Title: Tick Tock

Author: Mel Sherratt

Publisher: Avon

Publication date: 2 May 2019

Genre: Crime Thriller

Blurb (as on Goodreads):

TICK…

In the city of Stoke, a teenage girl is murdered in the middle of the day, her lifeless body abandoned in a field behind her school.

TOCK…

Two days later, a young mother is abducted. She’s discovered strangled and dumped in a local park.

TIME’S UP…

DS Grace Allendale and her team are brought in to investigate, but with a bold killer, no leads and nothing to connect the victims, the case seems hopeless. It’s only when a third woman is targeted that a sinister pattern emerges. A dangerous mind is behind these attacks, and Grace realises that the clock is ticking…

Can they catch the killer before another young woman dies?

My Take:

Tick Tock by Mel Sherratt is a crime thriller and it’s the second instalment in the DC Grace Alendell series. 16-year old Lauren Ansell of Dunwood Academy was strangled and left to die in an open space in Stoke-on-Trent. With no pieces of evidence left, an eyewitness to come forward, Grace and her team were struggling to get a lead in the case. Two days after the first murder, a young woman’s body was found in a local park, murdered in the same way as Lauren. It was after the third failed attempt to murder, Grace realised that a sinister pattern was about to repeat.

It was said that this book (Tick Tock) could be read as a standalone. True, but there were places where I couldn’t properly understand what had actually happened in Grace’s (the protagonist) past life and why she had distanced herself from her family. So it’s always better to start with the first book in the series to get to know the characters more deeply.

The death of Lauren Ansell had greatly affected the people of Stoke-on-Trent. Especially Grace who couldn’t stop thinking about Lauren and of the possible life she could have. Her empathy towards the victim’s family made me love Grace character dearly. The complications of a DC being in a relationship with a reporter had also been shown well. All the while, you can see Grace trying hard to form a good rapport with Simon’s daughter, Teagan who had grown needless hatred towards Grace.

Another thing I loved about Sherratt’s writing was the importance she had given to the emotions such as loss, grief and fear. That made the characters and situations more real. A group of teenagers who were struggling to cope up from the loss of their best friend and parents fearing for their children being the next victim as the killer was at loose were very realistically presented.

The suspense element throughout the story kept me hooked. All my guesses on who would be the murderer went wrong. And the twist at the end came as a bolt from the blue. The climax was heart-pounding and heartwarming at the same time. I would like to thank Netgalley and Avon Books for the copy.