Please note this is a revised edition of The Gift is Murder.
Tis the season . . .
It’s Christmas time and Sister Leeanne is walking the snow-lined streets of Shadwell when she spots a homeless man sitting on the kerb.
How are you tonight, my child? Do you need sustenance?
The vagrant is a young man named Karl Hartley. He stares up at Sister Leeanne with hopeful, empty eyes, and agrees to accompany her back to the nunnery. After all, what does he have left to lose?
His life.
Karl wakes to find himself naked and tied to a metal pole, a candy cane with a blade embedded in it placed in front of him.
Then a speaker springs to life and barks orders:
You will use the candy cane. You will slice your wrist. You will bleed out. You will die.
The next day, Detective Inspector Bethany Smith gets a call. There’s a body propped up against a tombstone in a local cemetery.
Author of these series: • DI Tracy Collier • DI Carol Wren • DI Bethany Smith • DI Helena Stratton • The Cardigan Estate • DI Morgan Yeoman • Detective Anna James
This is book six in the Bethany Smith series and they just keep getting better and better. This author definitely knows how to keep the reader hooked and clinging to the edge of their seat.
Homeless men are going missing and eventually show up dead but who is killing them?
No spoilers from me, grab this exciting thriller now, you won’t be disappointed.
A cozy detective thriller perfect for the winter and the Christmas season. Which is why I decided to read it.
There is a killer targeting homeless men and detective Bethany is in charge to catch the killer before the bodies keep piling up. So we follow the detective as she is trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together.
The bodies are discovered in the streets, naked and battered. Who can have a reason to target poor homeless men?
Even though this is one of those thrillers that already lets you know who the killer is from the very beginning and in doing so it removes the element of mystery and surprise, it was still an interesting read.
A fast paced murder investigation that reveals a very dark story about a young woman and what life has thrown her way.
Please do check the trigger warnings for this book since there are some heavy topics that are discussed in the book.
Why are homeless men being taken from the streets and then reappearing near where they were taken from but now dead?
This is the 6th book in the DI Bethany series and I found this one to be extremely sad. The storyline doesn’t just cover the issue of the homeless but I won’t say anymore as I don’t want to leave any spoilers.
I always enjoy the characters in this series and the story is written well. The author writes well about different problems in our society in her books.
The story had the potential to be great but it just missed the mark for me. Bethany is an awfully written character, she has no depth and some of the passages were just dull with an internal narrative that didn’t really make sense. Overall I wouldn’t recommend and I won’t read any of the others.
This book was a marked improvement on the previous titles in the series - to the point where I actually found some of it enjoyable! I know! I can't believe it either! But this instalment actually had some elements of intrigue (nothing major...we're still miles away from the talents of Karen Slaughter, or Tess Gerritsen - whose new book, the first of a new series has already been purchased and is just waiting for me to get around to reading it) that were still pretty easy to figure out, but they did at least add a little something to the usual dull and dreary limp towards the finishing line which has come to be part for the course with Emmy Ellis books.
After the fifth book's deviation from the motives each killer had in books 1-4, we're back to that same trope of the perp having been abused as a child, and had it occupy their thoughts over the years, to the point where they go on to murder several people in order to get revenge. Standard stuff for this series.
This time our killer was female though. That's not a spoiler because we're introduced to her in the prologue where she's sizing up her first victim. And like all the murderers in this series, she's as mad as a sack of badgers. However, the internal monologues we got from inside this killer's mind, didn't sound the same as all the killers in the previous 5 titles (which were unimaginatively sketched out and all interchangeable with one another). I wonder if Ellis just finds it easier to put herself in the shoes of her female characters, giving them a more rounded out personality and making them appear more plausible?
But then I'm reminded of 'Boring Bethany' and all the other women written in to this series and that theory goes out the window. The names of all the female characters blur into one homogenous lump, with only Isabelle sticking out because despite Ellis trying to make her the hilarious joker among the team, as always: EMMY. ELLIS. DOES. NOT. UNDERSTAND. HUMOUR. ISABELLE IS UNFUNNY BECAUSE ELLIS IS UNFUNNY. Isabelle sticks out for all the wrong reasons, while the other female characters are like silhouettes: featureless, forgettable, flimsy, cut-and-paste members of the chorus who are just there to provide background track to whatever the lead characters are saying or doing.
That said, the character of 'Curmudgeon' was actually drawn pretty well. He came alive on the pages in a way that none of the others do. I can still picture him now, see how he looks, remember the scenes he was in, and can also still recall his gruff, tough, yet gentle on the inside, way of talking to others. I just wish we'd gotten to see how things had worked out for him in the end. Ellis managed to create this vivid, likeable character, set up the beginnings of a little side-plot involving him, but then just didn't bother to continue with it after Beth & Mike apprehended the killer. It wouldn't have taken much for Ellis to wind up that part of the story - a couple of paragraphs would've done it - but instead she just left us hanging.
Which leads me to believe that Ellis is a lazy and undisciplined writer. She front-loads her books with an immediate, 'in media res' focus on the killer preparing to descend upon their first victim. Murders start stacking up quickly, and we get lots of graphic descriptions of torture and murder, interspersed with the killer's inner dialogue, letting us know exactly why they're doing it. But then the intensity drops off as we just wait for Beth & Mike et al to figure it out.
This is not how you create tension. It's not how thrillers are supposed to progress, where the tension ramps up until everything is resolved at the denouement. If you're prone to being grossed out or scared by graphic depictions of violence, you'll get a slight thrill of sense of unease at the beginning, but that will soon wear off as you plod through the various steps of investigation until the end. There is no creeping unease in the books that make up this series; no ratcheting up of pressure; no raising of the stakes. We don't even get little cliff-hanger at the end of a chapter to really make us, the readers, desperate to find out what happens next; how our protagonist managed to either escape or resolve the crisis.
And as for twists? Yeah, you probably already know what I'm about to say if you've read any of my reviews of the previous titles in this series: The twist is...THERE IS NO TWIST! Despite it telling us on the cover of the book that the story is "A Chilling Crime Thriller With A Stunning Twist!" There are never any twists in these books. And having looked at the covers of a handful of other titles (by what appear to be different authors, but who knows if they're just a bunch of pen-names dreamed up to give the illusion of there being more authors on the publishing house's books than there actually are) also published by 'Joffe Books', it looks like they just stamp this claim (or some variation of it) on every title put out by this publisher. I don't know why they do this because as soon as you realise that it was a lie, as a reader I think you become less likely to trust them; the corollary of which could mean some actually good books are overlooked by readers who could potentially find a new series by a good author, whose work they might have ended up loving.
NOTE TO JOFFE BOOKS: KNOCK IT OFF! PROMOTING YOUR BOOKS WITH A BLATANT LIE ON THE COVER IS DEVIOUS AND DISHONEST. Y'ALL SHOULD GET DONE UNDER THE TRADES DESCRIPTIONS ACT!
Anyway. As I was saying, Ellis is lazy and undisciplined. She really enjoys the cut and thrust of scenes full of action; she loves trying to gross her audience out with inventive methods of killing people, and obviously enjoys trying to imagine the way her crazy killers would think. But once she's got all that action and exciting stuff out of the way, she loses interest and basically phones in the remainder of the story. Good writers need to know how to pace their books, making sure that the more mundane (but necessary) parts, are also done in a way that helps ramp up the tension and maybe smuggle in some subtle clues or red herrings - especially when writing thrillers.
All in all it was better than the previous titles in this series, but that's not really saying much. I felt a greater understanding of some of the characters in this instalment, but the ending was as anti-climatic as usual; leaving me with mixed feelings over wanting to have found out more about 'Curmudgeon ', but also feeling glad that it was over.
What REALLY teed me off though, was finding out just as I was starting what I thought was going to be the final book in this series, that there are actually 10 titles that make up the Beth & Mike series. So I now have to go and download the other 4 from Amazon (hopefully they'll be available under 'Kindle Unlimited' because I really don't want to have to pay for this crap, just so I can say I completed my own dumb, self-imposed challenge). It looks like book 10 is called 'The Last Hurrah' so I'm hoping that means there won't be any more surprise additions to this collection and once completed, I can just put it out of my mind for good.
Now for the rating. Well, it was much better than all the previous titles which aside from the first book (to which I gave 3 stars) were all given a 2 star rating. I think it only fair then, that I award this instalment a generous 3 star rating.
Let's hope the next 4 books don't go back downhill and end up being more 2 star offerings. For my own sanity more than anything else.
I started to stop reading midway through the first chapter because of explicit violence. The murderer is named, the method is clear, and the reason is clear to anyone who reads psychological stories. I decided to continue because the end promised to be a surprise. I paged through the murderers chapters without pausing and scanned the police procedures, which contained consistent unnecessary foul language. The ending was not a surprise. If anyone had posted a similar review, I would not have obtained this book.
What a read! This was a book of pain and pure mental agony. You couldn't help but feel sorry for the main suspect in this book, as well as the victims. Well, not all of them, one might well deserve what he got. It was gory, you could feel the emotions, and the ending was nice. I think this is my favorite of the series despite the subject matter! I'm off to the next one I think k!
I would rate these books a lot higher if every single one of them didn't have the perpetrators background having a history of child abuse. While a very important subject, every single book in this series so far, the circumstances of how the killer becomes unhinged is because they were abused as a child. Very repetitive and after being five or so books deep in the series now, I'm just bored now. A big shame when they started so promising
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Another gripping and thrilling story by Emmy Ellis. I really enjoy the Bethany Smith series and this one did not disappoint. The more the story unfolds the more intriguing it becomes resulting in a need to turn the pages, it really drew me in and left me with empathy for the killer, or should it be victim? Brilliantly written!
I am enjoying reading her books and think the way she writes about the murders past life is great as she allows us as readers to feel sorry for them. This I noted is also showed in the way Bethany and Mike handle the interviews.
The deaths are written in detail and again may not be suited for all.
Homeless Hartley, Caleb Pirtle, John Hancock and Dillon Orton are dead and it looks as though they have committed suicide. However, DI Bethany Smith has a strong gut feeling that it's more than suicide. She investigates the cases in the hope of finding out the truth. Read this novel to find out whether the deaths are suicidal or murder.
This is the second Emmy Ellis book I have read. Last one, I gave 4 stars as I wanted more from it. But this one was fast-paced and gruesome. You get into the mind of the killer and get the back story, which I like. This book has left me wanting to read more of her work. As an avid Chris Carter fan ... the bar was set high, and this book got there. I hope you agree, and I would love to see what you all thought.
This was riveting crime story. This was a page turner. You waited for the cops to get leads of the killer. It was horrifying the tragic acts the killer was put through as a child
This was truly a heartbreaking and dark crime thriller following a young woman that’s targeting homeless men and torturing and murdering them in a horrific manner.
We follow as the police are scrambling to solve this case before Christmas.
I found the police procedural aspect of this story lackluster as I felt their investigative skills did nothing for the case. And the ending was a little too convenient.
Definitely check your trigger warnings because some heavy themes are discussed in this novel.
Cannot thank Emmy Ellis enough for using my name in this book. It felt weird at first but once I'd read a few pages I got used to seeing my name in print. I'm really happy with the character my name was used for, some laugh out loud moments. Once I started I couldn't stop and finished the book within a day. Thank you Emmy!
As usual Emmy grabs tour attention straight away. You feel sorry for the Murderer but the killings are brutal. Also Emmy used my name in the book which was so nice to see my name and my dogs names in print. Highly recommended and as usual Emmy delivers a blinder.
Oh my goodness she has done it again. A gripping heart renching story that makes you feel sorry for the victims but actually who is the really victim. Thank you for continuing to write this series and continuing to bring the characters to life x
Emmy Ellis came through with this one. My goodness. I don't think I'll eat a candy cane again. What a twisted read. Poor Leeanne. I understand what she did but dang, those are heckuva a way to go out. 5 stars all the way!