Michael Wood has done it again, with a suspenseful murder mystery that had me captivated from the first chapter (of many first chapters)! I thought I had guessed the serial killer early on and, with a major twist, I was right. But it's that twist that gave the story its edge. An author recluse with his faithful canine companion, living on an isolated estate and almost totally cut off from society with gates, multiple locks and security cameras to keep outsiders away. For six years, since a brutal knifing in a pub parking lot, Aidan Cullen has sought refuge from the world and kept churning out bestsellers. Until a series of murders, uncannily similar to those described in his novels, bring the police to his gate and disturb his solitary world. As with other books, and I've read more than a few by this author, the prose just drew me along at a clipped pace and I found it hard to put it down. Brilliant suspense in an eminently readable package. Thanks to HarperCollins UK/One More Chapter and NetGalley for sharing a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest opinion.

So this is my 5th Michael Wood read and once again he has lived up to his reputation as an excellent crime writer. This is a standalone read which gives you all the emotions. The main character gets his first publishing deal, he decides to celebrate with his friends... He becomes a very successful writer... But remember this is a crime read... so we also get a great plot, high tension, fantastic main character and a headache from trying to solve it! Absolutely recommended.

This was a hugely entertaining read right up to the last few lines which made me question everything I thought I had learned in devouring this book! The story is told to us by Aiden from the first night he tries to celebrate with this friends that he has become a published author through his self isolation and on to his current concerns over someone imitating his art and making all of his Chapter One's happen. This might not sound such a bad thing until you realise that Aiden writes crime/thrillers eeek! I found this a very easy to read book and I loved the addition of Nanook, Aiden's dog, who became such an important part of his story. All of the characters we met through this book had a real feeling about them, all of their actions and reactions felt natural and the story seemed to flow well around and between them all. Once I got near the ending there was no way I was putting this down, I just had to know what was going on and that last part of the ending well, I guess that's something that you'll need to read this to find out about because I'm not going to spoil it and tell you but it's worth reading this story just for those few lines and how much it made me question myself and what I had just read!

Aiden Lives as a recluse with his dog Nanook and his friend Luke in Gallows View House in Derbyshire. He is a well renown Crime thriller writer and he has lived there for several years. He has top security in his home as he still suffers from the aftereffects what happened to him six years ago. When his first novel Out of Darkness was just about to be released, he was stabbed and left for dead by three thugs outside in the car park of ‘The bucket of blood pub in Liverpool. He only survived because of Luke who rescued him all of them years ago. When Luke is away, he spends evenings with his dog Nanook looking out his window to the surrounding fields. Aiden has agoraphobia and too scared to venture out from the borders of his garden. One evening he sees blue lights of a Police car. When DS Katherine Marshall arrives. At first, he doesn’t trust her to let her in but when he does, he finds out there is a copy kat killer that is killing someone in the same way as one of his books and not far from where he lives. What will he do? Will he be next? I always love a Micheal Wood book, and he never disappoints and Chapter one is another fabulous book from the author. I don’t usually go for a slow burn of a storyline but, but I found this to be compelling read. The way the author has portrayed Aiden with his Paranoia and agoraphobia, it gave me a closed in feeling that I felt I wanted to get out. I thought I had this story all figured out at the end but, yet again Mr Wood to have surprised me again with the ending I did;t see this coming. 5 stars from me.

Thanks to Michael and NetGalley for allowing me to read Chapter One before the publication date. Michael uses some interesting techniques in writing this quirky story about Aidan Cullen, a reclusive crime fiction author. The victim of a knife attack 6 years earlier, Cullen is paranoid and agoraphobic, afraid of his own shadow and living in a house which he has turned into a prison. As each real murder is investigated, Michael has woven the first chapter from one of Aidan’s books into the storyline. It is a dark tale in which the suspense builds from the first page as the reader is given insight into Cullen’s mind. I have enjoyed the DCI Matilda Darke series more than the standalone books.