3-4 stars. Not my favorite book, was really hard to get into and took forever to keep all the different characters and plots separate, but once I figured out a format to do that, I did enjoy it enough to actually finish, so I felt a 3-4 star rating was good. There is a lot of things going on in this book, but the writing is done in a way which makes it easier to engage and enjoy. A good solid start to a new series, will definitely read more in the series.
Will let the members of chapter chatter pub know about its release!

DI Robin Lyons' life is a mess. Not one to follow orders if she knows they are wrong.
Suspended from her position leading a Major Investigation Team in the Met following a disagreement with her boss.
Without a job she is travelling to her family home in Birmingham, The home and the family she was so pleased to leave behind when she worked in London.
As the title suggests there are a series of Critical Incidents involving most of the characters which have impacted on their lives and brought them to the point where we meet them in the book.
Debt, Pride and Racism cause many problems and not always self inflicted.
A thoroughly enjoyable book. Thank you Lucie Whitehouse and NetGalley
#CriticalIncidents #NetGalley

Robin and her daughter Lennie return to Birmingham to live with her parents after she is sacked from her job as a DI in the Met Police. She had hoped that her friend Corinna would be there to comfort her but Corinna is found dead in a house fire and the police suspect her friend's husband.
Robin disagrees with them and sets out to prove them wrong finding some unpleasant truths on the way.

Really enjoyed this book, it was so hard to put down. Hopefully there will be a sequel!!

I absolutely loved reading this book, in fact couldn't put it down I was so intrigued by it.. It starts in the middle almost with a police officer on suspension although details are scarce
She has given up her London life and returned to her parents home in Birmingham, with her 13 year old daughter in tow, they have to sleep in bunk beds
But it's not long before a series of deaths including her best friend who helped her survive after she had her baby, there is no explanation her friend was happily married and had a 10 year old son, but the house was set alight and the sun had jumped out of a high window and was in a very bad way and her husband had disappeared
What the hell was going on in amongst this story is one of love, lies and ultimately secrets that people would kill for
How can she solve any of this she is suspended but Robyn Lyons answers only to herself as she proves throughout this book
Absolutely delicious to read

Critical Incidents has to be Lucie Whitehouse's best book so far. As for genre it would fit in well with family drama, crime. pseudo police drama or thriller, it really is a multi-layered plot and most convincingly layered.

Although each main character is multi dimensional, I found it really hard to like the main character Robin although by the conclusion I was definitely in her corner and would have helped her carry out any punishment she cared to inflict on her slimy brother. One niggle for me personally was the masculine form of Robin rather than Robyn being used, but I can be pedantic like that.

The plot and many of it's aspects were all very original and I defy anyone to guess the outcome before it is spelt out in a believable but saddening manner.

I'd like to thank Netgalley and the publisher, along with the author for allowing me the opportunity to enjoy such a well written book.

I found this book quite hard to get into. Robin returns to Birmingham with her daughter, Lennie, having been suspended from her job with the Metropolitan police. She has no money so has to move back in with her parents even though she has a very strained relationship with her mother. There are a great number of characters introduced and it is quite confusing. The problems everyone has with Robin are a bit repetitive, particularly scenes with her mother. Eventually things become clearer and the plot becomes more interesting.
Having said all that I think now the characters have become more familiar this is a good starting point for a series and I will definitely look out for the next book from this author.
Many thanks to Netgalley/Lucie Whitehouse/Harper Collins for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

This book – the first of Lucie Whitehouse’s that I have read – has everything I want in a crime novel: interesting characters, a complex plot and lots of unexpected twists and turns.

There are plenty of the standard crime novel conventions which you can never seem to escape: the protagonist is a maverick, a flawed detective with a troubled private life who you have complete confidence will get to the truth eventually. However, there are enough new features to make this novel stand out and ensure I will read more Robin Lyons stories when they are released. Not least, there is a range of diverse characters and settings, folks who I look forward to getting to know better as the series progresses.

If you are a fan of a gripping crime fiction, this book is definitely for you.

My thanks to HarperCollins U.K./4th Estate for an eARC via NetGalley of Lucie Whitehouse’s ‘Critical Incidents’ in exchange for an honest review.

Following her dismissal from the Met for refusing to follow orders, DI Robin Lyons finds herself in a precarious financial position. So along with her 13-year old daughter, Lennie, she is returning to Birmingham and moving in with her parents even though her relationship with her mother has always been stormy.

She takes a job with a private investigator whose main cases are benefit and insurance fraud. It’s quite a fall from being in charge of a large team investigating homicides and major crimes. Things get complicated with the death of a close friend as Robin finds it almost impossible to not investigate, despite being repeatedly warned off.

In addition, Robin still has some interest in the case in London that led to her dismissal and with her new boss, Maggie, she looking into a missing person case that the local police are uninterested in.

So there is a lot going on in this novel, which is the start of a new series of crime thrillers. Nothing wrong with this though it is quite demanding in terms of multiple plot lines and number of characters.

Overall I found it satisfying in terms of how the various cases were resolved with some good twists along the way. It was interesting having a main character who was held apart from the main police investigation. The characters were well developed with Robin especially coming across as very believable as a woman coming to terms with her new reality.

Certainly I will be looking forward to more cases with Robin Lyons.

When Robin Lyons loses her job in the Met, she is forced to give up her London flat and move home to her parents in Birmingham. Returning, now with a teenage daughter of her own, to the tense atmosphere she abandoned for college life fifteen years ago is almost impossible to bear.
It helps when a family friend gives her temporary work as a PI, but things get complicated when the sudden death of an old friend comes under investigation by the local police.
I liked the gothic tension in The Bed I Made, which I read some years back, and I liked this one too. I liked the character of Robin and while there were a lot of characters to get to grips with, concentration paid off. The story was a little different and the family situation and facing up to self-deficiencies was dealt with knowledgably.
This looks like a series worth sticking with.
With thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK 4th estate

Critical Incidents by Lucie Whitehouse was a book that I was really looking forward to, unfortunately it fell a bit flat for me. It is the first book by this writer that I have heard a lot about. I loved the sound of the story but found it hard to keep track of so many different characters and timelines. It was a bit slow in parts and I struggled to stay with it even though It was a great story overall.

DI Robin Lyons has been suspended from the Met for refusing to follow orders and has to move back home to her parents with her teenage daughter Lennie. One good thing about the situation is that she is close to her best friend Corinna again. She begins working with another friend as a benefit fraud investigator. But then Corrine is killed in a fire and her husband disappears and is now a murder suspect. She sets out to prove him innocent but the more she investigates the more she wonders how well she know people at all.

Thanks to Harper Collins UK, 4th Estate and Netgalley for my advanced copy of this book to read. All opinions are my own and are in no way biased.

This is a novel with plenty going to keep the reader's attention glued to the pages, and there's no doubt in my mind that it's going to be an exciting series to follow!

Having been fired from her job with the Met, single parent Robin Lyons is forced to return to live with her parents, teenage daughter in tow. Whilst it's not ideal as Robin and her mother have always had a fraught relationship, it's a roof over their heads whilst she gets her act together. Working as a fraud investigator, Robin finds herself involved in a different kind of detective work, but when a house fire occurs at her best friend's home with deadly consequences it affect Robin badly, especially with the friend's husband going awol.

This is one book where you cannot risk losing your focus; so much going on! I really appreciated that there were so many characters and intertwining story lines - far too often it's obvious where things are going in novels but it's not something which happens here. I really needed to keep my wits about me whilst reading this one, but the rewards are huge; this is such a fantastic read! Involving friends, family, colleagues and with so many different strands, it is a gripping, riveting read and without doubt author Lucie Whitehouse has earned every one of the five sparkling stars I'm happy to give it. I hope the next one in series follows on quickly!

My thanks to publisher Fourth Estate at Harper Collins for my copy via NetGalley in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Someone with trust issues? A woman on self-destruct? A string of troubled relationships? Or someone who is so much more than this, with so much to give, witnessed in the all-out love and beautiful relationship with her teenage daughter and her determination to do well by the people she's paid to help. An excellent read with a good balance of the factual police procedural elements and rich and relatable characters.

As a big fan of Lucie Whitehouse’s writing I was delighted to get the chance to read this book. While it’s different from her domestic noir stories, it’s another compelling read and a strong start to a police series.
The characters are vividly drawn, multi-faceted and believable, especially Robin who is flawed, determined, principled and likeable. The story is cleverly structured with twists and turns, and kept me guessing. I’d recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good police drama.

Immensely readable, well written, believable and a whole collection of characters so well rounded and described that they feel as if they actually exist. These people and their relationships to each other are so realistic, empathetic and totally understandable that I felt as if I was in their world, I forgot where I actually was and felt almost disoriented when interrupted ( how very dare they! ) This book is not just a great crime drama and a thriller but a work of literary fiction. Waiting impatiently for the next two, if they were available now I would cancel everything to read them without stopping.

Thank you so much 4th Estate and William Collins and Netgalley, wholeheartedly enjoyed and totally unbiased review.

I wanted to like this. It sounded like my kind of thing, but I just could not get into it. The setting was dreary, the characters failed to capture my imagination, the background, the mysterious past 'thing' that set events in motion, the murder that has to be investigated - all just felt a bit too uninteresting.

So I gave up. I hate giving up on books, but I just did not love this one enough to carry on. Sorry, author.

Really enjoyed this book ,a good mix of police procedural and family drama and you have this first in a new series which I am sure is going to be great
I enjoyed the writing style

I read Lucie Whitehouse before and, as far as I remember, enjoyed her work, therefore decided to give this first book of the new detective series offering a go.
While at first I was not very impressed with "Critical Incidents", now, after a few days since I finished it, I can even say that I am looking forward to reading the second installment!

To make it brief and painless... let's start with the CONS of "Critical Incidents":
1. It is quite slow-moving and nothing really happens until about 50% of the book. There is a lot of dialogue, pages and pages of it.
2. There are just too many characters and the majority of them are troublesome, unappealing and/or simply annoying - or all three! This is a major flaw of the book and a number of my fellow reviewers commented on the fact that it was, occasionally, hard to keep track as to who is who and what the connection is.
3. The whole atmosphere is very gloomy and depressing.

Now to the good parts! The PROS:
1. Once it gets going, the book becomes a page-turner. This happens at about 70% of the novel.
2. The twists are really well-thought out! It could also be a con as there are at least three different investigations going on, which could be confusing at times (but - see above - love how it all worked out and I will say no more to avoid the spoilers!).
3. Despite overheated houses and depressing atmosphere, the mood of the book is dark, chilly and almost suffocating, which is not a bad thing for a thriller.

To tell the truth it was pretty hard to think of a solid third PRO. So. Try it and see.

Oh I do love a flawed Detective and Detective Inspector Robin Lyons is definitely that, she's a single mum to a teenage daughter who is returning home to her parents home after being dismissed from the MET for letting an alleged killer go free as she didn't think he'd done it even though her colleagues did.

Returning home was not something Robin ever wanted to do but with no job and no money she has to go back to mum and dads its only the thought of being near her friend Corinna again, her best friend of 20 years that is making the thought bearable, but then Corrina is murdered and Robin starts her own unofficial investigation in to what really happened,

I found the story very engaging with lots of twists and turns to keep you guessing, but my only criticism is the story does get a bit bogged down in the middle and made it a little hard work to read, but i definitely look forward to reading more from this Author

Loved this book and enjoyed the twists and turns of events.. At first I was a bit mystified by all the various characters in the story but once I got this in perspective I enjoyed the read. Back at home with her daughter after losing her job as Head of homocide, Robin has to try to get to grips with starting again. She meets up with an old friend who is running a detective agency and who offers her a job. I found this book to be a very interesting and worthwhile read which kept me intrigued until the end. I would recommend book to anyone who enjoys reading about police work without the American slant.

Thoroughly enjoyed this! Well developed characters with recognisable flaws. Only problem was there were so many character names being mentioned that weren't physically present that it was a little difficult to keep track of who they all were and what their relevance was! Great twist with the storyline. Looking forward to the next installment and finding out exactly how Robin is going to deal with her pain in the backside brother Luke.