Death Master

DI Giles #1

by Anna-Marie Morgan

Her head was yanked back by the hair as a large, tanned hand moved menacingly down her throat. Her sobs flecked his shirt with tears, which now flowed freely, their salty water aggravating the wounds accumulated on her naked flesh over the endless days she had been held captive. The end must be near now and she was so sure that it must end. She tried in vain one last time to wrench free her hands, but the bindings held firm. Knees, so long on the floor, would not have held her up anyway - had she tried to run. He was calm; she was wretched. Instinctively, she pulled her thighs to her abdomen to protect her unborn child. His hands tightened, her eyes widened - pleading. His pressure did not relent and slowly everything faded…

After months of mental and physical therapy, Yvonne Giles, an Oxford DI, is back at work and that's just how she likes it. So when she is asked to hunt the serial killer responsible for taking apart young women, the DI jumps at the chance but hides the fact that she is suffering debilitating flashbacks. The victims appear to meet their murderer willingly, telling their families they're going on vacation. No one sees them again until their macabre death scenes. A quirk of the killer's signature is the food and wine stains he leaves on the backs of the girls.
Yvonne is told to work with Tasha Phillips, an in-her-face, criminal psychologist. The DI's previous experience of working with a profiler involved having a case thrown out by the Crown Prosecution Service for reasons of entrapment. She's not enamoured with the idea of working with one again. Tasha has a lot to prove. The DI has a lot to get over.
A tentative link with a 20 year-old cold case brings her closer to the truth, but leaves her staring her own mortality directly in the face...

Genres: Mystery, Crime

330 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 30, 2012

Reviews

[Ellie]

Brilliant! Couldn't put it down (except when I so tired I could no longer hold my kindle upright!)Unlike a self-published book that has been in the media lately, this one actually deserves the attention. With a solid story line, easy to read quality and good characters, I fell into this book, and am now waiting for a sequel. (Have heard whispers that a sequel is being scribbled down). I would like to follow the love interest through, to see what happens, but I hope its done well, not too corny, not to easy... And on that note, I also think the love interest scenes are far better, (more suspensful and more "interesting") than anything a certain Mr Grey and his quaint student are capable of. Well done Anna-Marie, I am looking forward to more of DI Yvonne Giles!
P.S. I have also just moved to Oxford area and work in Headington so I will be looking for the places the book mentions!

[Lynda Kelly]

I glanced at reviews by other readers and one had made mention of typos and another the fact the author explains stuff that she doesn't need to.
I'd agree whole-heartedly with both. I packed it in at 12% as I'd had enough.
I've never seen Corduroys capitalised before nor Australian spelled as Austrailian. Break through I usually find is just the one word as is work top. Then Antiques was another word strangely capitalised along with Rigor.
Yvonne Giles is a Detective Inspector yet she asked for explananations or seemed puzzled by basic forensic detail such as hair being tested for drugs or DNA separation tests. On page 43 speechmarks were suddenly dropped and I'd seen enough.

[Angie]

Compulsive reading by a great new author. let's hope that there are more to follow!!

[Nicola]

I really enjoyed this book. My first from this author. Well written. Kept me guessing. A pleasure to read and more book to read in this series. Love it.

[Jack]

Always good to discover a new crime series. DI Giles is an Oxford detective on the trail of a serial killer. Well written with an interesting romantic thread.

[Denise Zendel]

Yvonne Giles, an Oxford DI, is asked to hunt the serial killer responsible for taking apart young women, the DI jumps at the chance but hides the fact that she is suffering debilitating flashbacks from some tragic event which has occurred “off page”.

The victims in this case appear to meet their murderer willingly, telling their families they're going on vacation. No one sees them again until their macabre death scenes. What’s the common thread connecting them all together, aside from the food and wine stains the killer leaves on the backs of the girls?

Yvonne thinks there is a link to a 20-year-old cold case, but no one else believes her. Pressure is coming down from the top to solve this one quickly, so Yvonne is told to work with Tasha Phillips, an in-her-face, criminal psychologist. She’s very attractive, so the men on Yvonne’s team are agog, but Tasha only has eyes for Yvonne.

There is some gruesomeness to this story, and I don’t think the lesbian love angle was really necessary, but I do give the author points for handling it well. And it did add to the complexity of Yvonne’s character. Even with those issues, the plot was gripping and the chase to find the killer compelling. I think I would read more in this series – assuming it is a series, being labeled “Book 1” – I’m a big fan of British police procedurals, and this one didn’t disappoint.

[Elayne]

A female detective here with more strength and personality than the 'Angel' of Deadly Aim by Patricia Rushford which I read just before this book. This book is British based - but I am not biased - honestly! The idea of a sado-masochist luring over the Internet however, is surely not new and so for a 2012 published book it took the protagonists a long time to work out how the victims were contacted. this felt unrealistic as we all know that all police have units dedicated to cyber crime especially sexual cyber crime. Chat Rooms are so well known in the use and abuse area - see child porn etc - that it should have been an obvious place to look. Some of the girls also seemed remarkably innocent and trusting for today's youth. That all said, the book ends with a nice cliff-hanger leaving it open for a further book to be written.

[A]

I have seen my share of PBS Mysteries show about British mysteries and find them entertaining. This book is no different. It is heart gripping, and mind tingling suspense to the end. Not wanting to spoil anything for anyone just let me say this, this book will make you think twice of meeting someone online.

[Alan Malley]

Death Master

Well I'm so pleased i took a chance & downloaded this series of book's. Fabulous books - book 1 Death Master was really good & kept me reading well in to the night.It's one of those book's that seems to make you wanna keep reading & find out what's next. Pick up a copy & find out for yourself on how good this Author is I'm off to start book 2.

[Eirlys]

An exciting book

I enjoyed reading about DI Yvonne Giles. A new character for me I found her to be a complex mixture of vulnerable and courage.
A body of a young woman is found, which is the beginning of the search for a serial killer. The red herrings and twists makes identifying the culprit almost impossible.

[Pam]

This is an excellent read, with a brilliant storyline that keeps you glued to the page, DI Yvonne Giles is a really great character who gives her all to the case she is trying to solve, the case of a very sadistic serial killer.

[sandra ford]

A good read.

This book took a while to get into, having said that when it started to get interesting i couldnt put it down. I was not in the best of health when i started reading so i may have misjudged the beginni g. I will certainly be reading another of Anna-marie's books.

[Taflyn Pearson]

I have found another series!

I enjoyed the book and have purchased the next book already. I docked a star because the end was wrapped up a little too quickly for me, but it did not detract from my enjoyment of the book and characters.

[Kathy Floyd]

Great read

I enjoyed getting to know DI Giles, and I look forward to reading more of her cases in the future.

[Margaret Tooley]

Wow

Great read and that’s only book 1. Now onto book 2 hope it’s as good as have six more waiting to read .

[juliet stocks]

Page turner

Great story line, keeps you gripped. Like the back story of the Dzi and her past. Interesting characters. Had me gripped.

[Yvonne Simcox]

Brilliant book xx

[Michelle Jones]

Really enjoyed this book , read it in one evening .

[Mary Johnson]

I’m sure I’ve read this book before or seen a TV programme very similar..... The basic story is good but ultimately the villain insufficiently developed for it to be a surprise or even matter. Others have referred to poor editing and some years after publication, my copy was no better. Despite that, I persisted to the end - a compliment of sorts to the author.

[Leanne Kendall]

Good enough storyline with believable characters but the author needs to have someone do a final spelling and grammar check. I even found a stupid mistake where someone stated they were born on the 31st of April !!! I first thought that may have been an obvious lie but no.

As I purchased a box set of the first five books I will keep reading and hope they get better.

[Graham Hall]

Quite slow paced.

If you like books with a slow paced storyline then this is for you. I enjoyed the insight into the DIs life but not the ensuing "love story" with Tasha the psychologist. I did work out the perpetrator at about two thirds of the way through. The ending was good too. I'm going to get the next in the series to see if anything changes.

[Lynette Shaw]

Death Master.

I started this book after I read number 3 .I found it easy to follow and the characters were strong along but they had a believable relationship together.
The baddie was not one I expected which was one of the things l liked about it .It was well written and I enjoyed it going to read the rest.

[SkyeWake]

Proofreading required! Surely the author could ask for help with this. Lots of mistakes.
Started well but the pace dropped due to endless repetition of details and obvious plot lines. Was hoping I had found another good series but not to be.

[Ann Cheetham]

Good read

A good read but I'm not sure about the value of the input from Natasha the psychologist. That seemed minimal and noe useful. So on to book 2

[Pauline]

First book I have read by this author and it is the first of a series. Good start to a series the characters are interesting and a good storyline.

[Catherine Baird]

Brilliant, just brilliant

Wow, this book literally took my breath away. Didn't even eat dinner!!!! couldn't wait to finish and was not disappointed. Hugely, hugely recommend 100%

[Melita]

Brilliant

Wow what a great story . Loved it from beginning to the end , definitely get more from this author

[Shel Stevely]

First time reading this author, really enjoyed it. Will be starting the next in the series tomorrow!

[ANDREW C FRASER]

RMSTitanic12

What a great story enjoyed every bit of it,I read it in 2 days,working chores got neglected,am looking forward to the next outing from DO Giles

[Carol a Roberts]

Thoroughly enjoyed this first book just downloaded the next one, I’m hooked