Wow wow wow. What a novel. Hooked me in immediately and made me want to finish it in one sitting. Great storyline and pacing.

This is the 3rd book in die DI Braddick series. Unfortunately I haven't read the previous books, but still this one novel read nicely as a standalone. There is three different story lines that merge together towards the end, for an explosive end. This is an excellently written book, gripping and thrilling until the end!
Recommended.

A great read! Lots of suspense and twists and turns. This is my first introduction to both DI Braddick and Alec Ramsey but I definitely plan to go back and read the first two in the series and follow it from here. Couldn't put it down!

OK, I'm just going to say it, throw caution to the winds, I bloody LOVE Conrad Jones!!! There, I've said it and I don't care who knows it. I thought it would have been an impossibility for Mr Jones to write a book I would enjoy as much, if not more than, Brick. How much does he prove me wrong by writing Shadows?!?! I read the ebook, I listened to the Audible version and I felt smug! "Haha!" I thought, "he'll never top Shadows, he won't even be able to equal it!" What does Mr Jones do? He presents us with Guilty...until proven innocent. OMG, I was so there with the team. in the briefing room; me, Sadie and Marcus. It was like meeting up with old friends. When they popped round to Alec Ramsay's house for some advice, I was thrilled to see him again; I didn't realise quite how much I'd missed him. The writing is masterful, the murders are macabre, the villains are vile, the goodies are gallant and the innocent are ignominiously and irrevocably impugned. The story is fast and full of action. The actions of the predator group provides frighteningly accurate sociological insight into a growing problem for police in today's ever harsher austere times. If I tell you that I loved the book so much I've just treated myself to the Audible version, (which, at nearly £15 is one less bottle of gin this week), and it isn't even released until 24th January! Mr Jones' writing is like sunshine on a rainy day - glorious. You absolutely HAVE to buy this book - you can thank me later!

I didn’t like the first chapter but cannot really explain why but I was quite glad I persevered as the story whilst not necessarily my cup of tea was very well researched.
Conrad Jones clearly knows a lot about crime procedures and he brought this knowledge clearly in the book.

Pefekt aufgebaute story, tatsächlich nervenaufreibend bis zum Schluß. Sie mögen Serienkillergeschichten? Lesen Sie dieses Buch!

This book covers a very difficult subject matter and shows what happens when public opinion gets out of hand and the fall out it causes with both the family and community.
A fast paced book that was easy to read despite the subject matter.

4.5 Stars

When he wakes up that morning, he's a fairly happy man. He and his wife have a good marriage, he is father to twin teenagers that he loves beyond anything else, and he has job security as a high school teacher, where he is well-liked by staff and students alike.

By nightfall, his life will be shredded. No one believes him .. not his wife, not his children, not his colleagues. How do you prove your innocence when everything points to your guilt?

Another man is tracking his next victim. This won't be his first and it won't be his last. He was just released from prison where he spent 4 years behind bars for something he didn't do. And he's making his accusers pay ... one by one.

His victims are all members of a FaceBook group called Predator Hunters. They 'out' sexual predators .. only there is usually no proof of any wrong doing. The group posts on all social media, they send letters / pictures, basically just what they think to the police, to employers, to family members. In other words, they shred a life wherever they go.

Meanwhile DS Braddick and his team are called to investigate a body washed up on the shore. For some reason, this rings a bell with Braddick .. this is not the first time he's seen a body wrapped in just the same way.

The tension is sky high as the cases start dovetailing. What is the connection between dead bodies years apart, the current murders, and the fate of a high school teacher?

This is very well written, with credible characters, and a plot line that could be taken out of recent headlines. It's suspenseful, with twists and turns. This one grabbed me from the very first page and didn't let go until the very unexpected, brutal ending. This is an author to watch!

Many thanks to the author / Bloodhound Books / Netgalley for the digital copy of this crime thriller. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

Conrad Jones grabs you from the beginning. He's straight into the story, unwinding it slowly, leading you further into a murky criminal world that you only want to read about. He makes you feel his characters, you believe they're ordinary people; John Vigne, was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and his good deed was the beginning of the end. This book is another fabulously addictive read from Conrad Jones, the various plots are superbly knitted together until the finale.

Three stories running parallel to each other but all the while, impinging one on the other – are they in fact only one story?

A school teacher is outed as a paedophile. How does one prove one’s innocence when everything points to one being guilty? A young underage girl names him as the father of her aborted child and things spiral down from there. He is arrested in front of staff and school pupils and allowed to leave only because the information the police have on him is incomplete.

His wife and children don’t believe his protestations of innocence and so he is on his own.

Meanwhile, DS Braddick and his team are called to a scene where a body is found washed up on the shore, having a distinctive mesh wrapping. This immediately brings to mind an unsolved triple murder case from seven years before. Is there a link?

And then there is a paedophile released after serving a four-year sentence, determined to get back on the people who outed him in a FaceBook group called Predator Hunters. The original six members of the group are murdered one by one.

Yes, an exciting book to read. All the characters are well-defined and the whole is totally believable, from a wrongly accused school teacher to a Detective Sergeant, his team and a retired Detective Inspector and of course the murderer.

This is a book well worth reading and I recommend it to you.

Well, Conrad Jones has done it again! What a cracker of a read. My imagination was captured from the start and I was kept engrossed until the end. I love the character of D.I.Braddick and the continuing development of Sadie. Murder and justice, coupled with twists and turns makes a winning combination. My thanks to Net Galley for my copy. reviews on Amazon, Goodreads and Facebook.

This is by far the best Conrad Jones book yet. It’s brings the read two of his best characters into one book. Retired Ramsay is brought back in by Braddick to help solve a deeply disturbing crime.
Any who has read Conrad’s books before knows he doesn’t shy away from the gritty stuff and you can always place a bet on it being a highly emotional read.
This plot was just just that, very emotion. A school teacher is outed as a pedophile and is fighteing to prove his innocence and members of a Facebook group, who hunt down paedophiles, are found dead. Both strories are woven together to make a thrilling yet terrifying read.
Conrad Jones did his homework and pulled this fantastic read out the bag.

A teacher is accused of sexual misconduct by an online predator hunting group. A body washes ashore wrapped in mesh. - very similar to an old case which Braddick's predecessor Alec Ramsay couldn't close.

As Ramsay comes out of retirement to help Braddick, not only do they need to clear up the cold case, but establish whether the two current ones are connected

Absolutely enthralling

I have read a few books this author now and this one is hands down my favourite of the ones I have read to date - I loved it!

The plot in this story is very, very good and I think that the author managed to execute it really well. He has crafted an addictive story that for me was believable and a real page turner.

The characters are excellent, very well developed and I enjoyed the interaction between Braddick and Ramsey - both of whom are fascinating characters!

The book is the third in the series but personally I think it is fine to read as a stand alone.

Five stars from me for this one - a very enjoyable story!!

Now, previous books I have read by Conrad Jones were brilliant and this one did not disappoint me either. I’m sure we have all seen the rise of online predator catchering groups on facebook recently and this book was just about that! But how it can go wrong… Oh dear.

It is a very interesting read, gets dark towards the end. Brilliantly written and how everything links together… Very clever. Impressed. I felt so sorry for Richard and his family though, poor man! AND THAT ENDING.. Wow was that needed? It was all going so well… but BOOM. Nope. A real thrilling story for the reader. A real pager turner. A well deserved five stars. Highly recommend! A story that can easily be devoured in one sitting. I throughally enjoyed it.

Having heard lots of good things about this author's writing, I was delighted to get the chance to read one for myself - and I was not disappointed!

When a body is washed up on the beach, the manner of death has similarities to a triple murder case from some years ago. At around the same time, a well-respected teacher, a family man without a blemish on his character, is accused by an online predator group of being a paedophile. Completely shocked, he protests his innocence but many of his contemporaries take the view that there's no smoke without fire and within hours his life is turned upside down and inside out.

The novel follows three threads at the same time: the life of the teacher and the affect of the accusations against him, the police investigation into the dead body and the perpetrator of that crime - although we don't know his identity. These strands are woven into a lively and gripping read and one which demands the complete attention of the reader. A stunning and intriguing read which, although the third in series, I can happily go back and read the first two as there is no reference to them.

Not only is the writing excellent and enticing, the plotting is terrifically intricate with some shocking twists and turns. There are some gritty and gruesome details but all pertinent to the plot and this is a novel I revelled in, and I'm certainly hoping to read much more by this author. Gobsmackingly good - and a prime example of how thorough murder investigations are and why you shouldn't always believe everything you read in the media!

My thanks to Bloodhound Books for both my copy via NetGalley and for the invitation to participate in this blog tour. This is my honest, original, and unbiased review.

Guilty Until Proven Innocent by Conrad Jones
DI Braddick Series #3

Having read only one book by this author before, THE JOURNEY, I felt compelled to read this one when given the opportunity. Why? The first book I read by Jones hooked me and though I hate to start a series in the middle I just could not resist. I am so glad I read this book even though it was rather dark and twisted and did not give me the happy ending I would have preferred.

What is the story about? It is about finding a psychopath serial murderer who loves inflicting pain on others. In addition to the murder mystery there is a case involving a pedophile vigilante group that works to expose those who prey on children and this group and the man they expose most recently will cross lines with Detective Braddick and the people he is working with to find the serial killing monster preying on the unsuspecting.

Following DI Braddick and his team as they worked to uncover the murderer’s identity was a bloody treat. The glimpses into the murderer’s mind were elucidating if disturbing. The fact that social media played has such power over individuals was disconcerting.

I came away from the story thinking about what it takes to make a person cross the line from normal to abnormal and why when that line is crossed reason seems to be lost entirely.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloodhound Books for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars

'Guilty... Until Proven Innocent' is the third book in the Detective Superintendent (DS) Marcus Braddick series, and although it's preferable to have read the others first, I found it stood very well on its own. At its heart, this is part technothriller, part conventional crime thriller. This massively appealed to me as I love both sub-genres. Inspired by many real world events, such as the alleged abduction of Madeline McCann, Conrad Jones's novels are gritty and authentic.

I have to say, this story touched a little too close to home for me but that's through no fault of the book. Although it brought back many memories I have tried to put to the back of my mind, I did find it very compelling and it captivated me for the duration. This is one of those tales that really tests your morals with the storyline being one about Facebook vigilantes who hunt paedophiles that have been outed on the site. I am a little conflicted on this issue but veer towards supporting the vigilantes because I know the harm paedophiles have on a youngsters future. However, one concern with this approach, as highlighted in the story, is the possibility of someone being targeted mistakenly, which has far-reaching consequences for all involved. The author perfectly dissects the pros and cons of social media, with a particular focus on its potential for misuse.

There is also a killer on the loose in another thread of the plot. The unidentified victim has been tortured, and after finding his body wrapped intricately in steel chicken wire, Braddick is instantly reminded of a case from years earlier. He decides to consult the retired Alec Ramsay, who was the lead investigator on the previous cases of the three murdered Albanians. I loved the collaboration between Ramsay and Braddick, their dynamic works very well, and I know many have been calling for a collab for a while. Here, Ramsay plays a substantial role in the unmasking of the brutal serial killer. The story is told from various different perspectives: the unnamed killer, the alleged paedophile teacher Richard Vigne and both Braddick and Ramsay. There are twists, turns and surprises aplenty, and most of them really hit their mark in terms of unpredictability. I thoroughly appreciated that the author tries to challenge the reader by blurring the lines between the acceptable and defendable and the cruel and indefensible. There is a logic behind both the people the killer chooses to target and those the paedophile hunters chase down. The ending was dark, but I was left feeling satisfied that justice had been done. Maybe not in a conventional or traditional way, but it ultimately pleased me.

I look forward to learning more about DS Braddick in future books, I don't think we got sufficient insight into him as an individual or into his working relationships as there was such a focus on the two intertwining storylines, but I am hopeful this will be remedied in upcoming additions to the series. It is certainly different that a "victim" takes centre stage and the two Detectives are almost secondary characters. This is a well-thought out plot and is well-written. I can't help but feel like the story has been meticulously researched because it comes across as realistic in nature. The pacing was impeccable, and the plot tension-filled, powerful and in some parts emotive. This book ultimately shows the gullibility and fallibility of human beings and the resulting consequences.

Many thanks to Bloodhound Books for an ARC. I was not required to post a review, and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. My apologies for mistakenly thinking i'd downloaded it and only realising I hadn't when I saw it had been archived. As I feel I had committed to providing a review when I requested the book, I was kindly provided with another copy by the publisher.

Brilliant gritty and gruesome story that makes you feel sick in parts . Fantastic characters and an appearance from Alec Ramsey makes it even better .

When the lumbering beast that is Social Media allows others into your life it will wreak havoc and leave you helpless in its wake. This is what happens to one of the characters in this brilliant novel that combines murder and revenge with fatal consequences.
Having read Brick by this author I was pleased to be given a chance to review this offering and I was not let down.
The author weaves a tale from the dark side of social media and the affects one wrong thread can have on you and how hard getting free of hate and torment can be. An innocent teacher is accused of the vilest crime of being a paedophile by social media and this charts his fall from grace whilst another thread runs through the story that combines to give a great read..
Whilst investigating a murder that he feels is similar to one unsolved from 7 years previous DS Braddick is drawn in to this case which is twisted within one involving an ex colleague Alex Ramsey and the life of an innocent man. How can the police wade through all the clues and narrow down the search to get those responsible for the horrific murders and give an innocent man his life back.
What are the lies, what is the truth? and who wants these people dead ? , only time and the tenaciousness of Ramsey and Braddick will bring about the fall of a monster.