The Cutting Room by Ashley Dyer

Good morning, everyone! Today I'm a stop on the TLC blog tour for Ashley Dyer's latest, The Cutting Room.

When the host of a popular true crime show disappears, Ruth Lake and Greg Carver suddenly find themselves in the midst of a twisted investigation. 

With no body, it's not certain whether Professor Mick Tennant, host of Fact or Fiction, is dead but mounting evidence certainly seems to point in that direction. And the man's disappearance comes straight on the heels of the show seemingly debunking a new criminal urban legend, that of The Ferryman. 

Now, a killer with a definite chip on his shoulder and something to prove is making his way throughout Britain with a series of increasingly gruesome crimes meant to attract as much attention as possible. Lake and Carver are still recovering from their last case, but there's no time for R&R—even for the beleaguered Carver whose head injury is still causing issues—because The Ferryman's fan base is ever growing and the public's demand for more is one the killer is all too willing to continue performing for!

Ashley Dyer is the pseudonym for co authors Margaret Murphy and Helen Pepper. This is the second book in their Carter and Lake series, following Splinter in the Blood.

While there are absolutely allusions to the crime that takes place in the previous novel, don't let that keep you from diving in with this second in the series. It stands fantastically well on its own and is utterly impossible to put down.

From the start, the play on the current trend in true-crime shows and podcasts makes this a timely and intriguing reader. And it's clear from almost the beginning that the show in question and the missing host are seen to have been taunting The Ferryman out of hiding. Indeed, the narrative itself proves that by very quickly giving the readers a first-hand account from the killer himself. Small chapters from his prospective are sprinkled throughout, making it clear exactly how twisted his motives are.

But of course that's for the readers eyes only. The killer does draw out the police through his use of social media, however, even using his growing platform to promote his gruesome art.

Lake and Carver surely do have their job cut out for them and while I do miss the introduction to and development between the two of them that I assume is in the first book (which is currently in my TBR), I had no other issues starting midstream as it were with their second investigation.

The Cutting Room is a twisted and dark procedural and my introduction to a series I am super excited to continue!

To see more stops on the tour be sure to check out the official TLC tour page here. And for more on Ashley Dyer and her work you can visit her website here.

Purchase Links: HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble