The kind of British crime thriller that makes you feel like you’re right there in the passenger seat, along for the ride. And what a ride it is!
It’s been far too long since I read something like this, and I’d forgotten how much I love it. It’s the kind of gritty, detailed crime thriller that just pulls you so far in that it’s difficult to take a step away. The plot revolves around a missing woman, shortly followed by her missing husband, and the grisly crime that slowly reveals as we try to learn what has happened to them…
Nick Louth is an expert writer, and he must have done a ton of research! He gets down to (what feels to me like) every single facet of British police procedure, and has a fully developed, three-dimensional character for every single role and purpose you need along the way. It’s fascinating and it does a great job of pulling you in.
Reading this actually made me miss living in the UK, because it’s so vivid and detailed it pulled me right back to that place. I lived in Southampton for half a decade, and it was almost as if I could smell the smells and hear the sounds as I delved deeper into this book. (God I wish I could go back there right now – it’s been far too long since I’ve been!)
DCI Craig Gillard is an awesome character – but if I had to find issues with this book (and, yeah I really have to look for them), it’s that I didn’t much care for him being such a ladies man. The sex and romance always felt kind of forced and pointless in a crime novel that had so much going for it anyway, and I just kept wanting him to be done with it and get back to investigating. But hey, we all have our vices. In the end it makes him human and relatable.
I can see myself reading a lot more of Nick Louth – and if you’re into gritty British crime thrillers, then I highly suggest you do give them a chance too!
Trey Stone, Author 
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