As you know, I’m a huge fan of Katerina Diamond’s books, I’ve reviewed her books for The Sun in the past, and I was excited to read this new one because the two main characters-Detectives Adrian Miles & Imogen Grey-have almost become like friends as the books have gone on, and I was excited to see how they were getting on!

There is always the danger that as a series of books continues, the author may struggle to keep momentum, but not in this case, Diamond is such a master story-teller that my heart was in my mouth by the time I got to the end of chapter 1, and I don’t think my blood pressure lowered until I read the very last word.

Miles finds a woman’s body in the water and their only lead is a local construction company owner, whose name crops up more than once in their investigations. However, they don’t seem to be getting anywhere-no-one will talk. As the investigation continues, it affects Miles more than he thought it would. This causes the relationship between both of the officers to become fragmented: Grey thinks that Miles isn’t acting objectively because of his past, and Miles vehemently disagrees, which in turn makes him question everything about their relationship up to this point. Then something happens which changes his perspective for good.

This absolute thriller of a book deals with some uncomfortable issues, I can’t say what, as it is pivotal to the plot, but what I can say is that Katerina Diamond, despite this being fiction, writes with an intense sensitivity which enables the reader to feel extreme sympathy-and in some cases, empathy-with the characters and their situations. What she has done so successfully with this story, is to highlight that mental cruelty is as dangerous as physical harm in relationships, and that either alone or combined, they can have serious consequences. For that, I commend her for her understanding and skilled ability to tackle serious subjects without dumbing them down or doing them a disservice.

Just a fantastic read-her best yet!

5⭐️