Usual series rules apply. For full enjoyment of this book, although the main story contained within is complete, it is best to start from the beginning and read in order. I believe that this is more important for this series as it does contain quite a bit more of the main characters' personal lives than most and so, if you go in cold, you will not get the best from this.
So, two young men burgle a rather upmarket house in a great area. They come away with a bundle of loot including money and jewellery and also, the golden prize, a rather significant amount of drugs. This they didn't take all that was there, just the majority. Not being completely clueless, they send pictures to certain people as a kind of insurance policy. Sadly, this didn't work out so well for them as within a day, both are violently murdered.
Enter Greko and his team to investigate. Still reeling from the shock announcement from Grace, Greko is trying to come to grips with how he is feeling and this does distract him somewhat from the matter at hand. This and the fact that Grace keeps disappearing from the team does unsettle the lot of them so the last thing they really want is a convoluted crime like this. But they get cracking and follow the leads. With secrets, lies, and duplicitous behaviour aplenty in this book, can Greko and the team manages to focus for long enough to cut through the noise and solve this rather interesting crime?
Boy did this book have a little bit of everything crime wise. I am not going to list all but I will go as far as to say that once the surface was scratched, there was so much else going on around and about - all deliciously interconnected and rather well plotted. I was especially intrigued as to how the festival part at the beginning would ever fit into the rest of it.
Pacing was good although, for me, the personal stuff did keep intruding into the crimes being solved somewhat. I appreciate and accept that in a series you do get quite a bit of the characters' personal stuff coming in. I mean, that's the point with main and recurring characters; development and interaction but for me, there is a balance and this book did cross that, albeit not too far. There was also a point to some of what was included that did speak to character development so it wasn't all dead air so to speak.
All in all though, this "intrusion" did not mar my enjoyment of this book too much as the storyline did keep my interest more than sufficiently with its twists, turns, double backs and blind alleys. Also, now that certain things have been kind of resolved in this book, hopefully the characters will be able to move on and concentrate more on their day jobs in the next!
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

I am already a huge fan of Helen H Durrant, having read her previous series. Dark Angel is the latest instalment of the DCI Greco series. As usual, the book was brilliantly written and I raced to the end. It’s a gripping Police Procedural set in Manchester. The pace is fast and has plenty of twists and turns throughout. Another 5 Star book!
Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for my advance copy in return for an honest review.

This is another of those stories where although you do not have to read the books that have come prior in order to understand the story - you will be missing out on a lot of information regarding the characters.

Normally, I am a big fan of this author and this series, however I feel as though this one was missing something that I can't quite put my finger on. The overall plot - the theft, the murders, the investigation etc was very much in line with the previous novels, and with this authors writing style. I will say that there was one crucial piece of information in the investigation that to me seemed a little - obvious - and because of that I feel as though it is unfathomable that the entire team missed it for as long as they did. Even with the obvious clues left behind, I feel as though someone somewhere along the line did not properly do their job or one loose end would have been tied up long before it was.

One of the big issues I had with this novel is the relationship - or lack thereof - between Greco and Grace. Their "relationship" has always seemed very one sided to me to begin with, but this pregnancy arc just killed it. I understand Grace wanting to tell their colleagues, just as I can understand why Greco was hesitant to do so. I feel like in this particular story Greco came across as even colder and more unfeeling than normal, whilst Grace came across as overly pushy. She kept saying "they agreed to have the child" when it couldn't be more obvious that Greco did not share the feelings she did. I felt like she kept pushing him more and more into something he didn't want simply because she had always fancied him. It was so far away from how they normally interacted with one another that it stuck out to me.

Even with those things, I still think this story will appeal to those who enjoy well written crime thriller novels that are full of unexpected twists.

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.

4 and 1 / 2 stars

Two young men are burgling an expensive home of a woman executive. In the refrigerator, they discover a large stash of heroin. They take some, along with money and jewelry, and snap a picture of the rest and send it to the police – they think anonymously. It isn’t long before DS Speedy Quickenden and DC Joel Hough have the identity of the snapper and go to his home to check out his story.

Meanwhile, DCI Stephen Greco is at the doctor’s office awaiting an ultrasound with Grace, his occasional girlfriend. He lies when he says he wants the child. Grace, who happens to be one of his subordinates, is on to him. He is not at all thrilled about the child. He has a child of his own.

Greco, Speedy and Joel go to the home. It is owned by Ava Whitton. She denies any knowledge of either the drugs or a break in.

Soon after the bodies of the two young men are found. Vinny Holt and Craig Riley have been badly beaten, mutilated, murdered and left naked beside a rubbish bin.

They interview a man named Graham Clovelly who runs the local community center. He tells them that Vinny and Craig were a part of what they call “community angels.” They helped the other kids and assisted at the center with other projects.

As the police continue their investigation, they discover that there was another young man who met the same end as Vinny and Craig. They learn that he was the brother of Ava Whitton. Some jewelry was found at the home of one of the young men and the senior citizens and Ava identify it as theirs. Obviously, the community center is a haven for thieves and n’er-do-wells.

Greco’s team zeros in on a viable suspect. He doesn’t dirty his hands with the killings; he just gets others to do it for him. The problem is that they don’t have any hard evidence against him. There is also a connection to the haulage firm for which Ava Whitton works. The police don’t know how many people that work there are involved.

Unexpectedly, Greco’s team is pulled off the case. Greco is both frustrated and angry. Especially as the case is finally coming to a head. Greco is uneasy at the murders of Vinny, Craig and Dee. He doesn’t believe it fits with their main suspect’s way of doing things. Could we have a copycat?

In an interesting twist, Greco and team bring the case to a conclusion. It was a fortunate turn of events that cracked the case.

This book is well written and plotted as are all of Helen Durrant’s novels. The suspense begins immediately and continues as the reader follows the painstaking police investigation. I really liked the book, but had problems with the characters of Greco and Grace. They didn’t strike me as very likeable. There was really not enough background information given about them to fully understand their ambitions and motives. All in all, it was a good book. Keep writing, Ms. Durrant!

I want to thank NetGalley and Joffe Books for forwarding to me a copy of this good book to read and enjoy.

I am a massive fan of this author's books so as soon as I saw that her latest release in the DCI Greco series - Dark Angel - was being released I jumped at the chance to read it and I had finished reading it within hours of it landing on my Kindle!

I love the team that DCI Greco has to support him and after the ending of the previous book I was interested to see what would happen in his relationship with Grace. The book did pull at my heart strings at times it took me through quite a few emotions.

The plot was strong and very relevant to what we see in the news on a regular basis at the moment. The writing style was superb as always and I flew through the pages. I loved the twists and turns that we had on the way to reach the ending which I saw coming in part but there was a sneaky twist.

I can honestly say that I loved it - it is another 5 star book from Helen and I cannot wait for her next release - Helen is one of favourite authors of her genre and I cannot recommend her books highly enough - you only have to look back through my reviews to see how brilliant her books are!!

DCI Stephen Greco returns in this exciting crime fiction set in Manchester.

Two young men break into one of the prestigious homes and steal money and jewelry. They've been told there is many bundles of heroin in this home, and after much ransacking, they find it.

A day later these same men are found dead, after having been tortured. Their friends and family are stunned. They were both "angels" helping in a community project and turning their own lives around.

The only clue Greco has is a picture sent by phone camera to another friend ... showing the house and the freezer where the heroin was kept.

Greco and his team are going to have to work 24/7 to find the people responsible ...and where is the missing heroin?

Meanwhile, Greco has a personal issue to deal with. His sometime girlfriend, and colleague, is pregnant. One of them is thrilled, the other is not.

Once again, this author has put together a riveting story of drugs, murder, blackmail. There are several suspects and all of them seem bound and determined to lie. It will be up to the team to decipher all the lies and secrets. Interwoven is the personal issues of Greco. He's a complex character. Having OCD and being a single parent help to make him a stand-out. He is a good cop and admired by his team ... but that doesn't necessarily make him likeable.

I've read other series by this author and have never been disappointed. She creates unique characters working and living in the real world of law enforcement.

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

This is Helen Durrant's gritty second series set in Manchester featuring Detective Stephen Graco, it is the first in the series that I have read, and I feel it worked as a standalone.. Graco is a struggling single parent with a complicated personal life that takes in his on-off relationship with his work colleague, Grace, who just happens to be pregnant. To cap it all, Graco has no idea how he feels about this. Two housebreakers help themselves to cash, heroin and more from a house in Cheshire. Pretty soon after, their two bodies are discovered brutally murdered. Is the local drug kingpin behind their deaths? Graco investigates a difficult and messy case.. I found this a well written, entertaining and absorbing read. Recommend this to other crime fiction readers.

I would like to thank Joffe Books and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘Dark Angel’ by Helen H Durrant in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.
Two local thieves, Craig Riley and Vinny Holt, break into the lavish house of Ava Whitton stealing some jewellery and a large amount of heroin. When their mutilated bodies are discovered all the signs lead to Alex Barton, drug trafficker, conman and crook. Added to this, there’s a lot of petty crime happening at the local community centre but is one of the centre’s ‘Angels’ involved?
DCI Stephen Greco together with DC Grace Harper and the team need to find the answers. Greco also has personal problems as Grace Harper is expecting his baby and he doesn’t know how he feels about it.
‘Dark Angel’ is a gripping police thriller set in the north of England and although DCI Greco isn’t my favourite of Durrant’s characters the story fits together well with a lot of suspects, twists and turns, and a surprising ending.