Review: Dead Wicked (Calladine & Bayliss #10) by Helen H. Durrant

  

Print Length:199 pages
Publisher: Joffe Press (July 2, 2020)

From Goodreads.com:  The first victim is found on waste ground. His tongue has been cut out and stuffed down his throat.

Then another body is found dumped in a lake up in the hills. The same gruesome murder method is used.

And guess who the detectives’ new boss is? The incredibly difficult Stephen Greco.

A TWISTED KILLER . . . AND A WICKED TWIST

Meanwhile Ruth Bayliss’s personal life is falling apart and someone is targeting local businesses with ransomware.

The prime suspect is a criminal Calladine thought he’d seen the last of.

WHO’S THE SERIAL KILLER AND WHO’S NEXT ON THE LIST?

Discover an absolutely unputdownable crime thriller from a best-selling author.

IN AN ENDING WITH A MASSIVE TWIST, THE DETECTIVES FIND EVERYTHING THEY BELIEVED IS WRONG.

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My Rating: 1 star out of 5

It's a good thing that this is the last in the series (at least for now) as I really think I need a break from this author and this series. 

As much as it pains me to say this, I have noticed that these aren't really original stories anymore. It's the same format as some of the other books that have come before (in this case right down to the fact that the victim's tongue was removed and they choked to death on their own blood) . This is at least the second time someone who has been convicted of murder  has been released only to have an identical murder happen while they are out. 

Also the same? The fact that the blurb says there is a massive twist - when honestly? It's pretty obvious early on who is the one behind things (especially considering this author's very annoying habit of making it someone close to the team). 

Added to that, can anyone explain to me how after ten books the author gets the name of the main character's adoptive mother WRONG? And I don't mean she just misspelled it, or made an error one time. I mean she straight up changed the poor woman's name from Freda to Jean. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has pointed this out either. 

I still remember these books as they used to be. When they were gripping and surprising. I hope that when I next come across another book (either by this author or in this series) they are more in line with the way I remember the others - surprising and original. Not stale and obvious. 

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                                       Dead Wicked is available from Amazon.com
                                      (for free if you subscribe to Kindle Unlimited)

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