4.5 stars

Don’t Look Behind You is a thoroughly engaging novel written by Brit Grit Lit master Mel Sherratt. This book is #2 in the Eden Berrisford series and even better than the first. I love Mel Sherratt because of her success in melding gritty crime fiction with “gritty women’s fiction.” The mix is terrific. I also like that she sets all of her stories in Stockleigh, England, with a bit of overlapping of her characters from other books. And how can I not mention (again) how engaging I find her use of the local language. Don’t worry, you do not have to be an expert of British English; you can glean the meaning of any strictly British words from the context in which it is written.

We learn more about Eden in this installment. She has a tough side as do many of the policewomen protagonists these days. But she also has a very soft side, which is endearing. She has a close, respectful relationship with her team members, all of who seem to be pretty happy, well-adjusted people—something you don’t see that much in police procedurals. I am interested in seeing how these characters evolve in future books.

The story moves along nicely with short crisp chapters. There is a good deal of suspense relating to a number of characters being in dangerous relationships in addition to an attacker of young women being on the loose. I liked that Ms. Sherratt provides each of the victims with a little backstory that makes the reader root a little more fervently for the baddie to be apprehended. Also, the author throws in some nice twists to shake things up. I missed the book when I had to tend to real life and couldn’t wait to get back to it.

I loved the fact that one of the arcs involved the goings on at a woman’s refuge.

If I were in a position to make a minor suggestion to the author, I would propose adding a few more pages to the wrap-up as I felt tying everything up was a tad rushed. I will say though that everything did come together well, and I found the epilogue to be a real plus. Loved the last line of the book.

Speaking of epilogues, I’m going to make a general statement about prologues. I have heard that authors are often told not to use prologues. I have no idea why that recommendation is made as I think prologues are a terrific way to pull a reader hard and fast into the story. Ms. Sherratt reeled me right in using this method in Don’t Look Behind You. So, all you authors out there, keep those prologues coming!

Mel Sherratt remains one of my very favorite go-to authors. I highly recommend her Eden Berrisford series to all readers of crime fiction, especially those who like a lot of characterization and a bit of focus on social issues. Next please, Mel. XO

Thank you to Net Galley, Bookouture, and Ms. Mel Sherratt for an advanced copy of this novel. All opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way.

Thanks Netgalley.
This is the first book i have read by Mel Sherratt - and wow - its a good un! I was super impressed by her writing, the book flowed nice and easily and had me gripped from start to finish. The story is about abused women and when several are brutally attacked its up to Eden Berrisford to get to the bottom of it. We meet Carla who runs a home for abused women - she herself is struggling in her own personal life - worrying that an ex boyfriend will come looking for her now he's out of prison. The story itself twists and turns and involves several strong characters. Its a brilliant read. What are you waiting for! Get reading!

So I want to start this review not with an overview of the story but with a comment on the tagline "He destroyed your life once. Now he's back to do it again." because I don't think it - or the overview above - do this book justice. They suggest this is the story of one woman at risk from one man, a popular theme in the books I read at the moment and I have to say that it caught my eye when requesting. These books tend to follow a pattern though that Don't Look Behind You doesn't, which for me was a welcome change and a nice surprise.

What it is does have in common with other books is men's behaviour towards women, how it can often be violent and how abuse isn't always physical but emotional, with the effects lasting long after the violence stops or a relationship ends. It's a powerful topic that leads to a powerful book, one that doesn't just entertain as a police procedural / piece of crime writing but makes you pause and think about how much more commonplace attacks on women, by strangers as partners, might be and how hard it is for them to stay safe and live full lives afterwards, lives not shrouded in fear.

Sherratt shows it here with two stories running side by side. The first is Detective Eden Berrisford's search for a man attacking young women on their way home at night; the attacks are escalating and she needs to figure out who is responsible before someone ends up dead. The second focuses on Carla, who works at a women's refuge but is also in hiding from her ex-husband Ryan, recently released from prison and out for revenge, blaming her for putting him there despite the fact that he had nearly killed her before he was arrested.

Both stories are compelling and well plotted, alternating in chapters and occasionally crossing over into each other. Because Eden knows Carla through her own work with the shelter she is the common theme running through each but I liked that I heard Carla's voice too. She is a strong women with a sad history who is trying to rebuild her life - I admired her and wanted her to be happy and safe.

Each story could have probably been expanded into books in their own right but they did work well together and I didn't find it distracting or difficult to move between the two. I did wonder if they would come together in a big twist at the end and was quite happy when they didn't because I think that would have spoilt it and the conclusion to both was just right.

For me, it was much more satisfying than my first outing with Eden (and the first book to feature her) The Girls Next Door, where I struggled with some of the characters. Here, I didn't have any of those problems so was able to settle in and enjoy the book and get to know Eden, who I think could become a firm favourite of mine - and not just because she wears doc martins (the best footwear ever) and drives a scooter (the coolest thing ever).

She is kind, caring, passionate about her job but there is a darker side too potentially, one that is hinted at when she and her daughter are threatened and I do wonder if that will come out in future books? There definitely seemed to be some teasers for what might happen next in her life in this book that I can't wait to see develop.

I said at the beginning of this post that it was the tag line that caught my eye but it wasn't the main or only reason. The other was Mel Sherratt, whose books I really enjoy and who is probably starting to rank as a favourite author. Her books have all the elements I love - crime, drama, twist, turns and strong female characters. They are well written, well plotted and keep me turning pages. I never know quite what to expect and I have - so far - always been pleased with what I've gotten. You can't ask for more than that from an author or a book really, leaving me liking this one a lot.

This book is incredibly written and the characters startlingly realistic. It shows the disturbingly dark world of domestic abuse. While the crimes themselves are not gratuitous, the aftermath is. The story is heart wrenching but shows the ability of a person to go from a victim to a survivor. This is a book that reaches into your soul.

Been looking forward to reading this soon book, second in the Eden Berrisford series, and it did not disappoint, great characters and a gripping storyline.

Having greatly enjoyed The Girls Next Door, the first novel in this new strand by Mel Sherratt, I was very pleased to receive a copy of the follow-up, Don't Look Behind You. In the first story, the detective Eden Berrisford was closely involved in a crime which involved members of her own family. Here we see her working in a less personally affected way and we are able to admire her skill as a clever and compassionate policewoman. The violence rendered unto the female victims at the hands of their abusers is shocking and vividly portrayed but only adds to the power of this superb book.

I read this book in one sitting and finished it at 2.11.am. It is the second in the Eden Berrisford series and is brilliant. Eden is leading a team who are trying to catch a serial attacker who is targeting young woman, his violence has no bounds and no one should feel safe. She is also still involved in the local refuge where local women can escape domestic violence which is something she has had to deal with many times. I love the insight into her personal life and also the banter she shares within her team. All in all an exceptional read, can't wait for the next in the series.

DON’T LOOK BEHIND YOU by talented author Mel Sherratt, is the second book in the Eden Berrisford crime series and as I loved the first book in the series, The Girls Next Door, I couldn’t wait to start this one. Don't Look Behind You did not disappoint…and will appeal to all lovers of crime thrillers/police procedurals. I actually enjoyed this one even more. I would recommend reading the books in order to appreciate the growth development of the main characters.

Once again, we touch base with protagonist, Detective Sergeant Eden Berrisford, a gutsy strong female detective, who takes her job seriously, as team leader of “The Community Intelligence Team”, under the direction of Sean Whittaker of The Major Crimes Team. Her team consists of two Detective Constables; Jordan Ashcroft (29), and Amy Nicholls (26), who will be getting married soon. There is a new detective, Phil Sillitoe (49) who is on temporary assignment to the team, but has a chip on his shoulders and doesn’t like working for a younger, Woman boss! Eden is a single mom with daughter, Casey and their two-year old blue Persian cat, after her husband Danny walked out on the family two years ago. Eden now has a new man in her life, Joe, but after one year, she is still is not ready to commit to the relationship, as she still has feelings for her loser husband.

“The small city of Stockleigh is in shock as three women are brutally attacked within days of each other. Are they random acts of violence or is there a link between the victims? For Detective Eden Berrisford, it’s her most chilling case yet.”

At the moment, all they had to go on was that the victims were all young females out alone at night!

“The investigation leads Eden to cross paths with Carla, a woman trying to rebuild her life after her marriage to a cruel and abusive man ended in unimaginable tragedy. Her husband Ryan was imprisoned for his crimes but, now he’s out and coming for her.”

Time is running out and Eden must capture the attacker, before he attacks more women.

I give much credit to the author for tackling not an easy topic…the issue and consequences of rape and domestic abuse. But through Eden, she allows us to observe a compassionate and strong woman trying to help women of domestic abuse.

Many thanks to the author, Bookouture and Net Galley for the ARC.

I am always trying to find a new mystery series to read, as I do enjoy having a character to follow through not only puzzles and secrets but also their own personal lives. My favorite is the Tempe Brennan series, and I'm still trying to warm up to the Cork O'Connor series. The ironic thing is that while I am always looking for new mysteries to read, when I requested DON'T LOOK BEHIND YOU by Mel Sherratt through NetGalley, I had no idea it was part of a mystery series. Whoops.

I went into this book without having read the first one. There were some references to things that happened in the first book, but they were light enough that I wasn't totally lost. I only blame myself, not Sherratt. In fact, while I wasn't as up to speed, I didn't feel like I had lost anything by not reading the first one. I liked Eden quite a bit as a character, as she is definitely no nonsense and very good at her job. She is not only fully and wholly competent as a detective, she is also very empathetic to the victims in the cases that she's assigned to. I am definitely interested in her as a character, and think that her rough edges (specifically her attachment to her downright toxic, if not affable, husband Joe, whom she is separated from because he's a mess who left her and their daughter behind), they aren't overwhelming as of now. The secondary storyline, Carla's, was very sad and at times very hard to read. Sherratt was unflinching when it came to portraying violence against women, and Carla's story had me uncomfortable and angry and sad all at once. While I understand her connection to the greater storyline (violence against women being the theme), sometimes I had a harder time reconciling why it was that her story was a part of this one in the way that it was. It felt like a separate book altogether. It kind of took away from the Eden storyline, as I was expecting a full fledged connection between Carla's ex and the attacks on the women that Eden was investigating. And it just didn't quite come together the way that I had hoped it would.

So overall, this wasn't really what I expected it to be, and I didn't have all the background knowledge in place when I started it. But even with that, for the most part it was a pretty good and quick read. Eden Berrisford is a solid addition to the mystery genre!

I have been a fan of Mel Sherratt for a few years now but I have to admit that this new series is becoming my firm favourite so far! As soon as I met DS Eden Berrisford, I knew that Mel was onto a winner. Eden was first introduced to us in The Girls Next Door, a twisty and terrifyingly realistic crime thriller set in the city of Stockleigh. In this sequel, we get to see a more personal side to Eden as she’s determined to find out why her husband Danny left her and daughter Casey and hasn’t been in touch since. But she somehow manages to put everything aside to throw herself into the search for a serial sex offender.

I don’t half love Eden! She’s a strong minded and determined kick-ass single parent who manages to juggle her home and family life with running the Community Investigation Team where she also maintains strong relationships with the other team members. She lives and works in an area she loves and knows like the back of her hand. So she is trusted by the locals to do the right thing. And she takes it very personally when her community is threatened! She’s definitely the type you need to keep onside! Having met the whole of Eden’s family last time, we are now settled into their lives and the secrets within but there was still a bit of a shock instore for me with some disclosures about Eden I HADN’T been expecting!

Twisting throughout the storyline are a number of flashbacks which some readers may find disturbing due to scenes of domestic violence. It’s pretty terrifying and had me on the edge of my seat, mainly trying to work out how it was connected to the stalker watching one of the female characters. I just knew that it was building up for a major violent confrontation and felt sick at the thought of justice not being served.

This series has really upped it’s game with this hard hitting storyline and we’ve really got a sense of who Eden is now. But where does she go from here? There is so much more to discover and I can’t wait to find out. If you haven’t read this author or series before you are really missing out! Don’t Look Behind You is a lot darker than it’s predecessor and creepy as hell! Do NOT read this when you’re alone in the house- every little noise will have your imagination working overtime so make sure you keep those lights on! A gripping must read crime drama with a high voltage finale to knock your socks off!

Having finished the first book introducing Detective Eden Berrisford "The Girls Next Door" I couldn't wait to read the second one and I wasn't disappointed. Both books I devoured in a day. The characters are so believable I was thinking about them even when finished the books.

I loved Mel's style of writing. Kept me enthralled throughout. My book barometer is how long it takes me to read the book. I read "Don't look behind you " in one sitting. I literally couldn't put it down.
I would love see Detective Eden on the small screen!
Looking forward to the next chapter already!

I absolutely loved the opener for this series so I was quite excited to get my hands on this follow up. Any trepidation I had regarding whether it would stand up to the excellent first in series soon evaporated as I immersed myself, once again, into the life and work of Detective Eden Berrisford.
In this book she is investigating attacks on three women. The attacks are brutal and Eden initially struggles to find a connection between the victims. We also see a different side to Eden as we follow her visits to a woman's refuge. There we meet Carla who as well as being the counsellor for the women, also shares a lot of their history although she keeps that side of things firmly to herself.
As if she hasn't got enough to contend with, Eden's absent husband returns and this really puts the cat among the pigeons when he tells her the reasons he had to go away.
This is not a long book page-wise by any means but it really does contain a lot of action. We follow both sides of Eden; personal and professional as the two appear to collide. We see twists and turns aplenty as we follow what happens to its very explosive conclusion. I am glad that I read this book on a day when I had nothing else to do cos I really didn't want to be away from the action for even just a second. In fact, I read start to finish in just one sitting.
This is not an easy book to read as it does depict quite graphic domestic abuse. But, and this is important, the graphic nature of what is described is necessary and within the context of the narrative and never comes across as over the top nor does it feel like it has been included for shock tactics.
I am not really too big a fan of too much personal life encroaching on my crime books but here, Ms Sherratt has got the right balance as well as the right content. Instead of distracting me, it actually enhanced my reading pleasure as it all just worked together, so well.
The storyline, although at times rather harrowing, was very well plotted and delivered. It had me on the edge of my seat throughout and, when I finished, left me satisfied, albeit breathless as I followed all the twists and turns as the secrets and lies etc were uncovered.
All in all, a cracking follow up to another series I have put on my watch list. Roll on the next one!

My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Mel Sherratt has done it again. Don't Look Behind You is the latest book in the Detective Eden Berrisford series of books.

The story begins with Carla trying to rebuild her life after a violent marriage to an abusive man that ended in tragedy. Her husband is out of prison and he's coming for her. Meanwhile across the city, women are being attacked. As Eden closes in on the attacker she puts herself in danger. Can she stop him before he attacks again and can Carla save herself?

This book is a fast paced gritty drama. It's so well written and sets each scene perfectly. Another great instalment from Mel and I look forward to the next book.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and Mel for the chance to review.

Domestic abuse is becoming so prevalent in today society. Thank heavens women now have safe havens and help . Still the inability for women to leave these situations is so real especially if you are the victim . The author does an excellent job in sharing the relationships between the abused and abusers. Another issue of rape was prominent in this book. It was hard to read how this one individual destroyed so many lives . Not an easy book to read. Characters were real to life . Thanks netgalley . A roller coaster of a read.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this review copy.

There has been a flurry recently of great books with great female Detective leads:- Angela Marson’s Kim Stone, Robert Bryndza’s Erica Foster; MJ Arlidge’s Helen Grace and now Mel Sherratt’s Eden Berrisford. This is the second book in the series, and whilst obviously it should be read in order, it could be read on its own.

Eden is caught up in a case of a sex attacker who is targeting women. He attacks them when they are on their own and sexually assaults them. He doesn’t speak and keeps his face covered and there are virtually no leads. Eden is also involved in a women’s refuge. Carla, the counsellor there, has her own problems when her abusive ex-husband is released from prisoner and is out to find her. Eden and her team are working tirelessly on the sex attacks case and finally get a breakthrough, but not before several women have been severely beaten.

We also again get to see Eden’s personal life and the fact that she also has her own problems to work through. Her husband, who left her two years ago without any explanation or contact since, suddenly reappears. What has he come back for?

This is a fantastic fast action book. It gets you at page one and doesn’t let up to the end. I love the character of Eden, and the relationship she has with her team (including Phil!!). I love the fact that she is a strong female character, and this shows early on in the book when she lets a husband who is beating his wife know in no uncertain terms what she would do to him if he did it again! The two main stories both keep pace with each other, and kept me going to get to the end, even though I didn’t want it to end!!

Great series, great writing, great book. Can’t wait for the next one! Five Stars!

7377874
Sue1958's review Jan 18, 2017 · edit
it was amazing
bookshelves: net-galley, contemporary-adult, family-drama-marriage-relationships, i-read-for-mel-sharrat, psychological-thrillers, series, suspense-mystery-crime, unputdownable
Read from January 12 to 14, 2017

Mel Sherratt has done it again. She's kept me awake until I saw daylight coming through my window.

I just loved meeting up with Detective Eden again. She's a hard woman, dedicated to her work. Feels for each person and runs a tight ship.

This time we also got to see some of what makes Eden the woman she is.

There are vulnerable women within these pages and you tense up and your tummy knots up with each event that plays out.

Imagine making a new life. But looking over your shoulder constantly.

Three women are attacked randomly and separately but is there a connection to each other?
This needs to be found out.

This is a breathtaking, twisty edge of your seat read that when climaxes really hits you for six.

I love this authors style. It flows so well, like a good movie where you sit, relax, then tuck your feet under yourself, find yourself holding yourself tightly and gnashing your teeth in the parts that are intense.


I throughly enjoyed this read. Looking forward to the next one.

Thank you to Bookoutour and Net Galley for my early copy.

It was a pleasure to be reacquainted with DS Eden Berrisford and her team.
I enjoyed this even more than the first one in the series, The Girls Next Door.
For me, one of the bonuses of this author’s writing is the way she makes me feel like I know everyone already. Like I’ve known them all my life. There’s no confusion about who’s who, no looking back and wondering where I’d seen the name before. The characters are deep and rounded, and some are very unsavoury.

Three women are attacked in the space of a few days, one more brutal than others.
Are they connected cases? Eden and her team start looking into the details and following up the few leads they have.
And then there’s Carla. She’s trying to forget a past of domestic violence and family tragedy.
Ryan, her ex, has recently been released from jail and Carla has started to feel like he will come looking for her. She is understandingly a bit paranoid when it comes to home security.
Carla has been giving advice at a women’s refuge nearby, and she definitely knows what they go through on a daily basis.

Book one gave us an insight into Eden’s family. Her husband Danny had done a runner without any hint of a relationship problem. She’d tried to contact him back then without success. Now, two years later, she’s in a new relationship with Joe. Out of the blue she gets a text from Danny. We find out why Danny went away, and the consequences that may occur.

Some of the topics covered are difficult, and the author writes about them with much care and understanding.

It got quite nail-biting in the end and I had to make myself breathe.

I recommend this book 100%.
Mel Sherratt is one of my favourite authors.
I’ve enjoyed everything she has written and thoroughly recommend her books. There’s no denying that I’m a big fan of Mel Sherratt and her alter-ego Marcie Steele
#TeamSherratt
I think I may need to get some Dockers :)

Thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for my review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The second Eden Berrisford novel certainly doesn't disappoint!
Complex characters and a fast paced, multi-layered plot that only Sherratt can write authentically combine with sensitive handling of the issues of domestic violence.
As always the writing feels real, raw and genuine with a perfect conclusion from which to launch book three.

A really good 2nd book to this series. I cant tell that this series is going to get better and better. I thoroughly enjoyed it, it was fast paced and kept me engaged all the way through. A solid 5 out of 5.