Mostly competent prose but an uninteresting plot and vapid characters led me to DNF after 8 chapters. Hard to say exactly what bothered me but I was making slow progress and as I sat down to try and read chapter 9 I just stared at it and realised I didn't care at all. There's nothing particularly obnoxious about this, it just doesn't have any sort of spark. ( )

Investigation of an apparent murder of wife by husband, but then ...
Good listen. ( )

Missing person Liz Knight is an old girlfriend from 30 years ago of DCI Craig Gillard. Then her husband goes missing. Gillard is put in charge of the case.
I admit to have a suspicion of the guilty party long time before the reveal.
But still an entertaining police procedural. ( )

Less than a third into the book I was pretty certain who had done what. And I was correct. ( )

his is an excellent British police procedural thriller, a bit on the hard-boiled side, with a surprising ending.

DCI Craig Gillard and his team are brought on to find the disappeared wife of an outspoken critic of the police. When body parts are discovered and the critic goes missing, an international manhunt for the critic begins. The critic is an elusive fugitive, much to the embarrassment of the police. A complication for DCI Gillard is that he once dated the missing woman, until she ended the relationship to marry the critic. His continuing strong feelings for her drive Gillard to solve the case.

There's an overlapping story about a missing teenager who was killed by persons unknown, several years before the main story . The critic speaks out about police bumbling and there's an antagonistic relationship between them. This storyline comes to a shocking conclusion too.

It's a busy book to read with many moving parts, but in the end the crime is solved and the loose ends are tied together.

Gillard is an interesting character and the only one that us really developed throughout the book. There are several supporting characters of interest but they play minor roles.

Louth is a talented writer who has created an intriguing story and presented it in an entertaining fashion. It's a superior police procedural novel and therefore I recommend it for readers who enjoy this genre.

I want to thank the publisher who provided me with a review copy through Netgalley in exchange for an independent review. ( )