The Snowdonia Killings by Simon McCleave.

This debut novel from Simon is the first book in his Detective Inspector Ruth Hunter series, set in North Wales. It is a regular British Police Procedural crime thriller that ticked all the right boxes for me. I was very impressed with the quality of The Snowdonia Killings from the very first chapter. Having just moved on from the DS Alexandra Cupidi series by William Shaw, I wondered if The Snowdonia Killings was written by an established and successful author under a pen name. A quick search on the internet reveals that Simon is a new author but he has been a script writer for television and film.

I loved Simon’s writing style and content. There is so much more to this book than basic crime scene investigation and the search to find the bad guy. This novel explores how alcoholics cope with daily life and how married mothers can move on to find love in a same sex relationship. Also the family lives of the police officers are skillfully woven into this story which adds perspective to this tale. Real past events like Operation Trident and the murder of Claire Tiltman in 1993 were mentioned to explain to the reader how certain things can happen.

There is plenty going on in this novel and there are many twists and turns for you to enjoy. Character development is very good and relationships are built as DI Ruth Hunter is the new kid on the block. There is also a hint at romance too! 

I thought the plot was great with tension running all the way through. I enjoyed reading about the police procedures and jargon like “Victim is an IC3 or M1 female”. Ah yes, you spot those codes and the ugly face of racism has it’s part to play too. I liked the advice DI Ruth Hunter shared with the reader about interview techniques. I loved the attitudes within the police force that were explained, for example…

The arrogance of CID officers towards uniform was often a source of conflict. It had always been that way and Ruth remembered exactly what it was like when she was in uniform. Being treated as a glorified assistant, expected to take statements and other ‘menial’ tasks. Ruth had worked with police officers who, once they had transferred from uniform to CID and bought their Matalan suit, thought they were Inspector bloody Morse.

… I loved how Welsh culture and folklore was integral to this story, it gave such added value to this book. It was the quality of the detail that impressed me, it was not the obvious tourist highlights but obscure nuggets like the Demon of Cerrigydrudion. I loved the strong Welsh identity that this novel supported and shall ignore the little dig about the people of Cardiff. 

Simon mentions a car I have not come across before, a Saab XC-90 4x4. Volvo do make the XC-90 though! Simon has a wide vocabulary and one of his favourite words is sardonic or sardonically which he uses 7 times within his novel. In his acknowledgements at the end, Simon thanks Claire Rushbrook for her proof-reading. Well, I was disappointed by the number of mistakes I came across and think that she has done a poor job indeed. I did not let this spoil my enjoyment of this OUTSTANDING book which gets the top score of 5 stars from me.

The Snowdonia Killings was written in 2019 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.