| Title | : | Dark Crimes (DCI Sophie Allen #1) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 281 |
| Publication | : | First published August 19, 2013 |
It seems like a simple crime for DCI Sophie Allen and her team to solve. But not when the victim’s mother is found strangled the next morning. The case grows more complex as DCI Sophie Allen discovers that the victims had secret histories, involving violence and intimidation. There’s an obvious suspect but Detective Allen isn't convinced. Could someone else be lurking in the shadows, someone savagely violent, looking for a warped revenge?
Dark Crimes (DCI Sophie Allen #1) Reviews
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DARK CRIMES introduces the reader to DCI Sophie Allen in a new detective series that will have you salivating for more.
A young woman is found dead, stabbed through the heart. Allen and her team think this is a straight forward killing .... until they find the victim's mother also murdered by strangulation in her home the following morning.
The first victim, besides the stabbing, is found covered in bruises, head to foot, all in various stages of healing. And when they start tracking down people who knew the victim, they run into a wall ... a wall of secrets, involving violence.
And then there's another brutal stabbing .... a prostitute that knew the first victim.
So what is the connection between these women? And who is the monster who has a plan and will let nothing get in his way ... not even Sophie Allen.
The plot is well-written, smoothly running from one crime scene to another. The characters are precise. Sophie makes a great antagonist ... strong, but not intimidating ... unless she wants to be. She's extremely good at her job and lets no one stand in her way of seeking truth. Her team is made up of men and women of varying ages and temperaments who lend a lot of contrast to the story.
I look forward to following this series!
My thanks to the author / Joffe Books / NetGalley who provided a digital copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.
4.5 Stars -
First in the DCI Sophie Allen series.
The book starts with the murder of a young woman, while she walks back home at night, after work. This is followed by the murder of her mother, strangled at her house. More murders follow and we have a serial killer for sure.
The story is very good, with the usual twists and turns, well plotted and delivered, the ending is very good and for me, quite unexpected.
The part that fell flat for me was all the praise that DCI Allen receives, even from herself. "She felt a mixture of pride in the fact her work was recognized... she saw the genuine enthusiasm and respect in her new assistant's face". Maybe I'm a grinch, but I just didn't buy it that she's always congratulating, thanking her team and that almost everybody adores her. I'm used to strong women that for the same reason step on everyone's toes. This is a murder investigations! There's tension, not good will always. Also parts of the dialogue/descriptions were a bit too simple. I liked the way the team worked together, even if it's their first joint investigation.
But overall, a good book and I will certainly read the next book in the series.
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. -
I listened to the audiobook and regretted it immensely.
I would have enjoyed the book if I read it. The plot was interesting and complex. I really liked all the characters, too. I probably would have given the book 4 stars.
Unfortunately for me, I listened to one of the worst narrators I've ever heard. She paused constantly. Almost in a pattern instead of as a way to build suspense. Add peculiar voice changes too. I am surprised I didn't give up. -
This was dead brilliant!!
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DARK CRIMES is the first in a series of police procedurals/mysteries featuring DCI Sophie Allen and DS Barry Marsh. Sophie has recently been appointed the head of the newly formed Violent Crime Unit in Dorset. When a young woman is found stabbed through the hearts, the team think this will be a simple case to close, until they begin to ask questions. Not only has she been stabbed, but it looks like she has also been beaten, and her mother was found strangled in her apartment. The more questions they ask, the more complicated this case becomes. Is there a psychopath running around Dorset. How many woman have been killed by this man? When he begins to threaten Sophie's family, he does not realize that he has unleashed the anger of a brilliant woman who is not only a DCI, but has a law degree and a master's in criminal psychology.
The books are set in the beautiful county of Dorset, which includes a stunning section of the English coastline. The plot is well-written, well paced and moves smoothly from one crime scene to another. The ending of the book moved quickly with some twists that I had not expected, but the crimes were resolved nicely. The characters in the police work very well together and the secondary characters, who may or may not become victims, are schmoozed by Sophie and easily answer her questions. Her team is made up of men and women of varying ages and temperaments who lend a lot of contrast to the story. They are able to gather the information she needs to piece together the crime and motives in order to find the killer. Sophie makes a great antagonist, she is strong, but not overbearing. She's extremely good at her job and lets no one stand in her way of seeking truth. When she needs to be intimidating, she can be. I listened to the audio book and once I got used to the accent and voice of the narrator, I did enjoy this story. I will definitely listen to more of this series and recommend this book to anyone who enjoys British Police Procedurals. -
When a young woman is found stabbed to death on a footpath along the seafront in Swanage, DCI Sophie Allen is put in charge of the investigation. Set in Dorset in the UK, this is the first book in a crime series featuring Detective Allen. Happily married with two teenage daughters, Sophie Allen's family life is different to a lot of other detectives you find in crime fiction. But then again, she is totally fixated on getting the job done and manages her team with an iron hand just like plenty of other detectives out there in crime fiction land. I neither hated her nor did I particularly like her. She was just a bit bland for my taste.
The storyline was pretty interesting, but will appeal more to readers who enjoy well-researched crime procedurals rather than suspenseful detective thrillers. The activities of the police team were described in painstaking detail and entire conversations were provided leading to some repetitiveness. It is obvious that the author did a lot of research on domestic violence and psychopathic behavior. Anybody interested in these topics will find a solid basis of knowledge here. It was a bit of a slow burner for me. Because it was advertised as 'gripping' and 'full of suspense' and compared to Angela Marsons, Rachel Abbott etc. it didn't turn out as I had expected it.
The author did a great job creating characters that felt totally believable, and the entire storyline was meticulously plotted and felt incredibly authentic. Kudos for that. Anybody who enjoys detailed, credible British police procedurals with mainly clean language and little explicit violence or gore will probably really like this. I enjoyed reading it, but it lacked tension and memorable characters and thus didn't grip me enough to give it more than 3 stars.
I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. -
It' s disrespectful to compare great mystery writers like Rendell and Dexter to this book/author.
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Was delighted to find another author to follow with a series I can feel comfortable reading. This first book in the series of DCI Sophie Allen required extensive police efforts and resources from multiple districts in the Dorset region to keep up with the victims of a psychopath. Women are abused and killed; Sophie is threatened and things seem to be getting leaked somehow to the perpetrator as he manages to be steps ahead of her investigation. The characters are interesting enough for me to follow on to the next book.
Available through Kindle Unlimited, currently 6 books in the series -
5 stars
Huge thanks to Michael Hambling, Joffe Books and NetGalley for this copy in exchange for an honest review.
Now THIS is a crime novel! I picked this up last night before bed thinking I'd be able to put it down after an hour and just pick it up again this morning. That is not what happened. After trying to sleep for an hour I got back up and finished the rest of the book, didn't even notice the time and my brain then decided we needed to think about the book for a while.
He's written an extremely strong female character who is smart and accomplished, good at what she does and isn't a stuck up bitch, has humour and is compassionate. The rest of the characters are well rounded and little threads of their lives are spooled out slowly, drawing you in and leaving you wanting more.
I'd worked out some of the twists early on but the last 1/4 of the book really surprised me, made me wonder why I hadn't seen some of them coming. That hasn't happened to me while reading a crime/mystery/thriller novel in a very long time.
So very highly recommended! I will 100% be reading more by this author. -
Painful! Sorry to say it. After reading Angela Marsons and others, this one just didn't make the mark for me.
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Dark Crimes is a fascinating story that does not give up it's secrets until the very end
DCI Sophie Allen is not your usual detective. Quite often, the trope of a damaged investigator is used to add extra drama to a story. Sophie, on the other hand, is well adjusted. She has a wonderful and supportive husband who respects her work. Her daughters, who are in high school and college, see their mother as an inspiration to be strong women.
Without the clutter of a difficult personal life, the case is able to stay at the forefront of the story.
A woman is found dead in a rainy street. It's not wet enough to hide the fact that she has been brutally stabbed in the chest. Her apartment has been ransacked, but nothing obvious is missing. When Sophie goes to notify the victims mother, a similar chaotic scene is found. The only difference being the mother has been strangled in the house.
While trying to unravel this mystery, another victim is found strangled in the exact same manner, laying in her ravaged apartment. With no obvious connection between the three women, Sophie has to dig deeply into the victims pasts to find a some kind of connection.
Sophie is able to follow clues far and wide, thank to the help of her team. Composed of docile, but realistic characters, the team works together as a well oiled machine.
While there is not much character development, the story is greatly satisfying without it. It is refreshing to read a crime novel that is mainly focused on the crime itself.
As the first book in a series, it is exciting to be able to follow Sophie's next cases. Wherever those cases may lead! -
The first thing I noticed about this book was how ‘normal’ Sophie was, most detective novels I read have a main character who is ‘damaged’, has a shaky past or is under suspicion in some way. In fact the whole squad seemed ‘normal’, it was a bit strange not to have some strife in the investigating team.
The author does try to add some dissention in the ‘team’ by introducing Chief Superintendent Dunnett, who turns out to be arrogant, ignorant, insecure and misogynistic, but this doesn’t really add anything to the story.
Overall I thought the investigation was interesting and very believable, if a little repetitive at times, however I did find one thing irritating.
I didn’t catch onto the possible twist in the story until fairly late in the book, but it was quite clever even if it felt a bit over contrived.
If possible I would have given 3.5 stars. -
This is one of the reasons I try to avoid female detectives. A DCI (female) turns to a young detective who is young and inexperienced and pretty nearly tears his head off when he doesn't call her ma'am. 'Remember who I am and who you are, Jimmy,. That way we'll get on just fine.'
She comes across as smug, self-centred and utterly soulless. I wonder what readers would think if it was a male DCI speaking like that to a young inexperienced female officer? Respect goes both ways. DCI Allen (and why was she investigating a murder when there was a perfectly capable DI at the station?) comes across as the ubiquitous Mary-Sue. Perfect in every sense of the word. And people like that bore me.
I was hoping for some semblance of humanity when she was in the PM with the chastised DC, but no - she was all too full of herself.
Not rating. -
This is a good story, well constructed, but I just didn't like the style of writing. It had too many cliches in it, the dialogue was very stilted and it seems that the intention to build up the main character is overbearing. Some of the concluding sentences just made me cringe.
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Very enjoyable read, thank you Mr Hambling!
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Very repetitive and characters are poorly developed.
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**
Flat, dry, colorless. It told me a story, but i mostly felt "who cares?". (I slept well the nights after reading it, i can assure you! ) So, it's a "just O.K." book, i guess. -
I'm rounding up and giving this book the benefit of the doubt since I listened to this book on Audible, and I'm wondering if I would have liked it better if I had read it for myself. The narrator wasn't great. I wish if narrators weren't capable or adept at voices, that they would just not do them.
The way the book was read, the sentences in this book all seemed to be about the same length. The result was a very unsophisticated, staccato sound to the book. It was very jarring. Also, there were many places where the dialogue sounded like a recitation of a textbook. There were other places where a character gave a long string of information in answer to a question. There was something off about it. It was as if the character had provided much more detail than the question had called for. The result was strange. It didn't sound like a real conversation. It was as if the author was taking a shortcut and delivering all the information at once rather than taking the time to actually write out the interchanges that would have elicited the information in a more realistic way.
The main character, Sophie, is not very likable, despite her thanking everyone at every turn for the great work they are all doing. -
This book was fantastic! Within the first chapter i knew i was going to like it, no LOVE it!
After a young girls body is found on in dorset seaside town, who has been repeatedly stabbed on a dark street, they bring in DCI Sophie Allen one of the best DCIs in the country. Things get worse when they find the girls mother murdered in her bed. Not knowing if the murders are connected, it is the job of DCI Sophie Allen to find who did these terrible murders.
A Latvian man is arrested, who was donnas boyfriend. With evidence pointing to him being the murderer he is charged. DCI Sophie Allen isnt so convinced and things the murderer is still out there!
With more bodies turning up, it is a race against time to find the other to-be victims.
This is a fast paced book and really wished i had more time to read long, its really sucked this year on reading time!
Anyway i would like to thank author, publisher and netgalley for a copy of this book for a honest review. Defo looking forward to reading the next book. Ive found myself another great author! -
This book introduces us to DCI Sophie Allen and her police team. Right from the first page I knew it was a book that I was going to devour. And I sure did, a great book with good solid characters. Looking forward to reading more about DCI Allen.
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An exciting new series, it seems. Looking forward to more Sophie Allen mysteries!
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Mit dem ersten Band der DCI-Sophie-Allen-Reihe von Michael Hambling, den ich im Original gelesen habe, bin ich erneut in englische Orte gereiht, die ich kannte. Es ging nach Südengland, genauer gesagt nach Dorset in die Orte Svanage, Poole, Bournemouth, Corfe Castle. Dieser Krimi ist der Auftakt einer Reihe um Dtective Chief Inspector Sophie Allen.
Wie so viele britische Krimis beginnt es im mit dem Verschwinden von Mädchen bzw jungen Frauen. So auch in diesem Fall. Doch es dauert nicht lange bis zum Auffinden der ersten Leiche. Und schließlich bleibt es auch nicht bei einer Leiche und einem verschwundenen Mädchen. Offenbar treibt ein Serientäter sein Unwesen.
Michael Hambling hat ein Krimi geschrieben, bei dem die Ermittlungsarbeit im Vordergrund steht. Sehr detailreich werden die einzelnen Spuren aufgegriffen und ihr Wert für das Auffinden eines Täters dargestellt. Dabei macht er klar, dass die Verbrechensaufklärung nicht die Sache eines einzelnen Polizisten ist. Es gehört immer ein ganzes Team dazu. In diesem Fall ist es nicht nur das enge Team um DCI Sophie Allen, ein großer Teil des gesamten Polizeiapparat von Dorset ist involviert. Zugegeben, zusammen mit ihrer Familie und den Angehörigen und Kollegen aller Opfer, die sich im Laufe der Geschichte einfinden, ist das eine ganze Menge. Manchmal sind das auch ein bisschen zu viele Figuren.
Bei den detailreichen Erläuterungen bekam ich den Eindruck, dass Michael Hambling vielleicht selbst bei der Polizei als Ermittler tätig ist oder war, der hier aus seinem umfangreichen Wissensschatz plaudert.
Die Ermittlungen sehr gut geschildert werden, allerdings weitgehend anhand von wörtlicher Rede. Eine Erzählerstimme ist selten. Zuweilen können die vollgepfropften Dialog etwas anstrengend sein.
Während der ersten Hälfte des Krimis geht es darum, den Täter zu ermitteln. In der zweiten Hälfte wird er dann, nachdem er identifiziert wurde, genadenlos gejagt. Dabei werden Fäden aus der Vergangenheit aufgegriffen.
Die Kapitel sind jeweils etwa 10 Seiten lang, haben einen kurzen Titel und eine zeitliche Angabe, mit der man den Verlauf gut nachvollziehen kann.
Es ändert aber alles nichts an der Tatsache, dass der Roman spannend und empfehlenswert ist. Wie so viele andere Krimis des jungen Verlages Joffe Books kann man die Reihe von Sophie Allen gerne auf seinen SUB legen.
© Detlef Knut, Düsseldorf 2021 -
This review applies to the series as a whole but I do also think this book is one of the best of the lot. This is quite unusual in my experience- usually an author seems to take a book or two to get into their stride even if they have published detective series before. I really enjoyed each of these books - the series stands out for me amongst its contemporaries for its characterisation, plots and the quality of the writing - which is polished without being excessive. There is so much to enjoy here- relationships, character development, and the exploration of quite complex human circumstances and predicaments with sensitivity, intelligence empathy and humour - and without any sense of lip service or mere hat-tipping to current concerns.
I also like the fact that the protagonist has depth without being a psychological dwarf star in constant danger of imminent collapse through a perpetually circling event horizon. Allen possesses ‘a Past’ which is referred to at plausible points, explored in one book, and then moved on from without either under or over emphasis. I don’t see why I need to follow the investigation and solving of a crime in close company with a hideously tortured, damaged, or otherwise disturbed investigator - I’m in it for the puzzle and the pleasure of engaging with a context I like putting my mind in for a few hours at a time, not for the thrills, chills and psychological drama - all of which I find tiresome, stultifying, and/or depressing. This series is none of these things and I am very sorry to have read all of the books in it already, I wish there were more. -
This story is a good, solid beginning of a promising series of police murder mysteries. The plot was complex and full of twists so that the ending came as somewhat of a surprise. There was a good balance of forensics and interaction with suspects and witnesses. The plot was believable and overall very tight. I did feel that DCI Sophie sent her team in lots of different directions and following up on obscure leads sometimes or leads that helped the case but I had to ask how she know to even look that direction. The characters involved in the crimes were well developed but there were many detectives involved and except for Sophie, there was no real development of the other detectives backstories or lives. Since they will probably appear in future books in the series I would have liked more fleshing in of their stories and personalities. The book was short enough to leave room for this.
