Rachel Hart is a fantastic if a little standoffish heroine, and I look forward to reading more of her soon. A great read,.

Really loved this one Julia, I enjoyed it more than the first one. I loved the story as a whole and great to see Rachel let herself go one step further romance wise. Good twist with the ending, so looking forward to book 3.

Brilliant, so gripping! I really enjoyed the first book in the series and was so excited to see the next one pop up. Can't wait for the next one.

This is the second book in the series
This book is predictable but still very enjoyable.
This book has some solid characters and a good plot.
This book ends on a cliffhanger to keep you guessing till the next book.
A gripping page turner.

What He Did (Detective Rachel Hart Book 2)
by J.G. Roberts
Pub Date : 22 Oct 2019
302 pages
5⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Description:
Your husband’s car crash wasn’t an accident…Maddy Shaw learns the life-shattering news in the most horrific way: live on air. As the shaky mobile phone recording pans over the terrible crash, she recognises her husband Simon’s car in the wreckage… He is critically injured, and she rushes to his side.Detective Rachel Hart hurries to support her friend Maddy, and decides to investigate. It’s not her case, but she knows how it feels to have a loved one’s life hanging in the balance, and if she can give her friend answers, she will. But when she watches the footage, she sees a motorbike chasing the car at a dangerous speed. Simon didn’t crash because he was distracted, or because a tyre blew. Someone made this happen. Someone who wants Simon dead…After the discovery of a threatening letter, buried in Simon’s diary, Maddy has to ask how well she knew her husband. Then a new victim is found – an old friend of Simon’s, a man he hasn’t seen in years. It seems a dark secret from their past has finally come to light… Is Maddy’s whole life built on a lie?Can Rachel find the murderer and protect her friend, before time runs out? And will Maddy ever forgive her if the truth about Simon destroys everything she thought she knew?
📘📕MY REVIEW 📕📘
Wow..... What he did is a masterpiece with many twists and turns . J. G. Roberts drew me in so much that I refused to put this book down until I read the last page. What an amazing very well written story. I loved it so much that i honestly never wanted it to end. What he did is an expertly crafted story .The plot is suspenseful and thrilling at all times. It really is a roller coaster of a ride.All of the characters were very well developed, and done in such a way you really care about most of them. I started and finished this book all in one day. This is the second book I have read by this author and it was even better than the first. It Caught my attention from the very first page and i could not turn the pages fast enough. I read mystery,crime & psychological thrillers all the time and this one kept me guessing right to the end. The plot is well done and fast paced. The ending was really good . The first thing that drew me to pick this novel up was the author, and then I read the blurb and was intrigued. I would recommend this book to all mystery and thriller lovers. Definitely looking forward to the next Rachel Hart book. The side story into Rachel is just as good as the main story . In each book we have got bits and pieces of what happened to Rachel and her twin sister when they were children. Please write faster J.G. Roberts. Many thanks to the Publisher , the Author , and NetGalley for a ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own.
♥️ About the Author ♥️
Julia Roberts was born in Nottingham in 1956 and shortly afterwards, in 1957, contracted the deadly disease Poliomyelitis, more commonly known as Polio. After a five month stay quarantined in hospital she was discharged on Christmas Eve with her left leg in a calliper. Thanks to extensive physiotherapy, swimming lessons, and persistent parents, who wanted their daughter to be able to walk through her life unaided, Julia was out of her calliper by the age of 3.

It was at primary school that Julia's creative and performance abilities began to shine through. Having started ballet classes at the age of three, again to help with strengthening her left leg, she was unable to attend for two years due to the death of her grandma and her mother's ill health. Julia recommenced dancing lessons across multiple styles at the age of 9, and also began elocution lessons. She was very successful in the Nottingham Speech and Drama festivals and also in a variety of dancing competitions. At the age of ten she wrote her first play which was performed by fellow classmates at Jesse Gray School, and buoyed by that success she entered a short story writing competition, with her creation The Foundling, and was awarded second place.

Despite the challenges of a weak leg, Julia had decided that she wanted to become a professional dancer. Summer Seasons, pantomimes, a Caribbean cruise, and a stint at a theatre in Barcelona followed before Julia hung up her dancing shoes and moved into television. Initially she hit the screen as a TV extra before gaining small acting roles in TV shows such as Citizen Smith and many television commercials. In addition to her on screen parts, Julia also secured a recording contract in the early 1980s with a band called Jools and The Fools.

As the 1980s fitness boom gripped the nation, Julia began teaching fitness classes to supplement her income before becoming one of the original hostesses on the game show The Price is Right in 1983. After 2 series of the show, Julia had a production of her own...her son, Daniel. He was followed 13 months later by her daughter, Sophie, which led her to take a short career break.

During this time, Julia decided to try her hand at television presenting, landing herself the role of chat show host for her local channel in Croydon. One of the shows she presented weekly was entitled Palace Chatback and this led her to become an avid Crystal Palace supporter. She also produced and presented features about her team for Sky Sports.

In 1993, she auditioned to become a presenter for a shopping channel called QVC and, having been offered the job, was one of the first faces to launch the channel on 1st October the same year. Julia has worked there ever since whilst continuing presenting roles for Sky Sports and several corporate productions.

Throughout her career, Julia has always wanted to write a book but, as a working mum, was time-starved. She kept her hand in writing for magazines and newspapers, and eventually started her first book - a memoir entitled One Hundred Lengths of the Pool - in 2011. The concept was a little different from a standard memoir, with Julia using the numbers of each of the chapters to relate to moments from her life.

Having battled against Polio as a young child, Julia had a new health challenge to face as, in April 2012, she was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia. CML as it more commonly known is a rare type of blood cancer which affects only 600 people per year in the UK. Julia responded well to the early stages of her treatment but in November 2012, her BCR/ABL results showed an increase in the levels of the disease. It was a frightening time for Julia as she feared she may have developed a mutation of CML called T3151 which is resistant to any currently available drug therapy. Fortunately, an increased dosage of her treatment drug, Imatinib, brought these elevated levels of the disease down and they have continued to reduce. It was in April 2015 that Julia received the news that there is now no recordable level of the disease in her body, although she has to remain on medication for at least two more years.

Throughout her battle with CML she has continued working full-time at QVC, attempting to keep normality in her life. She signed a publishing deal with Preface Publishing for her book One Hundred Lengths of the Pool and that was a sell-out success on QVC. As a result of the publicity surrounding her book she was approached by the British Polio Fellowship and asked to become an ambassador for the charity which she readily agreed to. In conjunction with QVC, British Polio and Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research, Julia organised a charity swimming gala where she set herself the challenge of swimming one hundred lengths of the pool while other participants took part in fun races and games. A percentage of the profits from her first book went to polio charities and a similar percentage of her latest book will go to Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research.

Following the launch of her first book, Julia needed a well-deserved break and booked a holiday to Mauritius. Her children, now adults, had bought her a notebook with words on the cover that read Hold on people... I'm having an Idea. On the first morning of her holiday, Julia had just that - the idea for her first novel.

Over the course of the ten days she was in Mauritius, she scribbled copious notes, thoughts and ideas. When she arrived home, she started writing.

Life's a Beach is part one of the Liberty Sands trilogy. Julia has already started writing book two, If He Really Loved Me... , which she hopes to finish in the Autumn.
#WhatHeDid #NetGalley
What He Did: A totally gripping crime thriller (Detective Rachel Hart Book 2)

A complex, suspenseful plot with tension so thick that it felt palpable. Wonderfully-developed characters with depth and substance. I was immediately drawn in and held captive from beginning to end.

This is the 2nd book in the Rachel Hart series and like the 1st this had me hooked.

Lots of twists and turns to keep you engrossed and I’m thoroughly enjoying discovering more about Rachel’s personal story.

Already looking forward to the next in the series.

This is the first Rachel Hart series book I have read. I don't think it made a difference to my reading experience having not read the first one, although now I have read this one I will go back and read the first one. What a great read, full of twists and turns and great police procedure. Recommended.

What He Did is a super, twist packed installment to the Detective Rachel Hart series! I loved the last book - Little Girl Missing and was eager to see what the author had in store for her readers this time! And it was brilliant! Although the book might seem to start in a bit of a slow manner, it picks up pace quickly and the twists are simply great! Especially that last line - it was creepy and has left me wondering what the next case will entail. I can't wait!

When Maggie Shaw learns of her husband's accident on live TV, her whole world is turned upside down. Maggie & Simon were only just about recovering from their only child's suicide attempt. So when Maggie turns to help from her only friend Rachel Hart, she knows Rachel being a detective will see things to the end and find out what really happened to Simon. Desperate to help Rachel in her inquiry, when Maggie discovers an anonymous threatening note in her husband's diary she doesn't know who would hate her loving husband so much & why. Maggie always assumed Simon and she had a transparent marriage and no secrets from each other. Battered & bruised, Simon lying in a coma puts the Shaw's unity to test. When another former professional footballer is found brutally murdered, Rachel knows that there is a vicious killer loose who will not stop killing until they are stopped. Finding the link between the victims leads Rachel to discover shocking truths that may just make her a target for the killer.

I loved Rachel and admired her drive in Book 1. She was relentless in pursuing the killer. This story, however, she was more into delegation and getting the work done while she concentrated on her personal life & helping out a friend. The characters of this book are great and well fleshed out, especially new characters like Maddy & Siena. The plot is amazing with me being super impressed with those shocking twists in the end. The book ended with a cliffhanger, so I will definitely be returning to this brilliant series and see what life has next in store for Rachel.

Thank You, NetGalley, Bookouture & J.G. Roberts for an arc!

The second book in the Detective Rachel Hart series reads well as a standalone. There is sufficient backstory on the main protagonist, for this story be enjoyed without reading book one. DCI Rachel Hart is a dedicated and successful police officer, her emotional life is damaged by past experiences, which give her commitment and guilt issues.

The plot for this story is cleverly constructed, multi-layered, it introduces lots of characters, seemingly unconnected. The crimes are many, and escalating, as Rachel has to negotiate difficulties and loyalties in her personal and professional lives. The twists, keep you guessing. It seems solvable, until the end when you realise you only solved part of the puzzle.

All appears satisfactorily resolved until the story ends with an emotional personal tragedy for Rachel and a raises a question over who she can trust.

An excellent police procedural detective story, with a complex female lead detective and a well-thought plot, looking forward to the next book in the series.

I received a copy of this book from Bookouture via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

#Netgalley #What He Did

What He Did, by J.G. Roberts is the second book in the Detective Rachel Hart series. It is a great page turner filled with twists and turns, and it keeps the reader guessing until the thrilling conclusion! This series is one of my favorites, and I find the central character, Rachel Hart, to be a fully developed and fascinating character. In this book, more of her private life is revealed. But please note that you do not have to begin with Book One in the series. This is a totally stand alone novel.

Rachel finds herself deep in an investigation involving her best friend’s husband. Simon., the husband, was involved in a serious car crash and is in critical condition in the hospital. But it soon becomes obvious to Rachel that this was not an accident. Continuing her investigation, she uncovers a sinister plot involving a dead priest and other suspects who are very unexpected and surprising, resulting in an exciting and complex storyline

I highly recommend What He Did with ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️! With red herrings and misdirections galore, I think that readers who love a good police procedural with plenty of suspense will find this book a winner!!

Thank you to the author, A.G. Roberts, to NetGalley, and to the publisher, Bookouture, for giving me the opportunity to read an advance reader’s copy of this exciting mystery. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This was a very good read with many twists and turns. I was engaged from page one and loved the cliffhanger at the end. This is a great series!
Many thanks to Bookouture and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I really enjoyed this story, the second in the Rachel Hart series.
Rachel l’s friend Maddie is a news reader, and learns live on air that her husband has been involved in a serious car accident.
Was it an accident? Rachel discovers that Simon was actually shot at before the crash, and when other members of their university football team are murdered, she strives to find the link.
This was a great thriller, with lots of twists in the tale Looking forward to the next one

This is book number two in the series featuring Detective Rachel Hart and one which I was looking forward to reading as I had enjoyed the first book so much. Maddy is a TV newsreader and whilst she is live on air learns of an horrific car crash and on seeing the footage realises that it is her husband Simon, who is involved and he is very seriously injured. The first question was , was it suicide? Could it be linked to his former friends’s suicide or could Maddy herself have been the target as a Simon was driving her car. Maddy’s daughter Siena has tried to commit suicide after her boyfriend ended their relationship and Detective Rachel Hart has got to know Maddy and Siena as her twin sister is an inpatient at the same psychiatric hospital where Siena was taken. So when Rachel rules out suicide, Siena’s boyfriend is added to her list of suspects. The footage from the accident reveals a motorbike chasing Simon’s car and firing a shot at him causing him to crash. Maddy then discovers a hidden threatening letter in Simon’s diary and realises her husband was keeping secrets from her. Two of Simon’s former colleagues are found dead so Rachel has to discover what dark secrets are hidden in their past. This book is a rollercoaster of a read, so many secrets, twists and turns which kept me gripped to the end. A thoroughly recommended read.
Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

This second book of the Detective Rachel Hart series provides more personal information about Rachel, which was lacking in the first book. Finally, Rachel is having some sort of a private life, in addition to her crazy busy professional life. She has been seeing a lawyer, and the connection they share is frightening Rachel. Her past has convinced her that she should never let anyone get too close, and she is afraid to allow anyone to come between her and her sister -- or between her and her commitment to her job. A mysterious auto accident that nearly killed her friend's husband, leads Rachel and her team into a complicated series of murders, involving a past rape accusation involving 4 football players. The race to stop the murderer consumes Rachel's time, which nearly ruins her budding relationship, and a visit to introduce him to her sister opens the door for a cliffhanger ending. It will be hard to wait for the next book to see what will happen.

Successful newsreader Maddy is on air when she discovers that her husband has been in a serious car crash. Was it an accident? Is it linked to her daughter’s ex boyfriend who threatened him the night before? Is there a connection with his former friend’s suicide? Or was Maddy herself the target, it was her car after all…
It becomes clear when another man is murdered that there is a link with an incident in Portugal over 20 years ago and someone is seeking revenge.
Rachel Hart is called in to investigate when it becomes clear that the crash was not a simple accident. Rachel has a personal conection with Maddy as they first met after Maddy’s daughter attempted suicide and Rachel was visiting her twin Ruth at the facility.
This is the second book to feature Rachel Hart (the first book is Little Girl Missing) and we continue to see her character develop. In this book, she is in a fledgling relationship with a lawyer but she is holding back due to her guilt over the past and the abuse her twin suffered.
Rachel Hart is a good lead, dealing with personal and professional relationships as well as brutal police work. She is hugely likable and respected by us as readers but also by the other characters within the book.
J.G. Roberts reveals the potential murderer during the course of the book and the motive is gradually uncovered. I must admit to feeling sympathy with the murderer, whilst obviously not condoning their actions!
This was a really enjoyable follow up to the first book but would work just as well as a stand alone novel. The writing is fast paced and I liked the way the chapters followed the different characters, police and others, to build the plot development as well as draw us towards the characters emotionally. The style of narrative is easy to read and I found my reading speeding up as the book progressed as I wanted to discover the culprit!

This is such a great read. What He Did is the second book to feature Detective Rachel Hart, the first being Little Girl Missing. I haven’t read this book but this doesn’t distract at all from reading What He Did. It can definitely be read alone and the author successfully weaves in pertinent pieces of back story.

This book sees Rachel investigating when her friend’s husband, Simon is involved in a car accident. However Rachel soon learns that is was a far from an accident, and something far more sinister is happening.

What do a priest, a gardener, a football manager and a gym owner have in common? When a list is found in Simon’s diary listing all these people Rachel and her team have to find the connection that links them all.

Is Simon guilty of doing some thing unforgiveable? Can Rachel stop someone before they exact their revenge?

An excellent read that makes you realise you never really know somebody.

Another sure fire winner for me. I loved the central character DCI Rachel Hart, even though she is yet another tough cookie who can't get her personal life and romantic liaisons right! I think she is endearing because she cares so much for her twin sister Ruth, living in a psychiatric care home/hospital because of what their neighbour did to her as a small child. Rachel Hart is clearly a good leader in that she can direct and organise her detectives but she also recognises that they are human and have families, so that makes her more real and less of a crime busting robot!
The plot is clever. It is interesting that you actually know fairly early on 'whodunnit' but you don't know the whys. There are also some great links between victims in a way you can't guess so the book remains fast paced and tense.
Rachel knows Maddy who is a TV news presenter purely because Maddy's daughter Siena made an attempt on taking her own life because her boyfriend dumped her, and she ended up in the same hospital as Ruth. Even though the friendship is more at the acquaintance stage, it is Rachel that Maddy turns to when she hears of the most horrific car accident involving her husband Simon whilst it airs on the news show she is presenting.
Of course, all is not as it seems and Rachel becomes involved in her professional capacity as the incident becomes increasingly more likely to be deliberate rather than an accident. With past secrets simmering and slowly revealed as the investigation progresses, can Maddy, Simon and Siena move beyond these painful events? And just how many of the others involved in a crime committed all that time ago, will be forgiven? All of them, some of them or none?
Rachel Hart must work with her police team to unravel what is happening to find the culprit before any more damage is done.
I did get a bit confused towards the end with a twist concerning identities but then things became clearer again. So much so, that I will now read the first book in this series as well as eagerly awaiting the third!

This was my first time reading one of J.G. Roberts Detective Rachel Heart’s books and it won’t be my last.
I absolutely loved the book, and can't wait for the next one. Highly recommended!!!

The second book to feature DCI Rachel Hart but my first, WHAT HE DID is a fast-paced thriller and police procedural with a difference. I like that you can pick up this book without having read the first one "Little Girl Missing" (though admittedly, it has been on my TBR list even longer) as there is enough backstory to bring you up to speed so therefore it can be read as a standalone. But having read this one, I now want to read "Little Girl Missing" even more!

The story opens with a Prologue with a seemingly quiet man who keeps largely to himself tending to the plants in the Botanical Gardens. He is approached by an attractive foreign woman he notices sketching, asking for his opinions of her drawings. The man, Neil Edison, has little confidence when it comes to social situations but he soon finds himself conversing comfortably with this beautiful woman. As she turns the pages of her sketchbook to show her him her other drawings, the nib of one of her pens catches on Neil's hand. His body is found later that week in his flat and his death is reported as a suicide having long suffered from depression.

We are then introduced to the Shaw family - father Simon, ex-football player now manager who it seems has been hiding secrets, daughter Siena who is in a depressive slump after being dumped by the love of her life and then attempted suicide...and then there is mother Maddy, who is trying to keep it all together and look after her family whilst juggling a career as a news presenter with network News 24/7. The family are affluent enough to comfortable but even that is not enough to keep tragedy from their door.

Simon and Maddy go to work as usual one Monday morning, with Simon leaving earlier to beat the rush hour into London. By the time Maddy makes it onto the motorway, she's wishing she'd left at the same time as traffic is at a standstill with an apparent car accident further ahead, making her late for make-up before going on air at midday. Maddy and her co-presenter Tim go live as the begin with the road traffic accident that held commuters up that morning. Reading from the auto-cue, Maddy stops mid-sentence as photos from the accident go live, recognising the inverted Jaguar her husband Simon left for work in that morning. Speechless with her producer screeching in her earpiece, Maddy is immobilised as Tim takes over the report and Maddy is lead from the set. All she can manage is to say that the car was Simon's. The network immediately arrange for a taxi to take her to Charing Cross Hospital where Simon rushed to.

Upon arrival, Maddy soon learns that Simon is critically injured and has been placed in an induced coma to allow any brain swelling from the head injury he sustained to decrease which will then aid his recovery. With no one she could really call on for support, she remembers the kindness of one woman she met in another hospital, and decides to call on her to help break the news to Siena.

Rachel Hart met Maddy in the psychiatric care home her twin sister Ruth is a permanent resident of after Siena's suicide attempt. She had given her her card and said to call her anytime should she need her. So when Rachel receives Maddy's call, she doesn't hesitate to be of assistance. She drops everything to go to Siena to break the news, prepare her and then drive her the 35 miles to the hospital to sit with her mother by her father's bedside.

While the accident is technically not her case, Rachel offers to do a little digging tasking her DI to make some discreet enquiries. It soon comes to light that the accident was anything but when they discover a bullet lodged into driver's seat and as Simon was a resident of their jurisdiction, Rachel and her team began investigations into what really happened. A search of Maddy's house uncovers a threatening letter and list of names of people Simon once had links to during his football playing career.

Then a priest is found murdered in a quiet village, stabbed in the neck in the confessional. When news of his death is aired, Maddy recognises it at once and makes the connection to the suicide she reported on a week or so ago. Simon, Neil and Ray (the murdered priest) were on the same team who played football together some twenty four years ago. Maddy is frantic upon discovering the link and contacts Rachel with the information. Suddenly, Simon's accident takes on a sinister turn when linked with the two deaths. But there was another two names on that list in Simon's study. Can Rachel and her team find them in time before there are any more deaths?

Meanwhile, the team are also acting on a hunch that Siena's ex - Rob Turnbull, a sergeant in the army - may have had something to do with Simon's accident and travel to Wales, where is on a three day manoeuvre, to bring him in for questioning. But when they arrive they discover that Rob left soon after arrival, leaving his mate to cover for him. So where was he now and did he have something to do with Simon's accident after all?

We also meet Bella, a young Portuguese agency nurse who worked for a time at the hospital Siena was in after her suicide attempt and is now on the ward in Charing Cross where Simon now is receiving care after his accident that wasn't. Bella has her own sad story of an alcoholic mother who practically abandoned her, leaving her to be brought up by her grandmother Vevo, who is now terminally ill with cancer. She converses via email with her best friend Beca regularly for updates on Vevo before she must return to Portugal and her dying grandmother, the only parent she has really known.

Bella's story is soon woven into Maddy's to reveal a dark and disturbing secret that is set to turn everything on its head...and Maddy's world upside down.

A spotlight is also shown on Rachel's personal life as she gets to know Tim, a lawyer she has met through the course of her work, and though she draws the line at dating fellow coppers she sees no harm in stepping out with Tim. However Rachel has trust issues and fears and tends to push suitors away when they start to get too close, whilst carrying a baggage load of history. But is Tim all that he appears? To me he seemed a little manipulative and while Rachel found herself getting too close for comfort, Tim offered no resistance when suggesting he meet her sister Ruth. But Rachel and Ruth have their own shared past which is both painful and heartbreaking. Can Rachel move on from that and find happiness? And will it be with Tim?

WHAT HE DID is a different type of police procedural where the focus is more on the other characters rather than Rachel and her team. It made it seem more like psychological tale of suspense where the police are secondary to the main story...and I kind of liked it. We still got to know Rachel and her foibles as well as her strengths as a police officer tasked with leading an investigation. But at the same time it was more than that. What makes it so different is that friendship is in play as a backdrop to the main story involving Rachel, Maddy and even Siena.

A complex story that is both compelling and intriguing, WHAT HE DID is fast paced and action packed with no holds barred that will leave you wanting more! If this book is anything to go by, the first one as well as the rest of the series is one that is not to be missed and I look forward to plenty more like it.

I really loved WHAT HE DID and devoured it in almost one sitting...but for the need to feed hubby. I don't care if the story is predictable - it's the ride I come here for! And boy, what a ride! Although I am still left with a few questions about the goings on in Rachel's personal life, I hope to see them resolved in future releases. I need to know if my instincts are correct...

Definitely recommended to lovers of psychological thrillers who love their books fast paced with short snappy chapters, WHAT HE DID is one not to be missed!

I would like to thank #JGRoberts, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #WhatHeDid in exchange for an honest review.