Deadly Waters (DCI Jane Phillips #2) by OMJ Ryan
Thursday 12th to Wednesday 18th March 2020
I was lucky to be selected to participate in a Damppebbles Blog Tour this week. I adore crime novels, and British police procedurals are a guilty pleasure! When Emma of Damppebbles told me about Deadly Waters, I was all in!
Book Blurb:
Several young women have recently drowned in Manchester’s vast network of canals. A coincidence? Or something more sinister?
When star detective DCI Jane Phillips begins to investigate, her finely tuned instinct tells her these are no accidents. And when she discovers that each of the drowned women has a mysterious circular bruise on the back of her neck, Phillips is sure of it — she’s up against a very clever serial killer.
But how are the victims being chosen? And who will be next?
With the body count rising, Phillips and her team find themselves in a fight to the death with a shadowy figure who always seems to be one step ahead.
Can Phillips stop the killer before the next victim dies? Or will she herself become an offering to Manchester’s deadly waters?
This is the second Detective Jane Philips book by Ryan, and having not read the first novel, I was hesitant to dive headfirst (pun absolutely intended). Ryan does a wonderful job of filling in the necessary backstory of DCI Philips and her core team at the Major Crimes Unit. Philips has a full caseload and her supervisor breathing down her neck, but her gut says that these weren’t cut-and-dried drownings. She has to use all her contacts and her wits to get to the bottom of a set of killings by a murderer with a rather convoluted reasoning.
A bit of a CW, if you will. This book involves a murderer who preys upon women in the sex trade and are also drug users/addicts. There are both unpleasant scenarios dealing with the realities of those who do sex work, and those who deal with addiction. I found that Ryan wrote these scenes believably; so that the reader feels both compassion and empathy.
This book is a roller-coaster! There are a few jarring chapters in the beginning that give shape to the events that molded the mindset of our killer. DCI Philips’ history in the police force as well as her relationships within her team are understandable and each character is written as to give the reader a sense of familiarity. I feel that Deadly Waters was amazingly well written; there are no easy answers. and the first suspect (or second one!) may not be the actual culprit. And when all is said and done, the end of the case may not be a happy ending, but it is an ending.
Rating: 5/5
- Title: Deadly Waters
- Author: OMJ Ryan
- Publisher: Inkubator Books
- Released: March 15th, 2020
- Language: English
- Format: Ebook
- Pages: 281 pages
Hailing from Yorkshire, OMJ Ryan worked in radio and entertainment for over twenty years, collaborating with household names and accumulating a host of international writing and radio awards.
In 2018 he followed his passion to become a full-time novelist, writing stories for people who devour exciting, fast-paced thrillers by the pool, on their commute – or those rare moments of downtime before bed. Owen’s mission is to entertain from the first page to the last. DEADLY WATERS will be his third novel published with Inkubator Books.
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Much thanks to Damppebbles Blog Tours, OMJ Ryan and Inkubator Books for this opportunity.
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