This storyline was catchy. It starts off with a female detective who is returning back to work from maternity leave about a kidnapped baby. As the story continues we learn about her husband with a shady past and she’s wondering how it all connects and if it does. The characters were interesting and kept you wondering if you her husband was involved.

Detective Rachel King is back in this 5th addition to the brilliant series. As book 4 ended we saw her leaving to begin her maternity leave and her very rocky relationship with Jed McAteer appeared to have settled down and Jed has promised to be a hands on Dad.

As we begin book 5 her maternity leave is coming to an end as she is called back to work early following the kidnapping of a baby. Not just any baby this is the baby of one of the TRIO a group of gangsters who are running the county. When other family members of the Trio go missing it becomes clear someone is determined to take over the dark underworld of Manchester and top of the list of suspects is Jed.

As Rachel tries to get back into work mode it soon becomes clear that the promises Jed made to do his share of parental duties are unlikely to be fulfilled. As Rachel juggles childcare with a difficult, high profile case she has additional problems, where does Jed keep disappearing to?

With suspicions that Jed is being unfaithful or returning to his bad old days, A young baby and a difficult case the last thing Rachel needs is a threat against her family.

This is an absolutely brilliant story with many twists and turns that keeps the pages turning. I kept changing my mind about who was in charge of the takeover and as a mother I could relate to the conflicting emotions Rachel was dealing with. The ending: well, absolutely edge of the seat, shocking and unexpected – brilliant.
Characters that keep on giving, a story that keeps the pages turning and just the right amount of personal lives interwoven into the book this was an absolutely stunning read in every way.

I can’t wait for book 6. 5 golden stars from me.

My thanks to NetGalley and publisher Joffe Books for the electronic copy.

This is Book#5 in the Detective Rachel King series and although I haven't read any of the previous ones, this reads OK as a standalone. It starts off well and is steadily-paced, however, I did find the plot overall, and the main characters, to be somewhat lacking in depth.

Set in and around Manchester, DCI Rachel King's partner Jed is an ex-gangland boss who's given it all up to be with Rachel and they have a young son. Rachel has two older daughters. The Manchester drugs scene is run by The Trio - past acquaintances of Jed who is now a property developer.

Leona lives on the streets and is only too happy to accept stranger Ronzo's offer to team up to exact revenge on The Trio, whom Leona blames for her sister's horrific death.
First of all two-month-old James is abducted by a babysitter - Scott Agnew's son.
Then Ray Hutton's elderly mother is abducted from her care home, followed by Brendan Blackmore's disappearance. Grace Blackmore is convinced that Jed is responsible, aiming to take over their businesses and threatens Rachel that HER family may well be in danger.

Rachel has to admit that Jed has been acting strangely of late - never being around to care for the baby as she had hoped, always being called into work for some reason or another but, surely he wouldn't go back to his old life - would he?

Yes, there's a couple of twists, but it's not, well, terribly exciting I'm afraid, but that's just my opinion,

What a thrilling read this book is.The story of a missing baby and all that follows and i think readers will love this edge of your seat plot.Excellent 5*

4.25⭐
This was my first introduction to the DCI Rachel King series and I was intrigued to say the least purely because the lead characters personal life is unusual in that her partner and father of her baby boy Len is a reformed gangster, and I wondered how that would play out especially when it came to her investigating a case that has links to the gangster community.

And my answer was an exciting and twisty read. That had me guessing as Rachel just back from maternity leave is asked to investigate the kidnapping of a baby boy whose dad happens to be part of a trio of alleged gangsters who supposedly took over from Rachel's partner Jed and when the other two are targeted Rachel is concerned that Jed will be blamed and her family targeted.

But nothing prepares her for what her investigation uncovers and I was hooked and would definitely read more from this series in the future. I would also go back and read the books I've missed out on.

DCI Rachel King #5

A two month ol infant is missing. James parents left him with a babysitter while they went out for dinner. But when they get home, there's no sign of the baby or the sitter. This is the last thing Rachel wants to hear on the last night of maternity leave. But worse is to come. The missing infant belongs to Scott Agnew, alleged member Manchester drug-dealing ring, the Trio. Then the elderly mother os another Trio boss disappears. Rachel knows that if these are retaliation kidnappings, things will go from bad to terrible.

Gangland criminals won't stand back from taking their revenge, even if the events took place in the past. Who is behind the missing baby and elderly woman.? Rachael is suspicious of her partner who has supposed to have given up on his criminal side of life.

The plotline was well executed. The pace was steady with some twists. An easy book to read but I felt the ending let it down.

I would like to thank #NetGalley #JoffeBooks and the author #HelenHDurrant for my ARC of #LastVictim in exchange for an honest review.

This is, I think, book 5 in the DI Rachel King series, I suspect it may be the last but I’m sure the author will have something new in store for us soon! The book started with a bang with the brazen abduction of a young child, James Agnew, from his home by the fake babysitter. The parents are understandably distraught. But soon after the same fake babysitter turns up at a nursing home as a fake carer and makes off with elderly Edith Hutton!

Ah now the picture begins to emerge. Scott Agnew, the boys father and Edith’s son (somebody Hutton) are both part of the Trio - the gang running criminal activities in the Manchester area! And sure enough the final Trio family, the Blackmores, are targeted when Brendan is kidnapped. His wife Grace is beside herself but Rachel and her team need to be very careful. Despite Brendan being the titular Trio member, Grace is a formidable and venomous woman who holds grudges and believes in revenge.

Grace believes that Rachel’s boyfriend is behind it all in a bid to take over the operation but he had promised Rachel that he was going straight and has not put a foot wrong since. They have a young son and are a loving family. Rachel needs to watch her step with Grace and she knows Rachel has a young son.

I had an idea who was behind it all but I was wrong. The child was soon returned unharmed but a young homeless man is killed as the search is on for the young fake babysitter/care home worker. She is scared for her life. She didn’t want anything bad to happen to the abductees but wanted to make the Trio pay for her sister’s death. She holds them responsible.

The pacing was cracking and Rachel’s desperate bid to keep her family together was moving. These were very high stakes and the clock was ticking down for the remaining abductees. There were rumours that a police officer was involved and the atmosphere got very tense.

I really enjoyed this story. Helen Durrant thrillers are always eminently readable and I have no qualms in recommending any of her books. Thanks to Netgalley and Joffe Books for the much appreciated arc which I reviewed voluntarily and honestly.

Wonderful read, I really enjoyed this book. It was well written, had a great story line and kept me guessing the whole way through. A gritty and thrilling book that totally deserves five stars, I loved it!

I’d like to thank Joffe Books and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘Last Victim’ written by Helen H Durrant in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

The babysitter waves the baby’s parents off as they leave for an evening out with friends, she carries him out to the waiting car and he’s driven away. The next day she takes the elderly mother of Ray Hutton from her care home, puts her in the car and again she’s driven off. The baby’s father, Scott Agnew, and the elderly lady’s son, Ray Hutton, are two of the members of an organised crime gang called the ‘Trio’, the third being Brendan Blackmore. DCI Rachel King’s partner and father of two of her children, Jed McAteer, is suspected of being involved. Rachel thought he was now a successful property developer but Jed is acting strangely, so can she trust him?

‘Last Victim’ is the fifth in the DCI Rachel King series and although I’ve enjoyed reading more of Rachel, DS Elwyn Price and the team, Rachel appears to have turned into a nag and her demands that Jed pull his weight with looking after their baby Len are a bit over the top at times. The plot is interesting, some of the characters are definitely dubious, and it makes for easy reading, but it’s not as exciting as previous books in the series. But saying that, the final twist is a big surprise and not what I expected and the cliff-hanger in the epilogue leaves an opening for another in the series which I’ll be looking forward to.

Detective Rachel King returns Last Victim which is the fifth book in the series by Helen H Durrant and whilst it is an easy enough read the plot lacks in places and is fairly predictable whilst there are a number of obvious procedural gaps.

Saying that the series has built up some previous goodwill so I will look to read any future books with this hopefully being a blip

Nooooooooo, please don’t let that be the end! Was so enjoying the story and catching up with the characters. It must be a mistake surely? Hoping everything is sorted and cleared up in the next book? Beautifully written character of Grace, she oozed menace and also really liked the way you were never quite sure about Ronzo’s full involvement.

Not my favourite Helen Durrant but I find it is often the case when you read a series there tends to be a couple of weaker offerings.
The plot was just too unbelievable right from the start. Easy to guess what was going to happen so all in all a disappointment.

Amid a familiar city backdrop to me, this is another first class read from Helen H Durrant.
However, in reality it is a book without an ending, that leaves you wondering where the next one is going to take you. But then again, at least you know that there will be another..
One of my favourite authors, but there is no bias in recommending this book.
An enjoyable read and I cannot wait for the follow up.

Not much good to say about this title. A preposterous plot; an easy mystery to solve, poor character development all around it was unbelievable and not in a positive way.

This is the 5th book in the DCI Rachel King series by author Helen H Durrant. I have enjoyed this series from the start but if I am completely honest I didn’t feel the same about this one as the previous four. I like the characters and the writing but not quite there for me on this one.

DCI Rachel King is called into action when a two-month-old baby James is reported missing. His parents left him with a babysitter while they went out for dinner, but when they returned home their house was deserted. DCI Rachel King is due to return to work following her maternity leave and her start is only going to get worse when she discovers the missing child belongs to Scott Agnew, alleged member of Manchester drug-dealing ring, the Trio. Shortly after the elderly mother of another Trio member disappears and Rachel suspects there will be further crimes. Rachel realises this is not going to be an easy return to work and it is about to get worse when the prime suspect is Rachel’s partner Jed, ex-gangland boss and father of her youngest child.

I would like to thank both Netgalley and Joffe Books for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Missing Persons Conundrum…
The fifth in the Detective Rachel King series and a missing persons conundrum gives Rachel cause for great concern. A credible cast and a well flowing narrative peppered with red herrings makes this a quick and immersive read. A worthy addition to this series.

221 pages

4 stars

Plenty of twists, turns and red herrings in this latest book by Helen Durrant.

The reader gets to see the crime happen in the prologue. So they now have some knowledge of what happened.

DCI Rachel King is back from her maternity leave with a shock. A two-month old baby has been kidnapped. The mother is totally destroyed. The father is a shady crime figure. Oh boy, do they have their hands full. There are three crime figures basically vying for the same territory.

When another crime boss’ elderly mother goes missing, the tension in the story ratchets up. They must solve this case! Things go wrong. People are lying and covering up. Or, they just won’t talk at all.

This book is written and plotted well, as are all of Ms. Durrant’s novels. She writes very well, holding the reader’s interest from start to finish. I liked DCI Rachel and her team. I appreciate it when a police team gets along well. I don’t care for the backstabbing in some books.

I want to thank NetGalley and Joffe Books for forwarding to me a copy of this great book for me to read, enjoy and review. The opinions expressed here are solely my own.

This series gives me two genres I really enjoy in one. The police procedural and the gangland crime genre. And this author makes each book better than the last.
I can't wait to see what happens next I'm really enjoying the series

Last Victim is book five in the series. This can be a stand alone read. There is enough information given that you do not have to go back to the beginning. But this series is very good and worth starting at the beginning.

DCI Rachel King is returning to work after the birth of her son with her partner Jed. He is now a property developer on the straight and narrow and out of the Manchester crime world of drugs. The night before Rachel is to return she gets a call regarding a missing child. The father of the missing child is Scott Agnew, part of the Trio which have taken over after Jed has left the crime world.

Next up is Brendan Blackmore who turns up missing and then Ray Hutton's mother is taken from a elder care facility. The two remaining members and Blackmore's wife are anxious and demanding the police do something. Rachel will have her hands full trying to get to the bottom and safely return the missing people.

With so many twists and turns and so many characters that are guilty and not guilty it will keep you guessing who is responsible.

A good, easy read which held my interest throughout, full of suspense and mystery with good interesting characters.

I can thoroughly recommend this book and thank you to Netgalley and Joffe Books for allowing me to read this book.