This is book three in the DI Bliss series. The author has written this in such a way that it can be read as a standalone. In my opinion you gotta read them all and in order as I have loved reading them in order and follow Bliss and Chandler on their journey.

This author certainly knows how to tell a story. He feeds us little nuggets of information throughout the story. He sucked me right in and even when I wasn’t reading about the story I was thinking about it.

If Fear Wins has DI Bliss and Chandler on an Investigation when a body is found. Nothing is as easy as first thought.
A face from the past asks Bliss for some help.

I love the relationship between Bliss and Chandler. They work so well together. We read of other characters we’ve met in the past as well as meet new characters.

This is a well written police procedural read. I’m really looking forward to reading more from this author, hopefully soon.

What a thrilling book, loved all the police procedural and of course the spook involvement, added a further dimension.

This is the third book I’ve read of this series and it is the best.

Bliss and chandler find a body murdered in a most horrendous way, a suicide that’s not what it seems. MI5 and 6 involved all adds to the mystery.

With Bliss and Chandler racing against time, it really is an exciting read.

Fans of Michael Connelly’s Detective Harry Bosch are going to love this series! I totally and completely love this author, Tony J Forder, his books and his characters. I love DI Bliss as much as I love Harry Bosch and that’s a lot. I have now read all three books in the series and they just keep getting better and better. I am about 3/4 way to the end and one of the characters just told DI Bliss that he reminded her of Bosch. I guess great minds think alike! This book involves not only DI Bliss’s Major Crimes unit but also MI5 and MI6 and the terrorist division. I am not going to spoil the book for everyone else so I will not give a synopsis of the story. It is a nonstop thriller that is not going to disappoint. I totally recommend it and give it 5 stars. I would like to thank NetGalley, Tony Forder and Bloodhounds Books for giving me a free copy in exchange for my unbiased review. Get the book. It is totally worth it!

This is turning into a very good series. Tony Forder writes in an exciting and engrossing way and his protagonists are very well drawn. The relationship between Jimmy Bliss and his sidekick Pen is developing nicely; they are a very well matched pair. Jimmy's back story is also fascinating. Long may this partnership continue!

Thank you NetGalley and Bloodhound Books for this arc.

I have not read any of the previous books in this series but am certainly keeping my eye out for them now. The story was nicely complex, twisty and well-paced. The characters were great, especially DI Bliss and Pen. While the violence was somewhat graphic, I did not find it to be gratuitously so.(keeping in mind that I adore Stuart MacBride's books). Enough of Bliss's and Chandler's lives/backgrounds outside of work was revealed so as to explain their motivations and actions and give them a consistency that I appreciated their characters even more. Their working relationship is great.


I definitely recommend this for fans of Ian Rankin's Rebus books.

DI Bliss is back! A body has been found by two rather lax security guards. It appears that this has been a rather unusual type of murder and one that the team would not wish to see again for a very long time. A young airman has gone AWOL from the local airbase with no apparent reason. Could the two be connected? One of bliss’s ex flames also has an issue and Bliss wants to help but it is outside of his jurisdiction. Threads that weave and keep you interested the whole way through. Tony has a way with characters that brings them to life on the pages. Bliss is one of those characters that you either love or hate, warts and all. He has a sense of humour- not always appreciated by some, a tenacious attitude to his work and his team love him at the helm even if sometimes they don’t quite know what to make of him. This is a book that you can sit down with and be sure of a good read, an excellent, very cleverly thought out plot and a smile along the way.
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I would like to thank Netgalley and Bloodhound Books for an advance copy of If Fear Wins, the third novel to feature Peterborough based DI Bliss and DS Chandler.

When a "necklaced", burnt body is found on a lonely stretch of countryside the Major Crimes unit is tasked with the investigation. Their first job is to identify the body and the second to find out why. The unusual cause of death, unseen in the UK before, makes Bliss think of drugs but the video evidence hints at terrorism. With community leaders, senior officers, counter terrorism and MI5 involved Bliss finds it hard to make his voice heard, especially as a favour for an old friend is distracting him.

I thoroughly enjoyed If Fear Wins and feel that Mr Forder has hit his stride with it. It had me glued to the pages from start to finish and gave me an itch to get back to it whenever I put it down. It has a great plot with plenty of twists and turns, most of which I didn't see coming but all follow logically from the preceding events. I like the way Mr Forder easily swings the reader from one suspicion to another while keeping future developments well hidden. The inclusion of spooks in the story always adds an extra frisson as they are never good news for any police force and engender an atmosphere of mistrust at best, paranoia at worst. Mr Forder gets the balance right and, it seems to me, their secret, pervasive capabilities.

The novel is very much driven by DI Jimmy Bliss's personality. In his fifties he has a wealth of experience in policing and a chequered past at Peterborough station. He does do well with authority so he has a troubled relationship with his immediate boss but his handling of the spooks who want to dictate to him is masterful, showing guile,smarts and effrontery. It made me laugh as did the banter between him and DS Chandler. He can be rude, cocky and abrasive but he's also smart, loyal and likeable.

If Fear Wins is a good read which I have no hesitation in recommending.

This is the third in the D I Bliss series and he is quickly becoming one of my favourites. Middle aged, health problems a boss who is a thorn in his side . Bliss is a maverick and tries to play by the rules.
Bliss will do whatever he can to get the bad guys but he also has a heart. He is still mourning his dead wife who was murdered seventeen years ago ( you need to read the first in the series ).
In this book we have a necklacing, smuggling, human trafficking, terrorism and spies. This book is action all the way. I loved it
I would like to thank the author Tony J Forder,Bloodhound books and Net.galley for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for giving an honest review.

The murder that occurs in this story is one of the most horrific I think that I have ever read. It certainly makes for some uncomfortable reading but as with any hardened crime fan, you are desperate to find out more and keep turning those pages.

To be fair that is only a small part of the story. The author has added a certain amount of humour with Bliss and members of his team to make it an easier read which I enjoyed and was glad of.

This is the third book in the series and personally I would recommend reading the first book in it before reading this one due to a character making an appearance, and even though the author does well to give details of previous events, I do think readers will benefit from reading it.

There are quite a few threads running in the book of which I wasn't sure how everything was all going to come together but obviously I didn't need to have worried as the author yet again ties it all up nicely resulting in a satisfying conclusion. 

If Fear Wins is a well written police procedural that had me hooked throughout. With each book the author brings something new to the table and I never know quite what to expect when I pick up each book in the series. Either way he always ensures a page turner of a read.