I started a new series today.  Yup… another one!   A British police procedural (my favorite kind) set in the Pennine foothills of northern England on the outskirts of Manchester.

The story follows an investigation into what is perceived to be a serial murder.  Both victims are young thugs/criminals who spend their time on a low income housing estate selling drugs and worse.  The Hobfield estate holds out little optimism for the youth who live there.  They all seem sullen and antagonistic towards police. Their future looks grim.

Can the murderer perchance be getting rid of the trash?

The Detective Inspector on the case is Tom Calladine.  He is in his early fifties, a workaholic, and a bit of a womanizer with commitment phobia.  He has a steady ‘girl-friend’ whom he doesn’t love, and an elderly mother in a nursing home. An old-fashioned copper who works on his instincts, his views are not always popular with the higher ups.  Also, he has some family history that precludes him from rising any farther up the ranks…

Tom’s second in command is Rachel Bayliss.  She always has his back and looks out for his personal life as well, though not in a romantic way.  (at least not yet)

The setting is the village of Leesdon, but the author has taken some artistic liberties to enhance the novel.

Village of Leesdon

The brutal and hideous crimes against the bodies of the two victims make Tom believe he is NOT dealing with the usual gang war.  This is someone who takes a personal pleasure in meting out retribution.

When a beautiful and overly ambitious young journalist is contacted by the killer, she goes to Calladine with her knowledge.  She agrees to hold back what she knows temporarily so as not to hinder the investigation.

Written with skill and in-depth characterization, this is just the kind of mystery I love to read.  That being said, I must warn you that the novel is graphically violent and is not for the squeamish.

I will definitely follow the Calladine and Bayliss series – and I’m already anticipating the next titles “Dead silent” , “Dead list“, and “Dead lost“.

Thanks to Joffe Books via NetGalley for providing me with the digital ARC of the novel in exchange for this unbiased review.

Helen H. Durrant is one of the ‘baby boomer’ generation. She was born in Edinburgh to an English father and Scottish mother. Her father was from the North West of England and this was where the family settled.

Helen knows the area well, both the good and the bad. It was a no brainer that she should set her books there. Sitting between two counties, Lancashire and Yorkshire, and between the city and the hills, the area offers a rich mix of the industrial and the countryside and all the character therein. She always planned to write crime novels – to create the characters in her books. When she retired from a busy teaching job in FE, this was exactly what she did –almost to exclusion of anything else!

When not writing Helen is kept busy with her grown up family, particularly her five grandchildren. They see her as something of an eccentric – always on her laptop writing away. Writing is a very enjoyable second career. Despite having a bus pass, it keeps her, young and tuned into current events. In her spare time she is a birdwatcher.