I thought I knew what was going to happen but I didnt and was suprised throughtout this entire book! But while the series is named after Jonah, I found this book to truly be a team effort with much more focus on Ben and Juliette.

How Gytha Lodge can leave us dangling like that I don’t know, but if you are looking for drama, that final chapter has it in spades.

From a deep, dark secret that had been kept hidden for decades to family drama that was thoroughly hard-hitting, the impeccability of this novel is not to be overlooked. While this is book 5 in a series, any of them can be read as stand alone's since each book is a separate case. On top of everything I’ve already gushed about, I was also thrilled to find just a dash of romance and a heaping helping of poignant themes. From detective to victim – and everything in between – each character leaps off the page: real, rounded and relatable.

The case itself involves the apparently connected deaths of two local women, both in their 40s, found on pyres of wood, leading the prospective killer to be dubbed the “Bonfire Killer. How Gytha Lodge can leave us dangling like that I don't know, but if you are looking for drama, that final chapter has it in spades.However, the truth will reveal a lot more than who the murderer is, and Aisling isn’t sure if she’s ready for the world to know who she really is. She studied English at Cambridge, where she became known quite quickly for her brand of twisty, dark yet entertaining drama.

To be honest, this - the fifth book in a series featuring Detective Chief Inspector Jonah Sheens - just didn't grab me. A Killer in the Family is the fifth in Gytha Lodge’s Jonah Sheens police series set in Southampton, but my first experience of the books and characters. It would be nice to read the others for more background on the characters, but the author provides enough details so that each book can be read as a standalone.Given the marked similarities between the cases, police, led by DCI Jonah Sheens, come to the reluctant conclusion that there's an active serial killer at large - a criminal who the press quickly dub "The Bonfire Killer" - and that other women may be at risk. Read all A father serving time for murder convinces his three teenage sons that his life is being threatened by fellow inmates and that they should break him out of jail. This revelation is understandably both upsetting and deeply shocking for Aisling - she can't believe either of her beloved sons could possibly have committed these crimes and doesn't feel it would be consistent with her long-missing father's personality, either. Lodge's masterful storytelling will keep you hooked from the very first page until the shocking conclusion. The beginning started off with a bang, and I settled in, expecting the rest of the book to follow suit.

I know I’m all about those nice, pretty, little bows, but this time I’ve got to give it to Lodge because even with a cliffhanger, it was simply flawless. The actual mystery was also excellent - twisty and turny in a logical way, although the DNA ramifications and the inter-relatedness (or not) of the characters made my brain hurt at times. Aisling's family has never been picture-perfect: abandoned as a child by her father, and still grieving her mother,Aisling's two sons are all she has left.

But,at the time I'd read so many news reports about found families that it scared the shit outta me!