The Snowdonia Killings: A Snowdonia Murder Mystery Book 1 (A DI Ruth Hunter Crime Thriller)

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New clues and new angles keep cropping up and while there are the usual procedural elements of interviewing suspects, tech and forensic analysis, there are also two or three chase scenes – one into an old mine with some shotgun violence, and a high speed chase. Big Island, LA connects the dots between a heist gone wrong at a police shooting range and corporate greed and political corruption, leaving a former combat marine and an agoraphobic crime reporter to sort out the mystery. An investigation gets underway and even though she’s new Ruth Hunter is named SIO, with DS Nick Evans at her side. When another slain victim is discovered with the same cryptic markings, she’s forced to re-think the investigation.

There are secrets galore, and often the characters have attitudes and issues that complicate matters for Ruth. She’s already had one outing on the island, tackling a drugs gang holding passengers hostage onboard a sightseeing cruise ship. The biggest worry is winning over a team of mainly local coppers who live in tight-knit communities that have been circumspect about English incursion for about 750 years.

Ruth’s personal life is gradually filled in as well, the author building her up to be the lead character across his planned series. The police procedural aspect is strong, but using a huge variety of characters the author manages to drive the story in various directions. Having spent time on Anglesey, it seems to have a different atmosphere than the rest of Wales,” said Simon, married with two children. They also feature some mangled place names, such as the fictional town of Llancastell where she is based, somewhere in Denbighshire. But Covid-disrupted schedules pushed back the project and Simon is keeping his fingers crossed filming finally gets underway in autumn 2023.

Arabella was an ambitious, manipulative woman who used sex to get what she wanted and conflict surrounded her. Legends of drowned princes, Owain Glyndwr’s war of independence, jokes about English incomers drinking sheep urine – plenty of Welsh flavour here. After moving to Worthenbury, near Wrexham, he worked as a teacher before writing his debut novel, The Snowdonia Killings. The eighth book in the series was set in Menai Bridge, and Anglesey is now the base for his new protagonist, former DI Laura Hart, an experienced hostage negotiator. But, as police procedurals, the plots rip along and, refreshingly, the lead characters lack the foibles that are the hallmark of so many modern sleuths.With such a complex case, and all the red herrings the author sends your way, guessing who the killer is turns out to be very difficult. However, after the reveal there’s a long section of exposition which didn’t quite fit the rest of the storytelling. Thousands upon thousands of readers in the UK and around the world have downloaded and enjoyed this book a great deal.

But Ruth has barely settled into her new position in North Wales Police, when the body of a brutally murdered woman is discovered…with strange symbols carved into her skin. This content is from a third-party service that may place cookies on your computer or mobile device.

But Ruth has barely settled in when the body of a teacher is discovered… with strange symbols carved into her skin. Now pushing fifty, the veteran police officer trades in the crime-ridden streets of London for a more peaceful post in rural North Wales. They have experienced editors and publishers, well-oiled and financed marketing machines and big cheque books (or should that be PayPal accounts, these days? The gangs, the violence, the senseless killings – not to mention the fact that her lover disappeared out of the blue a few years back. Published in May 2022 by Harper Collins (Avon), The Dark Isle topped the UK Kindle chart and became Waterstones Wales’ best ever “book of the month” seller.