I would like to thank Netgalley and Avon Books Uk for an advance copy of Shadows, the second novel to feature DC Lucy Clayburn of Greater Manchester Police.

The Creep, a robber with a sabre, has moved north from Birmingham to Manchester so when Lucy gets wind of this she is seconded to the Robbery Squad. In the meantime the Squad is concerned about some vicious armed robberies but with the victims being villains they don't have much to go on until Lucy, back on general CID duties, finds a link which brings her close to danger.

Wow! What a read. Mr Finch has produced another high octane, tense, thrill of a novel which had me glued to the pages from start to finish. On reflection it is not the most realistic of plots but it is exciting and I lived every minute of it with Lucy so who cares about realism? Apart from the tension and excitement it has a well executed and paced plot with some very unexpected twists and turns. For readers of a more delicate nature it is also a violent novel. It's a cracker.

Much of the novel revolves around Lucy. She is extremely smart, making connections that elude other detectives, resourceful when it comes to saving her skin and very honest which can cause her problems in the greyer areas of policing. Her relationship with her secret father, gangster Frank McCracken, has been fraught on the few times they've met but they're both learning from it, him developing family feelings and her trying to understand that not everything is black and white. In a sense she comes across as naïve but a desire to uphold all areas of the law and put honesty before self interest should be admired rather than condemned as naïve. It's a shame that the eponymous, brutal shadows will inevitably intrude into her ideals.

Shadows is an excellent read which I wholeheartedly recommend.

Lucy Claburn is a cop in the busy (and often violent) city of Manchester, England. While it’s still not easy for a woman in law enforcement, Lucy’s position is made more difficult because her father is an organized crime boss. When a spate of murders hits the city, the police are quick to act – until they find out the victims are part of the organized crime syndicate that plagues the city. Has a vigilante speed forward to do the police a favor? Suddenly the cops aren’t quite as eager to find the killer – all except Lucy of course, because she has a vested interest