Very confusing book, difficult to read overall and I had to work hard to finish it.
Great synopsis, loved the character DI Diana Walker but just as you get into the storyline, a new wave of hard hitting, confusing elements are added.
My opinion only, others may find it a lot better.

I enjoyed reading this book but found it a bit disorganised. It started of being one thing then jumping to another which did not give the subject full justice.
DI Diana Walker gets assigned to the murder of a headmaster. His head and arm were found in a filing cabinet in the rubble of the demolished school that he once lead. Is it OCG killing?
DI Walker then gets a hunch that the death 2 years ago of a teacher, May be linked. Her boss doesn’t think so and threatens to reallocate the case. She investigates further and comes across domestic abuse and FGM information. Who is right?
I found the book quite slow to start but I wanted to know the ‘why’s’. I’m sitting on the fence with this book.

Unfortunately, I did not finish this book; although I gave it several attempts, especially after reading in the Times that is was the book of the month and recommend.

I just could not get away with the characters and the plot! I found it hard to understand as it switched from Diana's story and the investigation and then her mother and grandmothers story and history from Nigeria!

The book did not hold my interest and although I hate giving up on a book, I felt after 50% and still struggling, it was time to call it a day!

Good luck with the publication and any other books you may write.

The Day of the Roaring is an absolutely compelling police crime thriller, set mainly in and around Sheffield.

Following the discovery of a human head in a filing cabinet on the site of an old school, and another missing person report, DI Diana Walker gets sent to the scene to investigate.

Although the storyline was a little slow to start, it gained momentum and took you on a ride through some grim and dark places.

It was such a good gritty read, however it did try to cover so many community, cultural, societal and other complex issues, such as FMG, sexual assault, harassment, domestic violence and drug/gun running, that I felt there was too much to absorb and detracted from what was a great thriller with plot turns and twists aplenty.

The author, Nina Bhadreshwar has a wonderful writing style, descriptive and reflective throughout and so easy to read.

Still, I loved the overall read, I hope DI Walker returns soon.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC.

The Day of the Roaring is a powerful and intelligent read. Dealing with complex issues, it manages to be a compelling police procedural as well as shedding light on a number of social issues affecting inner cities, in this case, Sheffield.

It starts with a bleak and grim finding; the head of a man in a locked filing cabinet on a building site. D.I. Diana Walker is called to the site, which used to be Legley Road High School before the school was closed and then demolished. The victim turns out to be the former Headmaster of the school. She follows every lead, even those which seem tangential to the main case. It is this thoroughness that opens up the possibility of a more complex motive than at first seems likely.

There are a number of barriers, however, to Diana progressing her case. As a female investigator, Diana is looked down on by her largely misogynistic fellow officers, who are far too ready to assign this murder to the organised crime gangs who run the county lines in Sheffield, and they threaten to run roughshod over her case.

This case also throws up connections to her Kenyan community and to members of her own mother’s book club, whom she needs to interview. But this group of women have gained strength from coming together to talk about their own experiences. They have little trust in the police and that is true of Diana’s own mother, Rhema. So, tensions at home also threaten Diana’s peace of mind.

Diana follows her hunches, which, going against the accepted police motive, threatens her professional standing. Undeterred, she follows her instincts, braving her superiors’ wrath, and unearths a web of corruption and abuse.

When her grandmother, MaMa, comes from Kenya to stay, Diana learns a lot more about her struggles as a Kikuyu woman, and understands how little her own mother knows of her grandmother’s history. MaMa’s stories of the savage atrocities committed by some of the British soldiers in Kenya during the Mau Mau uprising are chilling and as Nina Bhadreshwar makes clear, the British government still, to this day, refuse to take any responsibility for that brutality.

Bhadreshwar’s characters are warm and vivid; her descriptions of Sheffield’s poorer and struggling inner city youngsters, and the opportunities lost to them, are all too clear.

I found the voices and the perspectives to be authentic and the character’s stories fresh and exciting, touching on a whole range of issues. This is not an easy book – often dark- it is also harrowing in places, especially when dealing with some honest and graphic discussion of female genital mutilation.

Verdict: This is a layered and wide-ranging police procedural that excels in the inter-generational perspectives and makes the conversations between the teenagers and younger people in the story feel so realistic. Misogyny, racism, endemic drug use, corruption, FGM and blatant, bullying sexism all feature but through it all, finding the culprit remains D.I. Walker’s focus. I loved the informative and authentic dialogue and the sadly all too plausible scenarios that make this book excel. I’ll be looking out for the next in this compelling series. Highly recommended.

Mae'n rhaid i mi ddweud ei bod wedi cymryd dipyn o amser i mi ddeall a dal fyny efo'r holl linynau storiol yn y nofel hon. Mae cymaint o gymeriadau a is-themâu yn cydblethu ac efallai bod gormod ar gyfer un nofel. Mae'r dechrau'n llawn cyffro gyda chyn-bennaeth ysgol uwchradd a gafodd ei chau dan amgylchiadau ychydig yn amheus cyn hynny yn cael ei ganfod wedi'i ladd. Roedd hyn yn ddechrau da ond wrth i'r stori ddatblygu roedd yn anodd dilyn yr holl straeon a chymeriadau gan ymdrin â sawl mater dwys. Yn bersonol rwy'n teimlo efallai y byddai'n well petai hon yn ddwy stori yn hytrach nag un, ac y byddai modd rhoi mwy o sylw i rai themâu penodol ynddynt yn hytrach na chyffwrdd â nifer o themâu amrywiol. Ar ôl dechrau mor syfrdannol roedd y stori yn arafu cryn dipyn wedi hynny ac yn teimlo ychydig yn llafurus. Stori dda gyda photensial i fod gymaint gwell yn enwedig wrth ddwyn sylw i faterion hollbwysig ond yn anffodus i mi nid oedd y cyfan yn gweithio'n iawn gyda'i gilydd ac yn peri gormod o ddryswch rhwng yr holl straeon mewn un nofel.

I must say it took me quite a while to understand and catch up with all the storylines in this book. There are so many characters and sub-themes tied together. possibly too many for one novel. It starts with a bang when the former headteacher of a school that closed under a cloud is found murdered. This was a great start but as the story developed it was hard to follow all the stories and characters, especially when many important themes were introduced. Personally I feel this may have been better as two stories rather than one, and then we could have a more in-depth look at certain themes rather than briefly discussing them all. After such an intense start the story slowed down quite a bit and felt a little lengthy. A good story with the potential to be so much better especially drawing attention to such important matters but unfortunately for me it didn't all work together in one and caused too much confusing between all the storylines in one novel.

Read by Grumpy Grandad and our eldest son as a sort of male bonding reading group exercise. They both enjoy police procedural books and working out what happens exercises their little grey cells. Apparently this was quite a good one with lots going on and plenty of characters to confuse the plot, and the two of them. I was quite surprised to be asked over breakfast what I knew about FGM , so it must have got them thinking. It also kept them both relatively quiet for a while, which can only be good.

DI Diana Walker is a strong lead character in this debut novel. The strong beginning with the discovery of dismembered body parts in an old school filing cabinet had my interest, however more and more layers are quickly added, to the point of confusion. This may have benefitted from being split into two books. I tend to persevere with a book rather than give up, just incase it picks up and hooks me. So much potential but ultimately overwhelming and hard to follow between the different narrators. It may be easier to follow as an audiobook.

With thanks to Netgalley for this ARC.

I have just finished this book and I’m glad I have but at times I wanted to give up! It felt quite slow going and quite hard going at times.
It addresses many important issues maybe too many?
In the end it was a good read .

This book seems to be a bit of a marmite one with some readers loving it and some not so keen. I am the former. Yes it does take a bit of getting used to some of the language but it isn't that bad and there are definitely some parts when FGM is being referred to that may make some readers uncomfortable - read it and be aware. There are also many characters however that only adds to the story which is complex at times, but stick with it. Having read some of the earlier reviews I was a bit sceptical of it but I really did enjoy the story. Overall 4.5*

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC to review.

Set mostly in and around Sheffield, this book is mostly about people of colour. Diana, the police inspector has Kenyan roots. As the book starts, an old filing cabinet is found on the site of a demolished school, it contains a human head. Another male staff member has also disappeared. The remains of a former teacher are found in a flat in Nottingham, she had also worked at the school and had been in an abusive relationship with the owner of a fast-food shop who was involved in drug/gun-running.
A lot of characters to keep track of, not only involved in the crime(s) but also in Diana's personal life and police colleagues. This does complicate the plot and I found my engagement with the book reducing at times, but saying that, you only realise what is relevant as the book progresses. Diana looks into FGM, an issue in some ethnic groups and a crime , but that had, perhaps more impact if it had been the main subject of another episode. I am not really sure, even now I have finished, what the link was to the people who had died (bar one) and it overcomplicated an already intricate plot. In my opinion, this would enhance the plot of this book and highlight the issue better. Diana experiences discrimination within her work and I would have liked to see more exploration into the work and how the investigation is conducted, because the book fell down a bit for me with that. She seemed to be rushing off to follow tenuous clues.
On the whole, I did like the book despite it being too long and trying to do too much. My curiosity is aroused about the next chapter in Diana's life . Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC

A dismembered body is found in a filing cabinet DI Diana Walker investigates. Some of her colleagues thinks it organised crime gang, Diana doesn't think so. A lot of themes in this book that can be confusing, Good characters and plotting. Overall I enjoyed this book and would read more from this author. Thanks to Harpercollins and Netgalley for this review ARC

This is a complex police procedural story involving cultural differences, gender imbalances and inequality; so many issues all in one book. It starts in Kenya with the main protagonist’s grandma, whose story runs through the book. DI Diana Walker suffers racism and sexism from her male white work colleagues. Her relationship with her mother Rhema is strained. There are many tensions throughout. There’s strands of drug dealing, organised crime, fraud and FGM, female genital mutilation. So so much going on. There’s so many characters, including Rhema’s Book Club, one of whom is Diana’s neighbour. At times it’s dark and hard reading. Diana digs deep in this lengthy investigation to uncover the truth. It was an engaging read.

This is billed as an award winning debut, and it begins well, with a grizzly find on the derelict site of a former school. The former headmaster is the victim, and two other members of staff are missing. DI Diana Walker is the investigating officer and finds herself chasing multiple leads, most of which see her coming up against brick walls.
As well as the investigation, the story becomes involved in her personal life - her relationship with her mother, and the visit of her grandmother MaMa from Kenya.
I enjoyed the read. It was well written but I found at times the many threads brought together in the story a little distracting. This had great potential, but personally I would have preferred to have concentrated on the investigation. Each thread introduced us to new people and I found myself keeping a note of who was who in order to remember characters.

I would like to thank Harper Collins, the author and Netgalley for an ARC of The Day of the Roaring in exchange for an honest review.

A mutilated body is found in a filing cabinet of a school being demolished. It is that of the headmaster and another teacher is missing.
DI Diana Walker is convinced this is more than gang violence but has to work hard to make her colleagues agree.
This is a well written book with distressing chapters about real life which is happening now.
It also looks at the role of the police towards women.

Nina Bhadreshwar blows away all the cobwebs clinging to police procedurals in a brave, innovative crime fiction debut. As a curtain raiser to a literary career this is pitch perfect.
The author uses fiction to shine a spotlight on some of the cultural and racial tensions of modern day Sheffield and uncovers a battery of heinous crimes, including female genital mutilation.
This is a novel full of strong female characters, challenging generational stereotypes, and a complex plot that spans continents and centuries without ever losing its focus. The narrative is evocative and compelling reading and littered with unexpected twists and turns.
The author writes with honesty and integrity enthusing hope amidst the darkness of a cruel world.

To be honest I went with this book by the cover and description and I though it would be a good crime story, but it didn't work out for me that way. This debut novel is an ambitious, multiple storylines that juggles numerous leads and crimes, at times feeling as though it could be split into multiple books. With all that and with shifting narrators, and changing dialects, while reflective of cultural and subculture nuances, it created slow-moving and disjointed reading rather than the snappy murder mystery.
Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

Unfortunately too slow paced for me too many sub plots that made it confusing. Thank you netgalley for the advanced copy

I read some of the reviews prior to reading this book and many said it was hard to get into, had difficult to understand dialogue and different storylines. I didn’t find this at all and was glad I read it. Yes, it was quite long and yes, the Yorkshire and African accents had to be thought about at times but overall it was a very well told story that highlighted the problems of some African women from different cultures to our own and also of the deprived youngsters in British communities. The story begins with the dismembered body of a headmaster being found in a filing cabinet on the site of his now demolished school. A colleague is also missing. What message is this sending? As DI Diana Walker begins the lengthy investigation there are many more questions than answers. As she delves deeper, do those close to her know more than they are willing to disclose? This story does have many levels, is quite involved and details horrific events that stay with people their whole lives but is well worth a read if only to understand some of the real issues that we tend to gloss over if they don’t affect us. It is of course a story of fiction but highlights very real problems of FGM, drug use, violence and murder. I found it absorbing and while I had my suspicions about one person in particular it didn’t detract from my continued interest throughout this well written and researched book. I do recommend this and strongly suggest persevering with the dialogue as it is, in my opinion, worth a read.

DNF because I just could not get into the story and found some sections a little confusing.

I really wanted to like this as the setting is relatively local to me and I really did enjoy the slang/accented dialogue. I was intrigued by the mystery but quickly confused by some of the dialogue and range of characters.

This is the sort of story I would absolutely watch as a tv drama but just found didn’t work for me on the page.