Book Review: Ragdoll by Daniel Cole

2017 is going to be a great year for new releases and amongst them, and rightly so, is Ragdoll by Daniel Cole – the first in a new detective series.

Book Description:

The nation is gripped by the infamous ‘Ragdoll Killer’
Your friends, your family and your neighbours are all talking about it.

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?

My Thoughts:

Ragdoll introduces us to Detective William Oliver Layton Fawkes, also known as Wolf, as he hunts down the Ragdoll killer. One body, six victims and a hitlist.

The characters in this book are some of the most well developed I’ve seen in fiction. Wolf, perhaps one the most flawed detectives you’ll ever meet; after landing himself in MAJOR trouble on a previous case, one could even argue, he should have lost his badge for good. A body is found in the flat opposite his, the finger of the corpse is pointing straight into Wolf’s window. Is this a message, with the media broadcasting this case to the entire world, will Wolf play by the rules – he’s tormented, damaged and unpredictable, and that makes for gripping reading, as you’re never sure what his next move is.

I would go as far as to say, all the characters in this book are complex, each with their own interesting backstory. Cole made this story believable as the actions of the characters were so fitting to their personality’s. A very enjoyable read, the plot thorough and well thought-out, until Cole was ready to let us know, I had no idea who the killer was. Regarding the ending, I feel like it would have been perfect for a screen play but, for me, it was just a little too rouge. However, because of the ending, I’m so intrigued to see what Cole has in store for Wolf in the next book, so while it wasn’t my ‘perfect ending’, it guarantees I’ll be picking up book two. And that’s a rare skill for an author to possess, the ability to keep the reader engaged, interested and eager for the next book, even when the ending doesn’t go ‘the reader’s way.’ I don’t know what’s to come in book two, so in fact, this may be a genius ending and I just don’t know it yet.

I enjoyed the humour sprinkled throughout this book, I really appreciate it when an author breaks up the brutality of a crime by making me laugh. Dark humour is the best kind of humour and Cole got the balance between crime and laughter just right.

This book was originally written as a screenplay; why it was rejected is beyond me but hey, film’s loss, our gain. When this book is released and receiving the highest praise, those film bods will be kicking themselves.

*Thank you to the author (Daniel Cole) and publisher (Trapeze) for granting me access to a digital copy of this book via Netgalley*

This book is available to pre-order from: Amazon UK (release date: 23/02/17)