This Dark Place by Claire Kittridge @CPkittridge @DelicatePreyPub @annecater #blogtour #RandomThingsTours

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for This Dark Place by Claire Kittridge! My thanks to Anne Cater for the invitation and the publisher for my review copy!

Author : Claire Kittridge
Title : This Dark Place
Series : Detective Kelly Moore #1
Pages : 252
Publisher : Delicate Prey Publishing
Publication date : April 17, 2018

When Priscilla Ames’s body is found by her roommate Avery in a posh London flat and her death is splashed across headlines worldwide, Kelly Moore flies across the Atlantic to join a crack team of British investigators working on the case.

Together with the London Metropolitan Police, Kelly must track down a twisted serial killer who seems to know her every move and her darkest secrets. As the body count rises, and panic spreads, the killer threatens to make Kelly the next victim.

In a heart-racing game of cat and mouse, Kelly must outwit this elusive master of surveillance – who might be the last person she suspects.

Priscilla Ames seems to have it all. She’s beautiful, she has a rich daddy and is studying in London. But then she’s found dead by her roommate, Avery. All the signs seem to point to a suicide but Priscilla’s father refuses to accept this. On his insistence, NYPD detective Kelly Moore travels to London to help out in the investigation. An investigation that’s hampered by lack of evidence, a department leak and a supervisor who wants this case off her desk as soon as possible. Soon it transpires though, that Priscilla’s death is far more dark and disturbing than anyone could have guessed.

I must admit it took me a little while to get into this first instalment of the Detective Moore series. I didn’t particularly like the characters, except for a man called JB who works at the police station reception desk. On top of that, I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of influence Priscilla’s father, Peter, could possibly have that he was able to pull the strings as he did. Money talks, I suppose, but I would have preferred a bit more of an explanation about that.

The investigation into Priscilla’s death pulled me in though. With a bunch of wanna-be student actors and directors all over the place, it’s impossible to figure out who’s telling the truth or who’s putting on an act. Even when I thought I figured out what was going on, I couldn’t quite see how the pieces of the puzzle fit together. The “bad guy” is immensely creepy, always a step ahead and apparently has some kind of pull over other people.

There’s an intriguing background story to Kelly Moore that will hopefully be explored further as the series goes along. As it is, that particular event is used against her by someone in this story and may just lead her into danger. I particularly enjoyed the differences between detectives in America and England. Kelly, for instance, often automatically reaches for her sidearm, which she’s not carrying as that’s not done in England.

This series has a lot of potential and promise, which is exactly what you look for in a first instalment. Will Kelly remain in London, or will she go back home and work cases there? If she stays in London, what will her position be? And will she ever have closure? This gripping and well-paced first book in the series sets the tone perfectly for wherever Claire Kittridge decides to take Kelly Moore next.

This Dark Place is available for purchase!

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Goodreads

Claire Kittridge grew up in Brooklyn, NY. A dedicated reader, triathlete, and boxing fan, she fell in love with England and its great fictional detectives while traveling around Britain as a teenager.

Claire lives in New York City with her cat, Chairman Meow. She is currently at work on the second Kelly Moore novel.

Author links : Twitter | Facebook