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

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I have mixed feelings about this one. I started out really loving The Snowdonia Killings. But as the end was drawing near, I was feeling disappointed. As the team works through the evidence and their investigations uncover new details, and then a second murder occurs, they find their confidence that their focus is on the right suspect shaken time and again. Plenty of lies and misdirection, and a generous helping of red herrings will keep the most astute reader from even suspecting, let alone settling on, the perpetrator until the final chapters. Some of those red herrings, though, are not really satisfactorily explained by the conclusion. It’s remarkable how many plot twists and new directions crop up in this novel. The police procedural aspect is strong, but using a huge variety of characters the author manages to drive the story in various directions. It’s complex but very believable. There are secrets galore, and often the characters have attitudes and issues that complicate matters for Ruth. As well as hate crimes, mental health problems, suicide and autism play a role – affecting the characters, the investigation and how it’s handled. years after her partner Sarah disappeared from a busy train, DI Ruth Hunter is fed up with her life in London. The constant death, destruction and mayhem made her cynical and she’s more than happy to change the hustle and bustle of the Met for the peace and quiet of North Wales. That her daughter lives in Liverpool is also an advantage. To her surprise, the CID at the fictitious town of LLancastel is talented and committed.

A small-town murder. A big city detective. Can she unravel the gruesome trail of clues before the killer strikes again? This book is so English, it hurts. This is a very strangely written book with some stinky red herrings that were and weren't obvious in the end. Research tells me that this book was published last year, which means the subsequent novels have all been published straight after. It's got to be the first book ever set in Wales where the English interlopers are hardly confronted by the infamous Welsh chip and also the first book where an Englishwoman can pronounce Welsh phrases and place names, without anyone correcting her. In her defence, she had spent some time in Wales as a kid, but Welsh is really hard.

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I couldn't begin to pronounce some of those place names in an authentic way like the narrator did and I googled her details to see if she is Welsh. Surprisingly she is not. I loved the way Simon built the personalities of his characters, making them multi dimensional and often flawed, but all the more human and relatable for it! I also noted on reading Simon's own bio that he imagines his Kindle audience is a more mature lady who seems to describe myself! And with that in mind was happily amused that his star DI Hunter, and the first victim both enjoyed a healthy libido! So many authors seem to think that anyone 50+ is a coffin dodger and housebound or somewhat eccentric and quirky! I loved how Welsh culture and folklore was integral to this story, it gave such added value to this book. It was the quality of the detail that impressed me, it was not the obvious tourist highlights but obscure nuggets like the Demon of Cerrigydrudion. I loved the strong Welsh identity that this novel supported and shall ignore the little dig about the people of Cardiff. Detective Inspector Ruth Hunter lives with the pain of her partner’s mysterious and unsolved disappearance. About to hit fifty, the veteran police officer trades in the crime-ridden streets of London for a more peaceful life in rural North Wales. 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. Teaming up with an obstinate deputy, Ruth struggles to eliminate anyone from a long line of suspects. When another slain victim is discovered with the same cryptic markings, she’s forced to re-think the investigation.

The team work through the evidence and their investigations uncover new details, and then a second murder occurs, they find their confidence that their focus is on the right suspect shaken time and time again. Do any of the characters tell the truth? There are plenty of lies and misdirection, along with a generous “supper “of red herrings. That will keep even the most astute reader from even suspecting, let alone deciding who the perpetrator is, until the final chapters. I am constantly on the lookout for authors to add to my list and I believe that I have found one in Simon McCleave. The Snowdonia Killings is far from perfect but it has a very good plot, some wonderful characters that McCleave has done a nice job of developing, a few red herrings (and maybe a blue one), and the obligatory twist at just the right time, mercifully cutting off what seemed like a rather choppy ending. The initial programme will be a two or three part series, with the option to film the rest of the books,” he said. Any mistakes? Yes, of course, there are some, the main one is that the age of the teacher is first given as 53 by herself and later as 51 by the team. The reverse would be more likely unless she fibbed to the school. It may also be good to point out that acronyms as CPS have a completely different meaning in the UK than in the USA.DI Ruth Hunter is tired of her job at the London Met. She feels worn out and wants a slower pace of life. Also, a few years earlier, her girlfriend, Sarah, went missing. She was seen getting on a train and somehow vanished. Ruth just needs to get away. After moving to Worthenbury, near Wrexham, he worked as a teacher before writing his debut novel, The Snowdonia Killings. I loved Simon’s writing style and content. There is so much more to this book than basic crime scene investigation and the search to find the bad guy. This novel explores how alcoholics cope with daily life and how married mothers can move on to find love in a same sex relationship. Also the family lives of the police officers are skillfully woven into this story which adds perspective to this tale. Real past events like Operation Trident and the murder of Claire Tiltman in 1993 were mentioned to explain to the reader how certain things can happen.

When I thought ‘not another lesbian detective’ (haven’t we got enough of those already? Before long people think that it’s a requirement), I noticed that she wasn’t all that politically correct, at least she was still smoking. And she has a past: as a youngster, she smoked weed and took ecstasy at concerts. Apart from her past, she’s an excellent detective and an experienced SIO. She’s not all that eager in calling in the help of one of the larger CID’s outside of Wales as she finds out that her own team is competent enough, despite not having too much experience with murders. They do know the community.

DI Ruth Hunter has made the difficult decision to leave London and the Met for the much quieter life in the North Wales Police Force. Her last year in London has been made all the more difficult by the disappearance of her close friend and lover, Sarah, who, one day got on a train and never got off. She seems to have vanished. I didn't like the victims at all. They get what they deserved and so I really didn't care who killed them. Even the initial suspects are eternally unlikeable. The coppers don't have a clue until the very end when an accidental reveals all ends the mystery. What really annoyed me was the two victims were POC and so a lot of nastiness can be said about them to do with the colour of their skin. They were both English, what does it matter? Felt very pointed. Some reviewers were rather scathing about Deryn Edwards performance, but I thought she did very well and added a definite flavour of the place to Simon's story. Netflix is among the distributors interested in the project and a “high profile” actress is being lined up to play the part of DI Ruth Hunter, the book’s main protagonist. Not long afterwards, another teacher is killed and the victim also has a spiral carved on their hand.

I loved the way Simon put so much more into the story than a great plot, and well, developed characters. It explores the way alcoholics cope with daily life. He includes wonderful descriptions of Snowdonia and surrounding areas. I also loved how Welsh culture and folklore was integral to this story, even with the Welsh/English “racism”. The detail was impressive, it wasn’t just the obvious tourist highlights but obscure little snippets of information about its myths and legends that the author inserted. 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. The ending is surprising, moving and hard hitting. However, after the reveal there’s a long section of exposition which didn’t quite fit the rest of the storytelling. Perhaps Simon McCleave wanted to tie up as many loose ends as possible, but he could easily have left some of them hanging. Detective Inspector Ruth Hunter lives with the pain of her partner’s mysterious and unsolved disappearance. About to hit fifty, the veteran police officer trades in the crime-ridden streets of London for a more peaceful life in rural North Wales. 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.A character is smoking Marlborough cigarettes. "Fynydd Snowdon" is used instead of Yr Wyddfa. King Arthur is described as ENGLISH, of all things. This book is so English it hurts. Starting a new life in Snowdonia was always DI Ruth Hunter's dream. Until a twisted killer turned it into her worst nightmare.