Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book. It was a very good read and the character of Robin was a strong, well written and likeable character. The plot is well written and also has the backstory of Robins family history, for the reader to enjoy. A great story and I look forward to more from the writer.

Absolutely fantastic read. I have loved this and been completely unable and unwilling to put this one down.
This is a great read which I will be highly recommending.

A bit of a slow and complex start here, perhaps leaving the reader wondering if continuing with the book is going to be worthwhile - read on a little further and you will be hooked! DCI Robin Lyons is working in the murder squad in Birmingham and her work life is complicated enough, but her personal life is even more convoluted, and the story develops both strands with admirable imagination and depth. This really is a cracking read, with believable action and characters, and the author tackles some really pressing issues with compassion and insight - homelessness, racism, bigotry, religious extremism and outdated social attitudes all appear here but are so deftly interwoven in the story that there is never any hint of self righteousness. The denouement is built with real tension and judgement and although not a total surprise, is very deftly handled. A great read!

I feel bereft! Am isolating at the moment and this book has been my salvation! I couldn’t put it down and didn’t want it to end! Originally from Birmingham, I recognised all the place names and I was there, with Robin and Samir and their team, I wanted them to win, to solve the riddle of the two girls, their murder and their killers! I felt Robin’s family anguish, her frustrations, every nuance! Characterisation is superb here. This was Line of Duty stuff - am just hoping some TV producer is savvy enough to make it into a TV series! Riveting stuff! A definite must read!

So so good drew me right in .Characters came alive kept me turning the pages.A mystery that kept me involved guessing highly recommend.#netgalley #4thestate

This is a good crime thriller, mixed with personal and family dramas from the main character's life.
Charged with solving two murders, DCI Robin Lyons also has to battle with past mistakes, press intrusion and far right activists. Addressing some current issues alongside a slowly unfolding investigation, this is a decent read.
I haven't read the previous book but it didn't detract from this one.
Thank you to NetGalley and Fourth Estate for an ARC.

Britain's Second city becomes the setting for a First class thriller in Risk of Harm by Lucie Whitehouse. A lengthy and gripping thriller where DCI Robin Lyons investigates two murders, both young women, both found quite close to each other and both where a knife was the instrument of choice for the killer. Surely, these two murders must be linked? Therefore do we have a serial killer on the prowl?
Agonisingly, one of the young women just cannot be identified, not by disfigurement of the corpse but by no one recognising her or of her being reported as missing. A mystery within an investigation.
Lucie Whitehouse through the thought processes of Robin Lyons writes really powerfully of the emotions flooding the detective's brain when she first haves sight of the poor girl, slain amongst the detritus of an abandoned factory. It really immerses the reader in the horror and waste of life.
After a very tentative idea by Maggie a PI and friend of Robin's mother, DCI Lyons heads north on an outside chance she may have found a link to the anonymous muder victim. What follows is an imaginative piece requiring the skills of an Internet sleuth to try and track down the victim's parents. It had me thinking of two charismatic figures Jim Jones (of the Kool Aid fame) and Charles Sobhraj, both notorious and both with the ability to manipulate people. However, that may give the reader a bit of a clue.
The Risk of Harm gives those who like the genre plenty to get their teeth in to. In places it leans a little heavily on stereotypes but that was my only criticism.

I would like to thank Netgalley and 4th Estate and William Collins for an advance copy of Risk of Harm, the second novel to feature DCI Robin Lyons of the Birmingham Police.

When the body of a young woman stabbed to death is found in a derelict building Robin and the team are given the investigation. They are hampered in their efforts by a lack of identity for the victim and no forensics and it gets worse when a second body is found in similar conditions and the press starts speculating.

I thoroughly enjoyed Risk of Harm which is an engrossing read with an unusual plot. I have not read the previous novel in the series so I didn’t know what to expect, but I’m impressed. It is a substantial novel with a plot that deviates from the norm of link the murders and find the killer. I found it absorbing and surprising in some of the turns it takes, so it kept me on my toes. The plotting is well done with a surprising motive and an international flavour, although I’m not too sure how likely it is as certain potential difficulties were glossed over and there was one glaring coincidence that certainly doesn’t bear close scrutiny. These are minor points, however, in a well conceived and executed procedural.

The investigation is only half the story in this novel as the there is also the drama surrounding Robin’s personal life, which is also of great interest to the tabloids. Her boss, DCS Samir Jafferi, was her schooldays boyfriend, her latest boyfriend is another old school friend, her daughter is a teenager (enough said) and her poor relationship with her brother is deteriorating further. It’s all go, but none of it seems forced, unbelievable or outrageous and it adds another dimension to Robin’s character.

The author does a great job of highlighting the simmering undercurrent of violent racism and white nationalism that exists in Britain today and does try to explain the rationale behind it. No, it didn’t convert me but I like that she tried and I liked even better the way she nailed the mindset and the danger of it.

Risk of Harm is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.

The best detective story I have read in the last year. Would say why but I hate spoilers.

Give yourself a real treat and read it!

This novel begins very slowly, and carries on at this pace throughout. I started to lose interest after two chapters but persevered to the end. The main character, Robin, was quite irritating and I got annoyed at the insight into her personal life as it was overshadowing the story. As for her racist brother Luke, I failed to find anything likeable about him. Just not one for me, sadly. Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.

I have not read the previous book with these characters, so I felt a bit wrong-footed in knowing what was going on. However I did enjoy it to a degree, but I did find the author's frequent use of" "she"instead of "her"to be particularly annoying. At first I thought it was a typo, then realised as it happened more times that it was just a grammatical error on both the author and editor's part.

DCI Robin Lyons returns from working with the London’s Met Police to her hometown in Birmingham and returns to DCS Samir Jefferi who she had a relationship when she was a teenage that ended badly.
Her first case back she investigates a woman who body has been found in a derelict factory by two homeless men with no ID. The police find it hard to trace anyone that knows her. Robins wonders why no one has reported her missing. When another body is found stabbed similar to the first DCI Robins thinks the two murders are linked. Somehow the details of the case have been leaked to the press and they are all over it.
The story also tells us about Robins own personal life with her daughter Lennie and the men in life.
Thank you, 4th Estate, and NetGalley for a copy of Risk of Harm by Lucie Whitehouse. You can read the book as a standalone and I have not read the previous book in the series. This is a really slow burn and it has a good storyline but I found for me that there was so much going on and it too me a while to realise all the things that were going on in it. I didn’t really connect to the characters. 3 stars from me.

This is the second of Lucie Whitehouse's Robin Lyons books I have read and I really loved it. The story was thoroughly engaging and had just the right number of clues to make it possible but difficult to figure out what was going on - I enjoyed the fact that I was way off!
I have seen other reviewers saying there was too much of Robin's personal life in this book and I did find the four different subplots were a slight distraction just in one section but overall I thought it added to the novel. I will definitely read the next Robin Lyons book when it comes along.

I enjoyed this book, although I did find it rather slow to start with and did consider giving up. I didn't however and I'm glad I stuck with it.
The lead character is Robyn, a detective in Birmingham living with her teenage daughter. There are 2 murders which occur close together and the main story is Robyn trying to solve the case.
There were a lot if interweaving threads, perhaps a little too many, with mentions of previous events with the daughter, Lennie. I'm not sure if there was a previous book I have missed.
However, all in all this was an enjoyable crime novel.

Lucie Whitehouse's crime thriller is a engaging and exciting read, set in Birmingham and featuring DCI Robin Lyons, a transplant from the London Met, returning to her home town, with a complicated professional and personal life. Her boss is DCS Samir Jafferi, the love of her teenage years, a love affair that ended traumatically, which she now understands the reasons for, and responsible for recruiting her to Force Homicide. A single mother to daughter Lennie, her best friend Corinna was murdered, and she feels on the outside of her family circle, her brother Luke is at the centre, in her eyes her parents favourite, especially her mother. Luke has unpalatable political views, is a all round nasty piece of work, emanating pure hatred towards Robin, and feels no compunction in betraying her and trying to destroy her police career, and is exhibiting mental health issues after marital pressures.

There has been a spate of knife killings that have put pressure on the police, the latest is a young white woman found stabbed to death in a derelict factory. There is no identification on the body, and all efforts to find out who she is result in nothing, even national inquiries bring no answers, how is it possible that no-one anywhere recognises her? In the meantime, a sickening febrile climate begins to build in the multicultural city, exacerbated by the likes of the confident and self assured Ben Tyrell, espousing far right views, anti-immigrant, gathering an increasing number of dangerous supporters, just waiting to ignite community tensions with his politically skewed viewpoints, problematic conclusions, and undermining of the police. Then another woman is found killed with a similar MO and not far from where the first victim was discovered. Are the cases linked? With the media frenzy and tabloid interest in Robin's personal life, the pressures of family issues, and a despairing tragedy, Robin feels the heat as she tries to get to the truth of the murders.

Whitehouse's central protagonist, Robin is a flawed character, guilty of not paying enough attention to Lennie, who dislikes having to stay home alone, although Lennie has been building a close circle of friends. It is Lennie who hits too close to the bone in her analysis of Robin's behaviour when it comes to her personal relationships that appear doomed from the beginning, sparking a greater self awareness of what motivates her in her personal life. Personally, I don't know how Robin puts up with Luke, although her insecurities when it comes her family probably do not help, and her mother's iron hold on family members is made transparent as she directs events from her hospital bed. I found this a wonderfully intense, complex and thrilling crime read that I didn't want to end, with plenty of suspense, and I am hoping there is a sequel soon. Many thanks to HarperCollins 4th Estate for an ARC.

Found this to be a regular "who done it" like many similar stories. When reading this book assumed it was a one off story but felt there was too many references to a possible back story of the main characters, but a pleasant read.

DCI Robin Lyons is back in her home town of Birmingham working with Force Homicide, her boss is DCS Samir Jafferi with whom she has history. A body of a young woman found stabbed to death in a derelict industrial building challenges the force considerably especially to establish her identity. The case is not solve fast enough for their superiors, one of which is definitely not on Robin’s side.

The novel starts very slowly indeed and although it’s true to say that Robin has a dark back story and certainly has her demons this is overplayed in my opinion and overwhelms the really interesting mystery of the dead girl. If you add in her strained relationship with her family in particular her brother Luke plus an awful lot of time given over to mother/daughter chats which results in the plot getting bogged down and my head ends up spinning.

There are however some good themes beneath the personal stuff , there’s a racism angle with some fist curling, teeth gritting rants from a far right group which leads to some tense scenes and puts more pressure on the Birmingham force I’m several ways. The mystery girl storyline is an interesting one which deepens and deepens as evidence is pieced together and results in an exploitation link and spreading the investigation far and wide. This is the best part of the novel and I really enjoy this section of the plot.

Overall, there is a good story in here but you have to wade through a lot of over detail to get to it.

With thanks to NetGalley and 4th Estate for the arc in return for an honest review.

This seemed a really long and at times unnecessarily detailed read. But the characters are complex, the plotting tight and the storyline absorbing. I did enjoy it, just not sure if I'd read the next

A story where police drama and family drama come together and both are brilliantly intertwined just as in real life. Robin, the main character, juggles her private life with varying degrees of success just as many women do and events in her past impact on her private and work life. The police investigations into one, two and then three murders are complex and thanks to Robin’s investigative determination and skill become even more successful than anyone could have imagined. A well paced and compelling storyline that I found myself determined to finish in the same day and left with the hope that I can read more about Robin and her family and friends in the next book. Thank you Netgalley, publisher and Lucie Whitehouse for the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.

Risk of Harm by Lucie Whitehouse is a whopping 5 star read from me! Great storyline and a real credible back story about Robin, Samir and Lenny. We get just enough to whet the appetite and set the context but there’s clearly so much more to understand. I just loved the characterisations throughout the book. The personalities and quirks of Robin, her family and friends came through loud and clear. It’s hard to imagine a more vindictive brother than Luke but even he is complex and elicits some pity (and maybe even sympathy) but not much! I’m sure we’re going to hear much more about Robin and Samir as this crime team have loads more work to do. A very excellent read