DI Diane Walker is based at Sheffield HQ as a part of the Major Crimes Team. She is brought in to investigate a body part found in a filing cabinet on an old site for Legley Road High School. Where is the rest of the body? Who is the person missing their head? The discovery that the head is the Head Teacher for the closed school leads Diana down a rabbit warren of clues and how they connect. Diana is a determined character and gets to the truth by searching through the lies and deceptions told by the various people she investigates.

DI Diana Walker is faced with a whole lot more than she expected when tasked with investigating the death of a headmaster on a derelict site of a former school. Not everyone is forthcoming with information or help, but she knows that, despite her colleagues’ opinions, there’s something deeper behind the crime. Cue an almost one woman mission to search out the truth from the lies. Clever, and gripping equally.

I found the writing didn't flow for me. And it might just be me. And to be far it's a new writer for me and I definitely wouldn't say it's a bad book at all. It often takes a while to get to know an authors way of writing and how they structure a book. But it in reading sense the equivalent of being jittery. I was finding myself squaring back for repeat info too which meant I wasn't taking in important bits.
And yet it's not a awrite off so that in itself is telling.

This started off well and I was invested in the story straight away. However, the slow pace and multiple storylines just felt a bit messy and unfortunately this format just didn’t work for me.

I really wanted to like this book and indeed I did enjoy the walks and drives round an area that is local to me, the drive from The Peak District to Sheffield is one that I have done regularly and Pond Street bus station reminds me of my childhood but there it stops.
The story started well but then I just couldn't get into it and by half way through it was really dragging. The concept was very good but I think that the author has tried to address too many emotive subjects in too many sub plots that the story gets lost, I found myself forgetting who the characters were because there were so many of them.
I think that the author is good, she has excellent descriptive powers but this story was just too chaotic for me.
Thank you Net Gallery for this ARC, my review is voluntary

This book was not for me - although the aspects around FGM and Nigeria were interesting I found it predictable. I also have a particular irritation with poorly-written teenage dialogue, and in this book the younger characters read as damaging stereotypes of lower class marginalised people.

I will not be sharing a full review on my social media at present, but have posted this to both Goodreads and Storygraph

This was such a difficult read. I found the writing style hard going and couldn't keep up with what was going on.

This book sounded amazing and to hear it was award winning, I went into this full of excitement. Whilst this ended up being a good book, there were times when I was ready to give up as SO much was going on. My brain can cope with a lot going on at once, including twists and turns, but trying to figure out what the main focus of the book was at the beginning was hard.

That being said, I stuck with it and things all started connecting about 3/4 of the way through. So many important issues were covered in this book, but I did feel that added to the confusion at the beginning as I wasn’t sure what was being deemed most important to investigate.

I think the author had good intentions with this book, and it ultimately all came together to a satisfying ending, but I think a lot of readers may give up before then.

Although this is an award winning book it is a difficult book to provide a high rating for. It touches on many well researched topics but for me is a tough read that did not either grip of entertain me. Some excellent advisors acknowledged and some tricky subjects tackled well. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to ARC this book.

I would so love to be able to be freely-spoken about this book but there are just so many people who will deliberately misunderstand what I would say.

Expletives are largely unnecessary in any book, including this one, and concatenating the four letter word to just the first and last letters changes nothing.

What can be said freely is that I will read anything else that Nina Bhadreshwar writes and has published and I found The Day of the Roaring a very interesting read on many different levels.

Sadly this was a DNF for me. Some great ideas for storylines but I just felt that the author was trying to put all her ideas into one book. Too many characters to keep track of and build relationships with. Also did not enjoy the sections of dialect used in some parts.
The author definitely has potential but I would like to see her working with a good editor and concentrating on one storyline

I enjoyed this book but it took a while to get into it. Interesting storytelling but the didn’t always understand what the characters were saying.

A gripping start.

When a dismembered body is found in an abandoned school, our main character, Diane, needs to solve the murder.

Meeting family members and their friends along the way, this book picks up pace.

Note to author, took me a little while to get back into around midway.....Then full pelt to a finish.

Definitely want to read the next in the series.

When the dismembered body of a headmaster is found on the derelict site of a former school in Sheffield, DI Diana Walker finds herself chasing shadows.
Faced with missing teachers, unreported crimes and silent witnesses, Diana is running out of leads. Her colleagues insist this is just another instance of gang violence, but Diana knows there’s something more. Something everyone’s too scared to talk about.

I was disappointed with this book. It had all the traits of an exciting read but there was just too much going on for me. The slang language left me wondering what the character was trying to say. Sad, as it started well but then just got confusing.

There was just too much going on in this story for me. The topics covered were numerous and hard-hitting, but I felt they were just thrown in, and the underlying storyline was then overpowered.
The author would have had enough material for another book from what was covered in this one.
It was a struggle to read, and by the end, I just didn't care one way or another.
I hope other readers enjoy more.
Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins UK for the Arc.

The book started in a promising way - the head of a headmaster of a closed school is found in a filing cabinet and DI Diana Walker is called in with her team to investigate. However, from there the tale begins to meander and maunder its way through a variety of scenarios, as if the author cannot really decide whether she is writing a murder mystery, a book about FGM or tackling drug trafficking. The characters are really one dimensional and I had sympathy with none. The overall emotion that came to me as a reader was one of entitlement; they felt life 'owed' them somehow - if they couldn't get their funding, they wouldn't study; if they couldn't get the job they wanted, they'd run drugs. It was all 'poor me, the state should help'.

The only character that came over as a nice guy was Robertson, who is actually professional. Even Diana resorted to screaming down the toilet when she didn't get her way instead of dealing with issues in a professional manner. Yes, she lacked support from colleagues but her actions hardly encouraged them to support her.

The plot is tortuous and difficult to follow as the author picks up a strand, follows it for a while, then runs down another rabbit hole. Even by the end I really didn't understand why all the murders had taken place.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

An interesting book with a lot packed in touching issues which are not fully answered which is a shame as they shouldn't be ignored.

A intriguing murder, a school which has been demolished and staff who have died, disappeared or been killed. A few to many people and subjects but did like how it's all tied together at the end.

Would be interested in reading more by this author who will only get better.

Although this is an interesting and well written story I found it too full of too many issues. The officers are all working against each other as to what is going on and who is responsible and add to that that most of the senior officers are antagonistic to and demean DI Diana Walker for being both female and black. Then Diana has issues within her own family with her grandmother and mother.
The investigation Diana is involved in covers murders and FGM. The beginning of the book is quite confusing as it darts from one thing to another which I found confusing. As the book progressed it became clearer and I was able to follow the multitude of characters but the book just felt too busy, attempting to cover too many issues.
Many thanks to Netgalley/Nina Bhadreshwar/HarperCollins UK for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

This thriller kept my hooked and pulled in the whole time of reading! I did not move from my spot all day as I had to know what happened next. Fast paced and twisty in all the best ways! I didn't know what was going to happen next or what twist was about to be thrown at me by Nina... she is now an autobuy author for me just from reading this! Loved every second

The severed head of the former headmaster was found when the school was being demolished. His head was found inside a locked filing cabinet. The story is set in Sheffield and DI Diana Walker has been tasked with solving this case.

This story tackles multiple topics including: domestic abuse, racism, female genital mutilation, and sexism. The story is complex. Diana faces racial and sexual discrimination at work. The FMG is dealt with sensitively. The story also touches on the uprising of Kenya.

Published 30th January 2025

I would like to thank #NetGalley #HarperCollinisUK #HarperFiction and the author NinaBhadreshwar for my ARC of #TheDayOfTheRoaring in exchange for an honest review.