A darkly complex storyline set in both the dark side and upper echelons of Glasgow society.

Great story - a definite must read.

Thanks for the chance to read this

I would like to thank Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for an advance copy of Torn, the third Glasgow based police procedural to feature DIs Wheeler and Ross.

Wheeler and Ross are pulled in from a day off to investigate the murder of Karlie Merrick who, it seems, has more history than most as she is a porn actress and her father was murdered 20 years before. As Wheeler instinctively links Karlie's murder to her father's she antagonises some serious people.

There is much in Torn that normally I dislike, notably the multiple viewpoints but I found it fascinating and was riveted to the pages as I tried to work out where everyone mentioned fitted in. The novel opens with a 2004 trial of a sadistic killer and its impact on one of the jurors and his sexual preferences. It isn't hard to work out who the juror is but it is impossible to work out where he fits into the investigation. This is the story of the novel as it is a series of character vignettes, like Karlie's last day at work in chapter 1, interspersed with chapters on Wheeler and Ross's investigation who don't make an entrance until chapter 8. How it all comes together is very clever and I had no idea but I loved the broad range of characters and trying to work it all out.

There isn't as much of Ross in Torn as there was in Riven (I haven't read the second novel, Silenced) and it is more about Wheeler as she comes into contact with an old nemesis. I thought that the way the male hierarchy twisted her thoughts and actions into something bad was extremely well done and something many working females are familiar with.

I know many of the locations mentioned in the book so it was a joy to be able to actually picture some of the scenes.

I thoroughly enjoyed Torn. It has an interesting plot with plenty of twists and turns, a wide cast of characters which I think reflects many police investigations and good pacing so I have no hesitation in recommending it as a great read.

This is the first book I have read by this author. It is a dark story set in Glasgow with DI Wheeler and DI Ross. A jury member at Amy Dawson's murder trial at the Old Bailey becomes switched on to Strappado and perverted aspects of BDSM sexual practices, with consequences into what happens in later years. An old unsolved cold case murder is looked into by Wheeler when the victim turns out to be the father of Karlie, a woman who appears in BDSM and porn videos, who is discovered murdered in the present day.

There are a wide array of characters in the story with multiple threads. We have Owen, a desperately lonely homeless man who just wants to belong, taken in by a gang leader, Mason Stitt. We have Nikki, the sister of performer Holly, who is worried about the work Holly has taken on. Maureen wonders about Steve Penwell, a schizophrenic, who claims to have seen a pirate with an eye patch on the night of Karlie's father's murder. Josh, a member of the band Kill Kestrels, wants to get to the bottom of his sister, Amber, and her death in a fire. George Bellerose is a therapist and fan of BDSM who preys on vulnerable women. Skye is the lead singer of the Kill Kestrels, on the cusp of superstardom, whose sexual obsessions threaten the future of the band. An old ex-army foe of Wheeler's, Paul Furlan, turns out to be the head of security at the sinister, elusive and exclusive McIver Club. Furlan's father, Eddie, was the DI leading the inquiry into Karlie's father's murder. Wheeler's uncovers suspicious activities in his investigation. Wheeler and Ross face implacable opposition to their case and where it is leading them from the most influential of quarters.

What is impressive about this book is how the author manages to tie up all the multiple storylines and characters so well. The plotting is impeccable and I really liked the writing style. I did wonder at the beginning about the preponderance of so many characters but it soon becomes clear that this novel is like an opaque jigsaw that is masterfully pieced together. I am always pleased to discover another series set in Glasgow, a city I love. Highly recommended. Thanks to Little, Brown for an ARC.