In one of the most beautiful corners of England, Something very ugly is about to take place… #DancingOnTheGrave #Review @nholten40 @authorzoesharp

After finally reading my first #CharlieFox book last year, and hearing so much over the years about how awesome Zoe Sharp is, I knew I could not turn down the opportunity to read a #newseries from this fantastic author! I’d like to thank Ayo Onatade and Zoe Sharp for the invite and ARC. Below you will find my review, but first, let’s find out a bit about Zoe and Dancing on the Grave!

About the Author

Zoë Sharp was born in Nottinghamshire and spent her formative years living aboard a catamaran on the northwest coast of England. She learned to stand up for herself at the age of seven, when she was transferred into a tiny village school from a private all-girls’ establishment. She’s pretty much been fighting her way through life ever since. Find out more at www.ZoeSharp.com

About the Book

In one of the most beautiful corners of England,
Something very ugly is about to take place…

A sniper with a mission…
a young cop with nothing to lose…
a CSI with everything to prove…
a teenage girl with a terrifying obsession…

There’s a killer on the loose in the Lake District, and the calm of an English summer is shattered.
For newly qualified crime-scene investigator, Grace McColl, it’s both the start of a nightmare and the chance to prove herself after a mistake that cost a life.
For Detective Constable Nick Weston, recently transferred from London, it’s an opportunity to recover his nerve after a disastrous undercover operation that left him for dead.
And for a lonely, loveless teenage girl, Edith, it’s the start of a twisted fantasy—one she never dreamed might come true.

Ooooooh-eeeee! What an incredible treat it was to read this action-packed thriller! Set in Cumbria/the Lake District, the reader is taken on a whirlwind ride of retribution, fear, manipulation, vulnerability, conflict, truth, mental health issues, vengeance, lost souls and the search for the truth. I bloody LOVED it!

The opening… WOW … talk about taking no prisoners! But this is what you get when it comes to Zoe Sharp – sharp in name but also in writing! Told from various POV’s, this was a fast-paced plot with a wonderfully believable and engaging narrative, interesting characters and descriptions that have you right in the heart of the Lake District. Tension-filled, addictive and compelling – it is no wonder that I found myself a new series to follow! (I know the blurb on amazon describes it as a standalone … but OMFG…this NEEDS to be a series!

Character-wise I found myself totally invested in the majority of peeps we meet along the way! CSI Grace McColl – erm…LOVE her! Wary, determined, committed, intelligent, stubborn at times – despite her backstory, which we get a glimpse of, it was refreshing to see a non-cliched character that drew me in.  Don’t get me wrong, I may be one of the few crime-fiction readers who loves a fantastically flawed/cliche character …but it wouldn’t work for Grace and I loved that the author made that revelation through this character’s voice.

DC Nick Weston – holy sexual-tension Batman! I adored the banter between Nick and Grace where the two verged on a bit of romance, but not in the “I don’t want to read about this sense”. It worked! And I want more! Something in this guys past has landed him in Cumbria and he is not very welcome by his police colleagues. The portrayal of him as an outsider was perfect and I felt the tension in the room each time he was around those who felt he did not belong. I think there is a lot more to this character and hope we get to find out more in future books. (There I go again with the hints…#makethisaseries)

Although there are so many more well-developed and interesting characters, the last one I will mention is Edith – for the rest, you’ll have to buy/read the book yourself! Edith has low self-esteem, which seems to grow in the presence of her not-so-great parents. A stroppy teen with something dangerous lurking beneath the surface. It was hard to know whether to feel sorry for her or whether to dislike her…I have to admit, I was torn – still am…but by GOD was she intriguing!

Would I recommend this book? Erm- hellooooo! My review should tell you the answer to that but in case I wasn’t clear …Hell FRIGGIN’ Yeah I do! An action-packed crime thriller, mixed with procedural that will have you racing through the pages – this taut, terrifying and superbly tantalising novel will have you desperate for more!

Check out what everyone else thinks by following the blog tour here: