Review | Dead Inside by Noelle Holten (ARC)

Probation Officer Lucy Sherwood is great at her job, handling cases of domestic abuse offenders and making sure they are not recalled back to prison. However, her personal life is a different matter. She is a victim of domestic abuse by her husband and she does not know how to escape.

DC Maggie Jamieson is new to the Domestic Abuse and Homicide Unit (DAHU). As bodies of domestic abuse offenders start piling up, the DAHU team are at a loss and under immense pressure to capture the killer. But as Maggie considers the suspects, everyone seems to have a reason to murder these men. Maggie has to figure out the truth before it’s too late – particularly for Lucy.

Seeing Patrick now, Lucy couldn’t explain what had drawn her to him in the first place. She supposed it was the usual things – cheeky smile, piercing eyes, and a charismatic personality. But it was what he was like behind closed doors that scared her. 

Dead Inside is a heavy, emotional read. Although this is the first in a series featuring DC Maggie Jamieson, we spend a large portion of the book with Lucy Sherwood. Through her eyes, we see the burden and torture of living a life as domestic abuse victim. She puts on a strong act in public but in front of her husband, Patrick, she is a shadow of herself. She knows she should leave him but it would mean leaving him with his children from previous marriages, Rory and Siobhan, and Lucy couldn’t bear to do so.

I thought Lucy was a great character. The years of abuse has conditioned her into behaving in ways to only please her husband. As a reader, there is a sense of frustration at her inaction but the writing is persuasive and makes her situation believable and heartbreaking. Her scenes with her husband is fraught with despair and violence. As a note, this book heavily features scenes of domestic violence which might be triggering for some readers.

The author has a background in Probation Service and this comes across clearly in the procedures detailed in the book.  Particularly, on DAHU and the bureaucracy involved in making a multi-agency team work. I liked reading about how Maggie navigates a new workplace. I thought her interactions with her new colleagues felt real. She is also grappling with her identity as a bisexual woman, and I could see that this would come into play in future books.

I’m generally not a fan of multiple-people point of views and this book is an example of why I feel that way. There is a large cast of characters and we spend a lot of time with the domestic abusers which I felt was unnecessary. I didn’t need to read about how much they hate women because their actions already convey that. The investigation falters mid-way through, as the book is more focused on domestic disputes and relationship issues between the characters. I expected a serial killer investigation but that did not happen. So the reveal of the killer is flat and predictable, with the saving grace being a final twist at the end.

All in all, Dead Inside is a decent debut that will appeal with many crime fiction fans. It will be out on 31st May and you can pre-order the book now!

I received an advanced reader’s copy from Killer Reads and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

About the author: Noelle Holten

Photo by Ethan Hoover