Watch Over You is the latest gritty instalment of M.J. Ford’s Oxford-set series featuring intelligent, resourceful and flawed DS Josie Masters.

Josie’s not been having the easiest of time lately. The police officer had only recently given birth and had been enjoying bonding with her baby boy when her beloved child had been in a car accident that had almost cost him his life. Josie had left him in the car for two minutes while she popped into the shop to buy nappies and an inconsiderate driver had been too busy texting to see where they were going and ploughed into her parked car. Luckily, Theo had emerged from the car relatively unscathed, but his brush with death has not helped to calm Josie’s anxiety or apprehension – emotions which she certainly does not need weighing her down as she prepares to go back to work after her maternity leave. Especially as Josie’s first case back ends up being one that is very close to home…

Josie’s old friend and former colleague Harry has been found dead in his North Oxford home. Josie is distraught at this cruel twist of fate, but determined to find the evil criminal who did this to him, she vows to leave no stone unturned to bring his killer to justice. But just how well did Josie know Harry? Josie had always believed that Harry lived alone, but as she begins her investigation, she is shocked when she finds out that he had a lodger – a young woman who fled the scene and who seemed to have disappeared off the face of the earth. As Josie and her team begin searching for her in earnest, more shocking revelations emerge. With the body count rising and the killer always managing to give the cops the slip, will Josie find the girl? Can she ever get to the bottom of who was behind Harry’s death? Or will the killer continue to evade justice and succeed in claiming more victims?

M.J. Ford’s Watch Over You is a tense, twisted and terrifying thriller that keeps readers on the edge of their seats absolutely desperate to find out what will happen next. Dark, sinister and shocking, Watch Over You is a chilling page-turner with a detective who is clever, compassionate and intuitive: Josie Masters.

An action-packed crime thriller that will leave readers breathless, M.J. Ford has got another winner on his hands with Watch Over You.

Wow .. I'd been aware of Ford but first time .. and I can see I've been missing out .. real characters .. it's been de rigueur to feature female police inspectors in police leaks recently but often they are stereotypical females .. not this time!! She's smart and real .. plotting is smooth and gripping . I'm going to find more .. there are earlier novels in this series .. looking forward!!

Watch Over You by M.J. Ford is a British police procedural that takes place in and around Oxford. DS Jo Masters has just returned early from her maternity leave and she immediately is called to a familiar address: an old friend and retired colleague has been murdered. This is only the beginning and more murders are committed: a drug dealer from a criminal family, a suburban couple killed in their home, an ex-social worker and more. It’s beginning to look like all of them may be linked to a young girl. The innocents look guilty and the guilty are successfully keeping away from Jo and her team. This is a well-written mystery that takes the reader along for quite a ride. The fast pace and interesting characters make this a worthwhile read. Highly recommended. Thank you to Avon Books UK and NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Perfect characterisation, a plot full to the brim with suspense, and a brilliantly plotted storyline. This book was a page turner! I read this book in 1 day as it was almost impossible to leave it alone.... a must read for sure!.

I love M J Ford and this book continues to impress. Loved the constant twists and could not put it down. Fantastic.

I read this book in one sitting as it had me gripped and intrigued from the first chapter. The pace of the book was judged perfectly but not at the expense of the characterisation of the main players. I’ve read MJ Ford previously and enjoyed his books and this one didn’t disappoint.

It really pains me to give a Josie Masters book only three stars since I thoroughly enjoyed the first two in the series. However, this book was a little ho-hum for me in parts and it had a very slow start for me. I kept waiting to be grabbed and dragged into the story as I was in the previous books in the series, and it just didn’t happen here. Ultimately, I did find the story worth reading, but I must warn other readers that the violence is very graphically described so this book is not for the faint of heart. It is a police procedural with elements of suspense and thriller. My biggest difficulty with the book was that I like to follow the clues to figure out the whodunit. That seemed impossible for me in “Watch Over You” because the clues were all out of order, so they made little sense for me until the very end. I was very sad that the first victim in the serial killer’s sights was Harry, a former colleague and kind of a mentor and definitely a friend to Josie. So that death kind of set the tone for me for the rest of the book. Although this is #3 in the series, I strongly recommend that readers follow the series in order, aside from the fact that the first two are a stronger representation of Josie’s strong character and of a police procedural.
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”

Thanks for this advance readers copy. It was good to see what jo was up to now she has had her baby, I raced through this book and can’t wait to see what she does next

This wasn’t as good as the first two books. I really like Josie but this one was slow and predictable. It was just a standard crime novel with no real twists. It was interesting to see how Josie took to motherhood especially with added father drama and trying to go back to work. I would still read any further instalments though and would love to see how Josie’s and Lucas relationship works out.

I received a copy of the ebook via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Jo Masters has been on maternity leave. She comes back to the police department and right away one of her friends gets murdered. Then other murders happen and a teen girl has something to do with the cases. Jo keeps trying to solve the case.
I really enjoyed this book. Look forward to other books with the same character.

I really enjoyed this book and will give it a huge thumbs up. With a great story line and excellent main characters - I would highly recommend this book.

Really enjoyed this latest in the Jo Masters series of police procedurals. In this one she’s tasked with investigating a series of interconnected murders that have a very personal link to her. Lots of twists and turns to keep you guessing and a good read,.

I really enjoyed this book, I have read the others in this series and this one did not disappoint. The story kept me hooked until the last page. Highly recommended.

Many thanks to netgalley and M.J. Ford for the advanced copy of this book. I agreed to give my unbiased opinion voluntarily.

Josie Masters is now returning to work after the birth of her son. Life as a single mother isn't easy and being the senior officer on a murder case means that she is wracked with guilt every time she is late picking her son up, the fact that the murder victim was a friend of hers is even worse. However as the murder count stacks up and all the clues lead to a teenage girl, Josie feels that it doesn't fit and she is in a race to solve the case.
Ford writes strong police procedurals that never fail to entertain. Masters is a credible character and the maternal guilt angle is played carefully yet parenting is a theme that is explored throughout the book relating to many of the characters. It is this lightness of touch that makes Ford's writing stand out, it is only when thinking about this review that I realised the connection and how this was considered from a lot of perspectives - neglect, loss, separation, ignorance, rebellion etc. Of course the plot is tight and rattles along at a good pace, the twists were well-signposted but credible and the knowledge of Oxford and its surrounding very clear. All in all a good few hours escapism!

Third in the series about Oxford murder squad detective Josie Masters, this is a twisty, complex police procedural with a lot of disparate threads. You don’t want to be reading this while distracted, or put it down for a long time between reading sessions, because I think it would be easy to lose the threads and find it all very confusing. With that said, I actually thoroughly enjoyed it, because the author ties some apparently totally different cases together really cleverly and nothing is as it appears on the surface.

I’m going to address the elephant in the room by saying that now is a tough time to be writing stories with ‘good cops’ as the protagonists, but I think even the most fervent ‘abolish the police’ protestors would agree that the murder squad are police we will still need. However, the fact is that in a world with better resourced social services, lower or zero rates of homelessness and people who actually ask the hard questions and listen to answers when twelve-year-old girls turn up pregnant, Josie wouldn’t have had any murders to investigate. And that’s recognised in the text, if in a subtle way.

It’s easy to empathise with Josie as a single mother trying to get back into the swing of things at work just weeks after giving birth, only to find herself thrown in at the deep end when a friend is murdered. Josie’s not a rule-bender, just a proponent of solid investigative work and intelligent questioning when she gets a witness or a suspect to talk to. I think going forward we’ll see a lot more ‘smart cops’ portrayed in fiction and a lot less of the short-cutters who are inclined to beat up a suspect to get answers. Anyone who wants to write a sympathetic police protagonist could learn a lot from M.J. Ford. I enjoyed this engrossing read and am happy to give it five stars.

I’ve really enjoyed the previous books in this series and so was excited to read this latest instalment, it did not disappoint. A great story, with many shocking twists and turns, was on the edge of my sit waiting to see what would happen next! Definitely worth a read.

This was definitely my least favourite in the series and was a bit of a slow burner but I did enjoy it all the same. It was interesting to see Jo trying to juggle motherhood with going back to work into such a dangerous environment. I’m hoping we get to see her explore her relationship with Lucas in relation to Theo in the next instalment. Thanks to Netgalley, the author and Avon for an honest review in exchange for an advanced copy.

A contemporary, gritty police procedural with a relatable female detective, and a complex investigation. DS Josie Masters is now a single mum returning to work for the first time since the birth of her son. She's conflicted, but her driven personality and diligence to her role keeps her on active duty.

Her first murder is personal and violent, and old friend and everything is not as it first appears. The pacing is commensurate with the investigation, which is hampered by further seemingly unrelated deaths. I read this as a standalone enjoyably, but if you can read all of the books in the series to understand the character development and relationships at play.

This has a noir-crime ethos emphasised by the occasional chapters from a disturbed individual.

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

Thank you NetGalley and Avon/HarperCollins Publishers for a copy of Watch Over You in exchange for my honest review.

This is the 3rd is the DS Jo Masters series. Compared to the first two books, this one started very slowly and was difficult to grab the reader's attention. It's a very good police procedural but a bit all over the place as DS Masters returns to work after her 6 month maternity leave to investigate her friend Harry Ferman's death.

There are many recurring characters from the previous two books so it's best to read the series in order.

I’ve never read the author before, though I have false memories of reading his work. Weird! Anyway, this is a great introduction to his work and more books have been added to my TBR list. This has everything I expect from a good thriller; fast pace, twists and turns, misdirection, realistic police investigation and great characters. Josie is a great character. You get to see her as a new mother and a great police officer in Watch over You. The book is quite dark at times as more and more bodies pile up and Josie and her team discover who the killer is and just why he’s pursuing the young woman. I enjoyed everything about this book.