When Detective Inspector James Walker and his wife Annie moved from London to Kirkby Abbey in Cumbria they looked forward to their first Christmas in their new home until someone left a dead partridge and a Christmas card saying there would be twelve murders on their doorstep. A snowstorm was to hit Cumbria cutting off roads and villages and the body count started. Would James Walker be able to solve the murders before too many bodies were found. It’s the lead up to Christmas and a killer is on the loose in the small village of Kirkby Abbey. Not only is he is on the loose, but he’s taunting the police, and a few of the locals, by sending them creepy Christmas cards, and trust me, these aren’t Christmas cards you want to receive. Find another scrap of quilting fabric. Also, open the window and use the shears to cut some cat grass. And finally, feed the cat food to the cat and examine it to see it has a 5 on its collar.

The minute I saw this book and its cover, I knew I had to read this one! I love holiday mystery & thrillers, and this book didn't disappoint me at all. James was such a vivid main character. I absolutely felt his mounting anxiety as the investigation dragged on and I enjoyed seeing the story through his eyes. Place the ladder under the tree and use it to get the cat down. Then look at the collar on the cat — it’s a purple 3. This book is a must-have on your Christmas reading list! You’ll never sing ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ nor sing another Christmas card again without thinking about Kirkby Abbey. It’s 9 days before Christmas and D.I. James Walker is looking forward to spending time with his wife and extended family in their new home in a sleepy little village in Cumbria.The multiple POVs - The book shifts between James, his wife Annie, and the victims of the serial killer! I thought it was so cool how the victims’ weren’t identifiable from their POV, so you were left guessing about who was next! A macabre Christmas gift left on their doorstep is the first clue that their new location gives no guarantee of safety and soon James is facing the anonymous threat of multiple murder being committed on his patch. As the snow falls and the village risks being cut off from the rest of the world James knows it's up to him to prevent panic and suffering overtaking his life once again. A blizzard descends and the bodies start being found whilst his help is reduced due to the blizzard.

How many more bodies will be found before the killer is caught? Is this connected to the reason they left London? Is there somewhere in their new home town who has taken issue with him and/or his family? Leave the telescope and go upstairs to reach the computer table. Discover a vault under the table and set the numbers following the shapes like 35, 5, 40, and 55. James and Annie move from London to her home village in Cumbria to escape a villain just put of prison and wanting revenge. James is a DI and he finds the drams follows him. Murders begin to be committed and as the weather worsens, the village is snowed in.Think 12 days of Christmas ... promising a body for every day until Christmas. This was just the first. It's not too long before another body is found, buried in the snow. DI James Walker, who has just moved from London to a small village in Cumbria, comes home to find a present on his doorstep. Inside is a dead partridge and a Christmas card promising 12 murders in the run up to Christmas.

I found myself swapping between likely culprits several times throughout the book so the revelation of who did it wasn't too much of a surprise A village crime thriller, in the vein of The Midsomer Murders, it will keep you guessing right until the end. The novel opens with a Prologue to establish what made James and his wife, Annie, move to Cumbria. However, this rapidly becomes a red-herring in the story and does not really feature. Indeed, I suspect this will become the basis of a future story in this series and I am sure the criminal will feature again.I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it to anyone who is a fan of murder mysteries. Overall, although it can be slow at times and there are some predictability, I still enjoyed the plot and found the book well written and I would recommend it to crime fiction fans. Go upstairs to discover a new room, collect the Telescope Lens from the table and a Telescope Body from the drawer above the rug. I enjoyed the style of Alex Pine's writing, which flowed nicely and kept you interested in finding the killer.