A strong police procedural

A skull smashed in the snow found by the trainee cop Kirsty who tried to maintain the crime scene with ingenious methods until DCI Craig Gillard came to the scene. The team started their investigation.

My first book by author Nick Louth, though it was the fourth in the series, was a well written police procedural. Quite detailed with a solid plot line, I loved how the team had to go searching for clues. The plot lines seemed to enmesh smoothly, and the scenes seemed to just flow.

Gillard was a great cop who knew how to lead his team even through various obstacles. I didn't bother much about their personal lives as I was more into the investigation. The author knew how to keep my interest going. This was a well detailed, solid police investigation where the realities of working with a good team and some not so diligent members were shown.

The prose kept me hooked, the story unfolded slowly. There were no twists and neither did I try to become a part of this investigation. I just read about Gillard doing his job with strength and determination.

Another brilliant book in this series. There are plenty of twists in the plot and some interesting characters. I read this book in one sitting. I am looking forward to the next book in the series.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

A page turner a police procedural i could not put down well written complex an author I will be following looking forward to the next in the series.#netgalley#canelo

Normally I read books that are a part of a series in order, but was given the chance to read “The Body in the Snow” as an advanced reader’s copy through NetGalley. The main character, DCI Gillard, was interesting, and I enjoyed his interactions with his coworkers, friends and family of the victims and suspects. I did not see the ending coming. This was a good police procedural, I’ll definitely be reading the rest of the series starting at the beginning.

This is the second book in the DCI Gillard series I have read. This one is a police procedural and very good.
A new detective is out jogging and comes across the body of Tanvi Roy, rich businesswoman. Gillard and his team start the slow process of solving the murder.
The story was well written and kept me guessing on the murder. I was not happy to see Gillard’s aunt again - which really does not add to the story.

Thank you, Net Galley, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and plan to read the others.

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Kirsty Mockett happens upon a murder the day before she was scheduled to begin her new job as a crime scene investigator. Despite her inexperience and nervousness, she shows immediate promise by finding a creative way to preserve evidence at the snowy scene. So far, so good. This was an excellent start to a book featuring someone I thought would be a terrific protagonist—a bright, energetic young woman with plenty of brains but also plenty to learn. Not being familiar with the other books in this series, I was excited for this excellent character to pair up with an experienced DCI named Craig Gillard (as mentioned on the cover) to investigate the case. Except that she didn’t. The case is turned over to DCI Gillard, who does a fine job, and Kirsty exits stage left, basically never to be heard from again. The book is a solid police procedural with plenty of viable suspects and motives and a satisfying conclusion. I enjoyed it while vaguely lamenting the whole time that Kirsty wasn’t involved; I felt that it was a missed opportunity to feature a much more interesting investigator in conjunction with Gillard.

Thanks to Netgalley and Canelo for a digital advance review copy.

It's the first book I read in this series and won't surely be the last.
It's a gripping and entertaining story, well crafted and it kept my interest till the end.
The mystery is solid, the cast of characters well thought.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

DCI Gillard returns in The Body in the Snow which is the latest book by Nick Louth

This is a police procedural novel that moves along at a decent pace and has a good underlying story or more accurately stories

My only reservation is the side story about Gillard’s Aunt but that aside this is a book I enjoyed & would recommend

Straightforward police procedural, this author is not afraid to deal with UK/Asia Indian family’s prejudices ... arranged marriages , inheritance laws and fears of so-called abnormal behaviour all emerge...even suspect is trainee police detective in collusion when first witness is implicated. Maybe it’s all too pat, but two brutal murders planned for same-sex love and financial gain begins to feel like tarnishing that love and fear of dominant woman who is Indian .. then there's f complete confession .. hard for Gillard to navigate the ins and outs to find his killer..interesting and fast paced (although at times things lagged).. this is not bad at all, and clearly part of an ongoing series.

Much , much better than an earlier book ("Body on Shore") which I read a couple of years ago.

A wealthy woman brutally killed in the snow and DCI Gillard called in to solve the murder. I actually warmed to this central character, and well above average solving a tricky family type murder mystery. Members of the family send DCI Gillard down all sorts of blind alleys.

Good pace all the way through, and a believable ending.

Thanks to Canelo and Net Galley for the chance to read and review.

Tomorrow (Monday) CSI trainee Kristy Mockett is set to begin her first day on the job. She’s just finished her training and is eager to get to work for the Surrey Police. Today (Sunday) she goes out for a jog in the crisp winter morning air. Light snowfall last night.

She is dang near run over by a cyclist but continues on. Near the end of her path through the park she comes across an older Indian woman who has been assaulted and fatally beaten. Her initial shock is pushed deep as her training kicks in. She calls it in and sets out to isolate and preserve the crime scene.

DCI Craig Gillard gets the case. After studying the crime scene, he has to make the family notification. Turns out, the victim, Tanvi Roy, was the matriarch of a highly successful business that imported Indian spices and foods to her UK-based grocery stores. Even expanded into TV cooking shows. Yeah, the Roy family is doing pretty dang good.

As in most murder investigations, DCI Gillard starts with the family as well as anyone that would stand to gain from Mrs. Roy’s death. In this case, he didn’t have to look much past the toxic interrelationships within the family. Most everyone has a reason to see her dead. Some financial, some personal, some cultural.

This isn’t an action-based novel by any stretch. A little Agatha Christie-ish? Maybe. Having just seen the 2019 movie Knives Out, the similarities are apparent (death of the family scion to a very troubled family). Anyway, it’s probably a more realistic example of a police procedural than all those car chase-shoot-em-ups so common these days. Louth’s DCI Gillard is a believable and sympathetic detective who deals with suspects, colleagues, and his bosses much the way you might expect you would, if you were in Gillard’s shoes. This is the 4th DCI Gillard story by Louth (they are all titled as "The Body In The . . . ") and I suspect the series would be easily entered and completed in short order.

When a woman is found dead in snowy woodland it’s lucky that the first person on the scene is trainee CSI Kirsty Mockett. Kirsty manages to preserve some vital evidence in spite of the complexity of the crime scene.
The dead woman is Tanvi Roy head of Empire Of Spice a large food company worth millions of pounds and DCI Craig Gillard & DI Claire Mulholland are called on to find out who could have killed her in such a brutal way.
As Gillard investigates the family and the business looking for a motive it becomes clear that more than one person could have wanted Tanvi dead and he will have to cut through a web of secrets and lies to find the culprit.

Another fabulous read from Nick Louth, thoroughly enjoyed this and would highly recommend this to anyone who likes police procedural novels.

Finding a dead body in the park the day before starting work as a CSI wasn't how Kirsty Mockett imagined her new career with the Surrey Police would kick off. For DCI Craig Gillard and his team however, it's a huge stroke of luck he knows they have to take advantage of. With a high profile victim and even higher maintenance suspects nothing is as it seems within the walls of the wealthy Roy family and just as one clue falls into its rightful place another question is raised. Craig knows solving his latest complex investigation will take time and patience, something in ever decreasing supply.

This is the second Craig Gillard book I have read in this series and it didn't disappoint. The ending to the previous novel indicated changes in his private life which could only add to the stresses of everything else he was involved in. This was continued with just enough storytime to show it would continue into at least the next inslment, the first chapter of which is included at the end of this story and begins immediately this book finishes.

There is nothing formulaic about Nick Louth's books and once again I made what I thought were informed decisions on whodunnit only to be led off in another direction almost straightaway. The storyline covers many topics I know very little about and it was fascinating to learn more about the Hindu lifestyle and how it does and doesn't fit into modern life. The reactions of those involved was varied and gave a good indication of the struggles faced by strongly religious families as well as those raised with all the privileges we think we want without grasping their limitations.

I was able to read an advanced copy of this book thanks to NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for an unbiased review and would recommend it to anyone following this series or who enjoys reading British crime fiction of a consistently high standard.

Kirsty is out jogging through a park in the snow, looking forward to her first day as a detective, when she stumbles across a murder and it has been carried out by a hooded cyclist.
The murdered woman is very rich and the head of an Indian family with a global empire in Indian food. Detective Gillard is back and in charge. As he delves into the family he soon realises there are tensions and problems within the family. But that is not the only family with problems.

If you love British police procedurals, you may enjoy this series. In this entry, a woman is found bludgeoned to death on a snowy wooded footpath. She was the CEO of a large Indian food empire based in the UK but with ties to Indian sources and traditions - including inheritance practices that favor male heirs. The entanglements among the wealthy but unhappy family are in some ways reminiscent of Golden Age mysteries, but with a modern Asian-British angle. Less successful is the development of the characters of the police team and the overall writing style is fairly flat and pedestrian. There's a dangling thread left from a previous entry that isn't terribly well explained for those new to the series, and the hook at the end for the next in series is ... well, I find those annoying. Overall, points for the interesting situation that sets up the mystery but points off for the delivery.

This is good solid British crime writing from a reliable author who thinks up devious plots and believable characters.
Always a good read.
This book also brought up 2 very interesting snippets - the first in location 2619, which is 54% of the way through, is a conversation between a mother and her very precocious 11 year old daughter. The second is better and most women will love this one. Location 2911. A discussion on ‘wrinkled bits’ left over from universe building and what happened to them!

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. Well written police procedural novel of British detectives. The plot has enough twists and turns to keep the reader interested but not really enough action to make it a thriller. One of my pet peeves is authors over filling novels with complicated characters that make it hard for the reader to keep all the happenings straight.

Good police procedural in the DCI Craig Gillard series. A vicious murder of a high profile businesswoman witnessed by a young CSI trainee sets off a murky tale of family deceit and counter deceit. Suspects abound and when a DNA match is found it looks like it's solved. But with lots more twists and turns the story becomes ever darker with the murder of a police colleague thrown into the mix. With problems at home the DCI is under pressure to solve this complicated web and all is resolved in a thrilling denouement. Good stuff!

I am really enjoying this series of books to feature DCI Craig Gillard. This book is well written and crafted with excellent characterisation and well researched. It is a very good police procedural and I have no hesitation in recommending it. An easy 5* from me. I recommend starting with the first book in the series for background information. Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.