Follow Detective Kate Matthews around Southampton as she investigates the disappearance of 15 year old Daisy.
Although this is the 3rd novel in the series, it can be read as a standalone and I was not put at a disadvantage. Cold Heart is a regular British police procedural crime thriller. The investigation into the disappearance of Daisy and some body parts that are found, all follow standard procedures. The team of police officers have regular meetings in the incident room, which bring no surprises. You can easily guess what will happen next. The whole story revolves around regular police work and becomes a little bit of a drag. I started to get a little monday morning feeling as another meeting was starting in the incident room. One officer would be told to get a search warrant, enter a house and bring back every computer, mobile and tablet. Another officer would be told to walk somewhere, spot any CCTV cameras, find the owner and demand the footage. Other routine tasks would be given to other officers, leaving the reader with an unexciting read.
The characterization of Detective Kate Matthews and her fellow police officers was average. The private lives of the police were included but those parts were of standard soap opera quality. The was no special chemistry binding the police team together.
The plot developed slowly with no dramatic twists and turns. When I got to the end of Cold Heart I felt rather robbed, purely because the bad guy’s actions appeared to be unrealistic. I feel the plot lacked realism and the investigation broke no new ground in activity or specialist police skills. I found Detective Kate Matthews bringing her daughter onto the side lines of this story a frustrating nuisance in the same way as when adults are talking and a child interrupts or screams.
I consider Cold Heart to be a run-of-the-mill police procedural. It was an okay, 3 star read that gave my daily reading fix but there was nothing special about it. If there becomes a 4th Detective Kate Matthews novel, I shall not be bothering because there are so many other authors who give the reader a lot more content, pleasure and unique scenarios.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Bookouture for giving me a copy of this book on the understanding that I provide an honest review.
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