Frank Elder is a realistic, haunted protagonist. A failed marriage, an estranged daughter and crippling guilt make him easy to empathise and vividly believable.

The plot is twisty and involved; there are several storylines, some past, some present which intertwine and inform. The pacing is perfect; slow and deliberate to begin with revealing the story's themes, and disseminating the necessary backstory. Then, as storylines merge and character's reach breaking point the pace quickens, and the action and clues are relentless. Despite being the final book in the series, it is a viable standalone read.

Although flawed Elder comes across as a well-motivated person, not perfect but always doing his best for those he loves and those he serves. His quick temper is almost his undoing, but it doesn't detract from his likeability, just makes him human and realistic.

Being Nottingham born and bred, I enjoyed the action that took place there. The characters are well-developed and believable, and each of them enrichens and deepen the story. The ending is poignant, powerful and both hopeful and sad.

I received a copy of this book from Cornerstone, Penguin Random House William Heinemann via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Unbelievably good book. Two stories running along side each other connected by the thread of Katherine, the daughter. Characters are complex and well drawn with Katherine’s fragility and Elder’s inner conflict of a father being particularly well advanced.

I’m not sure if Hadley and the team will return , really hope so and if they do then I will read the next book . Thanks to Netgalley for allowing me to read this in advance of publication- all views are my own

With thanks to the publisher for the copy received.
Body and Soul is the last book in the series that features Frank Elder. Despite being the first that I have read I could follow it very easily.
When a relationship between Frank’s daughter Katherine and an artist ends in murder Frank is determined to stand by his daughter even though that help isn’t really wanted. Their relationship is strained, most of Frank’s are, but he does try his best.
Whilst his role in the novel is important there is also a lot of focus on Katherine and the officer who is investigating the murder, Alex Hadley.Alex is under pressure, because of the victim’s fame, the mental state of Katherine and Frank, who has a very short fuse most of the time.
I had a lot of sympathy for Katherine, I don’t think I will be alone in this. What she experienced when she was younger was horrific and some of what takes place in this novel makes life very difficult. Frank was a strange character. A loner, who could be very aggressive and who never seemed to have any control in any situation. Katherine appeared to handle what was happening a lot better than he was. Maybe it was guilt, I’m not sure. Hadley could also be a little abrasive, a little cold without much empathy.
I enjoyed the art world setting, I could easily imagine the models posing for hours, experiencing cramp and nausea, and having to put any feelings of embarrassment or misgiving to one side.
I feel quite sad that this is the last book, but at least I can go and read the earlier books in the series. John Harvey is an author who I will happily read again.

This book is more than just a police procedural, it also has great background stories for the characters. It is one of a series, but reads equally well as a stand alone book. The characters are likeable but flawed, and realistic. The ending was unexpected, and I'm hooping leaves the way open for another book?

This is my first John Harvey/Frank Elder book and while I liked the premise of the story, I was not to sure about the pace of it. It started slow, then started to weave all these storylines and I could see it coming together, but ultimately, I felt that the last few chapters were rushed and felt very disappointed with the ending.
I would like to hope that I will read some of the other Frank Elder stories and it might help this story out, but as a stand-alone it left me feeling a bit empty.

This book and review contain possible triggers with sexual assault and self harm being part of the story.

The writing experience of John Harvey is evident in the well penned tense, dark journey of a father out to protect his troubled daughter.

This is a well crafted, nicely paced and exciting thriller that had me invested from very early on. (after a slightly slow beginning the story gains a far more enjoyable pace!)

I have not read any of the previous books in the Frank Elder series and there were points that I felt it would have been advantageous to have read others in the series but overall it did not stop me from thoroughly enjoying this story.

Franks daughter, Katherine, has had a tough journey that includes a rape when she was a teenager and a history of self harm. Understandably she is a complex character and a complex yet well explained plot is woven around his need to prove her innocent of committing the murder of the artist that she was modelling for and seeing romantically by investigating the crime. He also needs to protect his daughter from the man who raped her when she was in her teens and has now escaped from incarceration, proving to still be a very read threat.

I won’t give details of the ending but will say that it doesn’t disappoint.

Harvey writes well, guiding the reader through a maze of suspects and clues across several plot-lines. This is a dark book: anger, revenge, loss, disappointment...the characters hold on tightly to their sanity as their pasts swirl around them and will not let them go.
The ending was something of a disappointment. There is a flurry of "wrapping up" of threads to the action and it is quickly bundled up for the reader.

A great story with many twists and turns, looking forward to reading future Frank Elder stories from this author.

Lots of threads carefully woven together which draw you in so you just have to turn another page! I feel quite bereft at the shocking conclusion..

John Harvey one of my favourite authors ,been reading his books for may years now and can honestly say ,enjoyed them all. Some , of the Resnick novels I have read twice something that I rarely have time these days to do.
His latest Elder novel is into the dark side of violence when his daughter turns up seemingly been self harming after an affair with an abusing artist she has been modelling for.
Life just turns upside down for Elder when is notified of the escape of a prisoner who raped his daughter when she was a teenager.
The novel moves fast and with unpredictable devastating results.
Another wonderful book by John Harvey. Some more please!

A very fast paced thriller, great characters and a plot that has you convinced you know who committed the murder, only to change your mind in the next chapter. The detectives are a great team and rely on historic information from the detective who was involved with the same criminals in an earlier case - but when his daughter is involved is he too close to see beyond what he wants to believe? Then ending was a shock...but what a read. Highly recommended for those who enjoy a great detective novel

I enjoyed this book although it was a bit of a slow start. Picked up pace about 20% in and kept me enthralled to the end.. I have never read this author before but I will definitely look out for his books in future. I would recommend this book and thank Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to review it.

I had not previously read books by John Harvey featuring ex-Detective Frank Elder but there is enough information conveyed here to get you up to date with the story so far and specifically why Elder left the police force and is now living a rather lonely and embittered existence on the Cornish coast. This crime novel centres on his daughter Katherine now living in East London and her association with Anthony Winter a somewhat controversial artist who is murdered therefore making her a person of interest to the police. Katherine as readers of Harvey will know was previously subjected when sixteen years old to a brutal rape and kidnapping and in a parallel story her assailant now escapes while being transported between prisons and appears set to resume his reign of terror.

To be honest I found this a rather gripping read and I was through the book within a couple of sittings. There certainly was always plenty going on as the story reverted back and forth at the end between the two story lines. The character of Katherine was well written and it was somewhat painful at times to read how Winter was obviously manipulating her for his own depraved reasons under the cover of art. I sometimes guess who the murderer is but not unfortunately in this case.

The final ending was somewhat surprising and may lead one to search out the previous Frank Elder books for he is an interesting character who never fails to dominate a scene. If you like crime then I think you may enjoy this.

This was my first John Harvey book, I really enjoyed it and will definitely be reading more. Although a little slow to start, I was soon hooked and fasinated by the story and characters. A great book, which I would definitely recommend.
I would like to thank Netgalley and Cornerstone, Penguin Random House for the ARC of Body and Soul,

This is somewhere between a 3 and 4 star rating but I've rounded up. I think I may have benefited from reading the earlier Frank Elder books in the series but I did not realise this at the time I requested to read Body and Soul. The story consists of two separate events linked by Frank's daughter and Frank but separated by time and perpetrator. The pace is good and the book makes you want to keep reading. The ending was unexpected for me but makes sense for the author. Hard to put into words but I couldn't get involved with any of the characters and the book, for me, lacked a spark or deep character association that enables me to get really involved - 'couldn't put it down' type reading.

The book follows the story of a young lady that as a teen was kidnapped and suffered an ordeal so much so that it affected her throughout her life with self harming. She isn't close to her father but one day turns up out of the blue with both her wrists bandaged up. She had been doing nude modelling for a well known artist and they ended up having an affair when he turns up dead she is the first suspect.

Although it wasn't a fast paced book I would read it again.

This is a carefully contrived and expertly delivered story to mark the end of its lead character who has featured in other books. The story is original and cleverly interwoven. Characters are believable and active throughout the story,nor are there too many of them. All in all,this is a story that you will not want to put down.

Well.....

I don’t know where I’ve been - this is the first book that I’ve read and it’s the last in the Elder cases!! Clearly I’m going to have to go back now and catch up on what I’ve missed.

I loved the storyline to this book, two separate criminals to catch but it was written brilliantly so there was no confusion. I loved that I got to meet the characters and find out more about them - had I have read the full series then I probably would already know who was who in some of our cast. However it wasn’t one of those series that I felt that I’d missed out but not having read the previous books and it can clearly be read as a stand alone too..... for me however I would love to go back to the beginning to find out more!

This was a bit slow to get into although it definitely picks up pace. I feel this was due to building the depth of the characters. I feel an affinity to Elder as he is trying to do his best by his daughter but this also involves walking on eggshells.

Katherine is an interesting character and one with many issues which are perfectly executed. I was continuously coming back to this book at every opportunity to pick up where I had left off

Good honest police investigation thriller with two central storylines set mainly in London but also Cornwall and Nottingham. Revolving around an artists murder, his model as a suspect,her father an ex policeman supporting her and a senior policewoman investigating this fizzes along nicely. The side plot of a previous case involving the father and daughter is cleverly woven in and everything builds to a shock conclusion. Good stuff!