Book Review: Ragdoll

Goodreads’ Synopsis: 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?

Author: Daniel Cole

Title: Ragdoll

Publisher: Trapeze

Date: 2017

Thank you to Trapeze for sending me a copy of Ragdoll!

The crime and thriller genre lately has been filled with family crimes – husband/wife did it, other covers for them. Ragdoll is a far cry from this and the most exhilarating book I have read for some time.

Opening with a gruesome murder – six victims stitched together as one – certainly packs a punch. I wondered how gory the book would be but, two pages later, was laughing out loud. Cole creates such three-dimensional characters and writes the most fantastic dialogue that I was instantly gripped. I didn’t know whether to squirm or giggle from one page to the next – and it has been a long time since a book has had that impact on me.

As mentioned, the characters were fantastic. They were all so flawed, driven and human – they had outbursts of temper, they got things wrong and they had their weaknesses. It made all of the characters, from Fawkes to Baxter to Emmerson, likeable from the start. Cole made me feel like I was in that meeting room with them trying to figure it out. And I wanted them to figure it out because they were so driven!

The tension is high from the offset and only increases with every page that is turned. I couldn’t predict any of the twists and turns in this book and gasped out loud more than once (drawing strange looks from my mother). There have been too many times lately where I’ve predicted the outcome, but I swear every guess I made was wrong with Ragdoll. I won’t spoil anything, but I did not see the conclusion coming about the way it did.

While the opening is gruesome and there are scenes of violence, nothing is too graphic. If you are a squeamish reader, don’t get put off by the opening. Cole is an extremely talented writer and knows how to weave a mystery with absolute precision. Keep reading and you will be glad you did!

I am so excited that this is only the first book and Cole is continuing the series. Cole is a very talented writer who I can’t way to see more from! Get your copy of Ragdoll now – you won’t regret it!

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