Recently Read – Don't Turn Around by Caroline Mitchell

Don’t Turn Around by Caroline Mitchell

Genre; Supernatural Crime

You don’t know him. But he knows you.

Soon he would be able to touch her, to feel the warmth of her blood. And when the time came, nothing would stop him.

As D.C. Jennifer Knight investigates a routine stabbing in the quiet town of Haven, she is shocked at what seems like a personal message from beyond the grave.
When more bodies are found, Jennifer is convinced the killings are somehow linked. What she discovers is more chilling than she could possibly imagine. The murders mirror those of the notorious Grim Reaper – from over twenty years ago. A killer her mother helped convict.

Jennifer can no longer ignore the personal connection. Is there a copycat killer at work? Was the wrong man convicted? Or is there something more sinister at play …

With her mother’s terrifying legacy spiralling out of control, Jennifer must look into her own dark past in a fight not only to stop a killer – but to save herself and those she loves.

My Thoughts:

I’m usually a straightforward crime novel kind of girl, so this was a break from the norm for me, with it being a supernatural crime novel.

Jennifer is a hard-working DC on a CID team in a small town. She has a slight OCD cleaning/tidying issue going on and in the past the organisation has put her through mental health services for help and support. Her DI on the team is well aware of all of this. So when a couple of deaths start to feel weird to Jennifer and she speaks out, she doesn’t get the help she wants. But Jennifer doesn’t have mental health issues, she can actually engage with otherworldly beings. And they’re not exactly of the friendly variety either. As you can imagine being a crime novel!

Having read Caroline’s previous true life book Paranormal Intruder, reviewed Here, I could definitely see where the inspiration for this book had come from. Paranormal Intruder is the true life experience of Caroline’s life, of her home and her life having been violently intruded on by something unseen. You also know you have to take it seriously when Caroline is a serving police officer and some of her colleagues were willing to be named to back her up for that book.

So back to Don’t Turn Around, the police procedure was as you’d expect, absolutely spot on but not a massive priority for the book, to be honest, it was Jennifer and how she was dealing with what she was hearing and feeling and where she went from there.

The paranormal experiences were offset by a great working partnership with her colleague who was the complete opposite as her in the tidy stakes!

This is the first novel in a series from Caroline Mitchell.

If you fancy trying something different, a crime novel with an edge, this certainly fits that bill. You need to suspend your disbelief while reading though.

With thanks to the author and publisher for my copy of the novel.