However Alex Pine includes enough to make me care about them. I’d have liked a little bit more character development of James and Annie. There are even some supernatural aspects that make it feel very much part of the tradition of Christmas books, even if there is more blood! This realism is added to through some true life references that feel creepy and unsettling. Certainties shift and are replaced with new leads, making The Killer In The Snow feel dynamic and realistic. There’s an authentic tone to the story as new evidence comes to light. In this way, the reader feels as much a part of the investigation as the police team. The dialogue in The Killer In The Snow is natural and authentic – with a few expletives too – and gives the reader information at the same time as the characters. I thought it was extremely clever to use the present tense to convey the events of 23 years before this made them feel immediate and engaging. This has the effect of increasing the adrenalin of the story. Having said that, some of the timescale for forensic evidence and various warrants is perhaps more contracted than might happen in real life.

Dated entries for the investigation give a sense of real time passing. The Killer In The Snow has a fast and furious pace making it an exciting read. Indeed, a thread from The Christmas Killer becomes an engaging and exciting subplot in The Killer in the Snow as James Walker finds himself personally under threat. Subscribe to our magazine for more great contentĪlthough The Killer In The Snow is the second DI James Walker book after The Christmas Killer, Alex Pine provides enough background to ensure the reader knows what has happened previously without slowing a cracking pace.

The christmas killer alex pine