The Cleansing (DCI Tom Caton Manchester Murder Mysteries Series Book 1)

I've been enjoying the National Crime Agency series so thought I'd give this one a whirl.I can't say I was that impressed. If there's one pet hate I have in thrillers it is authors who introduce us to the bad guy at the beginning. So that was a black mark straightaway. I didn't find the baddie believable and the climax, especially when he starts singing his little song, I found rather comical. Not a good thing for a thriller.I like Tom Caton as a character and the author does do a good job with his heroes and good guys, but the story I found slow and boring. There were some annoying bits too. E.g. Why didn't they make the link to the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse sooner? Is it just me who found that an obvious clue?I'd already bought the next 1 in the series so I'll probably try it at some point. If these stories don't improve I won't buy any more. £2.22 is too much.

I was amazed that the high ratings were for the same book that I was reading.I got as far as the 2nd chapter, and lost the interest to continue. I was amazed that an author could let his story get so bogged down, so early, it was soul destroying.So what happened in 2nd chapter, basically nothing. We left the station to go to the crime scene, we didn’t just leave and then arrive, we were given a running commentary of every road, street etc, from A - B. Then when at the destination we were dragged down by a mind boggling, description of every square inch of the area.If a book needs so much waffle to fill pages, so early, it does not bode well for what was to follow.

I did not take to DCI Caton at all. The premise of the story was all right but nothing spectacular, the descriptions of Manchester etc became rather tedious after a while and did not add to the story, they felt tacked on or used as padding. As this was the author's first attempt and I see there are several other books now in the series perhaps things have improved. Editing was poor in places as others have pointed out. I don't think I would want to read anything else by this author.

This is a great debut. Victims are appearing at Council run landmarks. The killer wants to be caught on CCTV. Tom has to figure out what is going on. Who is Albert Stephen and why does he hate the Council? Why is he cleansing the city?I thought this was a great debut. Lots of good buildable characters, a good strong story line to keep each page turning! i am glad there are others in this series!

This was my first DCI Caton book and I enjoyed reading it and have bought another to read as a consequence (Head Case).The characters are varied and refreshing with Tom Caton being far from the stereotypical hard drinking and womanising DCI which is the usual fare in this role.The story opens as expected with a murder but this one is a bit different with the perpetrator in fancy dress and making little attempt to hide their deed, this causes the panic button to be pressed in the fear of an unbalanced potential serial killer being on the loose, a profiler is brought in and the storyline develops at a fast pace and the team are well developed as individual characters.As the investigation and profiling continue so does the killer moving towards his own end-game with a fitting finale played out to a large audience.I would definately recommend this book, it helped me to pass a couple of long train trips very quickly indeed.

First let me say that I thought Tom was gay, Sorry, I know it's a stereotype and apologies to all of said gender. But, he's immaculately dressed, has a pristine flat (he throws his banana peel straight in the bin for goodness sake) & is part of a book club with several male friends. Not your usual scruffy, drunken, divorced/separated flawed cop. Wait though, there is something in his background - he has regular nightmares & he wakes up in a cold sweat. It's a teaser though, we don't find out all the details. Back to the plot. The 'crime' is quite extraordinary, who is stupid enough to miss the baddie going about his business? The explanations however, I found to be plausible. And you don't have to wait 'til the very end for the how & whys? The background detail of Manchester instead of London is refreshing. I know I haven't given any detail of the plot. I really don't like spoiling your read.Mr Roger's writing is sharp - I don't think there is an unnecessary word in the book. I hope I'm not disappointed by the next book, which I will definitely be reading. I don't believe there can be higher praise than a reader eager for more.

An interesting novel, and notably adept for a debut. The characterisation was a little on the wooden side, and Rogers' attempts to give his protagonist depth by referring to his book clubs, musical tastes and visits to the gym perversely served more to heighten his two dimensional aspects. He was more successful with the hints about Caton's personal tragedy in the past, with fleeting references to the loss of his parents, that did serve to render some depth to him.The procedural aspects of the police operation were covered well and the plot, though straining credibility in places, showed good planning. Not the most dynamic or gripping novel I have read this year, but I was sufficiently impressed to look for his other books.

First read of Bill Rogers and a pleasant surprise.I moved to Greater Manchester 15 years ago and have found a vibrant city, full of character and diversity and every bit as metropolitan as the author describes. Rogers clearly loves this place and his willingness to weave the city throughout his plot is great. I felt that I had travelled every inch with Tom Caton and his colleagues.I am ready to continue the journey with the author, his characters and their work in this wonderful place that is Manchester.

It's hard to rate a book you've enjoyed but still found difficult to get through. The original synopsis for the book was a little misleading in saying someone dressed as a clown was killing in Manchester, or words to that effect. Yes, he was dressed as a clown - but for the first murder only. When the second one came around you would expect him to don the clown costume again and leave his mark once again. But he did not. Especially disappointing since a whole rigmarole was spent in investigations that lead to a delivery of a clown costume, making it seem a significant part of the story. But it didn't amount to anything more than that. That aside, however, my biggest problem with the book was the fact that it was far too wordy. The author went into too much description about things where I felt fewer words were needed. When they visited Soaper's apartment I had to wonder if Caton was in the market for an investment property, the way every room and its furnishings were described. It was redundant. Dialogue and character thoughts trump furnishings. I'm reading a murder mystery, not a prospectus for inner city living.But in all having said that, I did enjoy the book. I merely skimmed over the "too wordy" areas and concentrated on what I felt was more in line with the story. I did enjoy the relationship between Caton and Kate, and was pleased that there no descriptive focus on the bedroom. Again, this is a murder mystery not a Mills and Boon, so I was pleased on that score. They had good chemistry and flirting, but it wasn't overdone.Three stars I think is fair, though I would lean towards three and a half, but not enough for four. There are many more books I've read and enjoyed a whole lot more worthy of a four, so three is fair.

My second book by Bill Rogers, but not my last. I have bought two more as I find the stories believable and fast. You feel as though you know Manchester by the descriptions given of each building or street. Keep up the good work. Hope the other stories are as good as the two I have read.

Never having read any of Bill Rogers books before I was pleasantly surprised to find out how good it was. I especially loved it as I was born in Manchester but have lived most of my life in Australia, so his descriptions of the city were very familiar to me.I thought his descriptions of the regular characters were excellent and I look forward to purchasing more of the books in the DCI Tom Caton series. I particular liked the twist in the tale with the surprise ending of the fate of the murderer.

I will be reading more books by this author It would be good to read a "catch up" book explaining some things alluded to. It felt sometimes as if this was a second or third book, not no. 1 in a series.

Overall very much enjoyed this writer. Had not read anything by him previous to this and was much impressed with his writing style. In particular, in this novel, plotting, characterization and dialogue were well done.Always a pleasure to read a mystery written for "adults".

An excellent murder mystery with a different feeling than most of the genre. Interesting and engaging characters, detailed understanding of police procedures which adds an air of authenticity and tension to the story.

and had I realised this before I bought the book, I would have avoided it. As it was I gave it a go, but no, whatever it had eluded me and I gave up.

I didn't finish reading the book. There was too much about individual Senators, which was incredibly boring. Not enough story to keep one 's interest.

I'm only reserving stars because the crime aspect was surprisingly without suspense or tension. True, the serial crimes were heinous but non-violent. (If that sounds impossible, trust me not to spoil the plot.) I actually felt sorry for the killer as all eventually unfolded. The clues were there, no red-herring ploy - but there was no "aha moment." And so as a mystery, I didn't get the page-turning aspect I wanted. On the other hand, the book was well written, the characters fleshed out enough to be interesting, and some social issues were well handled. Unlike other reviewers, I did not mind the Manchester tour:) I also had no quibble with the Kindle edition mentioned by others, so, perhaps, it has now been cleaned up. DCI Caton is the main, continuing, character in this first book, and he is mildly interesting if a little ordinary - divorced, early middle-aged, devoted to "the job." The love interest is a profiler; that combo has been done to death - no pun intended - but they do seem a good pair. The best news is that the entire 8-book series is available on Kindle, so if you get hooked, you can shop and shop. I plan to continue with the series and see where this all leads. In fairness to Bill Rogers, most procedurals do focus on the police team with the crimes being somewhat secondary, but I do hope he ramps up the suspense in the next books.

My first exposure to Bill Rogers’ Tom Caton series was a sample of “A Trace of Blood.” I was surprised to find the first part placed in Manchester, New Hampshire rather than Manchester, England, and doubly surprised to find the New England Yankees in the story speaking broad Britlish, saying that the paperwork would be “sorted” and describing a traffic incident as hit-and-skip. The American phrases would be “taken care of” and “hit-and-run.” But, of course, most of the series is placed in England, and you don’t have to know what a “sausage barm” is to follow the language.It is best to read them in order, as another reviewer said, as there is a gentle and pleasant love story that emerges gradually from one novel to the next. Individually, most of the novels are badly edited, with commas and quotation marks occurring pretty much at random, but they are not as bad as many Amazon e-books, and two are quite clean. The proofreader gets a much deserved acknowledgement in those books.The plots are a bit formulaic, but it is a pretty good formula. The reader has to sit through some fairly dull police team meetings (in which background information is revealed) but the stories are gripping at the minor and major climaxes. The characters are well drawn and round enough that one can care about them, especially after one has read two or three of the series. Some of the villains and the action are a bit over the top, but that’s in the nature of the genre. All in all (to quote a Cockney friend of mine) “good value f’money.”

3 and 1/2 stars. This book kept my interest, but was lacking in something. The writing is fine, but it sort of plodded along. I didn't mind the references to Manchester as a great city. It's obvious that the writer really loves the city - and that's okay. The punctuation and grammatical errors were a little distracting, but the plot moved along steadily. Tom meets Kate in this story. (Since I read the books out of order, I knew it was coming.) A man dresses up as a clown, taunting the police in front of the CCTV camera. The book lost me at one point, but I found the path once again. A little predictable in places, but still good writing and I will read more of Mr. Rogers' books.

One of the first crime novels I have read involving the English authorities and have already ordered another book by Rogers. Once you figure out some of the "English terms" the story gets even more interesting. Like some of the TV crime series on the PBS channel the stories tend to be much more realistic. Not just half the book filled up with shootouts and fights. Great characters and a story line. Looking forward to another Rogers book.

In this mainly self-published line of mysteries, the plots are decent; the stories are fairly interesting, and the copy errors are only occasional. They're decent, not great, but worth a read when there's nothing else to do and you have time for a book or three.

A pleasant read but takes some side trips that are more like travelogues with no plot impact. I speed read through those. If I ever visit those areas I will take this book along as a travel aide. The ending was worth the plodding through to get there. Read this book to set the table for the next ones. Book # 2 is very good as is Book # 3. Be willing to read the added fluff in this one quickly. Better things await..

Most description seems forced, overly academic. Language choices show signs of misuse of the thesaurus. Conversation is often stilted. Word