Set in the remote highlands of Northwest Scotland "From the Shadows" involves paedophilia and child murders. There is talk of this being the first of a series presumably all may involve DI Monica Kelly who works on the cases. There is also an exceptionally committed social worker who takes his duty to his clients to extraordinary levels. I found it difficult to really relate to Monica and for her to have any chance of becoming a "Rebus", Halliday has a lot of character development to do, That being said this is still an enjoyable read with lots of pace and excitement all set against the vividly described, and often bleak, Scottish mountains.

What a dark crime debut this is! The setting of Inverness and the Scottish Highlands adds to the atmosphere - the bleak moors so well described. Many remote crofts and homes. The subject matter is dark and perhaps not for the faint-hearted. The twists and turns add to the tension.
DI.Monica Kennedy stands out in many ways as a lead detective - not just her height but her history, her attention to detail and her determination to solve the mystery rather than accept things at face value. A fascinating start to a new series. Looking forward to reading the second in the series, Dark Waters.
Many thanks to Netgalley/G.R. Halliday/Random House UK for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

D I Monica Kennedy is the star of the really good thriller. Set in the highlands of Scotland this book featuring the DI, a misfit social worker and several bodies is a week. You can feel yourself in this book with the atmospheric descriptions of surroundings . I love the characters and I'm sure we'll see much more of DI Kennedy in future books.
There are several twists as you would expect however this is a gripping tale and the ending was a surprise for me. 09/10.

Two young men have been killed and left posed in isolated spots in the Highlands. DI Monica Kelly is investigating. The only link to the two victims are black stones left with he body. Michael Bach is a social worker desperately trying to find a client of his, Nichol Morgan. Nichol has left clues for Michael about another young man who had died, classed a suicide by police, but who seems to be a victim of the same killer.

Almost gave up on this book several times but persevered to the end. Good enough story just very very slow. Didn’t find the main character, Monica, likeable at all and the fact that she was tall for a woman was mentioned far too often.

Thanks to Netgalley, Random House and G R Halliday for the ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House for an advanced copy of this book.

The first book in what promises to be an excellent series centred around DI Monica Kennedy. Monica and her team set about solving a series of murders in the Scottish Highlands. All the victims mysteriously disappeared and are found dead in unusual circumstances. It soon becomes apparent that these aren’t the murderer’s first victims. Kept me guessing until the end. Thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to more in this series.

It must be so hard for an author of police/crime/serial killer books to come up with something that is new. Over the years I have read so many of this book genre and, as a result, it is extremely rare for me to find a book that I believe warrants a 5-star rating.
From The Shadows is such a book that, for me, deserves 5 stars. The primary reason that this book is, again for me, different is that it combines a police investigator and an 'unwilling' private investigator. You know the 2 story lines must be linked but you are not sure how. For once the senior police officer is far from perfect and does not display an unbelievable knowledge of classical music or art. She is far from perfect and makes mistakes! The characters are very well described and you never know who is telling the truth, including the police.
I loved the book so much and i am really looking forward to reading the next book, Dark Waters, in a few weeks time

A dramatic thriller, which had me guessing until the last page. The central characters are all complex but you care about them. And the atmosphere of the remote parts of the highlands creating a 'Scottish Noire' genre was excellent. I am looking forward to seeing how Monica Kennedy's character develops in future books. Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

G.R.Halliday’s latest, From the Shadows, is quite a page turner. A thriller based on our primal fears of a ‘bogeyman’ , of being watched from outside in the dark whilst we naively believe we are safe in our brightly lit houses. Trying to find a link between corpses being found at almost a daily rate is DI Monica Kennedy. A woman who makes up in stature what she lacks in character. In this novel she outsources some of her workload to a social worker called Michael Bach who seeks Monica’s help in finding his missing client Nichol Morgan. Monica is singularly unhelpful to Michael but he perseveres and really becomes the backbone to what should have been a detective thriller. Halliday in choosing various settings in Scotland, quite cleverly uses changes in the weather to add a brooding atmosphere like an organist uses a swell pedal (and as frequently). Furthermore he selectively applies or removes cellular connectivity to further complicate the story, dependent upon plot necessity rather than geographical topography. Niggles aside it’s a gripping thriller and one where its very difficult to predict who the predator is.

GR Halliday transports you to Inverness and the highlands from the very first page, with the bleakness of the land described beautifully and the characters perfect for the surroundings. I particularly liked DI Kennedy- she pretty much stepped of the pages into reality and I love that about a character!
The plot was complex in places but well worth the perseverance as it unfolds beautifully, intertwining the various threads to a great conclusion.

Great read that holds you from the off, quite graphic in parts and very dark. Would reccomend highly to all crime reading ,police procedural fans

this is a promising start to what I imagine is a series involving police in the Northern Highlands of Scotland. I know the area quite well and the author clearly does also which helps the story roll along. Distances are large so hours are long and Monica's struggle with her daughter and her mother add a nice domestic touch to the novel.

I found it a touch slow however its a first outing and I am certainly going to read the next instalment as I am sure that it will settle into a worthwhile series.

For a debut novel it made for an good interesting read, I was a little middle of the road I have to say, in the start and in quick succession we get a couple of bodies but with this we also got introduced to a lot of characters and at times I had to double check who they were and where they fitted in to the storyline. Once I had them all figured out in my head I could get on and enjoy the read. The storyline goes off in several directions and felt there were a few red herring moments and wild goose chases that got a little frustrating to read. Overall it was well written and happy I stuck with the book as it was all go from beginning to end, maybe it was because it was a debut novel and the author had so many ideas that they wanted to use it made it a book I felt I really needed to concentrate on and not a book I could easily dip in and out of.

This is a debut novel by G.R.Halliday, it features what is billed as the first book in a series based in Detective Inspector Monica Kennedy.

I believe that it is difficult for an author to introduce a new detective series, especially so for a first book. However G.R.Halliday has managed fairly well. Whilst I am not sure about some of the characters, the plot, pace and tension are all very good.

I think that there is scope for the development of the police characters in future novels. I certainly enjoyed this enough to look out for the next book in the series.

I give my thanks to Netgalley and Random House (Vintage) for a copy in exchange for this review.

This is the first book in the DI Monica Kennedy series, which is set in Inverness and around the Scottish Highlands.

Whilst the story is good with lots of twists, I feel I have been there before. However, this might be that I like this police murder procedure stuff?

The best example of this lies in the fact that Monica struggles with the work/life balance, and her colleagues aren't that much better.

The overall book is well worth 4 stars... but only just.

Thanks to Net Galley and Random House for the chance to read and review.

A fantastic mystery in the great location of the highlands. It had me gripped till the end. I found it it hard to read in some parts, but glad I continued. Looking forward to reading more.

DI Monica Kennedy’s first outing. Has all the standard tropes of detective fiction: misfit and obsessive police inspector, quirky sidekick, red herrings, conflict with senior officers, blood and bone crunching (lots) and hunt for sadistic serial killer with trademark MO.
Outstanding depiction of the wild Scottish Highlands in the rawness of winter: the pine forests, the snow, sleet, wind, which reinforces the bleakness of the plot lines. These, however, are overly complex, gratuitously violent and build to a rushed and contrived ending.
Won’t be ‘meeting’ DI Kennedy again. Feel sorry for her little daughter, neglected and endangered
Thank you #NetGalley and #VintageBooks for my digital pre-release download.

A splendid addition to Scottish crime fiction with DI Monica Kennedy investigating missing boys and brutal murders. A social worker who feels he’s let down a client is the other main part of the narrative. Graphic violence is everywhere in this superbly dark tale with twists and turns galore. Beautifully set up for more episodes this opener is well recommended!

Seven days. Four deaths. One chance to catch a killer.
Sixteen-year-old Robert arrives home late. Without a word to his dad, he goes up to his bedroom. Robert is never seen alive again. A body is soon found on the coast of the Scottish Highlands. Detective Inspector Monica Kennedy is drawn into the murder investigation and she has a feeling that the case won't begin and end with this one death. Meanwhile, Inverness-based social worker Michael Bach is worried about one of his clients whose last correspondence was a single ambiguous text message; Nichol Morgan has been missing for seven days. As Monica is faced with catching a murderer who has been meticulously watching and waiting, Michael keeps searching for Nichol, desperate to find him before the killer claims another victim
An interesting debut novel, there was much I enjoyed but I didn’t find it a comfortable read. There were plenty of twists & turns. I found it to be well written with well developed characters. A good murder mystery & I’ll certainly read more books in the series.
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read

It took me awhile to get into this book. The different viewpoints took a little getting used to and I was not that keen on the main characters at first. The crimes were complicated and the chapters seemed a bit unrelated to each other and the reading required some effort. But all of a sudden the story came together, I got to know the characters and started to enjoy the book more. By the end I realised that this a well written story, with lots of twists and turns which became a real pageturner.
The story is set in the Highlands of Scotland, not an area I know well but it made an interesting location. The crimes are resolved in a realistic way, but not following my expectations. Some loose ends remain unanswered and some of the personal stories of the main characters are not added to either, much as real life I suppose. Some parts of the book, like the gamekeepers ? , could have done with more finishing off from my point of view, but may be that comes later in the series ?
All in all a great read
Thankyou to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. I`ll definately be reading more by this author .

DI Monica Kennedy is called in when a teenage boy is found brutally murdered and posed in a remote
Highlands location. Soon after the discovery they are contacted by Michael Bach a Social Worker who believes the body could be that of his client, Nichol Morgan, who is missing.
The victim is identified as local boy Robert Wright, but feeling that Michael may be worrying about Nichol for a good reason Monica involves him in the investigation.
Another body is discovered killed in the same way as Robert and Monica fears they could be looking for a serial killer. The Highlands is a good place to hide if you know the terrain so how are Monica and her team going to catch what seems to be a highly skilled killer before they strike again.
This was a good read,interesting storyline and characters. I am looking forward to reading the follow up