It’s been a while – far too long in fact – since I read the previous DCI Greco novel, Dark Houses, and I’d forgotten how much I liked this team. In Dark Trade, we join Greco and co at a particularly difficult time in his life. He is still struggling with grief, and on top of a new home and new living arrangements, he is starting a new role with a new and expanded team. And the case he is landed with is quite a difficult one to get to grips with. The murder of a homeless teenager and an investigation keeps drawing them back to an exclusive clinic, a missing journalist and a potential gang war right under their noses. That’s a lot for anyone to be tackling. Add in complications in his relationship with DS Grace Harper and I can see why Greco is regularly so unsure of himself.

I really enjoyed this trip back into Greco’s Manchester. The story is packed with misdirection, there are plenty of red herrings in terms of the whys and wherefores of the case, the root cause of which are soon made clear to the reader, even if they remain a mystery to the team. And alongside the main case, the tension between Grace and Greco on the personal front, really did keep me turning the pages. Grace is very open about her feelings for Greco, but he is struggling to accept that it’s okay to move on and it adds a small layer of conflict he could probably do without.

I will admit that one element of the story I picked up a lot faster than the investigating team, although the author does a great job in slowly revealing the key details of the case to make sure that, although I was several steps ahead of the police, I didn’t have the full picture until later in the novel. It’s a very quick read, a shade off 300 pages, but one that kept me glued to the page and completely invested in the story. I do like the style of the book, the pacing and the characters, who are a great team to while away a few hours with. New character, DI Leah Wells was someone I wasn’t quite sure of, uncertain whether it was ambition of something else that pushed her to go off grid and do her own thing on occasion but it felt like her heart was in the right place.

A pacy, intriguing story that takes us into the world of illegal immigration and forced labour – still alarmingly of the moment even if this book is nearly seven years old. There is a darker side to this story, and an interesting twist or two towards the end in what was an enjoyable read. ust hunt out book four!

I've enjoyed every book that I've read by this author and this one is no exception. The topic of organ harvesting is obviously a very serious and quite sinister practice but thankfully it was covered in a way that wasn't too dark.

This was a solid read but I was not overwhelmed with the story and wanting to race through it. Would try more by this author though

After a teenage boy is found murdered, Greco and team have to dive deep into the dark world where everything seems to be going wrong and people are getting killed.
The case takes a huge turn when they find out that the boy who got killed was an illegal immigrant.

Fast paced and an easy read.
Thanks to netgalley, Joffe Books and Helen H Durrant for approving the ARC.

I absolutely love this authors books. They do not disappoint and this one was wonderful. A crime thriller that whilst it’s an easy read it is one you won’t want to put down.

This is the 3rd book in the series of DI Greco.

DCI Stephen Greco and DS Grace Harper are a pair to be reckoned with.

Greco’s career almost ended in the last book, in this book we see him trying to rebuild it. Building a new team after he’d experienced a personal tragedy.

There has been a stabbing.
A young man lies dead, no ID. No clues.
Who is he?

Then another young man is murdered.

It’s found to be a professional hitman.
Rumours are rife......
It’s the Knifeman.

Thrown into the story is a journalist who knows more than he should. It’s making a great story.

I did guess the plot easily enough which did spoil it for me as it ended my anticipation.
Still enjoy this authors books though although this one didn’t hit the mark for me.

It’s quite fast paced more than not so you do find yourself lost within its pages......until I figured it out.

Read the books in order though or you miss out on the DI and his past.

A TEENAGER IS FOUND MURDERED. STABBED THROUGH THE HEART BY A PROFESSIONAL KILLER.

Detective Stephen Greco and his new team must find out who the mysterious victim was. A killer nicknamed “the Knifeman” then strikes again. The murders lead DCI Greco on a dark trail of people smuggling and exploitation.

DCI Greco must quickly get his new team to gel, but he is still recovering from a terrible personal tragedy, and his relationship with DS Grace Harper threatens to turn very unprofessional. Will Greco ever find a relationship that works?

And how is arch-villain and drugs baron Vinny Costello involved? What is his connection to a private clinic specialising in plastic surgery for the city's elite.

Book 3 in the series - not as good as the previous but still a good read.

I have read a few novels by this author and have enjoyed each one. I loved fast paced novels that one cannot turn the pages fast enough. A novel that is quite gruesome with plenty of twists and turns always holds my attention. I seldom write what the story is about for fear of spoiling for others, but I do highly recommend.

My thanks to Netgalley and the Publishers. This is my honest review.

A review can be seen on Goodreads and Amazon.

I like thrillers and suspenseful novels to be fast paced. This novel left me bored at times, dragging the story with too many unimportant details that took me out of the plot, instead of connected me with it. The premise, idea, and plot were good but weren't executed to the potential that they had.

This book had a lot more dark undertones than other Durrant books but it still was a real page turner for me! I really enjoy reading about the lives of the main characters and while I did guess some of the plot, there were still plenty of twists and turns to keep me entertained and engaged throughout the book.

In this book we find Stephen Greco with a reshuffled police team taking Grace Harper and Jed Quickenden from his old team and adding some new team members giving us some fresh characters to learn more about.

Their case begins with a teenage boy being stabbed in a very clean professional manner and as the investigation progresses more bodies appear and a wider link as to why they died emerges...there were times I'd guessed things ahead of time and wanted to shake some sense into the police team but at the same time there were things I expected to happen that played out differently.
I'm certainly looking forward to the next installment!!

This is the third in the series featuring DCI Stephen Greco and DS Grace Harper. Greco is building a new team following a personal tragedy that almost ended his career. Grace is his 2nd and like Greco, a single parent trying to balance personal and professional life.

A young man has been murdered, stabbed through the heart. There is no ID, no clues, no evidence. They only know this was a professional hit. And then there's another young man murdered which is rumored that he was killed by someone called the Knifeman.

These murders look to be motivated by human smuggling ... and two warring sides both wanting a bigger cut of the action. Throw in a journalist who knows more that he should and it's the making of a terrific story.

It's a fast-paced mystery with credible characters. Greco is a little OCD which makes him more than human, but not exactly likeable all the time. He's working with and trying to evaluate his new team, but Grace Harper is known to him. At one time they were close, good friends, but Grace seems to want to take that relationship a step further. Greco is doing everything he knows to dissuade her ... he's just not ready for any kind of personal relationship.

The bad guys are really bad .... and loyal to no one. Everyone seems to have a secret agenda and the fun really begins when they all start to turn on each other.

This is a very good crime fiction series. This one does well as a stand alone, but would recommend reading the entire series in order.

Many thanks to the author / Joffe Books / Netgalley for the digital copy of this crime fiction. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

I received this book free from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This is a crime novel written by Helen H. Durrant and published by Joffe Books, London. It is a relatively short novel that is set in the United Kingdom. Ostensibly, newly-promoted Detective Chief inspector Stephen Greco is the protagonist, but the story is actually focused on several different characters, including at least one of the bad guys (repeatedly referred to as “villains” in this novel). This constant shifting of viewpoints makes the book seem disorganized and difficult to follow. The story ends rather abruptly, but a very brief Epilogue attempts to tie up loose ends.

A great deal of extraneous information is included in the text, but it does not materially add to the story. This includes the fact that DCI Greco has a six year-old daughter named Matilda, who does not play any significant part in the story. Nor does DCI Greco’s severe case of OCD, which is introduced early in the story, then never mentioned again. Detective Sergeant Grace Harper is Greco’s one-time lover who wants to rekindle the relationship after Greco’s wife, Suzy, is killed. DS Harper seems much more focused on her romantic aspirations than she is on her job as a member of the police force. Detective Inspector Leah Wells is new to the unit and she, too, seems to have the hots for DCI Greco. Will his problems ever end? He is trying to solve multiple murders while simultaneously fighting off women who are focused on seducing him, and not on solving the crimes they are being paid to solve.

To me, the dialogue seemed stilted, and that wasn’t because I am an American and the characters are Brits. I have read enough of Reginald Hill’s works, and I have watched enough BBC police/crime dramas on America’s Public Broadcasting System, to know that British detectives do not seem to talk the way they do in this book. One thing that bothered me was the constant use of the word “villain.” The bad guys never seem to be called what you might expect them to be called: criminal, thug, bad guy, killer, thief, lowlife, crook, gangster, mobster, racketeer, etc. No. In this story, they seem always to be referred to as villains. I can’t recall ever hearing that word used consistently by police characters in police TV shows or movies, regardless of whether the setting is the United States or the United Kingdom. It seems very odd.

On one page, we read that “The manager was a man called Smith.” I would have expected to see the word “named,” rather than “called,” or, better yet, don’t give us his name at all. It is totally irrelevant to the story. Unless . . . the author was padding the word count. At another point in the story, police are preparing to enter a building in which a gunshot has been heard. DS Wells hisses to a uniformed officer that “We need bulletproof vests . . .” Most police forces refer to these as “ballistic vests” or “body armor,” I believe, so it didn’t seem realistic to me that she was referring to them as “bulletproof.” On the next page, the same detective “. . . found Greco’s mobile number and told him what had happened.” Found it? They are members of the same police squad. Wouldn’t she have had his number available in her mobile phone to be speed dialed, and wouldn’t his name have been at or near the top of her list? Who might she call more frequently than her boss?

At various points in the story, new characters are introduced, and a virtual spider web seems to link all of them together in this story, however tenuously. The story really lacks focus. It rambles a lot. To top it off, the ending of the book is much more like that of a romance novel than of a crime and police procedural story. It did not fit at all, and it left me with severe cognitive dissonance. The author has potential, but I think she needs to spend a bit more effort on her research, and on crafting her story in a way that can capture and hold a reader’s attention. This book did not do that. Don’t feel guilty if you decide to skip it.

Enjoyed the book, well written and writing style is smooth! Review up on Amazon under my name Kimberly-Aisha Hashmi

Thank you Netgalley. I am a huge an of this author. Edge of your seat book with loads of twists to keep you gripped to the end!! Loved it!!

My favourite books are ones where fictional British detectives solve crimes, so I was really looking forward to reading this and perhaps finding a new series to enjoy. However I'm not sure that I'll be reading the rest of the books in this series. There were a number of positive things about the book that I liked - the storyline was one, it was different and related to current affairs, but there were also downsides to the book that slightly niggled me (where a sub storyline started, but then just petered out) and it was too easy to guess the final outcome.At times I quite enjoyed this book - but I didn't all the time.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy of Dark Trade in return for an honest review. I Love Helen H Durrant's books and this is another excellent read but it didn't last long as i couldn't put it down. It can be read as a standalone because even though there are references to previous books it doesn't detract from the story line. There were lots of twists and a fantastic ending definitely a book to add to your TBR list!

Another wonderfully gripping and compelling story from Helen Durrant! This was one of those stories that I could not put down, I had to see who was behind it all and what their motivations were. It was also nice to see DCI Greco after the loss of his wife and see how he was coping with things.

As to be expected with a novel in this series, the story flows well, weaving together a complex tale with interesting characters and crossovers. You find yourself playing the role of DCI - who did it and why? There is such a depth to these stories and characters that they feel very real to the reader, a gift of the author's to be sure.

I also enjoyed the evolution of DCI Greco's relationship with Grace, even if I did feel it was a bit out of character for him. It made for a deeper level of humanity for these characters, and I can't wait to see where they go from here!

Overall, I am sure this story will still appeal to those who enjoy a strongly written thriller novel. I would read more from this author!

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.

Thanks Netgalley. Another author to add to my collection of new favourite authors. I devoured this book in one session and would recommend this book to other readers

Loving this DCI Stephen Greco series. At first I was not too keen on this character, but how this character has grown and developed, he is now a favourite. I enjoy these fast paced one sitting reads by Helen Durrant. The plot in Dark Trade is quite disturbing but which I found believable .
Now that DCI Greco is in charge of a new team , I am looking forward to getting to know them as the series develops. Because of the teaser, I cannot wait for the next book.