#BlogTour The Tattoo Thief by Alison Belsham #thetattoothief @AlisonBelsham @orion_crime #crime #serialkiller #Brighton #noir #BookReview

Hello! Today I’m pleased to be helping to wrap up the Blog Tour for The Tattoo Thief by Alison Belsham, which is available to buy right now (links below).

About the book

A policeman on his first murder case. A tattoo artist with a deadly secret. And a twisted serial killer sharpening his blades to kill again…

When Brighton tattoo artist Marni Mullins discovers a flayed body, newly-promoted DI Francis Sullivan needs her help. There’s a serial killer at large, slicing tattoos from his victims’ bodies while they’re still alive. Marni knows the tattooing world like the back of her hand, but has her own reasons to distrust the police. So when she identifies the killer’s next target, will she tell Sullivan or go after the Tattoo Thief alone?

Goodreads | Amazon UK | Amazon US

The Tattoo Thief is a unique police procedural with an interesting premise, albeit not one for the faint of heart and weak of stomach!

The story has a gruesome opening and – be warned – is stomach-churning at times throughout. The killer’s narration is creepy and grim. From the start intriguing questions are raised about Marni’s backstory and her relationship with her ex-husband, Thierry, and the police.

I must admit that, to start with, I didn’t really find any of the characters particularly likeable: Marni was prickly AF, Thierry only aggressive, Francis a bit wet, Rory smug and unpleasant and DCI Bradshaw a bit of a ranting cliche. However, as the story progressed, Marni and Francis both really grew on me and Rory and Thierry both developed to be much more three-dimensional.

The plot here is original and the idea of someone murdering people for their tattoos is genuinely chilling. To begin with, I felt a little frustrated as we, the readers, knew more than the police and, with Bradshaw’s constant posturing, stonewalling and interfering, it felt like the police were running around in circles. Once the plot gets into its stride though, and the police catch up, the pace really picks up and I enjoyed the second half of the book even more.

The tension increases throughout the investigation and there are some unexpected turns taken. The finale is particularly gripping; I was on the edge of my seat, racing through the pages to see how things would end up. I am presuming from the ending that there will be more to come in this series and I will be interested to see where Alison Belsham takes her characters next.

Thank you to Orion Publishing for my copy of The Tattoo Thief and to Tracy Fenton for my stop on the Blog Tour.

If you enjoyed my review, please consider liking and/or sharing and, of course, buying the book: Goodreads | Amazon UK | Amazon US

Please check out the earlier reviews on the Blog Tour