Rachel McClean came to my attention last year with the Deadly…. Series of books set in Birmingham.
Since then she has been writing the Dorset Crime series, which is a spin-off from the Deadly Series with one of the bit-part characters from the original series taking a the lead role, with another book set in Scotland also heavily featuring one of the characters from Birmingham
This book is a return to the Deadly series with DI Zoe Finch and her team from Force CID investigating the suspicious death of a man found in Birmingham’s German Christmas Market.
The investigation leads them into the different worlds, Birmingham’s Homeless and the war crimes of the Yugoslavian Conflicts.
The team are soon battling over ownership of the investigation with the Home Office taking over.
But that’s the least of Zoe’s problems. She needs a new DS and she doesn’t like, or trust, the one she’s given.
They have history and Zoe is not convinced it’s resolved.
DS Kaur had been part of the Professional Standards Team that had included Zoe in the investigation into corruption in the Force. She was completely innocent, and had even been helping to gather evidence against the corrupt officers but Kaur really pushed her buttons.
Now Zoe is suspicious of why she’s been placed in the team.
The Deadly……. Series has always had a “Line of Duty” vibe running through, it continues to run in this book. It’s an excellent undercurrent to an already brilliant story.
I would never have thought that such a prolific writer, over a relatively short time, could produce such good books, but these are some of the best books I’m reading at the moment.
Pages: 292. Publisher: Ackroyd Publishing. Available now
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