looks like a regular advent calendar.
Until DC Becky Greene starts opening doors . . . and discovers a crime scene behind almost every one.
The police hope it's a prank. Because if it isn't, a murderer has just surfaced - someone who's been killing for twenty years.
But why now? And why has he sent it to this police station?
As the country relaxes into festive cheer, Greene and DS Eddie Carmine must race against time to catch the killer. Because there are four doors left, and four murders will fill them . . .
It's shaping up to be a deadly little Christmas.

My Thoughts:

My last category for the Pink and Dizzy reading challenge is ‘a Christmas book’. I’ve had a romantic comedy sat on my kindle since last December, but when I came to read it yesterday, I just wasn’t in the mood for lightheartedness. I needed something darker, must be to match my mood! So I did a little hunt around for a good old crime novel but with a Christmas theme. I stumbled on ‘The Deaths of Christmas’ in a google search and knew instantly it was just what I was looking for. Some blood and guts and an intense investigation.
As soon as I started reading I just knew it was the perfect blend I’d been looking for; the book still has a Christmassy feel to it even when you are in the mind of the killer. There is the perfect countdown to Christmas with how many sleeps left to go, the big kid in me loved this teeny addition! Many Christmas songs are referenced, and I found myself humming them in my head while reading. A none Christmas song ‘Sunchyme by Dario G’ was mentioned, and I was humming that for ages! The author was really on point with her musical references.
There are several points of views being given, the lead DS on the case, Eddie. Becky, who is an up and coming detective and of course ‘the photographer’ who we are introduced to right from the start as the bad guy. In addition, there is Carly who at first we don’t know what relevance she has, is she an innocent bystander, a potential victim or something else altogether?
The book can be a little slow in places, and I was willing the investigation to move along a bit faster. I liked the chapters in the photographers and Carly’s minds the best as these had a tendency to be a little grittier than when we were with Becky and Eddie.
Overall, a fantastic blend of Christmas and gore. I’m wondering if this is the start of a series for Becky and Eddie? We are introduced a lot to their private lives, and I felt as if there was more to uncover? I certainly wouldn’t mind reading more of their adventures in the future!

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