I am so excited to share my review for Killing Pretties by Rob Ashman. This is an amazing read and I cannot wait to read the next one that will be called – Twinkle, Twinkle.

Let me show you what it is all about…

Detective Sergeant Khenan Malice is a rubbish ex-husband, a crap father but a damned good detective. It’s a shame he spoils his only redeeming quality by being a bent copper.

Detective Kelly Pietersen joins the team to help find a missing woman. But Kelly has a secret…Damien Kaplan is a leading criminal barrister and a keen amateur potter. He also happens to be a serial killer with a chilling approach to creating his art. He’s married to Elsa, though she considers him more of a possession than a husband. She controls those around her using sex and procures men and women for her husband to play with but only after she’s finished with them first. Killing Pretties is his passion, having sex with them is hers. It is difficult to say which one is worse.

The missing woman brings all four crashing together – an incendiary mix that doesn’t end well.

This is one of those books that make you go “Wow!”, I say wow because there were several times I actually said more than just Wow and it is about the only word that wasn’t a swear word!!! 😉😱

Where to start… well… this is a police procedural that is so well written. This author knows how to write a baddie that’s for sure!

There are several key characters in this book, DS Malice (what an excellent name I might add), is not exactly a by the book copper, he is good but also not that squeaky clean as all is made clear in the story. He is joined by DC Kelly Pieterson, another good copper who has great gut instincts. These two are caught up in a missing person case and also the death of a local drug dealer.

The husband and wife team of Damien and Elsa Kaplan are great, but as the synopsis tells you, this is not the normal sort of husband and wife team.

At this point I know that I am re-hashing the synopsis , but, I am still try to get my head around trying to write a review that does this book the justice it deserves…

This is a crime thriller that does have a good psychological aspect to it, the Kaplan’s are very different and definitely add a macabre twist to the story. In some ways the synopsis is quite detailed in what you are going to get, but this is a story that is very much about the journey.

There is some details in the story that made me curl my toes, I do think this is one for a reader that likes a more hardcore crime thriller read, the details are relevant if a bit twisted.

The story fills in details of the past for the Kaplan’s and this is a great way of getting to know this couple and there vices. I like the team of Malice and Pieterson, they make a good combination and they seem to suit each other as far as being a team goes.

An absolutely, amazingly brilliant read that I found totally addictive, a must for hard-boiled crime thriller readers and the start of a new series , I cannot wait for more. Killing Pretties is a twisted read that I would Highly Recommend and you really need to go and yourself a copy ASAP!

Rob is married to Karen with two grown up daughters. He is originally from South Wales and after moving around with work settled in North Lincolnshire.

Like all good welsh valley boys Rob worked for the National Coal Board after leaving school at sixteen and went to University at the tender age of twenty-three when the pit closures began to bite. Since then he’s worked in a variety of manufacturing and consulting roles both in the UK and abroad.

It took Rob twenty-four years to write his first book. He only became serious about writing it when his dad got cancer. It was an aggressive illness and Rob gave up work for three months to look after him and his mum. Writing Those That Remain became his coping mechanism. After he wrote the book his family encouraged him to continue, so not being one for half measures, Rob got himself made redundant, went self-employed so he could devote more time to writing and four years later the Mechanic Trilogy was the result. 

Rob published Those That Remain, In Your Name and Pay the Penance with Bloodhound Books and has since written the DI Rosalind Kray series. These are Faceless, This Little Piggy, Suspended Retribution and Jaded which are also published by Bloodhound.

His latest work sees the introduction of a new set of characters – DS Khenan Malice and DC Kelly Pietersen. The first book in the series is titled Killing Pretties and the second is Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Lies. Both books will be published this year.

When he is not writing, Rob is a frustrated chef with a liking for beer and prosecco, and is known for occasional outbreaks of dancing.

Many thanks for reading my post, a like or share would be amazing 🙂 xx