One More to Die by Joy Ellis
Detective Kate Carter is called out to a fatal car accident on a remote fen lane.
At first glance it looks like a drunk driver simply lost control and crashed headlong into a ditch. But nothing about the scene adds up.
The number plate is fake. The driver’s licence doesn’t belong to the dead man in the car. One tyre doesn’t match the other three. And what is a vinyl 1960s pop record doing in the glove box?
A neat puncture wound to the driver’s neck reveals this was no accident.
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The following day, the body of a young woman is found in an old barn out on the fens. She’s been dead at least two years. Placed on the body is another vintage pop record.
And then the nightmare becomes personal. A mysterious package arrives at the station addressed to Kate: a 45-rpm record, and a chilling note scrawled in block capitals: ONE MORE TO GO.
It’s just the start. Sinister phone calls, creepy notes left on her car, unwanted gifts on her doorstep: Kate can no longer deny that she’s being pursued by an obsessive stalker . . .
Is she next in the killer’s sights?
My Review
I really enjoyed this book. It was hugely entertaining and well written.
One More To Die is a book of two halves. First of all we have the initial murders – a body in a crashed car, the victim having a knife in the back of his neck, and a vinyl 1960s pop record found in the vehicle. The second victim has been dead for around two years and while initially there is no connection she was also killed by a knife in the neck, and another pop record is found on her.
Then we have Detective Kate Carter’s stalker, who leaves a sinister note, a box of chocolates and sings down the phone. It’s very scary and starts to affect her whole family – husband Tom, three children and their menagerie of pets. Could it be a criminal who she put away in the past out for revenge, or just someone random who has become obsessed with her? All her colleagues are standing by her and taking it very seriously.
But is there a connection between the two victims? Pathologist Cold Colin thinks so. Having been very cold (hence the nickname) and unfriendly in the past, this case has piqued his interest. He’s like a different man. Why he is so interested will become apparent as the story moves forward.
It was very exciting and I read it in two sittings. The book moves at a cracking pace, but I’d love to have known what the records were.
Many thanks to @ZooloosBT for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.
About the Author
“I was born in Kent but spent most of my working life in London and Surrey. I was an apprentice florist to Constance Spry Ltd, a prestigious Mayfair shop that throughout the Sixties and Seventies teemed with both royalty and ‘real’ celebrities. What an eye-opener for a working-class kid from the Garden of England! I swore then, probably whilst I was scrubbing the floor or making the tea, that I would have a shop of my own one day. It took until the early Eighties, but I did it. Sadly the recession wiped us out, and I embarked on a series of weird and wonderful jobs; the last one being a bookshop manager. Surrounded by books all day, getting to order whatever you liked, and being paid for it! Oh bliss!
“And now I live in a village in the Lincolnshire Fens with my partner, Jacqueline, and three Springer spaniels and four little rescue Breton spaniels. I had been writing mysteries for years but never had the time to take it seriously. Now I write full-time, and as my partner is a highly decorated retired police officer; my choice of genre is a no-brainer! I have an on-tap police and judicial consultant, who makes exceedingly good tea!”
“I have set my crime thrillers here in the misty fens because I sincerely love the remoteness and airy beauty of the marshlands. This area is steeped in superstitions and lends itself so well to murder!
“I am lucky enough to be one of the amazing Joffe Books team of authors and am really enjoying being able to spend time doing what I love… writing!”
