Watching You by Helen Fields

I got an arc copy thanks so much to Avon books for giving me a copy, it is out to buy the 28th of August but you can preorder now, AMAZON LINK.


Watching You by Helen Sarah Fields
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - < 2 days

Pages - 400

Publisher - Avon books

Source - ARC

Blurb from Goodreads

A face in the crowd. A killer in the shadows…________

On the dark streets of Edinburgh, a killer is waiting.

When a body is found, it is only the beginning. Soon there will be seven more.



In the city’s hospital, renowned surgeon Beth Waterfall is grieving.

Her beloved only daughter fell prey to a vicious stalker a year previously – and now he’s coming for her too.



Edinburgh’s police are desperate.

After one body comes another, and then another. The brutal deaths are all seemingly unconnected, and yet DS Lively and forensic profiler Dr Connie Woolwine know they are dealing with a serial killer – they just need to prove it.

But time is running out, and The Watcher is already set on making Beth Waterfall his next victim…

The million-copy international bestseller returns with a gripping serial killer thriller that will have you hooked from the first page to the very last.


My Review


Ooooh what a twisted web! So we bounce around a little bit but absolutely easy to follow, we hear from the killer as they are going after their victims. We don't always get this is crime fiction books so it is always interesting I think to be seeing through their eyes. Beth is going to be the next victim, The Watcher is sick, focused, obsessed and already targeted Beth's daughter now Beth is his obsession. Beth is a medical professional, a surgeon and great at her job, her and DS Lively cross paths through work. Beth finds herself in danger, threats becoming more and more evident and could something be there with her and grumpo Lively. Beth herself is grieving, traumatised but a strong and focused individual so that gives us a lot of insight and an emotive character. DS Lively is quite different and some of their interactions brings banter/light relief (he is a bit of the grump type though he plays well) but also the serious side of police investigation.

Do you know what I love about this book? I have read a fair few of Fields (I checked and I have two I think to catch up on, one I have another I have to buy) and I don't always read in order. However in this one I recognise quite a few characters. The ball busting boss we have met before in other books, Profiler Connie is so weird but in the absolutely best kind of way, Winnie, Midnight also make wee appearances and I love that. I did have to check my other reviews because I was like I know those names so the crossover is something I really appreciate. It also makes me check what book(s) I have missed and will be getting them sorted.

This one has stalking, murder, friendship, love, family, mental health, trauma and that is just for starters. Fields has a gift for creating some horrific baddies interwoven with characters facing some real heartache, loss, recovery so it is a real rollercoaster. 4.5/5 for me this time, Connie could have a series of 20+ and I would read them all, she isn't exactly a main character in this one but defo a central character and I think she scene steals because she is just so unique and genuine!

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The Institution by Helen Fields

The Institution by Helen Sarah Fields
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Pages - 422

Publisher - Avon

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

To beat them, she’ll have to join them…

On a locked ward in the world’s highest-security prison hospital for the criminally insane, a nurse has been murdered and her newborn baby kidnapped. A ransom must be paid, and the clock is ticking.

Forensic profiler Dr Connie Woolwine is renowned for her ability to get inside the mind of a murderer. Now she must go deep undercover among the most deranged and dangerous men on earth, and use her unique skills to find the baby – before it’s too late.

She has five days to catch the killer.

But with the walls of The Institution closing in on her, will her sanity last that long?


My Review

A few things, I didn't realise this was book two, I have book one up the stairs so you can read it as a standalone but may understand Connie a wee bit better if you have read book one first. Heading into the Institution under false pretences (to most of the staff and patients) to try and save a missing kid. Say what? What would a kid be doing in a secluded unit with some of the most dangerous killers/damaged mental health? Well her mum has been killed as she was literally ripped from her, now Connie the profiler is going in as the main carer for Patient B. By trying to profile the staff and patients she will try and locate the baby before it is too late.

Some of the most shocking/evil/deadly murderers and to be fair some of the staff aren't the nicest folk either and Connie doesn't know who she can trust. To the inmates and even some of the staff, the nurse has gone off on mat leave and Connie has to try and get through the barriers/games/delusions and complexities of each patient and analyze the staff too, tick tock.

So when I read the blurb I hadn't realised what they meant with missing child, the abduction of the kid is brutal (pregnant/forced removal) so heads up it is graphic. The bad guys have quite a bit of shady history hence them being in the Institution. A very dark book with some dark characters and Connie herself has been through it and has a history with mental health. We hear a bit of it and not sure if more is disclosed in book one which may account for some of her actions and behaviours. I was quite frustrated at times with some of her choices and even "NOOOO WHAT ARE YOU DOING" out loud. The book has a tense, doomy feeling throughout and you don't know what is around the corner or what is coming next, who you can trust. Really well written despite me being a wee bit frustrated at times with some choices but again maybe knowing Connie a bit more would likely explain it. Plus being trapped in a place cut off from everyone else (bad weather and remote) and add into that you are surrounded by some of the most scary and violent individuals plus a killer/kidnapper is or has been around. Ooft it is a mixed bag, 4/5.

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The Last Girl to Die by Helen Fields

The Last Girl To Die by Helen Sarah Fields
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Pages - 400

Publisher - Avon Books

Source - Netgalley

Blurb from Goodreads

The island watched and wept…

In search of a new life, sixteen-year-old Adriana Clark’s family moves to the ancient, ocean-battered Isle of Mull, far off the coast of Scotland. Then she goes missing. Faced with hostile locals and indifferent police, her desperate parents turn to private investigator Sadie Levesque.

Sadie is the best at what she does. But when she finds Adriana’s body in a cliffside cave, a seaweed crown carefully arranged on her head, she knows she’s dealing with something she’s never encountered before.

The deeper she digs into the island’s secrets, the closer danger creeps – and the more urgent her quest to find the killer grows. Because what if Adriana is not the last girl to die?



My Review

This is a standalone. A young girl has gone missing, the police don't seem overly convinced, the family are at their wits end so hire a private detective, Sadie. The police don't like her interfering and worse when she finds Adriana, dead and mutilated. There is a killer on the loose, Sadie and the police are at logger heads, the locals are shaken, some helpful, some not so much and as with all small towns, lots and lots of secrets.

Oh guys Sadie is feisty! She will not take any nonsense from the local police, nor will she be threatened nor bullied out of town. Her promise is to her clients, the poor girls family and she won't stop digging until they get the answers.

Some of the scenes are absolutely brutal and what is done to Adriana, graphic descriptions as Sadie is a PI and going through her findings and us with her as the reader so be warned. There is a lot of anger, hostility, threats and brutality, Fields doesn't shy away from creating scenarios and characters that are reflective of the uglier sides of humanity.

It has a good pace, horrific murder and then trying to pull through secrets, lies and sure is there not always folk hiding stuff for one reason or another. Sometimes Sadie annoyed me I was like don't do that, don't say that, ahhhh why are you touching that! But she was also fierce and despite being scared in X situations she never backed off from trying to get answers and keeping her word. 4/5 for me this time, I do like Fields books and whilst this one had a few graphic shocks (I have a shell we got on the beach I can now never look at the same way) along the way it is gripping and well for me anyway, kept me guessing.

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One For Sorrow By Helen Fields

One for Sorrow by Helen Sarah Fields
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2.5 days

Pages - 400

Publisher - Avon

Source - Review copy

Blurb from Goodreads

One for sorrow, two for joy
Edinburgh is gripped by the greatest terror it has ever known. A lone bomber is targeting victims across the city and no one is safe.

Three for a girl, four for a boy
DCI Ava Turner and DI Luc Callanach face death every day – and not just the deaths of the people being taken hostage by the killer.

Five for silver, six for gold
When it becomes clear that with every tip-off they are walking into a trap designed to kill them too, Ava and Luc know that finding the truth could mean paying the ultimate price.

Seven for a secret never to be told…
But with the threat – and body count – rising daily, and no clue as to who’s behind it, neither Ava nor Luc know whether they will live long enough to tell the tale…



Mt Review

Dear Lord. We are traumatised. Burst. Emotive. We need to go eat our feelings but it is also 04:32 and we need 😴 sleep. Those were the words I typed after I finished the book and I did indeed go and eat my feelings despite the time! This is book seven in the series, if you haven't read the previous, do yourself a favour and go read them. There is so much you have missed and the intensity of the relationships/friendships you just need the back story.

We have a bomber in Edinburgh and not just planting a bomb and causing chaos, the nature of the bombs are horrific and some add in some kidnappings just to make things worse. The killings are brutal, we have seen some sadistic killers before but this is another level.

I was horrified but couldn't put it down I had to know why dear lord why and what was coming next because you knew this was just the beginning. I have rooting for Luc and Ava every single book, they are work colleagues, they are friends, the are room mates looking after their bestie, they are attracted but one thing or another always gets in the way. This case is going to push them and the team to their limits. The killer isn't going to stop until someone stops them but how do you stop someone who is so random and deadly.

We also have the before and meet Quinn, such a nice girl, family orientated who we follow through a relationship of control, manipulation and a different kind of horror. It is a busy book, the investigation, Ava dealing with a personal loss and trying to pull through one of the toughest cases ever and the before with the young woman and a different thread of horror, the worst side of humanity and whilst the book is fiction we know the issues very much exist! 4.5/5 for me. This book will knock you sideways - it covers a lot of the worst sides of humanity, it is dark, gruesome, gory, horrific, soul destroying, page turning and brilliant, say goodbye to your day. Hope Fields hurries up and pens the next, I NEED TO KNOW WHAT IS COMING NEXT!

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Perfect Kill by Helen Fields

Perfect Kill by Helen Sarah Fields
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Publisher - Avon

Pages - 416

Source - Netgalley

Blurb from Goodreads

He had never heard himself scream before. It was terrifying.
Alone, trapped in the darkness and with no way out, Bart Campbell knows that his chances of being found alive are slim.

Drugged and kidnapped, the realisation soon dawns that he’s been locked inside a shipping container far from his Edinburgh home. But what Bart doesn’t yet know is that he’s now heading for France where his unspeakable fate is already sealed…

DCI Ava Turner and DI Luc Callanach are working on separate cases that soon collide as it becomes clear that the men and women being shipped to France are being traded for women trafficked into Scotland.

With so many lives at stake, they face an impossible task – but there’s no option of failure when Bart and so many others will soon be dead…

Get ready for a rollercoaster ride like no other, with the next gripping thriller from the number one bestselling crime author, Helen Fields. The perfect read for fans of M. J. Arlidge and Karin Slaughter.


My Review

Bart has gone missing, his mum knows something bad has happened because Bart is a good boy and wouldn't just disappear. Ava and Luc are soon working on different cases, in different cities not dealing with the elephant in the room. The cases take a dark turn, human lives at risk, big money and people who will kill everyone before giving up what they perceive to be theirs.

This isn't an easy book to read in that it is so dark, the very worst of humanity, people using human beings for their own gratification. Murder, death, rape, trafficking is only the beginning, it is not for the faint hearted. Graphic, violent, shocking, dark, brutal - Fields has a way of dragging you in and keeping you gripped from the get go. If you have been with the books since the beginning you also have the added sideline story of Ava and Luc.

Quite a bit of emotive moments in the book too I found, when you are reading about characters going through so many horrific things, situations, experiences you can't help get a bit caught up in it all. I have read the previous books in the series and I cannot wait for the next, 4.5/5 for me this time.

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Perfect Crime by Helen Fields Blog Tour

Today is my turn on the blog tour for "Perfect Crime" by Helen Fields. As you can see there are a lot of us on the tour, please check out the other blog stops, we all offer different content.





For my stop on the tour I have my review.

Perfect Crime by Helen Sarah Fields
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1.5 days

Pages - 400

Publisher - Avon Books

Source - Arc

Blurb from Goodreads

Stephen Berry is about to jump off a bridge until a suicide prevention counsellor stops him. A week later, Stephen is dead. Found at the bottom of a cliff, DI Luc Callanach and DCI Ava Turner are drafted in to investigate whether he jumped or whether he was pushed…

As they dig deeper, more would-be suicides roll in: a woman found dead in a bath; a man violently electrocuted. But these are carefully curated deaths – nothing like the impulsive suicide attempts they’ve been made out to be.

Little do Callanach and Turner know how close their perpetrator is as, across Edinburgh, a violent and psychopathic killer gains more confidence with every life he takes…



My Review

This is book five in the Callanach and Turner crime/police detective series, if you haven't read the previous book I suggest you do first. You could get away with reading this as a standalone but you have missed so much of the history I think you would enjoy it more if you knew the back stories.

So this book features suicide themes and some very brutal and graphic murders. Callanach and Turner are investigating what initially looks like suicide(s), as the body count rises they have to consider they have a soulless killer in Edinburgh who is escalating in brutality with every kill. The investigation is on and as with the previous books we also get the personal life of the detectives. Callanach has his own personal investigation ongoing which brings his career and home life together in a way that will threaten everything he has worked so hard on.

I think fans of the series will be delighted we are getting some light shed on somethings left over from the previous books. Emotive, gorey, provocative, murder, suicide, police procedural, friendship, relationship, secrets and that is just some of what this book packs in. I am a Fields fan, this is a page turner and I cannot wait to see what is in store next for the characters. 4.5/5 for me this time, roll on the next.

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Perfect Silence by Helen Fields

Perfect Silence by Helen Sarah Fields
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days (as and when able)

Pages - 432

Publisher - Avon Books

Source - Review Copy

Blurb from Goodreads

When silence falls, who will hear their screams?

The body of a young girl is found dumped on the roadside on the outskirts of Edinburgh. When pathologists examine the remains, they make a gruesome discovery: the silhouette of a doll carved in the victim’s skin. And when a macabre ragdoll is found nestled beside an abandoned baby, DI Luc Callanch learns the killer’s horrifying game plan – cutting out dolls from the flesh of his victims.

When a series of drug-users are brutally branded with the letter Z slashed into their foreheads, Luc and his partner Ava must risk both their jobs and their lives to unearth the truth. Is this the merciless work of the same assailant?

As the killer’s twisted games persist, Luc knows it’s only a matter of time before he strikes again. Can they stop another victim from being silenced forever – or is it already too late?



My Review

A young woman is found dead with horrific wounds, DI Luc Callanch and his superior Ava are on the case. When another goes missing and a horrific calling card is left by the killer, the team know they have their work cut out, this one won't stop until they have been stopped. The clock is ticking to save the girls life. If that isn't enough to keep them busy someone is attacking the city's homeless, are the cases related? Who would want to target these victims and why?

The thing I like about Fields books is not only does she create a horrible "bad guy" giving the police tough cases but personally we get to know them, the officers too. If you haven't read the previous books guys really check them out. Whilst you could read this as a standalone you get much more out of the stories, particularly the personal side of the officers if you have read the previous books and got their backgrounds. Ava and Luc have this unspoken, unacknowledged attraction and now she has a promotion and he has a girlfriend it is strained. Despite this they work together, as always, to tackle those attacking Edinburgh's vulnerable and innocent people.

The attacks are pretty horrific, brutal and at times stomach churning, the author pulls no punches when describing the horrors inflicted on the victims. I read horror but there are one or two things that make me wince and give me the boak, one scene ooooft lets just say not for the faint hearted.

We have police procedural, investigation, murder, violence, attacks, friendship, relationships, some humour and that is just for starters. You think you know where the book is going, you don't at least once I had a gasp out loud moment! The characters, the police, I really like, Luc is such a nice guy but totally ruled by his past, Ava is complex, Lively is a loose cannon, funny at times in an unpc way and their boss, Overton oh what a bitch! A page turner, pulled in pretty much from the get go, I cannot wait for book five to see where the series goes next, 4.5/5 for me!

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Perfect Death by Helen Fields

Perfect Death by Helen Sarah Fields
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - in and out over 2 days

Pages - 448

Publisher - Avon

Source - Gifted from a fellow bookworm

Blurb from Goodreads

There’s no easy way to die…

Unknown to DI Luc Callanach and the newly promoted DCI Ava Turner, a serial killer has Edinburgh firmly in his grip. The killer is taking his victims in the coldest, most calculating way possible – engineering slow and painful deaths by poison, with his victims entirely unaware of the drugs flooding their bloodstream until it’s too late.

But how do you catch a killer who hides in the shadows? A killer whose pleasure comes from watching pain from afar? Faced with their most difficult case yet, Callanach and Turner soon realise they face a seemingly impossible task…


My Review

How do you catch a killer when you aren't even sure there is a murder? That is the problem faced by Luc Callanach and newly promoted Ava Turner. Throw into the mix a former respected colleague has been found dead, by his own hand, the team are thrown for six. When it becomes apparent they have a serial killer loose, Callanach is on the case, Turner is under pressure from her boss who isn't convinced they have a serial killer and distracted and on the case of her former boss's death Turner is pulled in many directions and making very risky decisions.

Ooooh a serial killer, stalking his victims and they have no idea they are in any danger. A killer in plain sight, the most dangerous - looks benign, calculating, cold and everything for their own gratification. There is so so much going on in this book, Turner and Callanach's relationship is under strain, she has been promoted so has to deal with things differently, she now has more bureaucratic nonsense to deal with. The shock and loss of someone she loved and respected so much, there is no way he would take his own life is there? Torn and focused on that she ends up in some very difficult and dangerous situations, made worse by not wanting to risk anyone else.

The killer himself is one that makes the hair on the back of your neck stand because of how easily he infiltrates lives, the impacts he has and how easily he can take life. Not knowing what drives him either but how he manages to flit in and out without causing alarm ooft, one of the best and freakiest killers brought to life from the pages I think. The "normality" he can portray, so non threatening I think it was the coldness and predatory behaviours that actually made my blood run cold rather than the acts he committed. I know how bad that sounds, murder is heinous and one of the worst offenses we can do to another living being but when you read the book you will know what I mean. Absolute evil, Fields is genius in her creation in this one and if all that isn't enough for you we also have the interaction and relationships with the officers, work force, families - it has so much going on but all relevant and had life not got in the way (you know socialising, talking to people, not locking oneself away in a room to read) I would have read this most likely in one sitting. I look forward to the next in the series 4.5/5 for me this time.

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