VBT# The Midnight Killer - Jez Pinfold

VBT# The Midnight Killer - Book #3 DCI Bec Pope Series - Jez Pinfold - September 2025

I'll be honest—The Midnight Killer left me feeling conflicted, and I found myself having to push through to reach the final page. As someone who devours thrillers regularly, this was definitely a borderline 3Ps read for me.

The book opens with a promising premise: a young gay man is brutally murdered on his way home after celebrating a career promotion with colleagues. It's a visceral start that immediately grabbed my attention. However, the next scene introduces us to DCI Bec Pope, who's about to board a plane to New York City with her partner Alex and his children when duty calls.

Here's where I found myself nodding along with Alex's frustration—she's supposed to be on holiday! Like any reasonable person would ask: what if she'd already been on the plane? What if they were already in New York? Would the case really have fallen apart without her specifically? Sometimes the dedication to duty in crime fiction stretches believability, and this felt like one of those moments.

Once Pope arrives at the crime scene, the investigation takes an intriguing supernatural turn. The victim bears an inverted pentagram carved into his chest, leading the story down a rabbit hole of occult research and references to Aleister Crowley. As someone fascinated by the intersection of crime and the esoteric, I was genuinely interested to see where Jez Pinfold would take this angle.

Unfortunately, this is where The Midnight Killer completely lost me. When the killer's identity and motivation are finally revealed, I couldn't help but think: "Seriously? This is why that innocent man was murdered and mutilated?"

The motive felt frustratingly weak and underwhelming—hardly justifying the elaborate occult staging and brutal violence we'd witnessed throughout the book. As someone who reads extensively in this genre, I expect my endings to pack a punch, to make all the preceding darkness worthwhile. Instead, I felt genuinely let down by what felt like a lazy explanation for such extreme actions.

That said, Jez Pinfold did manage to redeem himself slightly with the final scene between Alex and Bec. Their relationship dynamic provided a much-needed emotional anchor that pulled me back from complete disappointment and reminded me why I'd invested in these characters.

While The Midnight Killer had moments of genuine intrigue and solid character work, the weak payoff ultimately overshadowed its strengths. For thriller fans seeking a satisfying conclusion, you might want to look elsewhere.

Amazon: https://amzn.to/4fqYlid