When it comes to modern day crime in Britain nothing could be more on point than the rise in knife crime in Britain, more specifically in the capital. It has become a veritable Wild West scenario, except the weapon of choice is knives and the majority of crimes are being committed by youths and teens. The MET, well the police in general are woefully understaffed and are trying to stay on top of what can only be called an epidemic at this point.

Sarah is called to the crime scene of a knife crime. A young teen has been killed as part of a gang vs gang act of revenge. His friend witnesses the stabbing and inadvertently becomes a pivotal player in a story that questions whether there is any escape from the inevitable destiny of a criminal and socio-economically depraved environment.

In this book it becomes even more apparent how much of a connection DI Sarah Collins and DC Lizzie Griffiths have. The common denominator is their gender in relation to working in what is considered to be a more masculine job. They both have to contend with having to work ten times harder to prove themselves.

Now that Lizzie is a single mother she finds it hard to reconcile the image and life she had before she was faced with finding dependable childcare and getting through her daily work commitments. She is struggling to cope and expects her baby daddy to do his bit to support, he however has completely different ideas. The kind of drastic solution only a manipulative and desperate person would come up with.

London makes a valid point about women who want both careers and children often being forced to choose one or the other, whereas their male colleagues never seem to have to make the same choices. Although society has come a long way to trying to level the playing field, it is still women who suffer when they want both worlds at the same time.

It’s worth mentioning that although this is the third in the Collins & Griffiths series and that some plot elements lead on from previous books, this can absolutely be read as a standalone novel. It’s a dynamic police procedural with a character-driven plot.

Gallowstree Lane is the third novel to feature DI Sarah Collins and DC Lizzie Griffiths of The Metropolitan Police, but it works perfectly well as a standalone, too. What I enjoyed the most was the shining authenticity, the dark, often oppressive atmosphere and the originality; I have never read a crime novel quite like this before. It has more substance and intellect than most in the genre and is as gritty and realistic as they come; it's clear the author's previous job as a Met officer has informed her work and injected it with power and believability. I was gripped from the very beginning and had no problem polishing it off in a single sitting.

It explores the lives of gang members and the impact the violence, which has become second nature to the youngsters involved, has on them. We then take a look at the difficult nature of policing the streets when there are conflicting priorities and politics. Told from multiple perspectives, we see the impact a murder has on the different characters, and each of said characters are developed well and interesting. With the current knife crime epidemic this is a timely read and although bleak and merely fiction it does feel refreshingly real and raw, and it reflects what is going on in society right now.

Many thanks to Corvus for an ARC.

It took me some time to get into this, but I'm pleased that I kept on. Overall, a great story, although I felt that the relationship drama of one of the lead characters a little unnecessary.
Well paced, and with a powerful core to the story, I would highly recommend

A well crafted and gritty police procedural novel written with insider knowledge and dealing with very contemporary problems
Thank you to netgalley and Atlantic books for an advance copy.

This is the first book I’ve read by Kate London and I really enjoyed it.
The story involves DI Sarah Collins, DC Lizzie Griffiths and DI Kieran Shaw.
The story starts with the stabbing of 15 year old Spencer Cardoso and his death causes ripples around the Met and also in the criminal underworld.
Ryan Harris, witnesses his friend’s murder and is left reeling by his death and panics when he’s arrested for a fight he got into, a few days before.
Once Ryan is released interest in him intensifies as he could be involved in something much bigger. DI Kieran Shaw is also soon interested but he has to work out his link to Operation Perseus, his two year old investigation into gun running investigation.
We also learn that Lizzie is a single mother bringing up Kieran’s son and they also have history with Sarah from a previous incident.
I really liked this book and will definitely read more of the series.
Thanks to Corvus and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

Tense and thrilling. Shows the undercover and secret world of policing. Also showed there is despair in the world.

Wow! What a book! If you have ever wondered what it’s like to work behind the scenes on a covert operation run by the Metropolitan police then look no further. This book gives a fantastic glimpse into the workings of what it’s like to be a police officer as we follow various officers in their roles within Operation Perseus.

There are a few lead characters in this book which the story follows. One character that particularly stood out for me was DC Lizzie Griffiths as she struggles to juggle the demands of a career in the police with being a single mother and trying to raise and look after her young son. I really felt for Lizzie as a career in the police is not one that operates 9 to 5 and neither do the demands of raising a young son.

This book is really detailed towards the police side of things but not so over the top that it becomes hard to follow. If anything I found it so interesting I didn’t want to put it down. As you would expect from an author who worked in a Major Investigation team within the Metropolitan Police, the detail is very accurate and gives the whole story great authenticity. The writing shows that this was written by someone who has first hand knowledge of the workings and goings on of the topics at hand.

This is police procedural fiction at it’s finest and I was gripped the whole way through. Yet again it made me feel great respect towards those that choose to go into policing and all they give up to do the career that sometimes can be a thankless job. I hope to read more from this author in the future.

Thank you to Atlantic Books/Corvus for this eARC via NetGalley of ‘Gallowstree Lane’, due to be published on 7th February.

The novel opens with a teenage boy approaching a stranger in Gallowstree Lane, North London as his blood flows out onto the street. The stranger tries to help Spencer while his friend, Ryan, calls 999 with a borrowed phone and then flees. Both lads are low-level members of the Eardsley Bluds, a local street gang involved in a violent turf war with another gang.

D.I. Kieran Shaw is heading up a two-year covert investigation, code name Operation Perseus, into the Bluds that is nearing completion. However, the D.I. Sarah Collins’ investigation into Spencer’s murder is threatening to derail Perseus. Clearly there’s bad blood between them. D.C. Lizzie Griffiths, who has a complicated history with both of them, is caught in the middle. Plenty of inter-departmental politics complicate things as well..

Ryan, the 15-year old boy, who witnesses his friends stabbing emerges as a tragic figure. I won’t say more but he and others caught up in this life come across as very real and complex characters rather than one dimensional stereotypes..

I wasn’t aware until I started reading that this was the third in Kate London’s series of London-based police procedurals but expected as with other series that it would likely work as a stand-alone apart from some aspects of character development.

It became quickly clear that there was tension between several of the main characters that had been established in the earlier books. I just flowed with this and plan to read them so that I can understand their backgrounds as well as reading two more excellent police procedurals from Kate London.

It was no great surprise to read that Kate London had worked for the Metropolitan Police and this novel (and presumably the series) feels very authentic in its depiction of police work. A very gritty, down-to-earth, and gripping police procedural that while fiction does address very real contemporary issues.

4.5 stars rounded up to 5.

My Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this book in return for an honest review. I requested it based on the description. It sounded like my sort of book. Only a short way in I realised that I’d probably made a big mistake. I was tempted to give it up several times, but I’d requested it so I persevered. I found that I was being given too much information. I was being asked to follow different parts of the story happening simultaneously and was feeling no empathy with any of the characters, although experience told me that it would probably all come together at the end. It was an unpleasant story in an unpleasant setting. Rival London gangs and casual fatal knifings is very much a story of today, but it doesn’t mean that I want to read a fictional account of it as well as listen to it on news items. I was beginning to wonder how I could even justify two stars for this book. All the characters, gang members and police, seemed selfish and unlikable. One of the main characters, Ryan should evoke our sympathy. He’s a member of a gang, used by them, with a father also a gang member who was murdered years before and a mother who is an addict. But we know there’s no hope for him. In fact, he was doomed before he was born. There seems little point in wasting sympathy on him. The story, the descriptive passages, the conversations all seemed sordid and depressing. There was just nothing to lift the spirit. But I reckon for a writer to induce any mood in a reader requires skill. Which at least was a positive thought. We were being given gritty reality and the author’s experience was starting to show through, but for me, it was just a bit too grim.

Then, wow!! At somewhere, about sixty per cent in all the disparate strands began to come together and I found I just had to keep reading. The two different police investigation came to a head as the arms deal was about to be carried out and evidence is hardening on other crimes. How Kate London managed to weave together all these hitherto separate parts of the story and keep them running in real time, I don’t know. It required huge skill. I now felt that I was reading a five-star novel. I’m so glad that I persevered. Would I recommend it to anyone? I’m not sure. If you are looking for some uplifting escapism, this isn’t for you. But if you want a fictional account of the reality of gang life in an inner city today written in a gritty style by an author who knows her stuff, this could be your sort of book.

If you are looking for a fast paced detective thriller then this is the book for you. It had me gripped from the first page. This is a gritty and very realistic crime thriller. The story is about an under cover high profile case into the sale of fire arms but this book is so much more. Full of action, tension and had me turning the pages faster and faster. I really did not want this book to end. This is a detective crime thriller par excellence. I loved it and would definitely like to read more from this author. Highly recommended.

I really enjoyed this book, but did think it was slow in parts and a tad too long. However, I see that there are 3 other books in the series before this one, so maybe, if I’d have had time I should have read them first. Saying that, it was a good stand alone novel.

The story is a sad one, especially in today’s climate in London, with the gangs, drugs and knife crime and the general despair of the youngsters.

The police procedural was brilliant and you can always tell if an author has previous experience in the force.

My thanks to Netgalley, the Publishers and the author for the ARC.

A really good gritty and real story. This story feels so real. The characters and their actions are really well written and easy to imagine. This is definitely a page turner I would recommend.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

I hadn’t realised this book was part of a series so some parts and characters were a touch confusing however I think it could (just) be read without reading previous book(s). I didn’t really like any of the characters and was quite frustrated with some of them and their stupidity- however this stupidity was what moved the story on so was possibly a writing/plot device. I felt the story didn’t really hang together or go anywhere. Not one of my favourite police procedural books - sorry

Ryan is loved by his Mom but she cannot protect him from life around Gallowstree Lane. Lissie loves her son but struggles with life as a single Mom and a ranking police officer. Their lives intersect and we see how sometimes you have no control about life and the path you are led down. Excellent read throughout where you really care about these characters, enjoy.

What sort of a review can you give a book when you're trying to recover after reading it until four o'clock in the morning?

Obviously it's not a book one can easily put down.

As detective thrillers go it's up there with the best. It has all the qualities: pace, back stories, action, rivalries and a gripping plot. Plus it gives the reader an insight in to the endless cycle of why young men get caught up in crime.

Now, I feel a little flat, a bit like a surfer who has run out of wave, until of course Kate London creates another great thriller.

Really enjoyed this book. The characters are strong, not always likeable, but totally believable.
When a teenage boy is murdered on Gallowstree Lane in front of his best friend Ryan the police have to find out not just who killed him but why. While one team investigates this murder another team lead by Detective Kieran Shaw is working on the top secret Operation Perseus to track and catch a gang of illegal arms smugglers. At first there seems to be no connection between the murdered boy and Perseus but the team investigating his death start to uncover connections that could have repercussions for Perseus. Kieran Shaw will not allow anything to derail his operation.
Ryan is determined to get retribution for his friend but how far will he go and who can he really trust?

In "Gallowstree Lane", London has crafted a ripper police procedural which kept me flicking the pages quickly.
It begins and ends with the death of a young man, bleeding to death beside his mate, Ryan. The reader is swept quickly into turf warfare in yhe UK and a larger crime in the making.
The lives of the police, Ryan and the girls ln the street are sketched sufficiently beside a tautly drawn plot of a multi-threaded criminal investigation.
The characters are believable enough to support the action and yet not detract from a fascinating case. It felt real; real enough for me to re-read sections to clarify the specific action and to feel a little sad as I turned the last page.

Gallowstree lane is a fast paced detective story that I really enjoyed. It had a good balance of police action and insight into the personal lives of the characters. The story centres around an ongoing high profile undercover investigation into the sale of forearms. This investigation becomes embroiled in another case of murder. The two separate investigations are then followed to conclusions. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys contemporary detective stories.

An excellent detective thriller. I enjoyed the setting and the sense that the main characters weren't in control of events. It was well written and it felt realistic and something that could happen the way it was told. Recommended for readers of this type of novel.

Initially I didn't think I'd like this book, I'm not a fan of gang based dramas. I couldn't have been more wrong: I loved the police procedural aspect of the book, genuinely liked the realistic characters (both police officers and the criminals), and was absolutely blown a away by the ending. I can't remember the last time I felt so moved by a crime novel. This book is truely brilliant.