A day out with his family turns into a busman’s holiday for DI McKay when he stumbles across the body of a man. To compound matters further, whilst on their trip, his brother-in-law, disappears and is later found dead, seemingly after an accidental fall. Meanwhile, DCI Grant has problems of her own after an online date turns sour. Sensing that something is not quite right with the man she has just met, her fears are realised when she starts to receive abusive texts from an unknown number. In a case involving murder and human trafficking, McKay has to come to terms that someone close to him has been keeping secrets.

I did not realise that this was part of a series before I began reading, and while there are some things referred to, seemingly from previous books, I did not feel that I was hindered in any way by not knowing what had gone before. The plot was easy to follow and I found myself developing an understanding of the established characters quite early in the book.

The plot is a complex one with several story lines running concurrently and it soon becomes apparent that there is a connection between the body found by McKay and the death of his brother-in-law. Similarly, we also see a link emerging between these cases and that of Grant’s disastrous online date. This was the part of the story I enjoyed the most, and I particularly liked the scene in the restaurant when Grant and her friend came to the rescue of another unsuspecting woman who was out on a date with the detective’s stalker. Girl power at its finest!

Trafficking is featured as part of the plot, and it is in these scenes where I encountered my favourite character, Jana. My heart went out to this woman who, unlike the other women, has an inkling as to what is happening due to her understanding of the English language. Her story is an incredibly sad one and each time I read part of her story, I willed her to get away and start a new life for herself…

Throughout the book, I was trying to figure out who could be behind the murders and when the reveal happened, it was definitely not what I was expecting! This was a clever plot twist and one that I enjoyed very much. This is definitely a series that I will be catching up on!

With thanks to Bloodhound Books at to Heather Fitt for organising the publication day party!