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DI Emma Christie Crime Thriller #1
The Coffin in the Wall: A DI Emma Christie Crime Thriller Book 1
In the historic city of Chester, a chilling presence lurks amidst the picturesque surroundings. Teenage drug dealers are turning up dead, the bodies twisted and mangled by a ruthless killer. Detective Inspector Emma Christie finds herself thrust into a harrowing investigation, tasked with unraveling the tangled web of violence and deception gripping the city's underbelly.
As the body count climbs, Emma Christie navigates a treacherous landscape where loyalties are tested and secrets lurk in every shadow.
With each new victim, the pressure mounts, and she races against time to stop the killer before more lives are lost. As the stakes escalate and the danger looms ever closer, she realises that in a beautiful city, trust may be the most elusive commodity of all.
From best selling author, M J Lee, comes a new page-turning crime thriller series that will keep you at the edge of your seat. Perfect for fans of LJ Ross, J D Kirk, Mark Billingham and Simon McCleave.
As the body count climbs, Emma Christie navigates a treacherous landscape where loyalties are tested and secrets lurk in every shadow.
With each new victim, the pressure mounts, and she races against time to stop the killer before more lives are lost. As the stakes escalate and the danger looms ever closer, she realises that in a beautiful city, trust may be the most elusive commodity of all.
From best selling author, M J Lee, comes a new page-turning crime thriller series that will keep you at the edge of your seat. Perfect for fans of LJ Ross, J D Kirk, Mark Billingham and Simon McCleave.
374 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 26, 2024
559 people are currently reading
139 people want to read
About the author
M.J. Lee
46 books443 followersMartin has spent most of his adult life writing in one form or another.
He has spent 25 years of his life working outside the North of England. In London, Hong Kong, Taipei, Singapore, Bangkok and Shanghai.
He writes three series; the Danilov books set in 1930s Shanghai. The genealogical mysteries of Jayne Sinclair and the contemporary crime cases of DI Ridpath set in Manchester.
When he's not writing, he splits his time between the UK and Asia, taking pleasure in playing with his daughter, practicing downhill ironing, single-handedly solving the problem of the French wine lake and wishing he were George Clooney.
He has spent 25 years of his life working outside the North of England. In London, Hong Kong, Taipei, Singapore, Bangkok and Shanghai.
He writes three series; the Danilov books set in 1930s Shanghai. The genealogical mysteries of Jayne Sinclair and the contemporary crime cases of DI Ridpath set in Manchester.
When he's not writing, he splits his time between the UK and Asia, taking pleasure in playing with his daughter, practicing downhill ironing, single-handedly solving the problem of the French wine lake and wishing he were George Clooney.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
March 28, 2024
A good start to a new series. Lots of action from the start, interspersed with getting to know the team and Emma herself. A few of the more obvious problems for our main character so it will be interesting to see whether/how these develop.
I did think the end was rushed, not saying it could have been played out over several chapters, just that it happened and that was that.
I’ve always enjoyed the Ridpath series and that has grown from strength to strength over the years so I’m hoping this will too.
I did think the end was rushed, not saying it could have been played out over several chapters, just that it happened and that was that.
I’ve always enjoyed the Ridpath series and that has grown from strength to strength over the years so I’m hoping this will too.
October 1, 2024
3.5 stars
I love MJ Lee’s other series with DI Ridpath so thought I’d try this one.
DI Emma Christie is called when a teenage boy’s body is found in the ruins of an old church.
When Emma and the team start investigating they find that he’s involved in dealing drugs.
Another teenage boy is soon found and has been killed the same way so Emma and the team know they need to find the killer fast.
This is a good crime thriller but it didn’t quite have the same spark as the Ridpath series.
I love MJ Lee’s other series with DI Ridpath so thought I’d try this one.
DI Emma Christie is called when a teenage boy’s body is found in the ruins of an old church.
When Emma and the team start investigating they find that he’s involved in dealing drugs.
Another teenage boy is soon found and has been killed the same way so Emma and the team know they need to find the killer fast.
This is a good crime thriller but it didn’t quite have the same spark as the Ridpath series.
October 2, 2024
Absolutely love M J Lee books, in my opinion one of the best crime fiction writers around. Well written book and thoroughly enjoyed it.
October 17, 2024
So good I had to move straight on to Book 2!
September 16, 2024
Mostly a good story, up to the end. The last few pages seemed to be cramming too much into too little space. Normally I'd give a book like this, with a story that kept me engaged, five stars but there's just something about the author's style that didn't quite mesh with my reading. Several sentences I had to re-read to get to what the author intended. And the last few pages also contained some clunkers - Kelvin jars (they were Kilner jars earlier); Artea (he'd been named Altea up to this point)...
October 2, 2024
This is a marvellous book for lovers Crime thrillers. I love them and as a Chester 'ex-pat' living in Shropshire I also loved the descriptions of the locations, I walked past the 'coffin in the wall' every day on my walk to school on the other side of Chester. I also did a presentation of 'a walk around the walls' once for an interview. It all comes alive when reading and I loved that modern technology in the use of CCTV and phone location is used in the solving of the crimes, so many authors still seem to miss technology out even when setting a novel in very recent times! Top marks!
I loved this book so much that I have purchased the next book 'Death on the Dee' straight after finishing The Coffin in the Wall! Already started and loving it just as much!
I loved this book so much that I have purchased the next book 'Death on the Dee' straight after finishing The Coffin in the Wall! Already started and loving it just as much!
May 23, 2024
Very good book
This book is very well written and a really good story .
Looking forward to the next ones
Highly Recommended
This book is very well written and a really good story .
Looking forward to the next ones
Highly Recommended
September 29, 2024
Great book
Mr. Lee has written a new series in which this is book one and it is a great introduction to his new character Emma Christie. This book will keep you going back and forth on who is the killer, who is the mole and how will it all play out in the end.
Mr. Lee has written a new series in which this is book one and it is a great introduction to his new character Emma Christie. This book will keep you going back and forth on who is the killer, who is the mole and how will it all play out in the end.
March 31, 2024
RMSTitanic12
What a great story,enjoyed every minute of it and DI Christie is a fantastic Characters,let's have some more of her adventures.Great stuff.
What a great story,enjoyed every minute of it and DI Christie is a fantastic Characters,let's have some more of her adventures.Great stuff.
October 29, 2024
Edge of my seat
Fast paced and very relevant in today's world. Drug dealers and vigilant police officers as well as corrupt ones. A quick voyage around the City of Chester Roman ruins and churches and police stations. Optional misogyny from police bosses. Crime lords/gang leaders, this book had it all.
Fast paced and very relevant in today's world. Drug dealers and vigilant police officers as well as corrupt ones. A quick voyage around the City of Chester Roman ruins and churches and police stations. Optional misogyny from police bosses. Crime lords/gang leaders, this book had it all.
March 28, 2024
Up half the night finishing this. Hopefully the start of another long series to add to the DI Ridpath & Jayne Sinclair books. I must have another try at the Inspector Danilov books as they didn't immediately gel with me.
October 14, 2024
Excellent police procedural!
Everything about this novel felt realistic and the banter was spot on. The characters were nicely done and the story arc was beautifully timed.
If you enjoy crime novels, you'll enjoy this one. Cannot wait to read the next in the series!
5 stars
Everything about this novel felt realistic and the banter was spot on. The characters were nicely done and the story arc was beautifully timed.
If you enjoy crime novels, you'll enjoy this one. Cannot wait to read the next in the series!
5 stars
October 21, 2024
great read
Great read and kept me wanting to read more. Especially interesting when you know the area and places in the book.
Great read and kept me wanting to read more. Especially interesting when you know the area and places in the book.
September 6, 2024
very convincing
The plot is a good one. While it only really delved I to one persons family life, I liked that aspect, it made the book feel less like a tv series, where we have to know everything that is going on in everyone’s lives. Having said that the writing was good so that it felt like I did know something about the other characters.
It has a good ending, while still has some questions to be answered in the future. Like, who is the drug gangs mole on the police force.
A well written , imaginative story.
The plot is a good one. While it only really delved I to one persons family life, I liked that aspect, it made the book feel less like a tv series, where we have to know everything that is going on in everyone’s lives. Having said that the writing was good so that it felt like I did know something about the other characters.
It has a good ending, while still has some questions to be answered in the future. Like, who is the drug gangs mole on the police force.
A well written , imaginative story.
November 24, 2024
Love this new series, well written and kept me gripped until the end, can’t wait to read more
July 14, 2024
Not as good as his Ridpath or Sinclair books but still enjoyable. I'm still on the fence when it comes to the female lead Emma Christie. Maybe I'll read the 2nd book then decide.
November 11, 2024
Breathtaking action
A totally breathtaking and heart stopping story. D.I. Emma Christie is in charge of a spectacular case in which young boys, possibly in the employ of gang drug dealers, have started turning up dead, at well known Chester town sites, and to add extra grist to the mill they have had their eyes removed. Can D.I. Christie catch the perpetrator before more bodies turn up and how are the press finding out about the cases as soon, if not before, the police. Is there a leak in the team and how is so must information being released so precipitously.
A totally breathtaking and heart stopping story. D.I. Emma Christie is in charge of a spectacular case in which young boys, possibly in the employ of gang drug dealers, have started turning up dead, at well known Chester town sites, and to add extra grist to the mill they have had their eyes removed. Can D.I. Christie catch the perpetrator before more bodies turn up and how are the press finding out about the cases as soon, if not before, the police. Is there a leak in the team and how is so must information being released so precipitously.
November 5, 2024
DI Emma Christie story
Good read plenty of twists and turns red herrings as well . Set in the beautiful city of Chester. Maybe not an ending you would expect but definitely think about .
Good read plenty of twists and turns red herrings as well . Set in the beautiful city of Chester. Maybe not an ending you would expect but definitely think about .
June 8, 2024
Great Start to a New Series
Interesting and diverse characters with backstories I can see developing. Well paced with just enough revealed to keep me guessing. Looking forward to the next one.
Interesting and diverse characters with backstories I can see developing. Well paced with just enough revealed to keep me guessing. Looking forward to the next one.
June 8, 2024
Since I am a long-time fan of M.J. Lee's Jayne Sinclair genealogical mysteries, I thought I'd give this new series a try. After all, I don't remember reading a mystery set in Chester, England before. I'm glad I picked up The Coffin in the Wall. It's a promising start to a new series that I will be keeping an eye on.
The City of Chester could be considered a character in the book, but the focus is on DI Emma Christie, the daughter of a legendary police officer who had a 100% success rate. Unfortunately, her father now has dementia and doesn't want to go into a nursing home. As a result, Emma has to deal with an elaborate caregiving schedule that leaves her precious little sleep at the best of times-- and this isn't one of those times.
Emma doesn't feel like she measures up to her father, and her boss's behavior doesn't help. (I wish there would be a few more caring superior officers in police procedurals. It would make a nice change.) She goes everywhere with a ledger in which she writes detailed notes of everything she sees and hears. Emma likes "bureaucratic work... It also meant she was across every inch of the investigation in case anyone asked." This detailed as-you-go narrative aids in her investigation several times, and it also saves her from some of the shark bites from the Powers That Be.
There are flashes of much-needed humor throughout The Coffin in the Wall, and I liked the characters surrounding Emma: John Simpson the civilian researcher, DC Harry Fairweather, and the pesky journalist who always seems to be underfoot. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series, and here's hoping Emma will be able to get a bit more sleep.
The City of Chester could be considered a character in the book, but the focus is on DI Emma Christie, the daughter of a legendary police officer who had a 100% success rate. Unfortunately, her father now has dementia and doesn't want to go into a nursing home. As a result, Emma has to deal with an elaborate caregiving schedule that leaves her precious little sleep at the best of times-- and this isn't one of those times.
Emma doesn't feel like she measures up to her father, and her boss's behavior doesn't help. (I wish there would be a few more caring superior officers in police procedurals. It would make a nice change.) She goes everywhere with a ledger in which she writes detailed notes of everything she sees and hears. Emma likes "bureaucratic work... It also meant she was across every inch of the investigation in case anyone asked." This detailed as-you-go narrative aids in her investigation several times, and it also saves her from some of the shark bites from the Powers That Be.
There are flashes of much-needed humor throughout The Coffin in the Wall, and I liked the characters surrounding Emma: John Simpson the civilian researcher, DC Harry Fairweather, and the pesky journalist who always seems to be underfoot. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series, and here's hoping Emma will be able to get a bit more sleep.
May 9, 2024
Another great read by M J Lee!
M J Lee is one of my favourite authors. This is a great police procedural set in Chester. Lots of twists and turns.
I'm looking forward to the next one.
M J Lee is one of my favourite authors. This is a great police procedural set in Chester. Lots of twists and turns.
I'm looking forward to the next one.
April 6, 2024
Excellent!
From start to finish, this was a gripping story to read. I look forward to the next entry in this series.
From start to finish, this was a gripping story to read. I look forward to the next entry in this series.
April 14, 2024
I have read all of the M J Lee books, so was really pleased that there is a new series. Enjoyed this book, liked the new detective, looking forward to more in the series.
July 17, 2025
In The Coffin in the Wall, by M.J. Lee is the first book in the Emma Christie series. I love the DI Ridpath series by this author so was keen to read this novel. This is a gritty, atmospheric crime thriller that fuses the ancient beauty of Chester with the brutal realities of modern-day violence. Detective Inspector Emma Christie, is the lead character in this series, a sharp, determined investigator drawn into a series of gruesome murders that threaten to rip apart the fabric of her city.
Teenage drug dealers are turning up dead, mutilated and left as gruesome warnings. Emma Christie faces the unenviable task of stopping a killer who shows no sign of slowing down. I like the character Emma Christie, intelligent, methodical, and shows a human side to her investigations. Feel sure the character will only improve with further books in this series. The pressure intensifies and it becomes more than just catching the killer, as well as maintaining trust in a city where everyone seems to have something to hide.
The novel is fast paced and well plotted and lays down the foundations to further novels in this series. This was an enjoyable police procedural with plenty of emotion and action.
Teenage drug dealers are turning up dead, mutilated and left as gruesome warnings. Emma Christie faces the unenviable task of stopping a killer who shows no sign of slowing down. I like the character Emma Christie, intelligent, methodical, and shows a human side to her investigations. Feel sure the character will only improve with further books in this series. The pressure intensifies and it becomes more than just catching the killer, as well as maintaining trust in a city where everyone seems to have something to hide.
The novel is fast paced and well plotted and lays down the foundations to further novels in this series. This was an enjoyable police procedural with plenty of emotion and action.
November 2, 2025
I love MJ Lee's DI Ridpath series so I thought I would give this series a try. Unfortunately it wasn't anywhere as good. It gets very tiring when the same old misogyny trope of using a nasty mean spirited DCI against a female DI gets used. Then the threatening of bringing someone else in to take over. Why can't authors just use a sensible hard working detective that gets the job done?
It did also concern me that a detective would not know about petechiae showing in the eyes of someone strangled and the cause of lividity in the body after death having to be explained. I would have thought any seasoned detective who has attended a post mortem before would know about such things.
I also found it padded out quite a bit with unnecessary filling and inner monologues. This doesn't move the story along and it bores me to the point of having to skip parts. Once I start doing that then that's when I realise I'm not enjoying it. So I shall continue with more of DI Ridpath and give DI Emma Christie a miss.
It did also concern me that a detective would not know about petechiae showing in the eyes of someone strangled and the cause of lividity in the body after death having to be explained. I would have thought any seasoned detective who has attended a post mortem before would know about such things.
I also found it padded out quite a bit with unnecessary filling and inner monologues. This doesn't move the story along and it bores me to the point of having to skip parts. Once I start doing that then that's when I realise I'm not enjoying it. So I shall continue with more of DI Ridpath and give DI Emma Christie a miss.
March 30, 2024
The Coffin in the Wall by M.J. Lee was published a few days ago. It is the first book in a new series featuring DI Emma Christie and is set in Chester. First time I have read a book set here which is where great friends of ours here in Australia used to live before moving here nearly 40 years ago. I love Martin's DI Ridpath series and also his Jayne Sinclair series so was keen to read this. Someone is cleaning up the streets of Chester and displaying the bodies prominently. Emma is not having much luck with the investigation - there is a particular journalist who seems to have an inside track to the investigation. I look forward to reading more in this series and seeing how the characters develop, particularly her relationship with DCI Davy Jones.
April 1, 2024
The first book in a new series featuring DI Emma Christie starts with the death of a young drug dealer, nailed into the coffin on the wall of a ruined church. Further deaths follow and Emma and her team are stretched. Her superior threatens to bring in another DI to replace her and time is running out. It's a great murder mystery with the reader feeling the pressure on the team. There's a reporter hounding them too. It's a great story with an ending I didn't expect, and I enjoyed it very much. I shall follow this series with interest.
September 14, 2024
Oh dear! A brilliant start to a series. I've never been disappointed by any of the police procedurals I've read by MJ Lee. Getting to know Emma Christie and her crew was a rollercoaster ride, with great action and a nicely intricate plot. All the characters are relatable and easy to like, and I'm looking forward to getting to know them better. The plot of this story is interesting and multi-dimensional filled with intrigue and enough twists to keep the reader guessing. I'm already looking forward to Emma's next case.
April 24, 2025
I bought this because I’ve enjoyed MJ Lee’s DI Ridpath series – but I felt let down by this one. The plot is engaging, but many of the police characters are hackneyed and there were chunks of the novel where I thought the author had got bored writing and decided to ask an AI bot to write a chapter or two. I can see from other reviews that this is popular with those who enjoy police procedurals, but I need more spark to enthuse me. The purchase came with the second book in the series, and I haven’t bothered to open it…
April 1, 2024
4.5 stars out of 5
Afraid I missed a bit of sleep reading this police "thriller" that had many facets that attracted me and had me reading through the night due to investment in the fate of DI Emma Christie. I will look forward to the next in this series for certain. The plot cannot be described in detail without spoilers but it covers crime in Chester and Liverpool connected to drug trade but also a deranged killer.
Kindle Unlimited
Afraid I missed a bit of sleep reading this police "thriller" that had many facets that attracted me and had me reading through the night due to investment in the fate of DI Emma Christie. I will look forward to the next in this series for certain. The plot cannot be described in detail without spoilers but it covers crime in Chester and Liverpool connected to drug trade but also a deranged killer.
Kindle Unlimited
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews