Really enjoyed this - will definitely be recommending and looking forward to the next one by this author!

This wasn’t a book for me.
The writing was awful and made the story boring and tedious
A disappointment

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

This was a great police procedural thriller with a tightly woven plot which kept me engaged. I would definitely recommend

Nighthawking by Russ Thomas is a police thriller in the DS Adam Tyler series and this storyline is about a body buried in the Botanical Gardens and a group of men who use mental detectors to try to find buried treasure. Nighthawking is going into farmers fields at night without the owner’s permission to detect buried antiquities.
There are many different strands to the story before we come to the climax of the book, which will be continued in Cold Reckoning, the next book in the series.
Highly recommended

Atmospheric, Tightly Woven..
The second in the Detective Sergeant Adam Tyler series and another well compiled procedural. A tightly woven and detailed plot accompanying credible and well crafted characters and a keen sense of place. Atmospheric, enjoyable and satisfying.

When a nighthawker sneaks into Sheffields Botanical Gardens one night, they were definitely not expecting to find a body, or at least part of one...

Newly promoted Detective Constable Mina Rabbani is excited to get started in her new job, but with the majority of her seniors not being around, she finds herself having to take the lead more than she expected. After looking forward to working directly with DS Tyler, she is finding it more than frustrating that he is particularly difficult to pin down. I really like Mina and am enjoying watching her character develop and come into her own this time.

Adam has so much going on with his private and work life, and with the added unwanted attention of a local gangster, it is a wonder he actually gets anything done at all! He must be an absolute nightmare to work with, but he is a solid character with a great heart that you can't help but root for.

This story started with what felt like at least 3 seperate strands running through it and a brilliantly diverse cast of realistic characters to keep track of, but the way it slowly but surely knits together is very well done. Really looking forward to the next instalment!

This was a super disappointing read. I loved Firewatching and yet Nighthawking felt like an entirely different novel with only characters that had the same names as the ones in the first novel.

For me, there was too much going on. Tyler wasn’t concentrating 100% on the case at hand, where a girl is found murdered in the botanical gardens in Sheffield with some Roman coins in her eyes.

DS Rabbani was my favourite part of this novel as well as the actual stuff I learned about nighthawkers. I didn’t even know it was a thing, or that it had a name I should say.

This was a pretty drab read, to be honest. It did pick up towards the end and I did like the sub-plot between Tyler and a lad named Callum, but mostly I just felt like the author was trying to do too much in one novel. Tyler’s father’s death, the investigation with the girl in the gardens, his relationship with Paul (which was laughable really), and then one of the DS’s I forget his name, Daley I think, had some issues and they just weren’t ever addressed, everyone just let him spiral. It was bizarre.

The Tyler/Callum subplot will keep me reading, as well as that final chapter as the overarching mystery of the series is intriguing, this book just did nothing for me personally.

Thank you Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for the advanced copy.
I waited to read this as I wanted to read Firewatching first and am really glad I did.
I was glad to see Tyler back and although this was a very different case there are things in Nighthawing that are left unfinished - will there be another book?
I really hope so and want the next one please ASAP!
I enjoyed this book just as much as Firewatching and really liked the plot, characters and the writing style.
Highly recommend

I personally found it w=hard to get into but once the characters were established it was just a question of how when and why.

I wasn't a huge fan of Firewatching but this one kept me turning pages as fast as I could.
Great plot and characters, action packed and fast paced.
The end left me hoping to read the next book soon.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Unfortunately, we did not realise that this was part of a series. As we'd not read the first books, we were unable to review this book.

It would help when we're selecting books to state clearly that a book is either part of a series or the first in a series, that way problems like this would not occur.

DS Adam Tyler is back, this time to help with a murder inquiry after a body is found in Sheffield's Botanical Gardens. The body, that of a Chinese student reported missing months earlier, is found with two highly valuable Roman coins. Tyler, and the newly promoted DC Mina Rabbani, are dragged into the investigation and away from their cold cases but their are other things at play. Tyler has started to investigate the death of his father and someone starts to threaten him to stay away from the gardens case. Add to that a connection to a local mobster and the hints of a corruption in the force and Tyler has got his hands full.

Nighthawking is the sequel to Firewatching, the first Adam Tyler book that was released last year and was Russ Thomas' debut novel. Many years ago, before I had kids and when I had, you know, time, I attended a creative writing course run by Sheffield author Susan Elliot Wright where Russ Thomas also helped out. I remembered him mentioning his book, which he was working on at the time and then was pleased to see in the book press years later the news that it was going to be published. so I picked up Firewatching when it came out and thoroughly enjoyed it. I was pleased to see news a sequel shortly after so its been on my radar for a while.

Whilst I enjoyed Firewatching, I LOVED Nighthawking. I definitely think Russ Thomas has kicked it up a notch here. This is some stellar crime writing, with brilliant plotting and lots of different story lines which are all tied up nicely by the end. It completely drew me in and I found myself unable to out it down, especially towards the end. It was one of those books where you find yourself reading at every opportunity you get. Waiting for the kettle to boil? Read. Bit of a lull in a work Teams call? Read. Someone else's turn to speak in a conversation? Read.

I really liked revisiting these characters, Tyler, Rabbani and Doggett are definitely a group I want to see more of. I'm desperate to know if there are going to be more of this series, there MUST be surely, the book is certainly written as if its not the last we'll see of this lot.

If you're looking for a new crime series to read, or you're based in Sheffield and want to read about gruesome things happening in your city, then this book is for you!

A strong second outing for Tyler after Firewatching, along with the newly promoted DC Rabbanni who takes centre stage for the early part of this book. It's a strong police procedural, with a great twisty plot witha few shocks along the way......and a huge one at the end that will leave you open-mouthed and just counting down the days to the next book - and I really hope Russ Thomas gets a move on because I NEED TO KNOW MORE!

The sequel to Firewatching fully lived up to my expectations! When a book opens with a dead body buried in a botanical garden with Roman coins in the eye sockets, you know you're going to be in for a thrilling read.

Nighthawking is a tense and gripping police procedural set in Sheffield, featuring Detective Sergeant Adam Tyler, a cold case reviewer with a troubled past. I don't come across LGBT protagonists in crime fiction very often, and it's something I'm desperate to see more of, so a huge shout out to Russ for making his books so inclusive.

Russ is brilliant at writing diverse, believable characters. He has created a fantastically frustrating protagonist in the character of Adam, and I'm a huge fan of the ambitious Detective Constable Amina Rabbani, who really blossoms as a force to be reckoned with in this book.

It's so clear this story has been thoroughly researched, especially around the topics of metal detection and plant life, which really bring the story to life, and set it apart from anything else I've ever read. There are several interesting threads to this tightly-plotted story, which weave together perfectly, combined with excellent pacing.

I'm a fan of crime novels with shifting perspectives and it's done so well in this book, with the inclusion of diary entries from the nighthawkers themselves, which serve as a brilliant insight into the story.

The way this compelling book ends, with a satisfying conclusion to the case melting into an insane cliffhanger, has left me desperate to find out what happens next in this fantastic series.

I enjoyed Firewatching so much, I was glad to see that Russ Thomas had written the next book in the series. Although there is a different case to work on, there are a few sub plots that continue in Nighthawking and haven’t been resolved, so I’m assuming there will be another one.

I enjoyed this book just as much. There was gripping tension from the start and I couldn’t put it down. I can’t wait for the next one

As usual in my reviews I will not rehash the plot (plenty of other reviews like that out there already!).

I read this book as a standalone, as I had not read the previous novel in the series "Firewatching" (though as I enjoyed this one so much, I have now remedied that!). It works as a standalone, provided that you fill in some of the gaps in the relationships between the characters - although some information is given in this novel.

I requested this novel as it was set in Sheffield, a city I know fairly well, and I liked the premise of "nighthawking" (basically night-time metal detecting, not necessarily authorised...), which I had never come across before.

There are some interesting characters and the interplay between them feels authentic. The various detectives have interesting back stories, and the "nighthawkers" are an interesting and somewhat eccentric bunch. The plot is well written, with several red herrings thrown in to send us off track! I did not guess who the perpetrator was, which earned the book an extra star from me.

There is also a corruption sub-plot running through the novel, with a dramatic development at the end of the book! I assume that this will be carried forward to the next book - which I'm now looking forward to with some impatience...

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC. All opinions my own.

I was a huge fan of Firewatching so I was incredibly excited to read Nighthawking the second book in the series, though a little nervous that it wouldn’t live up to my expectations. I needn’t have worried as Nighthawking was every bit as brilliant as the author’s first book.

It was really nice to be back with Adam and Mina and be able to observe them solving another cold case. They make such a great team and it was lovely to see their relationship develop. I really like Adam who despite being a mysterious character at times shows a lot of kindness at times, especially towards Mina. I was slightly frustrated with him in this book as he seemed to be on a mission to find out what happened to his dad and this seemed quite self destructive sometimes. I found myself holding my breath, worrying he was going to be found out. Mina is another wonderful character who I felt really came into her own during this book. She is a very strong women and I loved that she was starting to make an impact in the team so that people actually listened to her. She has to deal with a lot of the work herself in this book and I enjoyed watching her trying to solve the case on her own.

I hadn’t actually heard of Nighthawking before so I enjoyed learning more about it in this book. The information about what type of things had been found with a detector was really interesting and I would actually like to try it myself one day, though in a legal way with the hope of not finding a dead body.

The plot develops at a great pace and I loved watching all the pieces come together. The story is really clever and I found myself marvelling at how the author had managed to write such an intriguing story. The tension in the story slowly builds until it becomes almost unbearable. There are lot of twists in the story that kept me guessing until the shocking, brilliant ending that was so well done. The book does end on a cliff hanger and I can’t wait to read the third book in the series now.

Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Simon and Schuster for my copy of this book via Netgalley.

In much the same way that the nighthawker, a seeker for treasure under cover of night with a metal detector, thrills to the nature of exposing the hidden to the light, the Cold Case Review team seek to find the truth.


The bodies may be long cold, but justice burns white hot in the veins of Mina Rabbani (Happy promotion!), Detective Adam Tyler and his team as the arm of a woman is found in the Botanical Gardens , by a startled nighthawker whose detector found the gold of her wedding band and horrified, fled the scene.


As the rest of her is uncovered, the case falls into Adam's lap, and as his personal and professional lives intertwine and impact upon each other as the headstrong detective follows his own hunches -is this because he doesn't fully trust his team or is it because he has an over inflated sense of ego that only he can do things correctly?


Or, thirdly, is he recklessly fuelled by vengeance against quite a few local criminal networks, the legacy of his father, also a career policeman, and the superiors who are lurking like vultures over the still twitching body of the CCR team? With budgetary constraints looking for cuts to be made, Adam and Mina need results and they need them quickly.


Dark, incredibly engrossing and deeply emotional, this second instalment in the series takes you deeper into the homes lives of both Mina and Adam as they navigate why anyone would want to kill this young woman, and develop their team dynamics on the back of Mina's promotion.
It's a swift moving police procedural with brilliant characterisations and jaw dropping moments, and I am so there for any more from the CCR team!!!

Nighthawking

Sheffield’s beautiful Botanical Gardens – an oasis of peace in a world filled with sorrow, confusion and pain. And then, one morning, a body is found in the Gardens. A young woman, dead from a stab wound, buried in a quiet corner. Police quickly determine that the body’s been there for months. It would have gone undiscovered for years – but someone just sneaked into the Gardens and dug it up.
 
Who is the victim? Who killed her and hid her body? Who dug her up? And who left a macabre marker on the body?
 
In his quest to find her murderer, DS Adam Tyler will find himself drawn into the secretive world of nighthawkers: treasure-hunters who operate under cover of darkness, seeking the lost and valuable . . . and willing to kill to keep what they find.

I live not too far from Sheffield and it’s a great city. As a family we’ve often popped on the train for a theatre matinee at The Crucible or The Lyceum. It’s my main gig venue too and in my younger days the City Hall and The Leadmill were regular haunts. I like the buzz of the city, the friendliness of the people and the chance to grab a bit of culture so close to home. So, when I was offered a proof of Russ Thomas’s new novel Nighthawking I jumped at the chance to read crime fiction based in the city. I hadn’t read his first Adam Tyler novel, so wasn’t sure what to expect, but I loved being shown this darker, criminal, underbelly of one of my favourite cities. There was a familiarity to the term ‘nighthawking’ too, because I’d recently read Elly Griffith’s latest Ruth Galloway novel The Nighthawks. The term refers to the practice of stealing archaeological artefacts, usually found by metal detector, under the cover of night. As someone who lives in a very rural area, I must admit I was a little creeped out by the concept of groups of men stumbling about in muddy fields in the dark. The archaeological aspect is at the centre of DS Tyler’s latest murder case. As the lead of the CCRU team, he selects cold cases for investigation. However, this case is reopened because the body of a young Chinese student is found buried within the Botanical Gardens. Curiously, she is found with two Roman coins over her eyes. Once she is identified as missing Sheffield University student Li Qiang - known as Chi- DS Taylor is tasked with finding her killer by reviewing the original missing person’s case closed months ago, just two weeks after her disappearance. At his side is DC Mina Rabbanni, a one woman powerhouse of intuition and initiative, but not above taking risks when it might lead to the truth.

In the background are a fascinating mix of possible suspects, from Chi’s own family, to other workers at the gardens, to university contacts and whoever had access to the very rare Roman coins found with her body. Interestingly, one man is both a volunteer at the gardens, but is also part of an amateur metal detecting group. The group’s leader encourages the detectorists in good practice, but a small group have been out detecting late at night and have stumbled on the find of a lifetime. A cache of gold Roman coins, potentially worth six figures if they could sell them on. However, usual practice is for the find to be declared, then the landowner would be due a share of any profits. The men decide to sell, but where would they find someone with the right contacts, knowledge of the black market, and who they could trust? The men split the coins for safekeeping, until they can find a way forward, so how did two of them end up buried with Chi. The team’s digging into Chi’s life uncovers some interesting potential leads. Her sister Juju lives in the city, with a new baby and her fiancé Rob. Ju is grief stricken by her death when they visit to inform her, but her fiancé had been in a relationship with Chi too, suggesting some animosity or tension between the sisters. I was keeping my eye on the fiancé too, because he seemed to pop up far too often and wasn’t always giving the full story. Chi had a complicated love life, including several sexual relationships, but no permanent partner. Also far from the model student, she seemed to be struggling at the university in her study of orchids, but yet religiously volunteered with the Botanic Gardens, suggesting a keen interest. Add to this a father who’s a Chinese diplomat and the pressures start to build.

I enjoyed that Tyler also had a lot going on in his personal life and seemed distracted, much to the concern of DI Jordan, his superior. CCRU is under scrutiny by Chief Constable Stevens - known as the Eel behind his back - and is in the firing line as cutbacks threaten the force. Tyler is still quietly investigating the apparent suicide of his father, and wonders if a local gangster might hold the key. There’s also his own brother’s disappearance weighing heavy on his mind. He’s stuffing up his relationship with Paul, who feels he simply can’t get his attention, even to tell him their relationship is over. Added to this Tyler takes a homeless teenager under his wing and goes out of his way to help him get a roof over his head. Tyler keeps his emotions and worries to himself and isn’t really one to share, but with everything bottled up is his eye on the case as much as it should be? Mina is the stand out character for me, so full of life and enthusiasm for her job, she leaps off the page. With her superior officer often AWOL, she gets her teeth into this case and won’t let go. Her intuition is telling her there’s something wrong with the original missing person’s case. There are barely any notes in the file, normal checks weren’t carried out and many people were not even interviewed. The original investigating officer is on long-term sick leave, but Mina has to ask the question; why was it assumed Chi had run off with a secret boyfriend and with what evidence? It looks like they simply didn’t care, but Mina suspects there may be more to this than a single officer not doing her job.

Somehow, Thomas weaves all these disparate threads and characters together beautifully. Drip feeding the reader information a little at a time and dropping the odd red herring along the way. The pace was perfect, even the minor characters felt interesting and fully rounded ( the new pathologist, Emma, is a real highlight) I would never have guessed what was going on or who was behind the murder, so it was a surprise. I thought Thomas was so clever in keeping those longer narratives bubbling along underneath the surface of the primary case. Tyler’s unexpected meeting with an old gangster - the Ronnie Kray of 1960’s Sheffield - moves the story of his father’s death along a little, ready for the next book. The hints at Mina’s background and it’s possible clash with her work as a police officer is touched upon, but I would be interested to see how that develops. I would also love to see more of her double act with Emma the pathologist. Then there’s the politics of policing, the potential fireworks over Mina’s findings and CCRU’s future going forward. Thomas took me to familiar places but placed them in a completely different light. He showed me the difference between a city as I would see it and as a police officer sees it, and that gap in perception is often what makes personal relationships so difficult. I’m really looking forward to getting to know Tyler better and to enjoying more of such well-paced crime fiction; rich in character, setting and storyline.

This review will appear on my blog this month, link below.