#Thriller Thursday #Blog Tour #A Knot of Sparrows (DI Winter Meadows 4) by Cheryl Rees-Price @rararesources

Thank you to Rachel from Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me to participate in the blog tour for A Knot of Sparrows, the fourth book in DI Winter Meadows series of police procedurals by Cheryl Rees-Price.

A Knot Of Sparrows

Welsh detective Winter Meadows takes on a new murder case
There were a lot of things you could call Stacey Evans. And many of them would be true. And unprintable. But did she deserve to be murdered?
DI Winter Meadows has no doubt of the answer when he takes on the case. The crime was violent. The victim helpless. But the motives are many, and the only clue is a strange word left on Stacey’s body.
DI Meadows struggles to pierce the secrecy surrounding the teenager’s busy love life. Was the killer one of her pursuers acting out of jealousy? Maybe someone’s wife seeking revenge?
But as each suspect is excluded from the enquiry, and other markings turn up, Meadows is convinced that something more sinister is afoot.
When another body is found, a veil of silence descends like a fog upon Gaer Fawr. What more will it take for the village to give up its secrets?

A KNOT OF SPARROWS is the fourth standalone title in a series of murder mysteries by best-selling author Cheryl Rees-Price. It will appeal to fans of David Pearson, L J Ross, John Dean, Joy Ellis, and Pippa McCathie.

The full list of books is as follows:

1. THE SILENT QUARRY
2. FROZEN MINDS
3. SUFFER THE CHILDREN
4. A KNOT OF SPARROWS
Cheryl Rees-Price is also the author of the standalone thriller BLUE HOLLOW.

All of these books are FREE with Kindle Unlimited and available in paperback from Amazon.

Purchase Links
UK / US

My thoughts:
This was my first book by Cheryl Rees-Price and I’m really happy to have discovered a new author to follow. A Knot of Sparrows is the fourth instalment in the series of police procedurals, set in Wales and featuring DI Winter Meadows. It can be read as a standalone, as it really focuses more on the crime DI Meadows is investigating, although we do get to know the team.

From the very beginning we get a glimpse into the mind of the killer and know that this one is one in a long series of crimes. Then we find out the identity of the victim as the police get a report of a seventeen year old schoolgirl Stacey Evans missing only to find her lifeless body a few hours later. There is a mysterious inscription on it, but the meaning of this macabre message from the killer isn’t immediately obvious. As DI Meadows and his team start piecing her life together, it becomes clear that there might be quite a few people who could have meant harm to Stacey.

As I hadn’t read the previous books in the series, I paid a lot of attention to the protagonist. His reactions were very humane. He was kind to the witnesses, bereaved relatives, his team members, and never de-personalised the victims. There are plenty of twists and suspects in this story, so it was important to seethis attitude of not treating this horrific crime spate as a logical puzzle to solve.

The twists did keep me on my toes, though. Every time I thought a suspect was the killer, they would have a watertight alibi. It turned out this quiet village had plenty of deadly secrets.

I really enjoyed this fairly short, but gripping police procedural and would like to go back and read the previous books as well as future instalments in the series. Recommended to all fans of mysteries and thrillers.

Thank you to Rachel and the author for the review copy provided in exchange for an honest opinion.

Author Bio

Cheryl Rees-Price was born in Cardiff and moved as a young child to a small ex-mining village on the edge of the Black Mountain range, South Wales, where she still lives with her husband, daughters and cats. After leaving school she worked as a legal clerk for several years before leaving to raise her two daughters.
Cheryl returned to education, studying philosophy, sociology, and accountancy whilst working as a part time book keeper. She now works as a finance director for a company that delivers project management and accounting services.
In her spare time Cheryl indulges in her passion for writing, the success of writing plays for local performances gave her the confidence to write her first novel. Her other hobbies include walking and gardening which free her mind to develop plots and create colourful characters.

Social Media Links –
The Book Folks | Facebook
Cheryl Rees-Price | Facebook
https://twitter.com/CherylreesPrice

Thank you for reading the post! Have a wonderful Thursday!