Thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was a very intense read at times but I wanted to keep reading it to see what happened. I look forward to reading book 2 and wish there were more in the series. ( )

I've read all of Fiona McIntosh's fantasy work - and loved every one of her novels. I was interested in how she'd make the change to another genre - and she has done a fabulous job!

It all began in Brighton 30 years ago. Now there is a killer on the loose. Scotland Yard’s brightest talent is chosen to head up the high-profile taskforce, a DCI who must confront his own past as the body count rises.

There are few leads and Jack Hawksworth can only fall back on instinct and decades-old cold cases for any clue to the killer’s motive … and identity.

With his most loyal team member threatening to betray him, a Chief Inspector pushing for results, a hungry British media clamouring for information, and a restless public eager for a conviction, the high-pressure operation inevitably ends in a final shocking confrontation. ( )

http://www.austcrimefiction.org/node/2249 ( )

Three months after Mike Sherriff of Louth was found brutally murdered in Lincoln, another man is found dead in Hackney Marshes in a public toilet. Both men are in their early 40s. The MO for these otherwise unconnected but grisly murders appears to be the same. Scotland Yard is putting together a high level taskforce to deal with both cases under DCI Jack Hawksworth. Jack gets to choose his own team called Operation Danube and their headquarters will be on the 12th floor of Tower block overlooking the Thames.

There are interesting tensions in the members of the Operation Danube team: Kate Carter, as sharp as a tack, holds a real torch for Hawksworth, despite the fact that she is engaged to be married. Kate sees any other female as a rival and almost stalks Hawksworth after hours. She particularly sees DS Sarah Jones, a rather dowdy young woman who is an expert on HOLMES, as a threat to the boss's good books. Jack Hawksworth himself appears to have a history of flouting the rules.

This is a very long book, and I feel that it really needed some judicious editing, to bring it down from 500 pages to a more manageable size. It took quite a while to get going, even though there were 2 murders in close succession. However the various threads are brought together well, and the scenarios are quite believable. The final denouement, from the point where we put the pieces together (about 150 pages from the end), to final conclusion is just too long and really tempted me to skim read. Having said that there is no doubt that Lauren Crow should write another, but I'm not sure I want a sequel to this one. I like Kate Carter but wasn't really too taken with the character of Jack Hawksworth.

Lauren Crow is an Australian author quite well known for her fantasy fiction under the name of Fiona McIntosh. ( )