Unfortunately I wasn’t aware this was the second book in a series. I don’t know if this was the reason I didn’t completely enjoy this read. I found it a bit of a slow burn to be honest,

This is the second novel in the Robin Lyons series, tracking her into being reinstated as a police detective and coming to terms with the death of her best friend. I had previously listened to the first instalment, Critical Incidents, as an audiobook, which I enjoyed, but found Robin’s saviour complex towards the sex worker characters a bit much; the politics of Risk of Harm were better, dealing with issues of racism and family breakdowns sympathetically. Robin Lyons is a fictional detective that I’ll be keeping an eye on in the future.

I was delighted to received an ARC of this by Lucie Whitehouse as I was a massive fan of the first , Critical Incidents. I love the police procedural almost as much as I love the exploration of relationships. This book really focuses on current issues that are happening/have happened across the UK (and even the world) as well as the crimes Robin and her team must solve.

I really enjoyed the first in the Robin Lyons series, Critical Incidents, so I had high hopes for this - the second release. I’m glad to say I wasn’t disappointed!

Risk of Harm combines an engaging, emotive plot with the same great cast and deeper character development as we get to know Robin, daughter Lennie and Robin’s colleagues a little better…

I actually found some of this novel really upsetting to read, as it deals with racism in a frank way but always manages to be sensitive about it too. I won’t say much more as I don’t want to give it away but I liked how various elements of this novel came together as the book went on. The plot is intriguing and engaging and I wanted to know who did it, but I also really enjoyed getting to know Robin as a character better too, and her family.

Robin definitely has her flaws, and this is clear throughout the novel along with her risky decisions, as they also were back in book one, but she’s still really likeable – she’s just a human being at the end of the day, torn between family and her work. It’s a complex novel, with lots of characters and plot developments, but it’s still easy enough to follow and kept me wanting to read on. I’m already looking forward to book three!

A slow burning book, full of twists and turns, that I thoroughly enjoyed.
I liked Robing and her complex story, the cast of characters is well thought and interesting.
The mystery is solid and kept me guessing.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I loved this book and it was great to catch up with Robin, her daughter Lennie and their family. You don't have to have read the first one of this series to enjoy this one. I find Lucie Whitehouse reminiscent of Susie Steiner's Manon Bradshaw books - a great compliment from me! We are following two murders here, family angst, far right groups and more. This book is engaging, realistic and I really couldn't put it down. I'm already looking forward to the next one!

I have not read the other books in this series, I don’t think it’s mattered as I followed the storyline with easy. The main character has lot going on, I felt I didn’t really get to know much about the other characters but that could be because I haven’t read from the start of the series. Over all a good crime novel set in Birmingham.

This novel begins very slowly, and I started to lose interest after two chapters. Just not one for me, sadly but thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.

This is the first book I have read in this series and I enjoyed it and will be reading the others too.

DCI Robin Lyons is a fascinating character with a complex back story but I found it easy to catch up. The book deals with her investigation into three murders and not his quite what it seems as the story twists and turns and covers many highly relevant and contemporary topics.

I also enjoyed the vivid descriptions of Birmingham.

All in all this was a good detective story, I did find it slow to get going but worth reading in the end. There are also references to past events from another book which makes it awkward to read if you haven’t read it.

One Woman missing, four people murdered, set to the back drop of racial unrest, homelessness, religion, family secrets, and migrant workers...
This is an interesting tale, with great characters, however, we never really get to know any of them in depth. Not quite a page turner

Risk of Harm by Lucie Whitehouse is another in the DCI Robin Lyons police series and again the storyline is interesting and concerns the murders of two young woman and a young man. It is a very convoluted story, with many twists and turns and concerns all of Robin’s family at different points of the storyline.
It is very clever and covers a wide range of topics; grooming, control, racism,, love and hate and violence.
Highly recommended

DCI Robin Lyons is back in Birmingham in Homicide Command and is working under Samir her first love from twenty years before. A woman is found stabbed to death in a derelict factory leaving the team having to not just find out who the murderer is but to find out who the victim is. The far right try to exploit the situation for their own ends. Another body is found which has a resemblance to a cold case from many years before. All the while, Lyons has to contend with tensions within her family and is under pressure from her superiors to solve the cases.

I enjoyed this book. I liked how it wasn't very obvious who was doing the killing until the author revealed it toward the end of the book. The tension between Lyons and her family I felt worked well but with this being part of a series I wonder if packing all the tension and the unravelling of it within one book will work over the long term. I presume that the writer has an idea of where she wants to go with the series next. There is an issue with her family that could reoccur in a later book in the series and will be interesting to see how this is handled. For me, the internal tension with Lyons worked well as did the crime aspects of the novel. I haven't read the first book in the series with this making me want to seek out and discover it. I can't wait to read the next installment.

Risk of Harm grew on me the deeper I made it into the novel. By the end I was sold...mostly. I still harbor a niggling annoyance as to why relationships from Robin's teens should carry so much weight many years later when she, herself, is an adult with a teen daughter of her own? Beyond that, the story improved with time as it spun off in unforeseen, meaningful directions.

The second of a series, but the first I've read, it was easy enough to pick up and run without all the backstory as the earlier years of DCI Robin Lyons were reflected on plenty throughout the text. The investigation into the unidentified young woman found dead in a defunct industrial area of Birmingham led down a number of rabbit holes but was smartly conceived and executed so as to impress the reader. I am easy prey for a good police procedural and this brought with it not only solid police investigative craft but a personal element as Robin navigates the choppy waters of her immediate family and a potential love life. A good series beacons, here, and I look forward to reading more as additional books are published.

DCI Robin Lyons is back and is now working alongside her ex-boyfriend Samir in West Midlands Police Force. A single week-end and two murders. A young black boy, struck down yards from his front door and a young white girl found in a derelict warehouse frequented only by the homeless. The girl has no ID on her or personal belongings making it extremely difficult to identify her. The Team are under pressure from the media and their superiors to solve the case when another young girl is murdered only a few streets away. Is there a serial killer at large?

Meanwhile, Robin’s family life is still a delicate matter. Her brother hates her and she believes her parents always take his side. He will do anything to discredit her - this time though he could be putting others in danger.

This is another absolutely brilliant book by Lucie Whitehouse and one which I highly recommend you read. The twists and turns kept on coming and I was left guessing right up until nearing the end.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced read copy of this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

Lucie Whitehouse, Risk of Harm (2021)

Lucie Whitehouse’s Risk of Harm is her second book to follow the career of DCI Robin Lyons, who now works with Force Homicide in her hometown of Birmingham. Like the earlier Critical Incidents (2019), this is a gripping, astute, tightly constructed piece of investigative crime fiction.

The novel opens with the discovery of the body of a very young woman knifed to death at the old Gisborne works, a long derelict industrial building, “a steam-punk garden, so far post the apocalypse that even the zombies had moved on.” The woman’s body appears to have been stripped of all that might have identified her, and the question of her identity is unanswered until the very end.

The mystery is compounded when the body of another young woman, also knifed, is found soon afterward in the same post-Victorian wasteland. A scrap of paper left behind in a small pocket allows them to identify this victim, but doesn’t, of course, answer any of the questions posed by the proximity of the bodies: Were the killing’s committed by the same person? Might they be part of a killing spree? Did the girls possibly know one another?

In her pursuit of answers, Robin struggles both with the apparent intractability of the questions raised and with other escalating conflicts – some bound up with community disruption driven by far-right, anti-immigrant agitators, others with the prejudice and intransigence of her superiors, and, within her own family, a history of misunderstanding and sibling rivalry. Whitehouse very skilfully balances these complex narrative strands and gives her readers a strong sense of Robin’s character, creating suspense throughout as we see her personal and professional life threatening to spin into chaos: “What she wanted to say was that everything was under control, but that would certainly be a lie, and not a white one.”

Really enjoyed this police procedural and how the stories of missing girls, murder and right wing extremism came together. Loved the characters of Robin and Lennie and how Robin’s personal life mirrored some of her professional struggles.

I loved Critical Incidents and so I had very hopes for Risk of Harm. By the end of the book my view of Lucie Whitehouse being a talented writer did not change.
I like the character of Robin Lyons because she is human, prone to doubt, fear, guilt and the need to love and be loved. Her personal life is somewhat messy. She works long hours and so is often not at home for her teenage daughter Lennie, she doesn't get on with her parents and actively hates her brother Luke, and even though she won't admit it she still carries a torch for Samir. Trouble is, he is her boss at Force Homicide in the West Midlands, married with children and she is trying of sorts to gave a relationship with mutual friend Kev. The pair of detectives are nothing but professional, but there is always a simmering tension where you just know those lines could easily become blurred.
In terms of being a detective Robin is feisty, quick witted and always keen to catch the killer. In Risk of Harm a girl is found dead in a factory but DCI Lyons and her team cannot identify her. She becomes known as the Gisborne Girl and remains unidentified even when another murder of a young woman takes place nearby. With the body count rising and a stalker seeking answers to the case of his missing daughter a decade ago, Robin is in the usual position of fighting tooth and nail to do her job well and stay out of harm's way.
Read this latest thriller to find out if Robin can do just that and discover what it means when your family stop being your family and start being criminals...
Thanks to the author, publisher and Pigeonhole for a highly engaging, well written thriller. Loved it!

This is a follow up to previous DCI Robin Lyons stories, which I have yet to read as Lucie Whitehouse is a new to me author.
I didn’t feel like I had missed out on much by not reading the others 1st but will be going back to catch up
A little slow starting and I felt that Robin was a stereotypical female detective. However the story does pick up and over all I enjoyed it
When a woman is found stabbed in a derelict factory, DCI Lyons and her team are sent to investigate and find out just who she was. Under pressure from her seniors, the press and tensions within her own life can Robin solve this case?

I enjoyed this read and would recommend. I also look forward to discovering more from this author

Thanks to 4th estate and NetGalley for ARC.

Robin Lyons has moved back to Birmingham and is working as a DCI in a team led by a man she knows well. She's adjusting to being closer to her family again after a number of years and juggling life as a single parent and disappointing daughter.
A woman is found dead in a derelict building and no one comes forward to claim her. Another murder of a young woman a few days later brings the week's total to three, only one of them easily solved. All this fuels speculation and outrage about Police actions/inaction. Tensions are running high and the team have to deal with demonstrations that flare into violence which has far-reaching consequences.
This is a terrific contemporary story, and works well as a police procedural, with empathetic portrayals of the characters. It's a page-turner for sure, action-packed, but also so beautifully written that I just slowed down occasionally to enjoy the prose. I felt immersed in Lyons' world and want to spend more time in it.
Luckily for me this is the second in a series so I can have the joy of going back to the first.