Fast-paced, brilliantly plotted and guaranteed to leave readers on the edge of their seats, Lucie Whitehouse’s Risk of Harm is a top-notch procedural that is hard to put down.

Being a police officer is tough at the best of times, but when your boss happens to be the man who had broken your heart years ago, the job becomes even harder. DCI Robin Lyons of the Force Homicide knows this better than most people, however, she is not about to let the fact that she is working directly under Samir get in the way of doing her job to the very best of her abilities. Robin’s latest case leaves her with no time to worry about her personal life. When a woman is found brutally murdered in an abandoned factory and nobody comes forward to identify the body, Robin and her team are charged with not just finding out who killed her, but also with finding out the woman’s identity.

As the pressures piles on Robin and Samir, they find themselves dealing with media scrutiny, far right nationalists with a deadly agenda and tensions within their families. As if that wasn’t bad enough already, a cold case from years ago resurfaces with a vengeance and a woman is found dead in similar circumstances leading Robin and Samir to wonder whether they’ve got a serial killer on their hands. With the truth mired in lies and deception, Robin realises that if she wants to get to the bottom of this case, then she needs to discover where loyalty ends and duty begins – even if it means facing up to secrets from the past and some painful home truths.

Will Robin manage to solve this case and bring the killer to justice? Or will this investigation end up costing her everything?

Readers of smart, twisty and captivating crime fiction will not want to miss Lucie Whitehouse’ Risk of Harm. A gifted writer who cleverly blends tension, suspense, menace, terror and intelligence in a brilliant thriller that leaves readers guessing until the final heart-stopping conclusion, Lucie Whitehouse’s Risk of Harm is a nail-biting police procedural that is engaging, engrossing and thoroughly enjoyable.

A young woman is found in a derelict building having been stabbed to death. DCI Robin Lyons is given the case and she and her team are immensely challenged as they try to work out her identity. Her boss is DCS Samir Jafferi and Robin and Samir have history. When a second body is found dead with a similar MO the press speculation escalates.

Robin, the main protagonist was a fascinating character, expertly drawn by Lucie Whitehouse. She doesn't give her teenage daughter Lennie enough attention and Robin has a fractious and strained relationship with members of her family, including her brother, Luke and to a lesser extent, her mum, Christine. A complex and thrilling crime novel that is definitely worth a look.

I read Risk of Harm in staves with other Pigeonholers as part of a group. A special thank you to Fourth Estate, Lucie Whitehouse, NetGalley and The Pigeonhole for a complimentary copy of this novel at my request. This review is my unbiased opinion.

Gréât! I hadn’t read the first installment and found it didn’t cause too much problems. I will definitely go back having fallen in love with the characters and fast moving story.

I didn’t realise this was the second book in a series until I started reading. I found it to be a very slow burn story, with way too much musing and introspection by the main players. It was a complicated plot, and went off at various tangents as it progressed. Well enough written, and enough of the back story to keep me informed, but didn’t really hold my interest.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my advance copy of this title.

It seems to be becoming a habit of mine to pick up an author on a second or subsequent novel in a series, and ‘Risk of Harm’ follows this pattern since the lead character, DCI Robin Lyons, was introduced in ‘Critical Incidents’. Happily, for others who have same less structured reading habits, there is limited penalty from not having read the first in the series. The back story, which is important to aspects of the plot, is revealed in a reasonably natural way as the story unfolds.

‘Risk of Harm’ follows the current trend of weighting its lead character, a DCI investigating a series of possibly related murders, with an unfortunate and more or less dysfunctional private life. At times, the author tests the reader’s credulity with some behaviours that, in real life, would be more likely to lead to disciplinary action, but I have to admit the subsidiary storylines around Robin Lyons’s private life do add colour.

The plot does not have a straightforward trajectory and some readers may feel it meanders aimlessly in the middle section, with perhaps too high a prominence given to the subsidiary domestic plot line. Fortunately, the pace and tension do ratchet up in the later sections. However, this reader found the steps through which a number of cases were discovered to have unexpected links and the way in which these led to their eventual solution had a distinctly ‘Deus ex Machina’ kind of feel about it. Notwithstanding this, ‘Risk of Harm’ provided hours of entertainment and engagement with the police procedural aspects of the plot. Recommended for fans of crime thrillers.

This is my second book by Lucie Whitehouse and I didn’t enjoy it as much as Critical Incident. There seemed to be too many sub-plots that detracted from rather than added to the overall plot.
Not an awful book by any means and worthy of a read.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book

Another great book featuring DCI Lyons. Wasn’t too sure how it was all going to tie together but it did. Great.

My thanks to NetGalley, publisher Fourth Estate and author, Lucie Whitehouse, for the electronic review copy.

I did enjoy the complex story-line of this book, but found that certain passages - mainly where the main character reminisces on her and her family's past and present relationships with each other, as well as her memories and musings as to how she is handling the case - caused me to invoke my skim-reading skills, to be able to concentrate on the intriguing investigation.

DCI Robin Lyons is now in Birmingham on West Midland Force Homicide. Her boss, Chief Superintendent Samir Jafferi really wanted her back from a stint in the Met. Assistant Chief Constable Kilmartin, though, doubts her ability. Robin and Samir had been lovers 20 years previously and now are good friends.

A young white woman is discovered by an urban explorer in an abandoned Gisbourne Works, amongst the detritus of neglect and where some homeless live off the streets. She'd been stabbed. A short while after, another young white woman is found in a nearby alleyway - again, stabbed. Do they have a serial killer on their hands? What's the connection between them - if at all? Meanwhile a young black boy is stabbed to death on the streets - that investigation is headed by DI Webster.

The investigation is run against the backdrop of escalating knife crime and hampered by the appearance of a right wing vlogger, Ben Tyrell, who broadcasts his venom against immigrants. Then things become very personal as Robin is accused of not pulling out all the stops to catch the killer.
Meanwhile, Robin's domestic back-story is also to the fore - her relationship with her brother Luke and mum and dad, leading to Robin being put in a very compromised situation - she could lose her job!

There's a lot of comment on mixed race relationships, tolerance and intolerance, which puts Robin's daughter Lennie in danger and once again Robin has decisions to make regarding loyalty and duty. But she has the support of Samir - doesn't she?

This is a complex plot but, overly-drawn-out with lots of irrelevant side-tracking. That's just my opinion, obviously.
Nevertheless, well worth reading.

I really enjoyed this book. It took me a while to read it as I didn’t feel that it piqued my interest towards the middle but I’m glad I carried on.
The suspense of knowing who done it kept me reading on to until the end, and I wasn’t able to guess early on who it could be so in my mind, that’s a book well written!

I really enjoyed this book and would recommend to anyone looking for a who done it book, where the main culprit isn’t that obvious.

My thanks to 4th Estate for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘Risk of Harm’ by Lucie Whitehouse in exchange for an honest review.

In 2019 I was very impressed with ‘Critical Incidents’, the author’s first police procedural featuring DI Robin Lyons. She is now a DCI in Force Homicide in her hometown of Birmingham. Some background of previous events is provided, though this works fine as a standalone.

I won’t say too much about the plot in order to avoid spoilers. It opens with a woman found stabbed to death in a derelict factory. When no one comes forward to identify the body, Robin and her team have to not only hunt for her murderer, but also discover their victim’s identity. Then another woman is found dead is similar circumstances, sparking rumours of a serial killer.

Robin and her boss Samir are under increasing pressure from their superiors, the media, and from an inflammatory group of far-right nationalists. Add to this tensions in Robin’s family are running high as well as unresolved feelings between Robin and Samir, who had been a couple in their teens.

This is quite a complex crime thriller in terms of multiple plot lines involving the various cases as well as the interpersonal dynamics. ‘Critical Incidents’ also had a lot going on in terms of plot and characters.

Lucie Whitehouse also integrated a number of social issues into the narrative including racism, xenophobia, and the rise of white supremacism and the far-right in the U.K.. Not easy reading though important to acknowledge.

I was glad to have read this in conjunction with the online reading group, The Pigeonhole, as it allowed for a closer reading and an opportunity to share thoughts with others.

Overall, I found this a solid and satisfying police procedural and I am now fully committed to this series. So I will eagerly await news of further cases for DCI Robin Lyons and her team.

This was an ok read and a real slow burner. There were references to a previous story possibly. It was well written but nothing to write home about sadly.

Great crime thriller that touches on real issues in the UK at the moment.

The characters are excellent and I enjoy the dynamic between the main character and who is now her boss.

Her personal issues make you really care for her and I enjoyed this book.

A tense story of a Detective under pressure at her wits extreme. How she manages to win through with two young women killed in close succession, leading to public alarm at the prospect of a serial killer, then the racially motivated murder of one of her suspects, finding leads to a cold case, media pressure, bad publicity on top of multiple family crisis, that all resulting in no time for food or rest. How she copes and manages to bring matters to a successful conclusion makes an amazing read.

A well written book, in fact I thought that some of the descriptive passages were very good indeed.
The characters are believable and the pace of the book just flows. I enjoyed the storyline as DCI Robin Lyons investigates the murders and the book kept me engaged all the way through.
My only negative comment relates to the fact that this book is the second in the series. I have read other books that were part of a series and although they make reference to past events they worked equally well as a standalone. This book relates heavily to previous incidents, I appreciate we need some of the back story but was all of it really relevant or needed to be mentioned so often? Samir yes but maybe just give the details about Corinna once rather than drip feeding it throughout the book.
So overall I found it a very good read and I would read books by this author in the future but I recommend you read the first book before this one.

The second book of a 3-part series and this instalment certainly doesn’t disappoint.
DCI Robin Lyons is now based in Birmingham and is dealing with the brutal murder of two young women.
As in the first book, characterisation is strong and family ties and relationships, particularly between mothers and their children is explored brilliantly.
A fantastic – and humorous read (despite the subject matter, some of Robin’s one liners and internal dialogue with herself are laugh out oud). Highly recommended.

This is the second book in the series, I didn't realise and will go back and read book one. DCI Robin is ex-met and recently returned home to Birmingham to work under her ex-boyfriend and presumably, first love Samir which makes for an interesting relationship in itself and is difficult at times, partly because Robin hasn't necessarily dealt with the fall out even after so many years.

Robin has a dysfunctional family, her brother, Luke, is truly horrible (before having some kind of epiphany at the end which was a little strange) and her parents are constantly trying to smooth the ways between them. The relationship between Robin and her teenage daughter, Lennie, is really beautiful and you can feel that Lennie wants more mum time and to be a higher priority but with such high pressure to find the murderer or perhaps two separate murders means Robin can't be around as much as she wants. Her family issues keep getting in the way of her duties (don't they always!) and Lennie is strong-minded and goes after what she believes in. The characters were obviously well thought out and relatable, some more likeable than others!

The plot is strong, two young girls are found murdered a couple of days apart and at first, appear to be by the same person ut proving so is difficult. It's really interesting throughout. It covers racism, exploitation and far-right beliefs which at times are uncomfortable to read.

this shows the dirty underbelly of Birmingham, including homelessness, neo-nazis and families with very differing views and treatment. It's fast-paced and enjoyable.

Risk of Harm by Lucie Whitehouse
I had read Critical Incidents by the same author and it was an entertaining read but I think that it is necessary to read this first in order to fill in the detail about Robin Lyons history. In this novel she has returned to Birmingham and is working for DCS Samir Jafferi with whom she was very closely involved as a teenager.
The murder with which she is dealing relates to a young girl whose body has been found in a derelict warehouse. She struggles to identify the victim and is being hassled by those positioned above Samir who do not feel that her position in the force is strong enough.
There is a great deal of background detail relating to Robin’s relationship with her family and this means that the progress on the solving of the actual case is a little slow. The case itself deals with various issues such as racism, exploitation and the far right. It is a good read and one which would appeal to those who like this genre but I felt it became a bit side-tracked by Robin’s family issues.
I would like to thank the publishers, the author and Net Galley for the opportunity to read the book in return for an honest review. I would rate it 3 1/2 stars.

I am relatively new to police procedurals but, of the few I've now read, this one is right up there. I had already read the first in the series and so was familiar with the main protagonist, Robin Lyons, a detective with a checkered past (of course) and (equally of course) a dysfunctional family that inevitably get in the way of her duties. Pretty much everything in the novel is enjoyable: from the evocation of a gritty underbelly of Birmingham complete with soup kitchens, carpet-wrapped bodies and raging neo-Nazis; to a plot that moves fast without being dizzying; to characters who are complex, almost always believable, and, in the case of Robin and her long-suffering teenage daughter, extraordinarily easy to warm to. If there is anything that did not please, for this reader at least, it was the action-packed finale - too full of coincidence, half the family in the same demonstration but on different sides, each throwing the near-fatal blow for their team, and then - completely unbelievably - the hitherto nastiest of them all taking a metaphorical bullet for the other side, having apparently, unexplainably seen the light. But that's not to detract from what is a solid, satisfying, and sometimes moving read.

This is a crime fiction novel based in Birmingham, England which is not something I have seen done before. Although the fact that this is Britain’s “second city” and there seems to be so few crime books that use it as a backdrop. Whitehouse is a brand new author for me, and it was a delight reading this book. I could sense the authenticity of the scenes with the police and the office politics that the main character Robin has to deal with. I also really liked the fractured family setup that was touched on at times, although the father of Robin’s daughter is seldom mentioned and that felt like a glaring omission. However, maybe this will be brought up in the final book of the trilogy - this was book two. Although I was not made to feel that I had missed anything significant having not read book one.
One thing I did not like was that a minor character’s name changed from Andrew Evans to Mr. Davies within the space of a few lines for some reason. I can only think that was an error.
Apart from that, the book was a solid read for me and I look forward to reading more from this author. Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Having not realised this was the 2nd in the fantastic DCI Robin Lyons series I made a point of reading book 1 as soon as I'd finished (great to get a bit of the backstory).

Robin ex-Met officer now works under her ex Samir, the guy who broke her heart 20 years ago for the Force Homicide team in Birmingham, her home town.

A women is found stabbed to death and rolled in a piece of carpet at the Gisborne, a derelict factory. They have no idea who she is and until they do she's known as "the Gisborne girl". Similar deaths follow over the next few days and Robin and the Team really have their work cut out. The race is on to find the killer. And sharpish.

We also read about family dramas, Robin's brother Luke is a nasty piece of work and she finds out he was behind her heartache all these years ago. She's not going to let it lie despite her mother telling her it's all in the past. Her well rounded teen, Lennie is also a character I love. She's met her first boyfriend and while Robin is happy for her she's also cautious.

There's a riot which is incited by racial tension in the City which sees Lennie act out of character and her brother get what's coming to him.

I found the story fast paced, interesting and gripping and I can't wait for book 3! Absolutely brilliant. I loved it.