I have been wrapped up in a lot of fantasy and romantasy books and have forgotten about one of my top 5 crime series that has been written. This one is by Michael Wood and the series is called DCI Matilda Darke and I’ve just finished the twelfth book in this series, which isn’t the last one.

The number of personal attacks there has been on Matilda and her team is insane and quite unbelievable but all those books make for a very good, thrilling and fast paced tv series I would obviously watch and with that I’m not saying there is one coming out because I wouldn’t know.

It’s thrilling to be back in Matilda’s world, let’s dive in this book I’ve just read, shall we? It’s called ‘Last one left alive’.

With the promotion, Matilda had to move office and is now on another floor then the unit she worked in. A promotion that takes her out of the equation somewhat, having her going over budgets and all the political stuff around policing. When an email comes in on her work mail, she can’t believe what she’s reading. A person telling her he is the perfect killer, since he isn’t on anyone’s radar; with his first victim being ruled a suicide but in truth was thrown off a building.

Showing this to Finn who has graduated criminology; he can break down the email looking for errors. Is this a real killer or is it a crank a few sandwiches short of a picknick? Delving in the death of this young man, nothing points to it being a murder. Then a second email, another name. A young woman died of anaphylactic shock; her salmon was drenched in peanut oil. After some digging, it does look like murder.

This investigation is still somewhat off the books while the team is investigating a real case, the disappearance of Natalie Klein, a 19-year-old that has dropped of the face of the earth and there are absolutely zero clues there. Tom thinks there is something off with the father since he isn’t bothered by the disappearance in the slightest.

Sian tries to pick up the pieces after her now ex-husband has been imprisoned for murder. A book is about to release about the crimes he has committed and with that Danny Hanson has been hounding the family because he’s jealous he didn’t get the book rights since he was there. Sian doesn’t want to be any part of whatever book Danny wants to write and actually threatens him to stay away from their family. Danny is so driven he decides to go behind her back and fishes for information by talking to Sian’s daughter’s girlfriend.

Four murders have taken place and they still don’t know who this killer is, his latest email suggests the killer will be going after one of their family members. Since the emails are all addressed to Matilda, it could be one of her family members but the card has a picture of the whole team on it. With a slight panic, Matilda decides to drive to her boyfriend; warning him when she should’ve been driving somewhere else since the one the killer targeted would’ve been alive is she came round earlier.

Who will this last victim be?

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ stars, what a book and the cliffhanger; luckily for me the book after this one is out already.