I read the first Manon Bradshaw book last year and really enjoyed it – so when the sequel came out I HAD to read it – even if it couldn’t slot into a specific category on my 2017 Reading Challenge #shocker (although I will try and fit it in somewhere, of course!!) .

Here’s the Amazon blurb:

“Manon Bradshaw is back.
As dusk falls a young man staggers through a park, far from home, bleeding from a stab wound. He dies where he falls; cradled by a stranger, a woman’s name on his lips in his last seconds of life.
DI Manon Bradshaw can’t help taking an interest – these days she only handles cold cases, but the man died just yards from the police station where she works.
She’s horrified to discover that both victim and prime suspect are more closely linked to her than she could have imagined. And as the Cambridgeshire police force closes ranks against her, she is forced to contemplate the unthinkable.
How well does she know her loved ones, and are they capable of murder?”

I read this in about three sittings (because I’m on holiday – and I was supervising the children in the pool – AKA reading on a sunbed!!) and it was BRILLIANT!

It follows on from the previous book (although could be read standalone – but I would highly recommend reading ‘Missing Presumed’ first!)  – and Manon remains a tortured soul in many ways (but aren’t all police officers in such books?  I guess crime dramas would be dull if the cops had a normal, stable home life!!

The chapters are told from different perspectives – I think (from memory, and I can’t be bothered to go and find my Kindle!)  Manon, her colleague Davy and Birdie. Initially you don’t realise how Birdie is going to fit into it – but it all intertwines cleverly.  It mixes the domestic lives of the main characters alongside the main ‘crime’ and keeps a real pace so you’re permanently excited to see what’s going to happen next!  There are twists and turns – and overall a really enjoyable book – especially if you’re a crime drama fan. I really hope this series continues!