Watch out Bradford, there’s a new detective in town and she’s a force to reckoned with!

Nikki Parekh is a copper with a huge heart. She loves her family with no bounds but she is dedicated to the job and that is her downfall. Two massive pulls in her life but at opposite ends of the spectrum. I for one love the feisty Nikki, she’s someone I’m going to cling to as Mistry develops this series.

This is a cracking police procedural that suddenly out of nowhere we get a voice, the voice of a killer… a killer who knows Nikki… This killer has been operating under the radar, the question is for how long?! Can Nikki track this killer before any fresh victims are made to suffer and give their Last Request?

Meeting Nikki, Sadiq and those around them made me feel like I need to return to this community…soon!! It’s like returning to a northern version of The Bill! Can’t wait for the next one!

This book was fast paced. Hard to put down. It flowed well and it was very well written. It caught hold of me and had me hooked from the start . I was literally on the edge of my seat reading this book.

This is the first in a new crime series by Mistry. Her main character DS Nikita Parekh pulls no punches and is a determined fighter for her family, herself and for the victims she encounters. She is torn between family loyalty and problems, and her career. At times she is like a demented ping-pong ball bouncing back and forth from one thing to the other.

Kudos to Mistry for bringing an important point to the table about the lack of awareness the wealthy or any social class above the working class, especially those living in poverty, have when it comes to living a daily struggle. If you have never lived from payday to payday, struggled to feed yourself and loved ones or as in this case, had to face the miscreants of society on a daily basis - then you have no business judging those people or have the right to a sanctimonious opinion.

DS Nikita Parekh and her family have to deal with these kind of situations on a daily basis. It's a dog eat dog world and she struggles to keep her loved ones out of the clutches of the type of criminals who think nothing of maiming and disfiguring kids and young people.

To make matters worse her the majority of her colleagues treat her with disdain, especially when she becomes the main suspect in a murder case.

It's a fast-paced urban crime series with a strong female lead. Mistry doesn't shy away from uncomfortable truths our society has to deal with. The way she melds fact, fiction and realism results in a gripping read.

My thanks to HQ Digital for an eARC via NetGalley of Liz Mistry’s ‘Last Request’ in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first in a series of gritty police procedurals set in Bradford featuring D.S. Nikita Parekh.

When human remains are found under an Odeon car park, Parekh and her team are initially called in. She is relieved when the investigation is quickly passed over to the Cold Case Unit allowing her to return her attention to dealing with her troubled nephew. Yet when the remains are identified she is drawn back into the case and has to come to terms with her painful past. Then the body count starts to rise.

D.S. Nikita Parekh wasn’t an easy character to like as she was initially very guarded and prickly when first introduced though over the course of the novel Mistry did a brilliant job of revealing the foundations of her guarded personality and winning me over.

There was no doubt that Parekh is passionate about her community and determined to protect it and her family from the dangers presented by illegal drugs on the estate where they live.

It’s a fast paced story that presented some interesting twists and kept me guessing.

This is the first novel that I have read by Liz Mistry and certainly enjoyed it. Therefore, I have already obtained the first in her D.I. Gus McGuire series and will be on the lookout for future books in the D.S. Nikita Parekh series.

When the author of one of my favourite detective series starts writing about a new detective I just know I'm going to love it - and love it I did! Set in Bradford, human remains are discovered under the derelict Odeon car park and DS Nikita (Nikki) Parekh and her team are immediately called to the scene. Since the bones appear to be quite old the case is passed over to DS Springer ("the Spaniel") in the Cold Case Unit. Nikki is somewhat the "golden girl" since bringing down a trafficking ring which also implicated her old DCI. Springer doesn't try to hide her hatred of Nikki and when the body is identified with a painful link to Nikki's past she wastes no time in trying to sully Nikki's name. Fortunately Nikki's DCI, Archie Hegley, and loyal partner DC Sajid Malik have her back, and as the bones begin to pile up it looks like Bradford has a serial killer - one who has been perfecting their craft for donkey's years. Whilst trying to investigate "under the radar" there are also problems at home for Nikki and her sister Anika when drug dealer Franco makes a reappearance. Someone that needs removing at all costs. So can Nikki protect her family whilst stopping a killer? A single mother of three kids by two different men, my goodness, this girl has issues by the bucket load! Admittedly some of them are caused by stubbornness and her refusal to open up or trust people, but then the past has given her some pretty good reasons to be the way she is. Loyalty to her family comes above everything else and as the story progresses she becomes easier to like and understand. One of the things I love about this author is the way that the characters, settings and storylines are so realistic and current. She portrays the great diversity of the city with an in-depth knowledge and although grim and gritty in places, Bradford really comes alive in an accurate picture of society there today. The dual stories gave a never ending stream of action that meant I did not want to put this book down for a moment, and even the initial "getting to know" the main characters didn't slow the pace at all. The main plot was clever, and even though I partly guessed who was responsible, there were plenty of surprises in store in the run up to a great ending. I really hope that there will be more books featuring Nikki and her colleagues. There were lots of enticing hints in the book concerning events in her childhood which we have yet to hear about fully and which are just begging to be explored in the future.

Last Request is the first book in the series featuring DS Nikita Parekha. So I took this has the perfect opportunity to read my first ever Liz Mistry novel and it certainly doesn’t disappoint.

When we the story starts off with human remains being found underneath Bradford’s Odeon car park. Things take a turn when the body is identified and is linked to Nikki’s past. This is where things get really interesting….

I do have to say that the author throws a lot of characters into the story at the beginning which took me a while to get my head round. Learning who was who and who did what type of thing. I like a book with less characters is what I am trying to say. But once I got my head round this I soon found myself racing through the story to find out what was going to happen.

I actually grew to like Nikki I wasn’t a fan at first but we learn through the story what it is that makes her like she is. and I totally get her now.

I love the other chapters that are woven into the story ( I say other because you need to read it for yourself to see what I am talking about!) They add some gritty unconformable tension to the plot. Which is what I like in a story.

This is a good start to a new series which will keep you hooked from start to finish and keep you guessing until the end. I am looking forward to the next instalment.

Many thanks to Harper Collins HQ for a copy and for the blog tour invite.

In this book we meet DS Nikita Parekh and DC Sajid Malik. Both belong to Bradford police under the command of DCI Hegley. Nikita and Sajid work well together, she is small whereas he is huge and she looks out for her sister, her kids and her mum.
DS Parekh and DC Malik are called to the derelict Odeon car park when human remains are discovered. When it appears that the body has been there for a few years then the Cold Case Unit takes over. Meanwhile Nikita is having problems with her nephew Hadqib after she had confiscated a bag of pills from Charlie then found they had belonged to him.
More trouble was heading her way, the body remains turned out to be linked to Nikika’s past. A lot of which hadn’t been shared with her family! The body makes Nikita more determined to find the killer as more bodies are found. What is the link between the bodies? Is there a link as it transpires they were buried years apart?
I got into this book straight away and thoroughly enjoyed reading it. It was gritty and full of twists and turns which keeps you guessing who the killer could be. 5 out of 5 stars from me.

Gus McGuire is a hard act to follow, but Liz Mistry has done it again with her new detective DS Nikita Parekh.

This book (hopefully the first in a new series) is once again set in Bradford and even though I do know the city, Ms Mistry describes it so well that even if you’ve never been there you feel like you know it.

Our protagonist is a complex character, who just jumps off the page. She’s a strong, no-nonsense single mother, with a chaotic family life, but often rubs people up the wrong way. She’s not totally likeable, but she did grow on me as the story progressed. The supporting characters were all well written and believable. I liked the relationship Nikki had with her partner, Sajid.

The well plotted story builds slowly, with the first twist coming fairly early, and it kept me guessing throughout. I thought I’d figured out who the killer was but I was totally wrong! Hopefully we’ll be meeting Nikki Parekh again very soon!

This is surely the kind of book I love to read.
Nikki is a sassy woman and very likeable, I like her wits too. The opening of this book left me curious although I struggled a bit as the book progressed (although tempted to put it away a couple of times, which I'm so glad I didn't).
It was really an enjoyable read and I look forward to the next book in this series, this is also the first book I'm reading by Liz Mistry.

Thank you Netgalley and HQ Digital for giving me this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Last Request is the first book in a new series by Liz Mistry and it starts off at 100 miles per hour and never stops.

As with her other books the story is set in Bradford but this time features DS Nikita Parekh who has a colourful backstory and a complex personal life to say the least.

A skeleton body is found in Bradford which starts off the investigation for Parekh and colleagues.

The story is very fast paced, maybe too much at times with all the major characters well fleshed out but still with scope to develop.

I enjoyed reading this book and look forward to future investigations

Recommended

This is my first Liz Mistry book but I can see why they’re popular. It’s always good to see stories set in Yorkshire and there’s a such realistic, gritty feel that shows this is someone who truly knows Bradford.

Nikki and Sajid had great banter and I very much enjoyed their detective work as they chased their cold case serial killer. Add in drugs, gangs and the horrors of teenage kids and this book never slows down. Great fun! I need to read more of her books.

Introducing DS Nikki Parekh, a feisty new addition to the crime story scene. This is my 2nd book by Liz Mistry in recent times, I have just discovered the excellent Gus McGuire series.

When Human remains are discovered underneath a Bradford car park, DS Nikki Parekh investigates, and its soon realised she has a direct link to the body. Could the young DS be involved?

Whilst fighting to keep her name clear, Parekh also has problems at home, with her daughter and old relatives and also with her troubled young Nephew.

This one starts a little slow for me, it took me a little while to really get into this, but once Mistry steps on the gas a little bit and begins ting the various story strings together, she shows the brilliant author she is as the tension builds into a cracker.

I like the team around Parekh, particularly her partner Sajid.

It's another strongly plotted tale, and towards the end, becomes a real fast paced thriller, keeping you guessing and surprised until its end, and a very promising start to what I hope is a new series of thrillers by the brilliant Mistry.

Highly Recommended

4

The Last Request by Liz Mistry. Published by @hqstories .
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Here is a crime/thriller read with a difference.
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Remains have been discovered in a local car park. Nikita is a DS in her local police force- but she also has a lot going on in her private life. When she discovers that this particular case is being handed over to the Cold Case Unit she is quietly relieved as she has enough going on at home that is needing of her attention. Her tear away nephew and her own daughter.
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But this take a very unexpected twist when the remains are identified as that of Nikitas' ex husband. However fingers start to point and Nikita has no way of proving her innocence.
More and more remains are found and it suddenly looks like the community have a serial killer within it. The more work the police do the more they are uncovering of this narcissist killer the more disturbing it's becoming. It is discovered that the victims are tortured at first to such a point that the end is near and then the killer gives each one a Last request - however none of them get to carry it out as they are then killed.
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It is a slow burner but for me that added to the intensity of the plot.
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A great books with it being told from all angles and points of view- even that of the killers which I had never encountered before and I found very interesting.
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A definite worthwhile read.
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Thank you @hqstories @harpercollinsuk
#lastrequest #hqbooks #blogtour #blogger #reviewer #booklover #booknerd #bookobsessed #bookaddicted #reader #bookstragrammer #bookcommunity #readerofinstagram #reading📖 #fortheloveofreading #lovetoread #loverofbooks #literatureisbeauty #tylwythtegyllyfr #ebooks

This is the type of book I love to read.

Great opening to get you hooked. Short, punchy chapters that keep your attention right to the end and a strong, sassy lead character.

Nikki is brilliant and I love the relationship between her and Sajid.

This is the first book I've read from this author but it certainly won't be the last.

Fantastic start to a brand new series.

Having come late to Liz Mistry's DI Gus McGuire series, I jumped at the chance to read her new series from the very beginning. The lead character this time is DS Nikita (Nikki) Parekh and I could tell from within a few pages of her appearance that she is somebody I am really looking forward to following as the series progresses.
The prologue is set back in 1983, as an unnamed character nurses their dying mother and we discover that her husband infected her with HIV, along with at least fifteen other victims who he raped - both male and female. As their mother passes away, she has one last request, asking her devastated child to live their dream and to do everything they had always planned to do before.
The story then moves to the present day and it's Nikki's family rather than her job who are causing her problems - although as the book progresses, there are more and more times where her personal and professional life converge. It's not uncommon for the protagonist in police procedurals to have their own problems to deal with and Nikki is no exception. It's not surprising that as a single mother to three children she finds it almost impossible to get the work-life balance right and when she puts the job first, she is wracked with guilt. That said, she is a complicated woman who fluctuates between avoiding confrontation and rushing headlong into it and so there are times when her decisions are open to criticism. As we learn more about her past, it becomes obvious why she is this complex mix of belligerence and vulnerability. She is strong because she has to be but underneath she is a deeply damaged woman and as much as I don't want to see her suffer, I am really excited to see how her character evolves in the future.
The discovery of a skeleton under the Odeon's car park is initially considered an investigation for the Cold Case Unit but the identity of the victim means Nikki has to become involved. While some of her colleagues are only too happy to think the worst of her, she is supported throughout by her boss, Archie (and his 'proverbials') and especially her partner, Sajid. I adored Saj who always has Nikki's back but isn't averse to doling out some tough love when he thinks it's necessary. His own storyline looks as if it's going to be fascinating too; as a gay man living with his boyfriend, Langley, he should be blissfully happy but he is forced to live a double life and when he is with his family in Dewsbury, must be the traditional Muslim man.
Some of the chapters are written from the killer's perspective and it's a chilling voice of a true sadist. This is somebody who takes great pleasure in torturing and killing their victims. They also revel in watching their heinous acts back and there's a really malevolent feeling to these parts of the book. They are not the only criminal in the novel, however, as Nikki also has to protect her family from the attentions of a twisted and vicious local gangster and his cronies.
There is a lot going on in Last Request but it never becomes overly complicated. This is a tightly plotted, fast paced and tense thriller which is also an intriguing exploration of life in a multicultural city and how the various characters are affected by their backgrounds - it's particularly noticeable that Nikki comes from a similar place as many of the unsavoury individuals she comes up against. Last Request is a really cracking introduction to the DS Nikita Parekh series and I'm eagerly looking forward to what comes next.

This was the first time that I read a Liz Mistry book and I enjoyed reading it. It was quite an intriguing and twisty book. But I had quite a hard time getting into the book in the beginning and was struggling with it as it was quite a slow start. But it soon started picking up pace and getting interesting. I quite like DS Nikita Parekh, she is a hard as nails, no nonsense woman but she's quite likeable. I felt sorry for her sometimes at the amount of balls she had in the air juggling at the same time. All in all, it was quite an enjoyable book and I look forward to the next book in this series, A big thank you to NetGalley and HQ Digital for giving me this ARC in exchange of my honest review.

Last Request by Liz Mistry is a gripping contemporary murder suspense that I just could not put down. I read with heart racing as I sped towards the conclusion.
A serial killer is on the loose in Bradford. The reader ‘hears’ the killer’s voice from the murky depths. I was clueless to guess who it was.
The literary device of pathetic fallacy is employed as the weather becomes as murky as the action.
Cold case files mingle with present day crimes as the police battle to solve them and the clock ticks down.
The lines between the criminals and the cops blur as characters put themselves on line for their families.
As the criminals wander the streets of Bradford, the reader is surprised by the depths to which some will stoop.
The location of Bradford was familiar to me as our daughter has lived up there for several years. It was therefore easy to picture the settings.
The story was gruesome at times. It is well written and thought out, keeping me glued and guessing as my jaw dropped.
The main character is likable with her rough and ready street demeanour. Family means everything to her and she goes to lengths to protect her loved ones.
Last Request is not a book for the faint hearted. If you read to escape and are of a sensitive nature, this book is not for you. There are themes and language some readers will not be able to stomach.
I think Last Request would translate well into a television drama. It would be up there with Silence Of The Lambs.
Last Request was an excellent murder suspense that consumed my mind as I tried and failed to work it out.
I received this book for free. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.

DS Nikita Parekh is investigating a case where skeletal remains were found under an old car park. She always thought her husband has left her and returned to his family. But she soon discovers that the skeletal remains shes investigating are her husbands.

This is one of these stories that start off slow. But then the more you read, the faster the pace gets. It's also one off these stories that the more you read the better it gets. The background story outlays just who Nikita really is. Her family is dysfunctional and she is just a little bit feisty. There is quite a lot of characters to get your head round. As the body count rises, Nikita must get closure on this case. I liked the banter between Nikita and her partner, Sajid. The story is action packed. I was kept guessing throughout this book. The ending, I really liked. This is my first Liz Mistry book but it wont be my last.

I would like to thank NetGalley, HQ Digital and the author Liz Mistry for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Author Liz Mistry might be an accomplished crime writer but this is the first book of hers I have read, I am now wondering why I haven’t picked up her work beforehand.

Last Request is the first in a new series featuring DS Nikita Parekh (Nikki). She has a tough job as well as trying to raise two children alone and look after her extended family, especially her easily lead nephew, plus an increasing list of bills to pay and not enough money to go around.

The book opens with the death of a woman from Aids in 1983 after she was infected by someone who has infected numerous other males and females and is currently in court. The woman’s child is there looking after her and before she takes her last breath the woman wants her child to remember to do something for her.

The opening scene had me hooked and I couldn’t wait to jump straight into the story which had moved to the present day. Nikki has been called to a derelict car park that belonged to the local cinema in Bradford. Whilst building works were being carried out skeletal remains were found. The remains are over ten-years-old so the case is passed onto the cold case’ department, unfortunately, that isn’t the last Nikki will have to do with the remains as her past comes crashing into the present and secrets start unravelling.

Nikki knows that she has a killer to find but can she before many more get killed?

As I said the prologue had me hooked and I flew through the book eager to know more. I always love a crime thriller when we get to hear snippets from the killer, it helps to try to put the pieces of the puzzle together and work out the suspect before the book reveals the answer. 🙂

There are quite a lot of characters to get to know and remember and at times I did have to look back through the book to familiarise myself with some of them again. It is a great start to the series as we get to not only discover Nikki the detective but also the private Nikki too, a woman who has plenty of good points and plenty of flaws, so she was perfectly realistic.

If this book is anything to go by this is going to be an amazing series and one to watch out for.

I love Liz Mistry’s Gus McGuire series so I knew I had to give this new detective Nikki Parekh a go!

When a skeleton is dug up under a car park, it brings up some uncomfortable secrets from Nikki’s past. As the body count rises, Nikki must put her own issues aside to find the killer.

Last Request is a gritty and hard hitting police procedural with a diverse cast of characters.
As always with Liz Mistry’s books, her attention to detail and ability to make believable characters really comes across in this novel.

Nikki is a complex and multifaceted character. A single mum with three kids, by two different dads, dual heritage and Hindu to boot. She’s quite an abrasive person at the beginning of the novel, I personally didn’t find her all that likeable, but as the story goes on and we get to know her and her painful past, I warmed to her.

As it’s the first in the series, we’re getting to know the characters, which I felt dragged the pace a little in the first part of the book but it does pick up in the second half.

Last Request is a good start to series and I’m interested to see where the story will head next!