What do you think?
Rate this book
DI Bethany Smith #3
Red is the Colour
EATING IS NOTHING BUT TORMENT
Still grieving, DI Bethany Smith is stumped by a letter and map that have arrived, stating someone is dead and where to find them. The problem is, the map has been drawn by hand, and she can’t quite work out where the location is. When she does, she’s led to a place of business—but what has that got to do with the murder?
With the body eventually found, the shock of the mutilation has Bethany reeling—plus the fact that the deceased is a minor royal ‘celebrity’ in Shadwell. Why have they been killed?
Then two more bodies turn up, and the case gets more complex.
What weapon has been used to scour skin off? Where have certain body parts gone? And what does the image of a child’s toy mean?
The killer has lived a twisted, abusive life, with secrets no one should have to keep, but can Bethany feel sorry for him despite what he’s done?
Still grieving, DI Bethany Smith is stumped by a letter and map that have arrived, stating someone is dead and where to find them. The problem is, the map has been drawn by hand, and she can’t quite work out where the location is. When she does, she’s led to a place of business—but what has that got to do with the murder?
With the body eventually found, the shock of the mutilation has Bethany reeling—plus the fact that the deceased is a minor royal ‘celebrity’ in Shadwell. Why have they been killed?
Then two more bodies turn up, and the case gets more complex.
What weapon has been used to scour skin off? Where have certain body parts gone? And what does the image of a child’s toy mean?
The killer has lived a twisted, abusive life, with secrets no one should have to keep, but can Bethany feel sorry for him despite what he’s done?
266 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 8, 2019
339 people are currently reading
133 people want to read
About the author
Emmy Ellis
130 books111 followersAuthor of these series:
• DI Tracy Collier
• DI Carol Wren
• DI Bethany Smith
• DI Helena Stratton
• The Cardigan Estate
• DI Morgan Yeoman
• Detective Anna James
• DI Tracy Collier
• DI Carol Wren
• DI Bethany Smith
• DI Helena Stratton
• The Cardigan Estate
• DI Morgan Yeoman
• Detective Anna James
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
September 5, 2019
An Exciting Tale Showing Intense Horror In Bringing Up A Child...And The Results!!!
Definitely an intense story as a rich woman marries for love...that fades quickly after the birth of her son. A loving mother to the young boy, but she is dealing with abuse from her husband so horrific that she becomes all she hates...
The boy is kept inside, as the husband has promised to kill him if ever out of her sight. The bringing up of the boy will have you running to turn up your lights, as evil shows it's face so blatantly...
What a fantastic story, even through some tough to deal with crimes, DI Bethany Smith keeps her wits about her and presses on with the investigation. A story you will Not forget by an author with the imagination and artistry to take us there...
Keep your lights on, doors locked and open this book!! 5 STARS for sure!!!
Definitely an intense story as a rich woman marries for love...that fades quickly after the birth of her son. A loving mother to the young boy, but she is dealing with abuse from her husband so horrific that she becomes all she hates...
The boy is kept inside, as the husband has promised to kill him if ever out of her sight. The bringing up of the boy will have you running to turn up your lights, as evil shows it's face so blatantly...
What a fantastic story, even through some tough to deal with crimes, DI Bethany Smith keeps her wits about her and presses on with the investigation. A story you will Not forget by an author with the imagination and artistry to take us there...
Keep your lights on, doors locked and open this book!! 5 STARS for sure!!!
September 3, 2019
Okay, this one definitely isn’t for the faint-hearted. Emmy has a way of writing the most twisted, evil characters, I have to say, even I was retching at some of the antics the killer got up to, and i consider myself to have a cast iron stomach.
Loving the MC though more and more throughout the series, despite the personal trauma she’s gone through she always put her work first. Often going above and beyond to capture the villains in the process.
Loving the MC though more and more throughout the series, despite the personal trauma she’s gone through she always put her work first. Often going above and beyond to capture the villains in the process.
December 11, 2023
I swear these books are getting worse with each progressive title in the series. Or maybe it's just that my patience with Emmy Ellis and her trite, uneventful, forgettable stories, is wearing excruciatingly thin at this point.
Where do I even start? As with the previous two titles, we're shown who the killer is immediately, get their motives explained in the first few chapters, and then just turn pages until the police figure out whodunit. This time the author didn't even care enough about her own boring story to attempt to ratchet up a bit of excitement around the apprehension of the perp. Just the police figuring out who it was, arresting him, then taking him off to be thrown in the cells and questioned.
Again the main two characters (I actually made a point of remembering both their name this time, because they're so dull that by the end of the second book, I just couldn't recall the names of both the lead detectives and couldn't be bothered going back to find out.) Bethany & Mike (just don't ask me what their surnames are; I truly cannot bring myself to care about those as well) are as facelessly nondescript as every other vague character in the cast list. They also seem to be stupider than I'd expect investigative detectives to be. When a second map is sent to the police station, showing where a body has been dumped, the description of the details seen to point to an obvious location. That's not because the reader has been made party to this information, but because it's just so bloody obvious. Not for Tweedledumb & Tweedledumber though. Totally unbelievable portrayal of what's expected from the detectives leading a police investigation.
On top of making her police officers all terminally dumb, attempting to rely upon gross-out details of gory violence really is the other thing Emmy Ellis thinks is original or imaginative. Gore is her method of trying to get readers to think they're getting something exciting, when all these books consist of is a dreary (if thankfully quick to plough through) meandering, from the outset to the get-out, peppered with a handful of what are supposed to be shocking scenes, yet merely reveal the limits to the author's creativity: she can come up with mildly amusing scenarios that her killers all seem to need to dream up.
Which brings me to another bone of contention I have regarding Emmy Ellis and her characters: they're basically all the same people. In the three books I have read out of this series, the killer is a guy who suffered abuse in his childhood, ruminates over getting revenge for years, then kills a bunch of people who either abused them directly or did nothing to intervene or help after the fact. Each killer comes up with a similar time-frame for carrying out their plans, has a seemingly idiosyncratic MO (which isn't that unique, just a differently gory specific thing they do to all their victims, for the same kind of provocations) and a similar kill count.
We're given a view inside the minds of each of these killers, and are party to their inner monologues, all of which might as well have been the thoughts and reasoning of any one of the murderers in any of these books. Considering the difference in social standing/wealth/employment details that each killer is supposed to have (Ellis really cannot dream up any smart subtleties when ascribing differences to her characters, so she simply relies upon the lazy way out, giving them different levels of social class, but nothing below the surface level of distinguishing traits that should be shown, not told), they have the same linguistic patterns, cadences of speech and same way of ordering their thoughts while carrying out all of the murders they go on to commit.
They're deemed to be mad by the police once apprehended (and the inner monologues are a bit mental sounding - if almost cheesily so - but the main issue is that they're so alike as to be interchangeable with one another) which then makes Bethany start to feel like her heart is breaking in sympathy for their back-stories. This repeated trope really is starting to annoy me. Don't get me wrong, I know awful things happen to people in their childhoods; things that can really mess them up for the rest of their lives. The old adage "hurt people, hurt people" definitely has a lot of truth to it. But there are many people out there who have endured so much hurt, torment and abuse, yet never go on to then hurt or abuse anyone else in their later lives. This is a lazy stereotyping of abuse victims who are far more likely to turn their pain inwards, back on themselves, via addiction, self-harm and the inability to trust others enough to form relationships. They suffer mental health problems and are far more likely to kill themselves than anyone else. There are also those who adjust as well as they can to adult life and are able to marry, have children and hold down good jobs.
It just pisses me off whenever prior abuse is somehow just expected to create a subsequent abuser. I'm also a lot less sympathetic to the violent offender/abuser/murderer with a sob-story in their past than I used to be. The minute you choose to continue a cycle of abuse - knowing yourself how soul destroying it is to be on the receiving end of it - is the minute you stop being the sympathetic victim. Yet, so far, all three books in this series have featured a killer who was abused in childhood and all three of them then created elaborate revenge plots, similarly executed, with the same internal monologues explaining the whys and wherefores, before then making the lead detective all upset and heartbroken over them.
I know Ellis has no idea about what suspense entails, but I can assure you that my potential suspension of disbelief at the nature of these storylines, completely disappears the moment I'm supposed to believe that three cases, in as many weeks, crop up in this one town, with so many annoying similarities. That's not my doubting the prevalence of abusers and predators who harm children in any one locale (I've spent enough time watching predator catchers to know just how big of a problem THAT is) merely my inability to be convinced by the terrible story-writing of Emmy Ellis. If you're going to write a series like this, you need to understand just how hard you need to work as a crime fiction author, to get your readers to suspend their disbelief sufficiently for your tale to become even vaguely plausible. There is nothing plausible about the books in this series. Emmy Ellis is not a convincingly plausible writer.
As with the previous titles in this series there is a blatant lie on the cover, promising a thrilling read with a shocking twist. No thrills were present during the reading of this text, and as always...THERE IS NO TWIST!
Two stars awarded purely for this not being quite as bad as Wattpad fiction, which would be given a single star due to Goodreads not allowing us to give zero stars.
Where do I even start? As with the previous two titles, we're shown who the killer is immediately, get their motives explained in the first few chapters, and then just turn pages until the police figure out whodunit. This time the author didn't even care enough about her own boring story to attempt to ratchet up a bit of excitement around the apprehension of the perp. Just the police figuring out who it was, arresting him, then taking him off to be thrown in the cells and questioned.
Again the main two characters (I actually made a point of remembering both their name this time, because they're so dull that by the end of the second book, I just couldn't recall the names of both the lead detectives and couldn't be bothered going back to find out.) Bethany & Mike (just don't ask me what their surnames are; I truly cannot bring myself to care about those as well) are as facelessly nondescript as every other vague character in the cast list. They also seem to be stupider than I'd expect investigative detectives to be. When a second map is sent to the police station, showing where a body has been dumped, the description of the details seen to point to an obvious location. That's not because the reader has been made party to this information, but because it's just so bloody obvious. Not for Tweedledumb & Tweedledumber though. Totally unbelievable portrayal of what's expected from the detectives leading a police investigation.
On top of making her police officers all terminally dumb, attempting to rely upon gross-out details of gory violence really is the other thing Emmy Ellis thinks is original or imaginative. Gore is her method of trying to get readers to think they're getting something exciting, when all these books consist of is a dreary (if thankfully quick to plough through) meandering, from the outset to the get-out, peppered with a handful of what are supposed to be shocking scenes, yet merely reveal the limits to the author's creativity: she can come up with mildly amusing scenarios that her killers all seem to need to dream up.
Which brings me to another bone of contention I have regarding Emmy Ellis and her characters: they're basically all the same people. In the three books I have read out of this series, the killer is a guy who suffered abuse in his childhood, ruminates over getting revenge for years, then kills a bunch of people who either abused them directly or did nothing to intervene or help after the fact. Each killer comes up with a similar time-frame for carrying out their plans, has a seemingly idiosyncratic MO (which isn't that unique, just a differently gory specific thing they do to all their victims, for the same kind of provocations) and a similar kill count.
We're given a view inside the minds of each of these killers, and are party to their inner monologues, all of which might as well have been the thoughts and reasoning of any one of the murderers in any of these books. Considering the difference in social standing/wealth/employment details that each killer is supposed to have (Ellis really cannot dream up any smart subtleties when ascribing differences to her characters, so she simply relies upon the lazy way out, giving them different levels of social class, but nothing below the surface level of distinguishing traits that should be shown, not told), they have the same linguistic patterns, cadences of speech and same way of ordering their thoughts while carrying out all of the murders they go on to commit.
They're deemed to be mad by the police once apprehended (and the inner monologues are a bit mental sounding - if almost cheesily so - but the main issue is that they're so alike as to be interchangeable with one another) which then makes Bethany start to feel like her heart is breaking in sympathy for their back-stories. This repeated trope really is starting to annoy me. Don't get me wrong, I know awful things happen to people in their childhoods; things that can really mess them up for the rest of their lives. The old adage "hurt people, hurt people" definitely has a lot of truth to it. But there are many people out there who have endured so much hurt, torment and abuse, yet never go on to then hurt or abuse anyone else in their later lives. This is a lazy stereotyping of abuse victims who are far more likely to turn their pain inwards, back on themselves, via addiction, self-harm and the inability to trust others enough to form relationships. They suffer mental health problems and are far more likely to kill themselves than anyone else. There are also those who adjust as well as they can to adult life and are able to marry, have children and hold down good jobs.
It just pisses me off whenever prior abuse is somehow just expected to create a subsequent abuser. I'm also a lot less sympathetic to the violent offender/abuser/murderer with a sob-story in their past than I used to be. The minute you choose to continue a cycle of abuse - knowing yourself how soul destroying it is to be on the receiving end of it - is the minute you stop being the sympathetic victim. Yet, so far, all three books in this series have featured a killer who was abused in childhood and all three of them then created elaborate revenge plots, similarly executed, with the same internal monologues explaining the whys and wherefores, before then making the lead detective all upset and heartbroken over them.
I know Ellis has no idea about what suspense entails, but I can assure you that my potential suspension of disbelief at the nature of these storylines, completely disappears the moment I'm supposed to believe that three cases, in as many weeks, crop up in this one town, with so many annoying similarities. That's not my doubting the prevalence of abusers and predators who harm children in any one locale (I've spent enough time watching predator catchers to know just how big of a problem THAT is) merely my inability to be convinced by the terrible story-writing of Emmy Ellis. If you're going to write a series like this, you need to understand just how hard you need to work as a crime fiction author, to get your readers to suspend their disbelief sufficiently for your tale to become even vaguely plausible. There is nothing plausible about the books in this series. Emmy Ellis is not a convincingly plausible writer.
As with the previous titles in this series there is a blatant lie on the cover, promising a thrilling read with a shocking twist. No thrills were present during the reading of this text, and as always...THERE IS NO TWIST!
Two stars awarded purely for this not being quite as bad as Wattpad fiction, which would be given a single star due to Goodreads not allowing us to give zero stars.
January 7, 2025
I guess, I've just read too many police chasing killer books that I've read this type before and it was done better.
March 2, 2024
I love this authors work, especially with how descriptive she is.
September 3, 2019
An excellent tale from ok this exciting author. Beautifully written and thoroughly enjoyable.
Can't watch t for more of this he same. The characters are you easily recognisable, making this a book that is hard to put down.
Can't watch t for more of this he same. The characters are you easily recognisable, making this a book that is hard to put down.
August 10, 2020
Yet again another brilliant read in the series.
What gruesome killers poor Bethany and Mike have to encounter but also such cruel past lives the killer had been subject to. Another page turner about a twisted sad man who had a sad and terrible upbringing despite their wealth. His mother was so cruel that at some point you did feel sorry for Harry. Emmy is amazing in bringing detail to the story and again you feel like you are there with the characters.
Nice to see the friendship of Bethany and Mike develop and a quick snippet of our Tracey Collier made me smile.
Time to buy the next one.
What gruesome killers poor Bethany and Mike have to encounter but also such cruel past lives the killer had been subject to. Another page turner about a twisted sad man who had a sad and terrible upbringing despite their wealth. His mother was so cruel that at some point you did feel sorry for Harry. Emmy is amazing in bringing detail to the story and again you feel like you are there with the characters.
Nice to see the friendship of Bethany and Mike develop and a quick snippet of our Tracey Collier made me smile.
Time to buy the next one.
March 12, 2022
I just don't know!
I'm not connecting with these characters like I did the previous series. The writing is good, plots fresh and original for the most part. Its a fast paced book and it was entertaining in many ways. But I miss the humor, and enthralling banter and the build up. I give it 4 star because it's not the writing its me! I will continue to read these books, and this author. Just hope to find that excitement again!
I'm not connecting with these characters like I did the previous series. The writing is good, plots fresh and original for the most part. Its a fast paced book and it was entertaining in many ways. But I miss the humor, and enthralling banter and the build up. I give it 4 star because it's not the writing its me! I will continue to read these books, and this author. Just hope to find that excitement again!
January 17, 2024
Set in the UK. 218 pp. Rather harrowing; including child abuse and cannibalism. Basically pain porn. Not the strongest writing or storytelling. It was inconsistent. And there was no big twist at the end.
The Screwdriver Killer (DI Bethany Smith, #3) by Emmy Ellis
The Screwdriver Killer (DI Bethany Smith, #3) by Emmy Ellis
April 1, 2020
This story was entertaining and just not what I was expecting. It was very fun seeing how you are raised and what it does to you it could turn you into.
The very feel of this book is psychological and shows the most screwed up kind of emotions that you could ever see.
The very feel of this book is psychological and shows the most screwed up kind of emotions that you could ever see.
August 6, 2020
Even though you know who the killer is from the beginning, I loved the way Emmy wrote about his past after someone was killed explaining in a way why that person was being killed. Parts did turn my stomach but really enjoyed the storyline. Makes a change to feel sorry for the killer.
January 2, 2022
This was the third book in the Bethany Smith series and we see her moving house.
In this book we see murders carried out that is not for the faint hearted. We have bodies being cut up and being used as part of murder schenes
In this book we see murders carried out that is not for the faint hearted. We have bodies being cut up and being used as part of murder schenes
February 21, 2024
Twisted suspense
Very well written and fast-paced. Not rushed the story just keeps moving. No chance of being bored or confused and the richness of the characters is truly amazing. Really glad I discovered this writer and series!!!
Very well written and fast-paced. Not rushed the story just keeps moving. No chance of being bored or confused and the richness of the characters is truly amazing. Really glad I discovered this writer and series!!!
May 27, 2024
Wow where this young Lady gets her ideas from is amazing, each book makes you hold your breath and they get more gripping as they move down the series, which is a brilliant series, though not for the faint hearted, and I shall never look at a screwdriver in the same way again.
March 31, 2020
Oh wow
Another explosive book from the pen of Emmy Ellis. Bodies, clues, grater, childhood lost, all together make one fabulous ending
Another explosive book from the pen of Emmy Ellis. Bodies, clues, grater, childhood lost, all together make one fabulous ending
June 1, 2020
Deliciously sick!! That's the only way to describe Emmys mind!
Love reading about Beth, Mike and the team. Next one d/l already.
Love reading about Beth, Mike and the team. Next one d/l already.
December 5, 2020
Jam.... enough said. I loved it
February 4, 2021
Excellent
Third book in this series and another excellent read. Gruesome and dark but believable and showing the possibilities of a broken mind. Would definitely recommend
Third book in this series and another excellent read. Gruesome and dark but believable and showing the possibilities of a broken mind. Would definitely recommend
March 17, 2022
Where does Emmy get her ideas for storylines from? Totally hooked on this series now and just downloaded number 4!
January 3, 2024
Good read
This author has a way with words, twists and turns. The suspense is incredible and gives a realistic view of what the police go through in solving crimes!
This author has a way with words, twists and turns. The suspense is incredible and gives a realistic view of what the police go through in solving crimes!
April 28, 2024
Lots of fun.
A poor sod who was much abused gets his revenge . . .
A poor sod who was much abused gets his revenge . . .
June 2, 2021
I absolutely love this series by Emmy Ellis!
The stories grip you and pull you in from the off, I love her relationship with Mike and the other characters in the stories too.
Can’t wait to read the others I have just ordered....definitely amazing books to binge read
The stories grip you and pull you in from the off, I love her relationship with Mike and the other characters in the stories too.
Can’t wait to read the others I have just ordered....definitely amazing books to binge read
November 13, 2019
This book is a roller coaster thriller with everything. In it that you could possibly imagine. DI Bethany Smith and her partner Mike are hot on the trail of another serial killer with the bodies piling up. Clues are being left but with strange unfathomable messages.
The eerie descriptive passages in this book leave you sometimes shuddering but clambering to turn the pages to see what happens next.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and can’t wait to read what the author has in store with her next one.
The eerie descriptive passages in this book leave you sometimes shuddering but clambering to turn the pages to see what happens next.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and can’t wait to read what the author has in store with her next one.
December 17, 2019
DI Bethany Smith and the team are back in this third book of the series. Bethany is trying to come to terms with the death of her beloved Vinny and keep herself busy with work. Bethany and the team are certainly kept busy with this case! Good, strong characters and I liked how we learnt more about the killer and his past in some of the chapters.
The author certainly writes gruesome storylines! This book is not for the faint hearted, it is extremely squeamish! Having said all of that, it is a great read and I am looking forward to the next book in this series.
The author certainly writes gruesome storylines! This book is not for the faint hearted, it is extremely squeamish! Having said all of that, it is a great read and I am looking forward to the next book in this series.
September 22, 2019
Bloody hell, what a book!!
I love this authors work, bit unsure of what goes on in her mind though! Grisly, gruesome murders investigated by Bethany and her team. This series just gets better and better, roll on the next instalment
I love this authors work, bit unsure of what goes on in her mind though! Grisly, gruesome murders investigated by Bethany and her team. This series just gets better and better, roll on the next instalment
October 6, 2019
So twisted
What a twisted, creepy story! I don't know where her imagination comes from but it's horrifyingly brilliant.
If you need a page-turning, on the verge of making you close your eyes, novel. This is a great one!
What a twisted, creepy story! I don't know where her imagination comes from but it's horrifyingly brilliant.
If you need a page-turning, on the verge of making you close your eyes, novel. This is a great one!
November 30, 2019
Wow!
Red is the Colour was a great book. It was also unsettling. But I couldn’t put it down. My only complaint is the randomly thrown in curse words. They weren’t necessary. I recommend this series because it’s so engrossing.
Red is the Colour was a great book. It was also unsettling. But I couldn’t put it down. My only complaint is the randomly thrown in curse words. They weren’t necessary. I recommend this series because it’s so engrossing.
October 1, 2019
Would give more than 5 stars for another thrilling read
November 19, 2019
What a read. Gruesome at time but leaves you feeling some sympathy for the Killer. Another brilliant read and book by Emmy Ellis. Highly recommended.
December 16, 2019
Cracking book. Gruesome and grisly with some interesting weapons. Bethany is a great character
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews