I only recently read Charlotte's book, The Blame, and absolutely loved it. In fact, I owned it before I received this early copy of the sequel but hadn't got round to reading it, but when I did, I flew through it. It was so good and so I was really hoping this one would live up to it, and it most certainty did.

I can always rely on a thriller to get me out of a reading slump! There is no preamble here, it is straight in with a case, police, a dead body, and a suspect.

There are some of the same characters from The Blame, but also a fair few new ones, which gives us a sense of familiarity, but with enough new things to get us excited for more.

We have Erin of course, the main detective who was in the first one, along with other recognisable police officers. Our main suspect is Amma, a lost young woman with a grudge, still grieving for her late brother. There are other characters of course, old and new, but it is these two women who carry the story along, and it was hard to decide if I thought Amma was guilty or not as I really liked her. Even if she did some morally dodgy things, her heart always seemed to be in the right place.

It is still interesting to see Erin as our main character amongst all the men. Policing and investigating is still such a male dominated field, and so to see her be the boss of her own success and whatnot, from a female reader's perspective, it is really good to read.

Because I enjoyed The Blame so much, I was wondering if a) I wouldn't enjoy this as much, and b) if it would be too similar, but it's not. It's got everything I loved about the first one but with some extras.

I read the first half before bed, and the second half straight away when I woke up as I couldn't bear to be without it for much longer, so determined I was to find out what happened.

Because of what happened in the first book and how surprising the whodunnit turned out to be (no spoilers), I was trying to look for little clues right from the off with this one, but it still took me completely by surprise, which, in my books, makes for the perfectly written thriller.

What was interesting in both books is this unease and distrust of the police. Now, don't get me wrong, I really hope there's nothing as bad as what you read in books happening in real life, but there is a general distrust of police nowadays, it's hard to ignore. Not by everyone, but you can tell through various news stories over the last few years that there is definitely this undercurrent. And it's interesting to read that, because in most books that I've read, the police are the trusted ones. But how do you trust a force that may not be all they seem?

I am really hoping Charlotte makes this a long series because I am here for it. I'm loving everything about it and can't wait to see her progress as a writer.

This is a very compelling, well written police drama, with shades of racism and male chauvinism woven throughout. The characters are interesting, especially the female ones and the pacing is fast with some interesting twists along the way. There is plenty of drama, which pulled me in from the start and the ending left me hoping for more in another book. I do hope to read more from Erin and I highly recommend the read. An easy 5* from me. Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.

4.5* Strong females, weak men, lies and obfuscation make for a decent read.

This book didn't feel female-dominant but boy, did the females show the males up. I struggled to believe that weak (as accused by Erin, the PI) Lewis was a detective. He had no instincts, no balls, no courage and he only had a very late Eureka! moment, actually 2 of them, just shortly before the end. Erin, Amma, June and Vicky were strong, passionate, supportive females, in total contrast. And goodness, even bitchy Olivia came through. I thought that the author did well not to make this a total take on Stephen Lawrence's murder, though there were similarities. Thankfully institutional racism didn't rear its head, though male chauvinism and arrogance did, as well as shades of Sarah Everard being more than hinted at. And contempt for policing pretty much was the underlying message of the tale, though reform was mentioned, too.

Erin was surprisingly astute and managed to get the tiniest details from people and have several Eureka moments of her own. Her courage, too, going where she did, at night, phone-less, with someone who'd just admitted to their part in Isaac's murder, paid off, but it could have been at the cost of her own demise. Amma, a female from an ethnic minority heritage, who seemed to straddle 2 worlds, was strong and resolute, and I hope that she ended up suing those involved in what happened to her, her brother, her family, and her reputation. Where we saw her at the end of the tale, was perfect icing on a very nice cake.

I wish the final words from Mark could have healed Amma a little. He turned out to be less of a b'stard than I thought, but just a little. I think you have to be a certain kind of person to do what he did, but I had hoped he'd ended up being genuinely in love with Amma. Sadly, I didn't feel we got that clarification, though at the same time, I didn't get the impression that Amma needed or wanted it.

The author has taken quite a bit of artistic license with some of the policing aspects, but overall, it's a very decent story that made me want to know more about Erin, Tom, Lewis and their pasts. I'm off to nose and see if there's a previous tale.

ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Bedford Square Publishers for my reading pleasure.

With many thanks to Netgalley for this free arc and I am leaving this unbiased review voluntarily
Having been blown away by Charlotte Langley’s debut novel I was super excited to read the sequel. Once again the author has reeled me in and kept me on the edge of my seat in this compelling police drama. This moves at a frantic pace as the plot twists and turns on many levels with the brilliant Erin at the heart of it all. This is solid, sharp, perfectly written and executed. Charlotte Langley is fast proving she is up there with some of the best writers of police procedurals. An absolutely cracking 5⭐️ ( and then some) read.