Book Review – Ragdoll by Daniel Cole

Title: Ragdoll

Author: Daniel Cole

Publisher: Trapeze

Publication Date: 23rd February 2017

Format: ARC e-book

Note: This book was received from the publisher in return for an honest review

About the book:

A body is discovered with the dismembered parts of six victims stitched together like a puppet, nicknamed by the press as the ‘ragdoll’.

Assigned to the shocking case are Detective William ‘Wolf’ Fawkes, recently reinstated to the London Met, and his former partner Detective Emily Baxter.

The ‘Ragdoll Killer’ taunts the police by releasing a list of names to the media, and the dates on which he intends to murder them.

With six people to save, can Fawkes and Baxter catch a killer when the world is watching their every move?

What I Thought:

Ragdoll is the debut novel by Daniel Cole featuring Detective Sargent William Oliver Layton-Fawkes or Wolf. Fawkes is a detective that went rogue following a not guilty verdict in a serial killer trial. Now back on the force there’s a new killer in town and it soon becomes clear to those involved the new case is linked to that original case.

For me this is a really difficult review to write, I want to encourage every crime / thriller reader to pick up this book a read it, but at the same time I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone, I want you to go in as blind as I did, just knowing the most basic of details from the description, learning about the characters and experiencing all the new plot points as you go. I will say I loved the characters, the relationships between them and the plot. The book is well written, the plot moves along at a great pace and had me staying up late to get it finished.

The ARC e-Book contains a brief note from Daniel Cole where he explains a little about his history and journey into becoming a published author. In it he states that Ragdoll began life as a screenplay that was rejected, within the first few pages it becomes abundantly clear how this would have played out on screen, the visuals created are particularly vivid, and I really hope that this is picked up and ends up on screen, I would definitely watch it.

Would I recommend it?

Absolutely. Daniel Cole is another great addition to the crime writing community. I loved this book and flew through it. I understand that Daniel has a three book deal, I’m not sure if the next novel will feature the same characters or be a stand alone novel but I do know I’ll be keeping my eye out for it, whatever it may be.