Utterly brilliant thriller

⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑  An excellent thriller, The Snow Killer delivered an ending I was shocked by and had to pause to digest and consider the feasibility. It worked and worked well. It caught me totally by surprise but not in that over-the-top, omnipotent baddy kind of way.

What's to like? This is a cracking read full of characters you will care about (DI John Barton and his precocious family, to name a few) with real life issues and concerns whilst juggling the stresses and demands of an all encompassing job investigating crime 24/7. John is genuinely nice guy and very capable at his job. But will he get the promotion he sorely wants while he is knee deep in investigating, what seems to be, the perfect murder?

Not only will you care about the characters peopling this clever book but full marks go to the coworker camaraderie John enjoys at the police station. There are normal issues everyone deals with at the office - slackers, strivers, a bit of gentle bullying, stealing food - all coming across as in real life with John taking it all in his stride.

I enjoyed the historical elements of this novel and the criminal perspective. It felt less cliche than drug dealers being bad and dealt out a fair amount of compassion for our killer and all those classified as no hopers. This was a real surprise and made the book feel a lot less black and white. Great stuff dripping with tension and intrigue.