The Santa Killer cover art

The Santa Killer

DI Barton, Book 6

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The Santa Killer

By: Ross Greenwood
Narrated by: David Thorpe
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About this listen

'Ross Greenwood doesn’t write clichés. What he has written here is a fast-paced, action-filled puzzle with believable characters that's spiced with a lot of humour' Kath Middleton

The Santa Killer is coming to town…

One night less than two weeks before Christmas, a single mother is violently assaulted. It’s a brutal crime at the time of year when there should be goodwill to all. When DI Barton begins his investigation, he’s surprised to find the victim is a woman with nothing to hide and no reason for anyone to hurt her.

A few days later, the mother of the woman attacked rings the police station. Her granddaughter has drawn a shocking picture. It seems she was looking out of the window when her mother was attacked. And when her grandmother asks the young girl who the person with the weapon is, she whispers two words.

Bad Santa.

The rumours start spreading, and none of the city’s women feel safe - which one of them will be next?

He’s got a list. It’s quite precise. It won’t matter even if you’re nice.

Ross Greenwood is back with his bestselling series, perfect for fans of Mark Billingham and Ian Rankin.

©2022 Ross Greenwood (P)2022 Boldwood Books Crime Thrillers Fiction Mystery Police Procedural Suspense Thriller Thriller & Suspense Celebration Winter Christmas Scary

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Critic reviews

"Move over Rebus and Morse; a new entry has joined the list of great crime investigators in the form of Detective Inspector John Barton. A rich cast of characters and an explosive plot kept me turning the pages until the final dramatic twist." (Richard Burke)

"Master of the psychological thriller genre Ross Greenwood once again proves his talent for creating engrossing and gritty novels that draw you right in and won’t let go until you’ve reached the shocking ending." (Caroline Vincent at Bitsaboutbooks)
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I absolutely loved this book, the plot was good and the narration great. it had likeable characters. a touch of humour and it was all nicely tied up at the end, which I enjoyed.

Great book

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have really loved this series. it's so nice the have a stable detective with a happy home life. The team relationship is what you would hope is commonplace in real life. This was a great ending for DI Barton. Narration was great

Fantastic Series

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The only bad thing I had with this one was keeping up! Normally I can work out at least one of the perpetrators, but this time was tough (could be down to my health) but luckily the way the chapters announce which character is speaking /thinking is always a help.
I got the feeling that this was going to be the last one in the D I Barton series, if so this would be very sad. However now off to find more books with the same author and narrator David Thorpe they really do go well together.

Twists & turns as always

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Twists and turns throughout. Nature vs nurture is a big theme throughout the story, mental health is a massive issue, and while enough may not be made of it in life, this story explores whether nature vs nurture can effect mental health issues in later life through systemic abuse or neglect, or showing favouritism to your children through actions. This has been done in a very sensitive and understanding way, without overplaying the fact that the consequences of the individuals actions are serious, but has proven to provide support for the guilty.

Brilliant

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I've been waiting for this novel, having listened to the previous ones numerous times.

I love Greenwood's style of hearing the narrative from the perspective of the killer and how their mind justifies the logic of their crimes. Some of the themes (mental health, isolation) are difficult, and often handled in a patronising way, but Greenwood managed them very well. For the first time, I had already worked out who the culprits were before they were revealed, but it didn't spoil my enjoyment. In fact, the only disappointment is that this may be the final DI Barton novel?!

David Thorpe is great, as ever.

Bad Santa, Excellent Barton!

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another fantastic addition to this series I hope there will be more to come I love these characters and find myself wanting to hear more and more.

outstanding!

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I found this book disappointing and not so easy to keep up with the constant overlapping. I’m sure it was the authors attempt to keep us guessing who the culprit(s) we’re but there was so much subterfuge that I got past the point of caring who was responsible for which murder and why. Not sure I’ll bother with another one of these, if indeed the author writes one!

Least enjoyable of the series so far for me

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as usual, great plot line and characters. the regulars are ones we know well and have become like friends.
the killer was one I spotted reasonably early, but it was good seeing it develop and if I was right.

excellent listen that went too quickly

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If you’ve not read any of Greenwood’s books you’re missing out, great characters, story lines and plots and always highlighting social issues in the background.
If you’re fans of Peter James , Peter Robinson etc you’ll enjoy his books , doubly enjoyable if you from the Boro 😀

Never Disappoints

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Good honest police drama featuring realistic characters. The writing is very accessible and the plot has just about the right level of complexity. Sadly, I think this might be the last DI Barton book in the series 😔

Solid as usual

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