Book Review: The Killer in the Snow by Alex Pine

AD* | The first fall of snow can be fatal...

A year has passed since DI James Walker cracked his biggest case yet, and he’s hoping for peace and quiet this festive season.

But across the fells, a local farmer returns home on Christmas Eve to find footsteps in the fresh snow that lead down to his unused basement – and no footsteps leading away. Days later, his body is found, alongside those of his wife and daughter.

Without a neighbour for miles, there are no witnesses and little evidence. And the crime scene has strange echoes of another terrible murder committed at the farmhouse, twenty years earlier...

James knows that to catch this killer, he needs to solve a case that has long since gone cold...

An interesting premise and a festive mystery... DI James Walker is back with another case to solve this Christmas! 

The story follows on from the events of the first book, set a year after the chilling 12 days of Christmas murders. With another Christmas rolling around and plenty more snow forecast, James is hoping for a much more peaceful Yuletide this year. Unfortunately, though, it seems like fate has other plans.

The plot is interesting because it entwines two cases together into one storyline. The first is the current case with the bodies of three members of the same family discovered in their remote farmhouse. The second is a cold case from twenty years ago, where another couple died in the same farmhouse. Coincidence? DI Walker certainly doesn't think so! 

Elements from both cases are interspersed throughout the book, leaving a tangled web of clues for the detectives to unpick. Compared to the first book in the series, this one places a much greater focus on the case and the progress of the investigation. This helps to centre the story and provide it with a much-needed pace. 

Some of the dialogue felt stilted and I still struggled to relate to many of the characters, similar to my feelings about book one. When James discusses the ins and outs of this highly confidential case with his wife, it just feels glaringly unrealistic. It's a shame because the plot is executed much more strongly than in The Christmas Killer. 

The Killer in the Snow is a solid crime thriller, perfect for curling up with this Christmas.

Rating: 3 stars 

The Killer in the Snow is available to buy now. 

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* I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Will you be reading the book? Let me know in the comments below!