I love a book with a lot of layers, and The Deadly Houses by Charlie Gallagher probably fulfills that more than any other one I’ve read recently. I just finished this one, and honestly, I think I’m still processing it.
Plot Details
This is Book 6 in the Detective Maddie Ives series by Charlie Gallagher. I’ve actually never read any other books in the series! I picked this one up on NetGalley because it sounded like a great crime story. Maddie is surprised by a case that should be open and shut, but it’s just TOO easy. A killer that just shows up at the police station and confesses to a murder, giving the police all the details? It’s just way too cut and dry. Maddie aims to get to the bottom of what is really going on as the connections just continue to pile up.
My Thoughts
A UK police offer wrote The Deadly Houses, so he definitely knows what he’s talking about, and it shows. There are a lot of characters at play in this book, but they all have equally interesting stories. At first, I found it a bit hard to keep up, trying to pull all the stories together. But it soon became a bit clearer what was at play here. Like I said, this one has lots of layers, and I appreciated that. If you like police or detective type procedural TV shows (think Criminal Minds or NCIS), I think you’d definitely enjoy this book.
I’d have to say that I probably enjoyed the middle of this book the best. That was my “hard to put down” time when reading it. The beginning was a bit confusing just because you don’t really know at first what’s going on, and there are several characters and scenarios at play. But once you get up to speed, it’s easy to get very interested in finding out just what is going to happen next. I thought the ending was just a bit slow to play out once you figure out what’s coming. However, the characters are definitely very well developed, and I loved the plot! It seemed very unique to me, not quite like anything I’ve read before.
Overall, I enjoyed this one. I’m rounding up to 4 stars from what I’d probably give a 3.5. I really enjoyed the characters and all the layers in the story, and I’d be interested in reading more about Maddie Ives and Harry, so I might have to check out more of this series.
Rating: 4/5
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