He Knows Your Name . . . Where You Live . . . And wants you Dead.
By day, Dr Richard Wellman is a consultant anaesthetist working at the University Hospital in Cardiff. At night, he’s a warped serial killer with a terrifying method of choosing and killing his victims.
Three months ago, DCI Brân Reece was shot during a raid on the Midnight Club. He's been on sick leave since. But when an American medical student is stabbed to death just outside the hospital grounds, Reece is brought back early: the young man's parents are wealthy and therefore have influence.
When Reece learns that one of the student's housemates has also died – seemingly of natural causes – he can't help but think the cases are linked, despite the evidence suggesting otherwise. When a second nurse dies, Reece knows he's on to something.
With top brass wanting him to concentrate his efforts on bringing the American's killer to justice, Reece's refusal to ignore an escalating number of attacks on women causes conflict within the Cardiff Bay police station.
But Reece is no stranger to conflict. He's never been one to run with the hounds. There's a serial killer loose on the city's streets and the DCI is hell-bent on bringing the perpetrator to justice.
COLD GROUND is a character-driven police thriller set against the spectacular backdrop of Cardiff and the Brecon Beacons National Park. It will appeal to readers of JD Kirk, Stuart MacBride, Jason Dalgliesh, and Ian Rankin. Can also be read as a standalone.
★★★★★ "A Great Read" - Joy Ellis - best-selling author of the DI Nikki Galena Series.
Wow! I am loving this series and it's only book 2! DCI Bran Reece is good at his job, very good, but not well liked. He has attitude, but there is a darn good reason for that and his superiors know it. He has a small but relatively new team that a knitting together beautifully. Interesting characters that are engaging and are developing well. Reece has been brought back from sick leave to investigate the stabbing of a medical student, the son of a wealthy and influencial family, but the death of a female student nurse disturbs Reece. How did she die and are the two deaths linked? It doesn't stop at two. This is a tense and thrilling read, the deaths are chilling. We get to know early on in the book who the killer is and why he has this obsession. He takes us on his journey. A terrifying death awaits his victims and because of exeptional writing skills, Liam Hanson will take you through to their very last breath. Great story telling and I can't wait for book three.
The second book in The Murder Squad series is just as fantastic as the first.
This book is packed full of pretty terrifying murders - the stuff nightmares are made of, really! It is creepy and definitely plays on the common fear of being followed when walking alone. The author truly captures these feelings of fear and anxiety in the writing.
My favourite part of this story is that we finally get to delve a bit more into the lives of the characters. There is real detail given which makes the reader feel a part of their lives, and as if we are are right there, experiencing the things which the characters are. I love that in a book, and I feel that the bonds created with the characters really lead me to be invested in their story.
A great read that has me waiting for the next in the series to get my Murder Squad fix.
Although this is the second book in the Murder Squad Series its a stand alone book in its own right. This is a very cleverly written story line that has you hooked from the start, and you just want to sit till it's finished . It's very good in its descriotive and characters and the places in the book. In your minds eye you feel as if you can hear the Welsh accents.Just love the bad tempered Reece and the way the team are starting to work together. A book that has you on the edge of your seat, with twists and turns, murder, violence and surprising revelations. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book This is my non biased honest review on a arc book I was pleased to receive.
The second instalment featuring our loveable rogue DCI Brân Reece and his team. They say an apple a day keeps the doctor away, well if only it was that easy, especially if that doctor is Dr Wellman. A really well written police procedural with a great storyline, which I won’t go in to as I feel it’s the job of the blurb to set the scene and draw you in. I will say if you like gritty, fast paced police procedurals then you will thoroughly enjoy this.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Cold Ground by Liam Hanson is book 2 in the Murder Squad Thrillers (previously published as Dead People Sleep) and features DCI Bran Reece. The reader knows who the killer is from the beginning so a slightly different concept but very good. Reece is a cantankerous old thing and the team feel they are walking on eggshells at times, but there are laughing moments too so a mixed bag, and certainly a gripping read. The characters are very likeable and certainly added to the enjoyment of the book.
The author either lives in Cardiff or knows it very well. Having lived here for 75 years, it's great to see places and streets in crime novels that I know well. (one through away line about the lifts in the UHW made me chuckle as I have used them many times). Enjoyable gritty reads and will get more
Set against the back drop of Cardiff, this is a fast paced police thriller featuring the enigmatic Bran Reece and his murder squad. While you know who the killer is, you're drawn in to the race by the police to catch him.
Having lived in Cardiff for a number of years, I loved the references to places I knew, I could hear the accent and thrilled in the chase.
This is the second book in the series, and I did not feel disadvantaged by not having read the first, it could easily be read as a standalone ~ but having said that, I bought the first one within reading the first couple of chapters, it was that good.
I received this as an ARC from the author, and am submitting my honest review