Billy is heading home from the airport, burnt out and ready to hand in her notice when a series of bombs close off the motorway resulting in everyone being stuck. When a dead body is then found in a nearby car Billy investigates with the help of some others also stuck in the traffic. As secrets all around begin to unravel, can Billy solve this murder?

Told from the POV of Billy and a couple chapters from other motorists, I enjoyed the fast pace of this book. Spanning over the course of the hours of gridlock, there's a lot to unravel!

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A unique take on a murder mystery.
Billy is returning after a break from policing and finds herself amongst fellow drivers stuck on a section of motorway while the city is undergoing a series of terror attacks. On finding a dead driver- a clear murder victim, Billy has to manage a difficult crime scene and find out what’s happened with only the support of a select few of the trapped drivers.
I found the number of characters and POVs confusing at first with Billy’s nicknames and then actual names, but actually it worked well. Each had their own backstory and played a part in the crime or solving the crime. I need to read more about Billy- to be honest the book had me at “menopausal woman fights crime”

Sergeant Belinda "Billy" Kidd is on her way home from the airport when a bomb goes off on in a tunnel up ahead, halting traffic. Whilst stuck in traffic, a scream alerts her to a man dead inside his car. Billy is on the clock to find out the man's identity, who killed him and why, before the traffic starts moving again.

Billy, close to retirement due a work incident, works with the help of a few fellow stranded drivers to unravel the secrets everyone wants to hide.

I thoroughly enjoyed thay this story is set over the course of 5 hours. It's full of twists just waiting to be uncovered. I found the storyline gripping and really enjoyed the writing style. I'd highly recommend it.

Police officer Belinda (Billy) Kidd returns from a long holiday, and gets stuck in an unmoving traffic jam on a motorway due to a bomb that has gone off in a nearby tunnel. It comes to her attention that one of the other drivers has been murdered, and nobody can move, so.the killer is still in the vicinity, so Billy has to take charge of the crime scene.
It takes a while for the story to get going, Billy had lost confidence in her abilities, but with the support of a group of drivers and her colleague Dom on the phone, she manages to maintain.order. Amongst Billy's helpers, I liked Pat and the taxi driver best. The scenes just before nightfall were my favourite part of the book, with some surprising helpers and new alliances.
After the road opens she goes in pursuit of the killers and the story loses some of the tension.
An interesting plot. Enjoyable.

I would like to thank the author, the publisher and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of this book. I thought it was brilliant, a really unusual story with great characters and loads of twists. I will be recommending it to everyone I know.

My first Jo Furniss was real good fun! My curiosity was piqued by the framing of a locked room mystery on a gridlocked motorway where nobody can leave and tensions are heightened by lack of food and toilet breaks., I became invested in hot, stressed, jetlagged, menopausal off-duty police officer Billy who feels the burden of resolving this murder. I'm all for focusing on the slightly older woman as a protagonist and I enjoyed both Billy and Pat/Pam's character. There was a lot thrown into the mix, but I don't mind that in a thriller.

The premise of this book was much more than was delivered. I found myself getting a little lost at times, and found parts not quite connecting! A shame as I have read previous Jo Furniss books and enjoyed them more - this just wasn’t for me

This was an average book. The plot sounded engaging but the book was disjointed. There was no real depth to the main character and I found myself losing interest very early on.

This so could have been a five star read but it was a bit discombobulated. The premise of the story was great but wasn’t executed in the best way. However I did read it all to find out the ending.
Thank you Net Galley & Jo Furniss

Dead Mile is a very clever and entertaining thriller. In a twist on the classic locked room mystery, the events take place in a motorway traffic jam following a major terrorist incident.

DS Belinda Kidd, known as Billy, is heading home from the airport. Jetlagged, burnt out and about to resign, she just wants her journey to end. But then a series of bombs closes the motorway. And a dead body is found in a nearby car. As the only police officer on scene she has to investigate. But she has no equipment, no means of communication and not even her warrant card.

The cast of characters is very interesting, as Billy gets to know those around the murder victim's car. All seem to have secrets, but can she unravel the mystery? It's a novel puzzle and well told. Billy Kidd is a well described lead character, her sense of duty driving her on when she'd rather be anywhere else.

I think this is a good mystery and it quite fun. I did find myself getting a bit lost halfway through and I have to be honest it isn’t really one that has me gripped. It’s fine and I think that other people might enjoy it, for me it’s a bit too cliched and a bit messy.

With many thanks to Netgalley for this free arc and I am leaving this unbiased review voluntarily
So this was an unexpected good fun read! Loved the idea, even though ‘locked room’ mysteries have been done before, but this is the first one I know about set on a gridlocked motorway. This was full of interesting characters - although there are quite a few so you do need to keep track. Billy was great and most of the chapters told from her pov interwoven with the odd chapter from her fellow motorists. A cast of would be suspects and the author does a really good job of bringing everything together at the end. A fun, different and interesting read

Sergeant Belinda Kydd (‘Billy’, obvs.) fled to Australia when she faced a crisis in her police career. Now she has returned to England to work out her notice on light duties prior to taking early retirement. But she gets no further than driving her hire car from the airport before she finds herself running a crime scene and investigation. A series of terrorist attacks has brought the city to a standstill, gridlocking the motorway. As stranded travellers get out of their vehicles, they notice one driver is dead at the wheel. Did another driver commit murder and, given the traffic jam, are they still at the scene?
Not only has Jo Furniss come up with a wonderfully fresh blend of police procedural and locked room mystery, she has meticulously planned her plot and motorway logistics, and she has clearly researched the police regulations that Billy has to follow as best she can without the benefit of any standard police kit.
The way likable sleuth Billy has to work with and against the motley crew of suspects in the other cars reminded me of Trevor Wood’s You Can Run, another book I thorough enjoyed. Each of the suspects in Dead Mile has something to hide and the suspense builds as we discover more about them. There is also a sense of urgency as the drivers tune to radio news and discover that bombs are continuing to go off in and around the city. How close will the next one be to these sitting ducks?
This is a super read that would make a good TV series. It will do very well.
With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an independent review.

Fabulous read which i didn't want to end. Humour, murder and a plethora of characters all stuck in a huge traffic jam. You know those books you have read where you think i am going to enjoy reading this again in the future......well this is definitely one of those. My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my copy. Big five stars from me.

Sergeant Belinda Kidd is suffering from a whole series of maladies - some perhaps imaginary, and others very real. She is horribly jetlagged. She needs the toilet badly. It is a miserably hot day with no end in sight.

Menopause appears to have done a job on her confidence, including borderline anxiety attacks, but she is also demoralized from an earlier incident in her career which she has yet to fully recover from. Which is why she is considering early retirement.

But life has other plans for Belinda, aka Billy. Stuck in the traffic jam from hell on the outskirts, while a series of terrorist attacks is wreaking havoc in the city of London, Billy discovers that she must step up to calm the volatile situation involving the trapped motorists around her. Not to mention, the murdered man whose body she has discovered in a neighbouring vehicle...

This is a tense, fast-moving character driven story that will hold the reader's attention effortlessly. There is plenty of action and some very British humour on offer. Highly recommended.