Starting a new life in Snowdonia was always DI Ruth Hunter's dream. Until a twisted killer turned it into her worst nightmare.
Detective Inspector Ruth Hunter lives with the pain of her partner’s mysterious and unsolved disappearance. About to hit fifty, the veteran police officer trades in the crime-ridden streets of London for a more peaceful life in rural North Wales. But Ruth has barely settled into her new position in North Wales Police, when the body of a brutally murdered woman is discovered…with strange symbols carved into her skin. Teaming up with an obstinate deputy, Ruth struggles to eliminate anyone from a long line of suspects. When another slain victim is discovered with the same cryptic markings, she’s forced to re-think the investigation.
Has Ruth got what it takes to solve the case before the murderer attacks again?
The Snowdonia Killings by Simon McCleave is exactly the kind of crime thriller you pick up “just to sample”… and suddenly find yourself halfway through at 2 a.m., muttering “just one more chapter.”
Set against the stunning, moodily misty backdrop of Snowdonia, the book introduces us to DI Ruth Hunter, who has traded London chaos for what she hopes will be a quieter rural posting. (Spoiler: the criminals of Snowdonia did not get this memo.) When a young woman’s body is discovered, Ruth is plunged into a case that is twisty, tense, and sprinkled with just enough emotional depth to keep you rooting for her as much as you’re trying to solve the mystery.
McCleave has a knack for short, snappy chapters that compulsively pull you along—like literary potato chips. The atmosphere is wonderfully wintry and eerie, the pacing brisk, and the detective duo of Ruth and her partner Nick is charmingly mismatched in all the best ways.
Is the book reinventing the crime-thriller wheel? No. But is it a thoroughly enjoyable, immersive, and occasionally heart-pounding ride through one of the most atmospheric regions in the UK? Absolutely.
A solid four stars—perfect for fans of twisty mysteries, Welsh landscapes, and crime fiction that doesn’t take itself too seriously while still delivering the suspense.
Simon McCleave is a multi million-selling crime novelist who lives in North Wales with his wife and two children.
Before he was an author, Simon worked as a script editor at the BBC and a producer at Channel 4 before working as a story analyst in Los Angeles. He then became a script writer, writing on series such as Silent Witness, The Bill, EastEnders and many more. His Channel 4 film Out of the Game was critically acclaimed and described as ‘an unflinching portrayal of male friendship’ by Time Out.
His first book, 'The Snowdonia Killings', was released in January 2020 and soon became an Amazon Bestseller, reaching No 1 in the UK Chart and selling over 400,000 copies. His twenty subsequent novels in the DI Ruth Hunter Snowdonia Series have all been Amazon bestsellers, with most of them hitting the top of the digital charts. He has sold over 3 million books to date.
‘The Dark Tide’, Simon’s first book in an Anglesey based crime series for publishing giant Harper Collins (Avon), was a major hit in 2022, becoming the highest selling Waterstone’s Welsh Book of the Month ever.
This year, Simon is releasing the first in a new series of books, ‘Marshal of Snowdonia’ with several more planned for 2025.
Simon has also written a one-off psychological thriller, Last Night at Villa Lucia, for Storm Publishing, which was a major hit, The Times describing it as ‘…well above the usual seasonal villa thriller…’ with its ‘…empathetic portrayal of lives spent in the shadow of coercion and abuse.’
The Snowdonia based DI Ruth Hunter books are now set to be filmed as a major new television series, with shooting to begin in North Wales in 2025.
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