Sleep Tight: from the Sunday Times bestseller comes a gripping new thriller, the debut in a new crime series with a twist (Rose Gifford series, Book 1): A DC Rose Gifford Thriller

WOW Sleep Tight by C.S. Green (Cass Green) was a fast paced supernatural detective crime thriller which I thoroughly enjoyed and could not put it down until I had finished reading it.This is book 1 of DC Rose Gifford and I have previously read book 2 initially but it did not matter as one can read it them both as stand alone books.Detective Constable Rose Gifford along with Detective Sergeant Colin Mackie investigate the deaths of women which was leaked to the press as "Sleeping Beauty Sex Game Murders." The victims all suffered from parasominias which are also known as night terrors and feel as though their nightmares are really happening. Women are getting gaslighted by a person in dark clothes at night whilst they are in their own beds. Also a post card showing a picture of a demon sitting on top of the woman's chest whilst she was alseep and was painted in 1781 known as the nightmare was left in each victim's home as a calling card.The mystery is that all the victims homes were fully secured so no one could have gained access. Some deaths looked like SAD adult cot death syndrome but in actual fact they were suffocated.The supernatural theory comes into play later on in the book when Rose meets with an informant called Kenny Wiggins who uses astral projection to gain information for the police. Kenny is an ecentric character and he brings some humour into this story.DC Rose Gifford is head hunted by DS Mooney who runs a secret department called UCIT which is likened to the X Files. It was initially set up by a former Chief Superintendent called Henry Tolhurst whose wife and child had disappeared one night whilst he was sleeping in the house at the time and when they could not be found he later committed suicide and left his inheritence to set up UCIT.

This was a straight forward murder mystery until about half way through the book when suddenly it became a bit X-Files meets The Sixth Sense.Nevertheless, it was an interesting read, with a good cast of characters.

DC Rose Gifford, a young police officer, sees ghosts but doesn’t want to believe they are real. She has a secret she can’t share with anyone involving her dead mother and is struggling to hold it together. Then the case she’s investigating - the victims are insomniacs with night terrors - gets decidedly spooky…Sleep Tight creeped me out in places, I’ll admit, and when the inexplicable happenings began, I couldn’t read it anywhere close to bedtime! Ms Green has created a fascinating blend of highly realistic police procedure with a verging on supernatural element that could put certain hard-nosed crime readers off, but for me made the novel memorable and compelling.I much enjoyed the atmospheric details all through the novel and Rose is a character to root for with vulnerability alongside determination and strength of character. I loved the descriptions of the hidden police department especially, complete with that tea lady and her trolley… Will be keenly following the adventures of DC Gifford in book 2 of the series.

DC Rose Gifford and her team are baffled. A young woman has been murdered in a room that is locked from the inside. The investigation is heading nowhere when the utterly bizarre DS Sheila Moony shows up. She works for UCIT, a police division that goes under the cover of compliance but in reality investigates crimes with a paranormal element.The flawed but wonderfully human Rose stumbles from one disaster to the next; her career, her love life and even her house seem to be collapsing around her. So when her ice-maiden of a boss wants her moved to UCIT, she had no option but to go. Rose soon finds herself embroiled in a case where she becomes more that just the investigation officer.

Rose was a lovely character, who evolved as the story unfolded. I loved the hint of menace and am eagerly waiting for the next instalment!

I quite liked this although I didn't find it scary or spooky or whatever. What drew me in were the characters rather than the plot, Rose was easy to like and her guardedness about her nan/mother's dodgy lifestyle was understandable. Her own shame at her psychic abilities also made sense to me. Her colleagues were likeable too, even her less than friendly boss was fine, not a tyrant just fragile in some areas like the rest of us.I'm looking forward to finding out more about the UCIT team, especially Moony. And Rose's journey as she finally begins to accept herself and her abilities is enough to keep my interest - at least for the next one or two. That's what I like about character-driven stories: it doesn't matter if the plot is a bit dull, it's the characters that keep you engaged.As for the plot... Well it was a bit different but ultimately I found it rather flat. Maybe it was the grimness of the surroundings, or the fact that the bad guy didn't give me a single shiver. It was like The Bill mixed up with a Pound Shop version of the X-Files, with no real sense of rising tension except right at the very end - which is a bit late to ratchet up the pressure imo.But the characters saved it for me. I will definitely give the next couple a go and hope the author's skill with creating likeable characters will stretch to creating scary baddies and plots that keep you up all night.

I really enjoyed reading this. The plot was detailed but not overly complicated. It was very clever how everything tied up. The balance between conventional and 'unusual' was really well handled so that the story remained convincing all the way through. I loved the way that you feel there is a lot more to learn about Rose's backstory. Looking forward to the next book!

Super fun paranormal police thriller with strong female characters. I’m looking forward to book two - I’ve downloaded it already.