Dark Winter cover art

Dark Winter

The 1st DS McAvoy Novel

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Dark Winter

By: David Mark
Narrated by: Toby Longworth
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About this listen

The Sunday Times best-selling first instalment in the Hull-based DS Aector McAvoy series.

Meet DS Aector McAvoy, and begin David Mark's addictive crime series.

DS Aector McAvoy is a man with a troubled past. His unwavering belief in justice has made him an outsider in the police force he serves, a good man among the lazy and corrupt.

Then on a cold day in December he is the first cop on the scene when a young girl is killed in Hull's historic church - and the only one to see the murderer. A masked man, with tears in his eyes....

When two more seemingly unconnected people die, the police must work quickly. Only McAvoy can see the connection between the victims. A killer is playing God - and McAvoy must find a way to stop the deadly game.

Hooked on Hull? Then check out the second instalment in the DS McAvoy series, Original Skin....

©2012 David Mark (P)2013 Quercus Publishing plc Crime Fiction Mystery Police Procedural Thriller & Suspense Crime Fiction Suspense

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Critic reviews

"Fast-moving and tightly plotted, with strong characterisation and a likeable protagonist, this is an extremely promising debut" ( Guardian)
"Dark Winter is an exceptional debut from an exciting new talent. David Mark is an original and captivating new voice" (Val McDermid)
"Excellent . . . intriguing" ( The Times)
All stars
Most relevant  
Highly recommend this book. characters step out and you are immediately taken. by their interaction. story line gripping and develops well, keeping you constantly alert and wondering what is next. looking forward to the next instalment.

A gripping story well told and brilliantly read.

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Really enjoyed the writing in this audiobook, and would definitely listen to the subsequent follow ups to this. Let down in my eyes by several aching cliches and a rushed ending, but hopefully these will be improved in subsequent novels. The setting is great and the narration was exceptional - reminiscent of Robert Glenister reading the Cormoran Strike novels.

Decent

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Several times I groaned at the absurdity of the story.
Narration was very good.
I might give the next book a chance.. but not yet

Run of the mill

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What a great start to a series, with a good twist to the tale which I didn’t expect too. The locals would benefit from the Hull accent though and not just a generalised Yorkshire one. That’s the only thing that let it down for me and why I gave 4 stars for the performance. Waiting for my next credit for book 2.

Only thing lacking is the Hull accent!

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This book started slowly and picked up well but the ending was a mishmash of characters and reasons for all that went before and didn't seem to have a reason for what happened.

Disappointing ending

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Thoroughly enjoyed this tale set in the East Riding of Yorkshire. The author sets the story up brilliantly before unleashing the ending. The characters are well researched and believable (Im sure I know some of the drunks described!)

Would recommend this to anyone. Im looking forward to the next book in this series

Gripping Yarn - a real page turner

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The narrator did a pretty good job, and the story was interesting. The characters are well written and it's based in my home city, Hull.
I will probably get the next in the series and hope it has a little more pace to it.
Overall, an easy listen with a decent story and well narrated.

For me, a bit slow, but not a bad book by any means

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Easy listening crime novel. Performance was brilliant lots of different accents in the story which made it easy to discern who was speaking in the book and brought it more to life.

Good easy listening

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First book I have listened to by this author,, enjoyed plot and storyline,well narrated, please that I purchased two further by same author.

intriguing storyline

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Just as I thought I’d come across an author with a decent plot, the usual ghastly descriptions crop up. Is there a detective fiction writing checklist that authors learn in creative writing classes that demand the use of superfluous description? Is it just to pad out a narrative? The nauseating descriptions of the protagonist’s wife serves no purpose, except to make the protagonist seem smug and the writer seem to be writing out a fantasy. The detectives are TV detectives: inspired by the visual form, when this is written, thus greatly misdirected. Has nobody edited this? Populism has overridden quality; perfect for lovers of BBC drama; disappointing for me. Sigh.

Here we go again...

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