he Darkness Around Her. Neil White

Lizzie has been in an abusive relationship for a while, so when she gets hit, in public, on New Year’s Eve, she decides she’s had enough and runs away. Unfortunately, she decides to run away along a canal tow path where a killer is waiting.

When her body is found the Police quickly make an arrest. The suspect asks for legal representation form only one person. Dan Grant.

Dan is a Barrister who has specialised in representing defendants for the last 10 years, but this defendant is a first for him, a first in two ways. He won’t talk about the crime, even to Dan, and he won’t allow Dan to employ a Queens Council. He wants Dan to represent him in Court.

Dan is left with no choice, if his client won’t give him anything to use in his defence, he will have to find evidence to prove his innocence himself.

Dan employs his usual Private Investigator, Jayne Brett, to start digging around for information on the suspect and the girl he is accused of killing.

Jayne is a good investigator, but she has one problem. Dan. There is a chemistry between them, one that Jayne would love to explore, but Dan has ethics and Jayne was once a client. The chemistry is real and at times both of them are genuinely frustrated to the point of distraction.

As the court case gets closer the investigation starts to uncover more crimes that have occurred on the Canal, can they all be related? Is this the defence? Could they prove that if their client didn’t commit any of the other crimes he can’t be responsible for this murder.

This book takes the reader on one hell of a trip. The parts of the book written about the legal process; the client interviews, the trips to the police station, the court proceedings are fascinatingly written and very realistic.

The investigation into the murder on the canal, and the historic crimes which have taken place are great. Proper Investigations have to take place, there’s not many CCTV cameras on canals, no ANPR cameras. If you’ve ever walked along a canal in a city centre, you’ll know how quickly you feel like you are out in the country.

The canals are a great place to set a modern day crime and have to rely on investigation techniques from 20 years ago.

I really enjoyed this book. I loved the legal side of it, the investigation is intriguing, and the relationship between Dan and Jayne is mesmerising.

Pages: 448
Publisher. Zaffre
Publishing Date: 9th August 2018

Once again Neil pulls it out of the hat with good court procedures and a thrilling storyline. I really couldn’t be sure what to make of it at the beginning, which certainly shows the skills of Neil as a clever writer and also a criminal lawyer. I’ve always enjoyed his books, but just love this latest series with Dan and Jayne.

Really enjoyable, just sorry when I’d finished it.

My thanks to the publishers, Neil and to Netgalley for the ARC. Would highly recommend, but do read the first one as it gives you the background to the characters.

What can I say about this book. I LOVED IT!!!!!
I was hooked from the first page and the tension in this book just kept on being ramped up.
I read this book in one sitting and afterwards I felt quite drained.
I heartily recommend this book to anyone who wants a rollercoaster of tension and serial killers. An excellent read.
I would like to thank the author Neil WHITE, Bonnier Zaffre Publishing and Net.galley for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for giving an honest review.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Bonnier Zaffre for an advance copy of The Darkness Around Her, the second novel to feature defence lawyer, Dan Grant, set in the fictional town of Highford, Greater Manchester.

Dan Grant is appointed to defend Peter Box, accused of murdering Lizzie Barnsley on the canal path. It won't be easy as Peter refuses to talk to anyone, including Dan, and the evidence against him is strong. In a bid to bolster his case Dan discovers that there have been a fair number of murders and disappearances on the canal path over years, not least teenager Rosie Smith whose stepfather, Sean Martin, was tried and convicted of her murder only to be acquitted in a retrial.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Darkness Around Her which is an exciting read with plenty of unexpected twists and turns. It is a mixture of thriller and courtroom drama as Dan and his investigator, Jayne Brett, try to unravel the mystery of Peter Box and build a defence, often flying by the seat of their pants. It had me glued to the pages from start to finish as it builds to a dramatic courtroom showdown and while it is a satisfying read to see everything resolved at the end the novel is not without its emotional moments, which I'm not revealing to avoid spoilers.

Dan Grant is a thoroughly decent protagonist. It can be argued that as he is a defence lawyer this is a contradiction in terms and Mr White makes reference to this dilemma in his novel but the system is one of checks and balances with it being up to the prosecution to build an airtight case. In any case he does his job thoroughly and honestly and is very likeable. It makes a change to see the coalface of lawyering as Dan is neither rich nor highflying, just hardworking and stressed. He and Jayne have more feelings for each other than just friends but he won't get involved as she is a former client. I don't really understand this and find all their dancing around each other a bit tiresome - put up or shut up.

The Darkness Around Her is a good read which I have no hesitation in recommending.