Katerina Diamond

I've been a fan of the D.S. Grey and Miles books since being bowled over by the first book in the series, The Teacher. Unfortunately for me I haven't yet read book 3, The Angel, which sees the introduction of some characters who make a reappearance in this book. It didn't disadvantage me too much, and you can definitely read Truth or Die as a standalone, but I did feel like I had missed out on a great back story so it has spurred me on to read The Angel as soon as possible.

With such show more multi-dimensional and established characters as D.S. Imogen Grey and D.S. Adrian Miles, Katerina Diamond writes one hell of a police procedural. Add to that her dark and twisted imagination and you are guaranteed a crime thriller you will never forget. Often grisly in its level of detail, one particular method of murder is spine-tinglingly chilling but there's a pun attached to the victim's name which did make me smirk.

There's almost a dual storyline running through Truth or Die with Grey and Miles getting a little more up close and personal as well as chasing down a killer of students and professors at Exeter University. These murders aren't random by any means and Grey and Miles discover that there's a dark and disturbing game afoot. Can they catch the ringleader before more bodies turn up? I certainly couldn't read fast enough to find out!

I deliberated a bit over my rating for this one; as a standalone I would rate it 4 out of 5, but as part of the series I have no doubt that it would scoop the full 5 stars. I now want to read the whole series all over again to see what I've missed and to revisit Grey and Miles from the start.

Fast paced and gripping, Truth or Die is another outstanding page turner from Katerina Diamond that sees the D.S. Imogen Grey series go from strength to strength.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion. show less

4.5 stars.
I enjoyed Katerina Diamond's debut novel The Teacher last year. With this follow-up, which had a different feel to it, she stepped up another gear.
We are reunited with Imogen Church and Adrian Miles, two detectives who each have their own personal issues and more baggage than you can count, but together make such a great team. I love their alliance.
It all starts out with the murder of two prostitutes in a house and the disappearance of a third woman, Bridget, from that same show more house.
The case has links to Imogen's ex-partner from the Plymouth force, Sam Brown, and we find out what exactly happened there before Imogen was transferred to Exeter to team up with Adrian. Some of this is touched on in The Teacher, but it is not necessary to read these in order. However, that's not the only way in which the past is catching up with Imogen. There are some shocking surprises in store for her as the investigation reveals another twisted connection to her private life.
Tense and gripping, I finished this in a day, as there was always something happening, another revelation made, there just was no time to put this down and step away from it. The story is told from multiple perspectives including Imogen's, Adrian's, and Bridget's as well as an unknown boy who turns into a deeply troubled young man due to having the misfortune of growing up with the father from hell. The boy's dispassionate voice and cruel transformation into a cold psychopath were incredibly well done.
The only thing that stopped me from giving this 5 stars were the different timelines that slightly confused me at times, although I think that may have been due to the fact that I was listening rather than reading.
Ms. Diamond has a knack for creating really intriguing characters that are truly multidimensional and pose some fascinating moral dilemmas. Child abduction, human trafficking, prostitution, drugs, corrupt cops, there is a lot going on here, but all the different subplots join together and make this into a totally riveting, dark and gritty story.
Can't wait for book three to find out how Adrian is going to deal with his little family problem and how Imogen is going to cope with her new relationships. (And please, please Ms. Diamond, I hope Dean Kinkaid will continue to play a significant role in the next book! Loved his character and the chemistry)
I received an ARC via NetGalley and purchased the audiobook (narrated superbly by Stevie Lacey). show less

Although this is the fourth book in the series featuring DS Imogen Grey and DS Adrian Miles, and I might happen to have two of the previous three waiting to be read, I knew that if I didn't pop my Katerina Diamond cherry soon I never would. So I took the risk that comes with starting part way through a series and decided I wanted to read The Promise. Not only does it work very well as a standalone (past events are referred to but explained in enough detail), but I also had myself a cracking show more good read. Of course, I'm now kicking myself for not getting on and reading The Teacher, The Secret and The Angel before now but never mind.

In this book, Grey and Miles are investigating a man who is going on a date with a woman and then strangling them to death. Surely no date can be that bad! Obviously there's more to it and as it turns into a hunt for a serial killer Grey puts herself at risk to try and find him.

A story running alongside it is that of Connor, a 16 year old American boy who has just moved to England with his father. Things are not as they should be and their relationship is difficult to say the least.

There's also a less prominent story, told in a kind of journal by an unnamed woman. She tells of her abuse at the hands of a man and for much of the story it's unclear where this storyline fits in. Towards the end it all slotted into place and I got a dawning realisation of how the three strands fitted together. I think it was extremely clever plotting by the author to leave it open enough that it wasn't obvious straightaway. And those last few chapters! Looking at the few pages that were left I couldn't imagine how she was going to tie it all up, but then wham bam it was suddenly and very effectively wound up in a thrilling way.

I found The Promise to be a fast-paced and exciting book. I was completely engrossed from the moment I picked it up and didn't want to put it down. The dynamic between Grey and Miles is fascinating and I really must go back and read the other books to see how their partnership has come about and been built up.

Every character is well drawn, the plot is gripping and lively and the writing is excellent. I absolutely loved it. show less

In a Nutshell: A nice police procedural with some interesting emotional drama thrown in. (But it has nothing to do with Halloween except for the date of the kidnap.)

Story:

Six year old Marcus is kidnapped from outside his house on Halloween morning. The only person who witnesses the crime is a teenager, Jason, who reports it anonymously and is determined not to reveal more. With just the information from this anonymous call, Detective Imogen Grey turns up at Marcus’s house, where his

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parents first claim that everything is fine. But she soon realises that they are hiding something and begins digging into the facts until a whole murky mess reveals itself.

This book certainly was one of the better crime thrillers that I’ve read this year. The case appears straightforward at the start but soon becomes pretty complex. Just as I assumed that it was getting predictable or guessable, the book threw another surprise my way, including a whopper towards the end that I didn’t see coming at all. There are multiple arcs in the story even beyond the kidnapping, with one track focussed on Imogen’s romantic partner and ex-police partner Adrien Miles who is now working with a private firm. Another track focusses on Jason (the teenager who witnessed the kidnapping) and his family. All these side-tracks don’t seem to have a direct bearing on the story at first but help you understand the characters and their motivations better. As the story progresses, you will see the varied storylines merging together smoothly. The overall storyline is very engaging, and the short chapters help you in moving ahead at full pace.

Imogen Grey as a detective is a thorough professional. I really enjoyed her character and thought it one of the best-written female cop characters I’ve ever come across. Her reporting head, DCI Kapoor, is another fabulous female police officer. Rarely does a crime book focus on the brains than the looks of its female officers, and this was one of them. Adrien’s track is pretty hardhitting. Not revealing anything here as I don’t want to give out spoilers, but the trauma he is facing is not at all a common trope in any kind of fiction, and especially not in police procedurals. To see an emotional struggle usually faced by females from the point of view of a man was an eye-opening experience. A couple of his decisions in the second half felt a little illogical to me. But I guess I ought to forgive him for those as he wasn’t mentally in the right place.

This book served as a reminder to me as to why I prefer to read books in their right serial order, even if they are supposedly standalone police procedurals. Many of the characters referred to in the book are from earlier books in this series. Many of the situations are an aftermath of what happened in the prior book. Imogen, Adrien and some other minor characters aren’t given much of a background as they are already known to those who have read the previous books. I felt like I was hampered a little by jumping straight to book 7 of the series as I didn’t get to know any character (especially the secondary ones) in depth. But I am impressed enough with the book that I might just give a try to this series.

A couple of minor negatives. The title is a bit of a misnomer. The book isn’t connected to Halloween in any way except for Marcus’s kidnapping happening on the 31st of October. Barring this mention and a couple of references to pumpkins, the book reads like a regular crime thriller. Also, there are some plot points left unexplained that I would have loved to know more about.

Overall, a pretty well-written and very enjoyable police procedural. 4.25 stars from me.

The audiobook clocks at 10.5 hrs and is narrated by Stevie Lacey. She does a good job of bringing all the characters to life and I really enjoyed her narration.

My thanks to HarperCollins UK Audio and NetGalley for the ALC of “Trick or Treat”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the audiobook.

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