The Shetland Killer (DI Jack Dawes #3) by Frances Lloyd

The Shetland Killer (DI Jack Dawes #3) Reviews

• 
  Linda Strong

  DI Jack Dawes is investigating the murder of a prostitute. But before he can find the killer, his supervisor sends him to Scotland to help them out with their own possible murder case as most of their law enforcement is out sick with the flu.
  
  As of right now, they are saying it looks like suicide .. he was high on drugs and fell from the roof of a castle tower. She was also pregnant and unmarried.
  
  Every person who lives or works in or about the castle is a prime suspect ,,, especially as it seems they all lie and have secrets they don't want to see the light of day.
  
  Throw in a ghost story about another woman who went flying off the tower in the 1400s and Dawes has his hands full.
  
  And just when he's wrapping it up and calling it a suicide ... another body is found.
  
  I can't say this was highly suspenseful, but it was a bit mysterious. I didn't buy the ghost story, though.
  
  There are lots of suspects and they all had a reason to want this young lady dead ... or knew something they weren't telling. A few good characters, a few sneaky characters lead Dawson on a merry chase.
  
  Many thanks to the author / Endeavour Press / Netgalley for the digital copy of this book. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
  
• 
  Kerry Swinnerton

  Sorry but it’s pathetic.
  
  I’ve read the two previous books in this series and quite frankly the story is so far fetched as to be totally ridiculous. D. I. “Jack” Dawes and
  D. S. “Bugsy” Malone are seconded ten days before Christmas to a mouldering castle on the Shetland Island of Unst. All because a bumbling superior officer is feeling threatened by Dawes superior ability....and at the beginning of a murder enquiry. Well.....really....that is the first stretch of the imagination.
  And so in appalling and dangerous conditions our erstwhile detectives are helicoptered to Doomdochry Castle, conveniently, by the husband of the local Inverness Chief Superintendent......second stretch of the imagination.
  Meanwhile in London, Dawes’ replacement SIO in the murder investigation of a local prostitute and days later, a known small time criminal, known to the prostitute, is none other than D. I. Donald “Ducky” Drake......not nicknamed Ducky because his surname is Drake, but because he could always be relied on to duck work.......to reach the rank of D. I. and be so lazy and incompetent.....well, third stretch of the imagination.
  For heaven’s sake Francis Lloyd, use some REAL imagination and give people REAL names instead of filling your stories with every worn out sobriquet you can think of. Try something original, and stop trying to out do Midsommer Murders and other lightweight potboilers.
  Plus.....at the conclusion to the previous book “Bluebell Murders” a member of the team based in Kings Richington, D. C. Pinkney was shot and in hospital recovering. Suddenly the M.I.T. Is based in Scotland Yard in this book and there is only a brief and fleeting reference to “a young constable” that Malone felt a duty of care toward, and who had recovered. There is no continuity of the story line,and unfinished business from book to book. The entire cast of characters has moved from the “des res” area of upmarket Kings Richington and into south London around Elephant and Castle.....oh really?? And then on to the furthest flung stretch of Scotland.....well how far must our credulity stretch?
  
  And I might also point out to the author that using less commonly used words or terms does nothing to enhance the readability of a book, but just seems to be the author saying “I know this word!”.........and common usage for the word garderobe that had Melissa McAlistar using for a bathroom, is actually a latrine that was usually built on the exterior wall of a castle and was open at the bottom so that the night soil could be removed by servants, or left to decay of its own natural process....not a bathroom and certainly not in a freezing Scottish castle.
• 
  Joyce

  4 stars
  
  Our book opens with the strangulation murder of Lady Jean by her husband the Earl of Doomdochry, Alistair MacAlister in December of 1490. He stashes the top half of her body in a ruined tower bedchamber for there is only room for half of her under the rotting floorboards. The rest of her he buried in the family graveyard.
  
  We speed ahead through the centuries where another murder in taking place at Doomdochry Castle in 2010.
  
  DI Jack Dawes and DS Michael “Bugsy” Malone are busy investigating the case of a viciously murdered prostitute, along with the rest of his team. Their only suspect is a local n’er-do well named Lenny Lennox who was standing over the body with the murder weapon in his hand. He is, however, very unlikely to have committed the murder. However, his career-driven boss sends him to the Shetland Islands to investigate a case at Doomdochry Castle to get him out of the way when the big bosses show up. He doesn’t want DI Dawes and DS Malone to outshine him in front of his superiors.
  
  It is rumored by some that the castle is haunted.
  
  Meanwhile, their non-suspect Lenny in the London prostitute case has gotten himself murdered. DI Drake, who doesn’t ever do more than absolutely necessary calls it a suicide and closes the case. However, since his tongue was cut out, DI Dawes has his doubts.
  
  After two more murders are committed at Doomdochry, the heat in our story is turned up. Corrie, Jack’s wife gets involved (of course), and things look bad for her. The action speeds up and the denouement is thrilling. I enjoyed this book. And there wasn’t that much about ghosts in the book. There is even an explanation for some of the occurrences. DI Dawes and DS Malone pull it all together in this exciting book.
  
  I like the way DI Dawes and his sidekick, DS Malone interact. DI Dawes’ relationship with his wife Corrie is a joy to behold as well. They get along famously and Corrie’s catering business keeps her busy and entertained. This book is well written and plotted.
  
  I want to thank Endeavour Press for forwarding this book to me so that I can read and enjoy it.
• 
  Kate

  Third book in the series and I've had enough
  
  The Shetland Killer book title attracted me to this writer as I have have a fascination with Shetland having read many other books set there. I also visited the beautiful islands a couple of years ago! As this was the third in the series of Jack and Corrie Cases stories I read The Greek Island Killer and The Bluebell Killer first to get to know the characters.
  By the time I was ready to read the third book I had decided to buy an audible narration. This was a big mistake. Edward Mitchell is simply dreadful! His reading voice is like listening to the head boy at a snobby private school doing a speech on parents day! Much of the time his intonation is incorrect for the words he is reading, like he doesn't really understand what is going on in the story. He sounds too young and plummy to portray the mature characters that this book involves . His various accents are interesting although I think he needs to research how to do a Shetland Scots voice as his various local characters sounded nothing like Shetland! I am guessing that Edward thinks that he can differentiate between characters by using Irish, Scouse,London gangster and Moonshine American. And I suppose he can. However I found myself laughing and feeling I was at a Pantomime, and an amateur production at that.
  The fourteen stone, six foot detective Jack Dawes sounds like a maiden aunt and Detective Bugsy Malone sounds like a cross between Michael Caine and Del boy Trotter!
  While the story was okay, if a little far fetched (which I can forgive) I am afraid that the wonderful inhabitants of the Shetland Isles may not feel the same! They do not survive in Mutton and fish and they certainly would not drink or bathe in water that was as impure as that described in this book! The inhabitants of Doomdochry Castle would have been dead within a week!
  I don't think I will be reading any more of these books but I KNOW I won't be listening to any more of Mr Mitchell's narrations!
  I think I was generous awarding 3 stars
• 
  Martina Kovaříková

  I would actually give this one more like 3,5 stars, as it does not fully meet 4 but it is better than many books I gave 3 to.
  I do not think I read any book by this author yet and I actually really enjoyed it. I was able to guess part of the plot right, who was behind it, but not fully, the hints are obvious as well as not so obvious and it is not easy for the reader to guess the full story, especially since it is divided between London and the Shetlands. Also I really enjoyed the end of the book, the end for the killer seemed to be so fitting. And the different story plots actually tie together well, better than I expected.
  I would recommend this book and I will try more from the series.
• 
  Mr M Morrell

  Worth more than 5*****
  
  I love history. In this book Frances Lloyd has really given it her all. From London to the Shetlands. The Viking settlement with some strange names and people. Jack and bugsy are truly stumped on this crime. Numerous murders presumably unlinked throwing the scent off. Scarey haunting and a few very strange characters. Corri as usual does her own investigation but come a little unstuck. Once but to miss. Brilliant writing
• 
  chowchowgrl

  Couldn’t Put It Down!
  
  I had plans for today but ended up in an old castle on a tiny, blustery cold Scottish island. And loved it! Lots of history, a variety of interesting characters, and a good pace. And a ghost. It was perfect. Read this!
• 
  Alayne

  An exciting mystery which started off very slowly and was slow till two thirds of the way through, then raced through to the end. I found it hard to stay with but once it got exciting it was much easier to read!
• 
  Marie Shirley Griffin

  Aggravating
  
  The mysteries, there are a few, are good, what's aggravating is "Corrie Dawes". Any police officer who has this kind of nit wit for a wife, either needs to find a new profession or a new wife, before he gets killed!
  
  
• 
  Gary Van Cott

  While in the first half of this book not much happened, the second half was quite good.
• 
  Michele bookloverforever

  A murder set in a haunted Scottish castle.
• 
  Janet Phillips

  The haunting is real...
  
  Ghosts from beginning to end. Terrorized by spirits liquid and non- corporial throughout the novel. Very descriptive and moved quickly. No dragging dialogue.