The Moon Killer (DI Jack Dawes #5) by Frances Lloyd

The Moon Killer (DI Jack Dawes #5) Reviews

• 
  Linda Strong

  DI Jack Dawes, along with his colleague, DS Bugsy Malone face the hardest case they've ever been involved with.
  
  Someone is being very inventive about how they are killing the victims. All are very unusual ... and horrifying. Every murder has taken place during the time of a full moon, hence the media's name of The Moon Killer. They have all been killed in exactly the same way .. without leaving a fingerprint, any DNA, and no motive.
  
  What ties all these cases together? Dawes has brought in Professor Cressida Davenport to help profile what kind of person they are looking for. Based on her work, the detectives take a huge risk, putting one of their team’s lives at stake to lure the murderer out of hiding.
  
  This is quite a carnival ride! There are ups and downs and twists and turns that will leave the readers reeling. It's a real page turner, a book that's hard to put down. The ending came as a total surprise. Although 5th in the series, this is easily read as a stand alone. I do recommend starting at the beginning ... these characters are well worth following.
  
  Many thanks to the author / Books n All Book Promotions for the digital copy of this crime fiction. Read and reviewed voluntarily, the opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
• 
  Alyson Read

  This is the fifth in the series featuring DI Jack Dawes and his sergeant DS Mike "Bugsy" Malone of the Murder Investigation Team in Kings Richington, and what a great team they make! Jack is recently married to Coriander, a clever lady who runs a highly successful catering company and occasionally "helps" him with his investigations. Bugsy seems to be a confirmed bachelor whose only love is Arsenal football team. The story begins with the murder of one Wayne Jenkins, a rather unsavoury character who runs a pub in the wrong part of town. He turns a blind eye to all manner of illegal trade in his pub and lately has even been getting involved himself. Considering he had also given his family a terrible time over the years, there's no shortage of potential suspects. Except maybe the execution of the murder is a bit odd. In fact, it's the most original and unusual murder weapon seen by the pathologist, Big Ron, in a long time, and almost a month later the detectives, including DCs Williams, Fox, Mitchell and PC Jackson are no further on in their search for the killer. Then there is a second similar murder. Although it occurs at offices in Canary Wharf, the victim Toby Bryce-Jones lives on their patch and promotion hungry DCS Garwood is determined his team should handle the investigation. Even better if he himself gets some glory out of it. Bryce-Jones, a successful financier, couldn't be more different from Jenkins, and the only thing in common is the very strange murder weapon. It takes a third murder another month later for connections to start to be made to the lunar cycle. All the killings have taken place at full moons, and also all the victims had another vague connection. A profiler is brought in to steer their way of thinking, but even that can't prevent another three deaths. It will take a brave plan by Jack to lure out the killer in this most baffling of cases, and the action really hots up towards the end as the detectives struggle to save more lives. I guessed who the killer was before the end and even worked out some of the motive, but it was very satisfying to be proven right and to get the full explanation of this clever plot, still with plenty of surprises left at the end. All the main characters are very believable and easy to like, and I loved the little touching bits of humour between Jack, Corrie and some of the others. Very enjoyable and I hope there will be more books to follow. 5*
• 
  Amanda

  I have a little confession to make- yes, yet another one. Although I have the first four books in the Detective Inspector Jack Dawes series on my ever increasing 'to be read' mountain, I haven't actually read one of them yet. When I was invited to take part in the blog tour for 'The Moon Killer', I thought that it would be an ideal opportunity to acquaint myself with Frances' work. Oh boy, I thoroughly enjoyed reading 'The Moon Killer' but more about that in a bit.
  It didn't take me long at all to get into this book. In fact, by the time I got part way through the first chapter, I knew that I was going to be in for one hell of a read and I was spot on. The first murder of a particularly unlikeable individual was enough to draw me into the story. I had to keep reading to find out if the murderer was going to be caught and what possible motivation they might have. The pages turned increasingly quickly as I worked my way through the story. At one point, the pages were turning over that quickly that it was almost as if they were turning themselves. Usually I have the attention span of a gnat and I am easily distracted but not in this case I wasn't. There was that much going on, that I feared missing out on some vital clue or getting left behind. I reached the end of the story far quicker than I had either anticipated or wanted to. I had been enjoying the story that much that I just didn't want it to end.
  'The Moon Killer' is extremely well written. The author grabs your attention from the start with the murder of a particularly unlikeable chap and he is killed using an unusual murder weapon. I must admit that I have never, ever come across this way of killing somebody before and this unusual 'weapon' will ensure that this story stays in my mind for a very long time to come. I don't know whether or not it was intentional but I found myself smiling at certain things I read about certain police officers and the banter which flew between them. It could be what you might call 'gallows humour'. Frances uses such vivid and realistic descriptions that I felt as though I was part of the story myself. I also felt part of the investigating team and I found myself trying to interact with the different officers as if they could hear me.
  In short, The Moon Killer' is one heck of a read, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I am rather irritated with myself that I left it this long to discover how great an author Frances is. I will most certainly be reading the first four books in the series just as soon as I can. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.
• 
  Julie

  Crime fiction readers are simply going to gallop through Frances Lloyd and her fabulous series featuring Detective Inspector Jack Dawes. The latest title in the series, The Moon Killer, is a fast-paced, gripping and twisted read that is a must-read for fans of Midsomer Murders.
  
  Detective Sergeant “Bugsy” Malone is looking forward to a pie and a pint in his favourite pub when he gets the call that not only derails his plans but also plunges him, his superior Detective Inspector
  Jack Dawes and their entire team into a cat and mouse game to find a killer with a very bizarre method of killing his victims. When the first victim – a pub landlord with a lucrative side-line in dodgy dealings – is found murdered, Dawes and his team think that this was probably a case of drug dealers getting fed up with being scammed by a petty crook and finally wreaking their revenge, however, as more victims are found, it seems that there is something far more sinister and terrifying going on.
  
  Nothing much links these six victims. They were all unrelated and unconnected save for the rather bizarre way they were murdered. As Dawes and his team find themselves going down one dead end after another, they find themselves wondering whether they will ever catch the killer. Other than the strange and unusual way that the killer disposed of his victims, the only possible link is that the murders took place during a full moon – a link which is tenuous at best and one which makes finding the murderer even more complicated. Luckily for the team, psychological profiler Cressida Davenport is close at hand and her theories might just manage to bring them closer to solving this mystery – even though one of them will end up dicing with danger and almost dancing with death.
  
  Will the team ever discover who The Moon Killer is? With time not on their side, can they get to the bottom of this strange case? Or will this be the investigation that will leave them all stumped?
  
  Frances Lloyd is a brilliant writer who rivals Simon Brett and M C Beaton when it comes to penning gripping murder mysteries spiked with sharp wit, biting humour, red herrings and shocks and revelations readers will not see coming. I devoured The Moon Killer in a single sitting as I found myself completely unable to put this book down. Addictive, brilliantly plotted and wonderfully suspenseful, The Moon Killer is a fantastic page-turner that has me counting down the days until the next Frances Lloyd book.
• 
  Misfits farm

  (Although this is part of a series, it happily stands alone)
  DI “Jack” Dawes and his partner DS “Bugsy” Malone have their work cut out when there are a series of murders in the normally quiet town they live and work in. A pub landlord is found by a lake and on investigation by the pathologist an unusual m.o is discovered. The victim is a known petty criminal with some dubious colleagues in the drug world. Could this have brought about his downfall? When a respected businessman is found dead at his offices with the same m.o the two just have to be linked. Something so unusual can’t be coincidence. Each murder happens when their is a full moon. What is the link and why are these men being killed? Jacks wife Corrie is a cook, having her own catering business. It appears that in the past she has been instrumental in keeping her eyes and ears open and been in rather precarious positions having found various killers. I enjoyed this. The addition of Corrie gace this depth and more than a police procedural read. Corrie ,Jack and Bugsy. are all admirable characters. I devoured this in a day- it was a pleasure to read and take my mind off the current situation. A clever entertaining read and I look forward to the next one.
  
• 
  Sharon Rimmelzwaan

  The Moon Killer by Frances Lloyd is the 5th book in the Detective Inspector Jack Dawes series. In this instalment D.I Jack Barnes and his partner D.S "Bugsy" Malone come across the most puzzling case they have had. A pub landlord is found by a lake dead, but why? There are a number of explanations to be bandied around due to him being a bit of a criminal and having ties to the drug underworld too. A certain M.O is picked ip on by the pathologist during the exam. A business man is discovered dead in his offices, again, the same M.O. This gives the detectives a link between the two, and its something they can't just not consider. The two murders took place during Full moon! They decide to bring in the services of a profiler, Cressida Davenport and based on her report decide their plan of action, which involves putting on of their own in harms way to catch a killer!
  I really enjoyed The Moon Killer and thought the team were excellent together. Jack along with his wife Corrie are a superb team too! She gave the story just that little bit more.I read this book in one sitting, it flowed so well and I was dying to find out who the killer was.
• 
  M

  Brutal serial killer with a unique but grotesque signature
  
  This is the first book I’ve read of the DI Jack Dawes Series that I was able to finish. I read “Moon Killer” as a stand-alone, because the author provided good background information. I liked the storyline, the subplots, and the well-developed characters. This police procedural spans ten months, starting in March, with a Worm Moon murder, and ends during December’s Cold Moon. However, this well-paced book is only 200 pages, so it’s a quick read.
  
  A powerful, mysterious killer strikes during the full moon, overpowers victims with commando-like tactics, and uses a unique killing method which becomes a grotesque calling card. The killing scenes are devoid of forensic evidence, which stymies the murder cops. I chose a culprit early in the book, based on various clues, but that said, I kept reading to see how the author handled the reveal. Satisfying denouement with all threads tied off.
  
• 
  Simon Leonard

  This is book 5 in the series, but can be read as a standalone book if you want.
  
  The book follows DI Jack Dawes and his colleague DS Mike ‘Bugsy’ Malone have to try and uncover the mystery surrounding the death of a pub landlord.
  
  The landlord was found by a lake with no obvious motives to start with until they dig deeper and rumours of him being a criminal nd having links to the drugs underworld.
  
  When another body turns up they link the two based on the fact they were both murdered during a full moon. This leads them to bring in a profiler who advises them what to look out for.
  
  After speaking with the profiler they decide on a very serious and potentially deadly trap which could either catch the killer or get one of their own killed instead.
  
  Throughout the book I really enjoyed the dynamic of the three main characters and how they worked together to solve the crime with all the suspence near the end when they are having one last chance to catch the killer.
• 
  Beth

  Wow!
  
  This was the best book of the series yet! The murder weapon was unexpected and most unusual. I really like the murder team in these books. Inspector Dawes and Sgt. Malone are great. I highly recommend this series.
• 
  Mr C Wigginton

  Well written, but
  
  The culprit became obvious far too early in the book, not an original storyline unfortunately. The author writes in a realistic way, but the plot is tired.