A straightforward, plot-driven British procedural.
Detective Inspector Vincent Swann transfers to a new police unit in Manchester. His first major assignment with the team begins with the discovery of a murdered young woman in a skip. She has been beaten so badly that her identity is a mystery. In addition, pram tracks nearby indicate that a child may have been on the scene. Once the team knows this woman's name, they are faced with some real issues as she was the wife of one of the two main gangsters in town and they have to determine if this incident was retaliation or the start of a war between the Pikes and the Fishers. Instead, they find that there is someone else involved and other dynamics at work.
This was a well written and complicated homicide procedural with lots of red herrings and suspects. The story follows standard investigative protocols, following forensic evidence, timeline reconstructions, and witness interviews without straying into dramatics. The characters, especially Vincent Swann and fellow DI Kat Jardine (both vying for promotion within the unit), were well developed and quite interesting. Opposites in many ways, Vincent private and reserved as well as antisocial, and Kat, who is much more outgoing and definitely equal to the tasks, find their way as they navigate the twists and turns the case takes. The pace was steady and maintains a grounded focus as they work.
I was able to listen to the audio book while also following along in the e-book ARC, both provided by the publisher. The narrator, Orlando Wells, did a fine job of voicing all the characters though this definitely would have benefited with a female actor to take on the roles of those women characters. His voice matched the pacing and was appropriately dramatic. This created a nice immersive reading experience that I recommend.
This is the first in a new series.
Genre and tags: British police procedural, murder, rival gangs, drugs, child abduction, family problems
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