Worse Than Murder by Michael Wood review: A series that goes from strength to strength

Worse Than Murder by Michael Wood: The review

You better believe I dropped everything when the ebook appeared on my Kindle. I’ve been waiting a year for the next instalment of Matilda Darke, and this absolutely didn’t disappoint.

Worse Than Murder by Michael Wood is the thirteenth book in the Matilda Darke series, a police procedural that revolves around Darke, a detective inspector in the South Yorkshire Police. She’s a strong and formidable detective inspector who you wouldn’t want to mess with, and she’s solved some of the toughest crimes to ever cross South Yorkshire Police, sending some of Yorkshire’s most notorious criminals to prison. At the same time, she’s still incredibly human: she loves, she laughs, she cries. She’s been through tumultuous times. She’s lost loved ones. She’s a deep, richly developed character, and in every instalment of Wood’s series, I come to love her even more.

I basically have Michael and Matilda to thank for reigniting my love of reading. I discovered the first Matilda Darke book in 2023, and went on to devour every other book of Michael’s as quickly as possible. It rekindled my adoration of gripping stories and began my love affair with dark thrillers – it wasn’t long before this that I was reading pretty much exclusively women’s fiction.

I will never stop singing the praises of this series, and after thirteen books, it’s just as strong as ever. Worse Than Murder follows on from the events of the book before, with Matilda having suffered a personal tragedy and a tough time in the South Yorkshire Police. With everything finally being too much for her, she’s run away to hide out in the Lake District. She hasn’t told anyone where she is, and that’s the way she likes it. If you’re familiar with the series, you’ll know the family she’s staying with, and it’s been very nice to know more about the Meagans on a more personal level.

Matilda’s inner turmoil forms the backbone for Worse Than Murder, and getting to see another side of her other than the powerful, unshakable detective we know her to be, is both moving and poignant. That’s particularly true if you’re a long-time reader of the series: to me, Matilda feels like a friend, and my heart broke for what she’s going through.

But that’s not all Worse Than Murder has for us. Matilda might not be acting in an official capacity as DCI over the course of the book, but she still manages to find herself involved in a case. Upon meeting local PC Alison Pemberton, Mat learns of a 30-year-old cold case: Alison’s twin sisters disappeared in the early 1990s and were never found. Alison knows of Matilda’s track record, and she turns to her as a last resort. As much as she tries to resist, ultimately Matilda can’t help herself – and when a storm unearths some important evidence from the bottom of Lake Windermere, she’s all in.

The Pemberton case presents a gripping narrative all of its own with plenty of twists and turns to keep you reading, even if you aren’t invested in Matilda and her personal story. It’s cleverly paced and well thought-out, and some key moments are genuinely shocking.

But would I recommend it as a standalone novel? It’s hard to imagine reading this without having read the twelve books that come before it, and being so invested in Matilda. I think it’s possible though: the individual case in Worse Than Murder is fleshed out enough that it works very well by itself. But jumping in here means you’ll miss out on so much of Matilda’s backstory. There are lots of references to events and characters from earlier in the series that will go over your head, too. Essentially, character development, history and overarching plot points are so important to the series that I urge you to start from the beginning (For Reasons Unknown). You won’t regret it.