As usual in my reviews, I will not rehash the plot (plenty of reviews like that out there already!)

This is the second book in the "DCI Craig Gillard" series that I've read, and so far all have been page turners for me!

Here, the action-packed plot takes us to Lincolnshire and Albania as well as Gillard's native Surrey, and introduces us to a wide cast of characters both in the UK and abroad.  I did not initially suspect who was behind some of the murders, or why, and was chilled to the bone by the revelation!

I like the style of writing - plenty of detail, and obviously well researched, with believable characters and interesting locations.  It's always nice to put more "flesh on the bones" of characters in a series too.

I will happily read more by this author, and will also be trying to complete the full catalogue as I've missed a couple of titles.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC. All opinions my own.

Louth is always a 4 star read with plenty of twists and turns in his stories. Well plotted. 
DCI Craig Gillard continues to impress as a well drawn character. 
Looking forward to Book 5 in April.

This is the second book in the DCI Gillard series set in Surrey, but could easily be read as a stand-alone. The book ended up in Albania, which made for an interesting read.  I honestly did not suspect the identity of the killer! Recommended.

Thrilling story with a plot that kept me turning the pages, really well written with great characters.  Highly recommend to everyone who is a fan of this genre.

A successful young architect, a pair of missing children and a mysterious body on the Lincolnshire shore.  All three cases are soon found to have a link with Albania so DCI Craig Gillard is on the case, travelling to Albania in an effort to get to the truth and hopefully rescue the missing children.

This book begins life as a nicely paced police procedural in England but the international element gives it a unique and fascinating twist.  The feuding criminal gangs - Mafia-style family enterprises harbouring grudges which go back centuries - are well described as are all the social problems caused by police and judicial corruption.  

Characters in this book are well developed and it was so refreshing for the main character to have a wife who loved him and tolerated the long hours and irregular working patterns of a police detective (partly because she was employed by the police herself).  I also liked the dry humour and plucky nature of Gillard's Albanian police liaison, Tokaj.  The people and locations felt very realistic and I was left with the impression that the author had researched his subject very well.  The careful plotting ensured that all loose ends were tied by the end of the book.  I would definitely read more by Nick Louth.

I started reading this book a while ago but wasn't feeling it and moved on to another book. But 3 days ago I decided to give this another go. And I'm so glad I did. The book is just brilliant. DCI Gillard is fabulous and you instantly like him. When I was reading this book, I had to stop at regular intervals to google things about Albania and the Albanian mafia. Not only did I thoroughly enjoy the book, I learnt more about Albania than I ever thought I would. I'll be reading more by the author.

Having loved Nick Louth's first DCI Gillard book, The Body In The Marsh, I was very much looking forward to book two in the series. The Body On The Shore arrived a year after Marsh, and it was worth the wait.
Gillard's life has changed and he's now happy and in a relationship with Sam, the PCSO he encountered in book one. His new case could be about to change all that though, as its not just the victims who may lose their lives. An architect has been murdered, and it looks like a professional hit. When they discover that the man was Albanian and came over from Kosovo as a teenager, the team are even more stumped. Gillard also gets a call from someone he's helped in the past, Sophie Lund, seemingly unconnected except for the that the woman's two children are adopted orphans from Albania.

When another body is found shot to death, on the Lincolnshire shore, bearing all the hallmarks of the architect's murder except for one thing - a strange brand burnt into his neck, Gillard and his team are becoming ever more desperate to find answers. What happens next though, nobody could have predicted... Sophie's children are kidnapped and the brand on the body turns out to be the mark of one of the most feared branches of the Albanian Mafia.

The Body On The Shore is definitely darker than anything I've read previously by Nick Louth. This book somehow seemed more real, and much grittier but I suspect that it was all the tiny details that painted a portrait of our killers, the (fictional) Albanian Mafia and their long history of blood feuds, wiping out entire families over the smallest of slights. As with all his books, I was completely engrossed from start to finish and unable to stop reading until I had turned the last page. There's no obvious culprit for the murders that take place, only a slightly uneasy feeling that they might not be who you're expecting it to be, and when the killer is finally revealed? Almost complete disbelief but also somehow not unexpected thanks to the background of the story. It's sad to think that in this day and age it is completely plausible that the killer is who it is and I admire Nick Louth for writing the story this way. It certainly amped up the tension and made for a great read into the wee, small hours!

Thanks again to Netgalley, I have just finished The Body on the Shore by Nick Louth. When young architect Peter Young is shot in his office DCI Clive Gillard and his team are baffled, who would want to kill him and why? Two weeks later there is another murder 200 mile away, what is the connection? This story kept me interested to the end. Definitely recommend it.

DCI Craig Gillard is back in this follow up to The Body in the Marsh. This time around Craig finds himself leading the investigation into the murder of Peter, a promising young architect. The murder appears to be a professional hit, but Craig and the team are struggling to discover a motive, just why would anyone put a hit out on a young professional?

As well as dealing with his murder case Craig finds himself contending with an increasing number of phone calls from Sophie Lund, a women he gave his card to at a community event who is now finds herself the victim of a number of random events and being ignored by the local police – a situation made more awkward for Craig as he discovers a relationship between the Lunds’ neighbour and a senior police officer.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Body on the Shore, and read the vast majority of it in a single sitting. I was thrilled to see the return of Sam, although she had a much smaller role within this story, Claire also makes a return and Nick introduces an incredibly interesting cast of characters relating to Craig’s case – in particular I was fond of a former NCA detective Geoff Meadows. I also have a soft spot for Claire’s dog Dexter who featured in a small insight into Claire’s home life.

The story progresses quickly as Craig and the team deal murder investigation and begin to look into the mysterious incidents at the Lunds’ estate; fast moving the plot is interspersed with interesting developments and surprising twists.

The book felt well researched – and while I certainly can’t claim to be an expert in some of the situations that developed in the plot, the details felt authentic and dealt with in enough depth for me to feel I was understanding the motivations of certain characters and the circumstances around them. I was given the information I needed to get the most from the novel, without it taking away from the pacing of the story.

The drama and excitement builds consistently throughout the story, drawing the reader in and ensuring you’ll keep turning the pages, promising yourself just one more chapter, until you suddenly find yourself on the final page. To say much more would spoil it for anyone picking up the book, however Nick does a wonderful job of bringing together the different plot strands into a satisfying final conclusion which I must confess I didn’t manage to predict!

Would I Recommend?
This is a must read for any suspenseful crime fans! A fantastic follow up to The Body in the Marsh, Nick certainly avoids the sophomore slump! Well worth the £1.99 (and more) I’ll be eagerly keeping my eyes peeled for the next DCI Gillard story!

I found the beginning of this book really good and I was soon engrossed in the tale. But then Gillard went out to Albania and it started to flag a bit. I personally felt that part of the book went on too long and was too detailed. Nick Louth had obviously researched the issues around the Albanian mafia very thoroughly but I felt the story got a bit bogged down in all the detail and I was having to force myself to keep reading to finish it. Then when the murderer was revealed, I think I was supposed to be shocked and horrified, but in truth just felt a tad disappointed. With a re-edit I think this could be a top notch read, it's just not quite right at the moment.

This is the second featuring this detective, and I enjoyed both. Some books featuring the same detective you need to read in order, I would say with this one it's not absolutely essential, although I always prefer to do so. It's an interesting story with great twists and turns.

Sometimes you aren't sure about a book, and then...WHAM, you're gripped.
I was like that here, not sure, got caught up in the story, and then... let's say dinner was spoiled as I read on. His descriptions are brilliant, his story telling second to none, and his ending...
wow, just wow.

Great book! I really enjoyed reading this and thank you to Net Galley and the author for the chance to review this book. 

A tale of mystery, corruption, family, mafia style murders, inventive policing and unsolved murders then this is a great book for you.  No spoiler alerts here but worth a read.

Excellent book, thoroughly enjoyed the characters, the story, the writing, the descriptions and would recommend.

This was an amazing police procedural, murder mystery., even involving the Albanian Mafia. Non stop action and unexpected disclosures. Well written story with non stop action and continuous tension. Great read.

This isn't bad but it isn't great either.

A pretty standard police procedural about an assassination, kidnapping and mysterious monkeys... What links two adopted orphans and a murdered architect?

The Body on the Shore could have done with tighter editing, especially concerning the use of commas. Some of it seems a little unrealistic, even allowing for poetic licence. I couldn't really connect with any of the characters, so I wasn't all that bothered by anything that happened, even the big reveal at the end.

Overall, it was good enough for me to want to know what happened but not enough for me to care.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC without obligation.

Well written with a good plot, but felt a bit dragged out in the middle and failed to connect with the main character.

Due to the loss of my kindle I, sadly, was not able to read this book.
I sincerely apologize for this inconvenience.

3.5 Stars from Me

I'll start by saying I haven't read the first book, which may mean I don't have the full grasp of the characters and their history. I'm hovering around the 3.5 stars and I know this book has had a lot of 5 star reviews so I would imagine it is enhanced by reading the previous book and for me it certainly had gripping and unputdownable sections.

The Body on the Shore seemingly follows a few different case including that of a young, successful architect who is murdered while sat at his desk at work. A lot of focus is given to a bus full of school girls as the police attempt to establish the logistics - this felt like quite a big part of the story which I didn't feel added much.  The dead man has an interesting past and suspicion soon falls on another employee.

A parallel story involves a well-to-do (almost too good to be true) family who reside in a manor house in Surrey with their two adopted Albanian children. The mother starts to experience some unusual and disturbing events; a trespasser, graffiti and hanging effigy in their gardens. The mother Sophie initially is taken for a time-waster and there follows a quite comical episode with her neighbour before things take a dark enough turn for DCI Craig Gillard to becomes involved as links start to be made to the murder of the architect.

In an almost surreal turn of events, DCI Craig Gillard heads to Albania where he buddies with an Albanian counterpart and seemingly dices with death on a daily basis getting frighteningly close to the heads of the Albanian mafia. If you put the plausibility to one side this part of the book is really quite fascinating and a very interesting storyline emerges.

I would definitely read another Nick Louth book and hope my review won't put anyone off as all those 5 star reviewers can't be wrong! But for me there were a few slow areas which is why I've gone with 3.5.



Synopsis: A killer is at work in the supposedly-safe commuter belt.  DCI Gillard needs answers, fast...

Promising architect Peter Young is shot dead at his desk. DCI Craig Gillard is quickly on the scene, looking at what appears to be a brutal and highly professional hit: two bullets, fired with ice-cold calm.

Gillard knows that the most crucial question in solving the crime is one word: Why? Two weeks later, on the Lincolnshire coast, another body is found on a windswept beach. In this case there is no identity for the young man, just a curious brand burned into his neck….

As the mystery deepens Gillard is plunged into a case without answers, finding himself up against dark forces, people who believe in only two things: blood and a warped code of honour. This time lives are on the line, children's lives - and his own.

Written at breakneck pace with a jaw-dropping twist you won’t see coming, the suspense-filled second DCI Gillard crime thriller is perfect for fans of Robert Bryndza, Patricia Gibney and Faith Martin.

This gripping story is well written and enjoyable. I particularly enjoyed all the interesting facts that were incorporated along the way.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for a  copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.