This was my first experience of DI Ridpath, but that did not detract from this story. It has an unusual premise, the death in a seemingly secure detention centre for asylum seekers, which is being treated as suicide. Ridpath has serious doubts, and persuades the coroner that this can’t be the case, so she sets him working against the clock as the sole investigator working on behalf of the Coroner’s office, with the inquest due to start in a few days. However due to his own diligence and some suspect statements from the employees at the centre, he manages to have the crime flagged up as a possible murder, and joins the MIT team to investigate fully.
It’s a solid enough police procedural, but the constant use of ‘Ridpath’ being used to begin and end every conversation and team meeting interaction, became extremely irritating to this reader - even his wife addresses him as Ridpath - who does that?
A couple of sloppy errors which should have been edited, such as the pathologist carrying out a post-mortem ‘ on the dead body now’ ! And Ridpath finding a brand new passport of a suspect where his ‘broadly grinning face’ stared up at him - no smiling faces are allowed on UK passports, far less broad grins.
The ending was no great surprise, and felt a bit rushed, but this was a good enough yarn which I would rate 3.5 stars.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my advance copy of this book.

Another brilliant instalment in the Ridpath series. This is book 4 in the series but they are all great reads. Plenty of twists to keep you reading and I didn’t guess the culprit until the end. It’s best to read the series from the beginning to get the background story on Ridpath. I highly recommend this book and series, you’re in for a treat.

With thanks to NetGalley and Canelo for the ARC.

DI Redpath is back for the 4th installment of this excellent series.

When Wendy Tang is found with her throat cut in an Immigrant Removal Centre everyone assumes it's suicide.
Well, everyone except the local coroner, Mrs Margaret Challoner.
She tasks Redpath with investigating the death with the utmost urgency as the inquest into her death is in just 5 days.

Redpath is met with a brick wall of resistance at every turn. The local police, the Centre staff and everyone involved.

This is a roller-coaster of a story and the timescale involved makes it all the more tense.
Excellently written as usual and the series continues to excel.

A mysterious death, and a foe he never could have imagined... 
A woman dies under suspicious circumstances in an Immigrant Removal Centre. The statement provided by the officer on duty seems clear enough, that it was suicide, but upon a deeper investigation in the coroner's office by DI Ridpath, the evidence starts to unravel. 
With no leads, and only five days to solve the case, Ridpath must work harder than he ever has before to uncover the truth. 
Faced with official intransigence, concealment of evidence, and nobody who seems to care, he must work hard to crack the case, before time runs out... 

My thoughts of this outstanding police thirller was outstanding loved it was so gripping.

Author M J Lee is back with the fourth instalment of his DI Ridpath Crime Thriller series, Where the Innocent Die. This time Detective Inspector Thomas Ridpath, who is still working for the coroner’s office, is investigating the death of a woman within an immigration detention centre.

The young woman, Wendy Tang, was found dead in her unlocked room at 4am with her throat slit. The initial report is that she committed suicide but DI Ridpath isn’t quite convinced. It is all a little too suspect for him that her door was the only one left unlocked throughout the night and the cameras within the vicinity of her room were out of order.

The inquest into her death is to be held within a few days and the senior coroner’s officer refuses to postpone it, so Ridpath only has a matter of days to work this case. Can Ridpath work fast enough to solve what really happened to Wendy Tang before her body is released back to her family?

DI Ridpath Crime Thriller series happens to be one of my favourite detective thrillers so the minute I heard that book four was ready I was eager to read it. If you haven’t read the series, firstly, why not!!, secondly if you love police procedural novels you really must. Whilst I believe each book can be read as a standalone, reading them in order will give you a greater understanding of who DI Ridpath is and his backstory.

As well as having an amazing, realistic cast the series is also set within my home town of Manchester, though this time there weren’t many areas mentioned as the main bulk of the story is within the coroner’s office, MIT, and the immigration centre. What I also love about the series is that whilst we do get to hear about DI Ridpath’s family and personal life, such as his cancer remission it is kept to a minimum and the main focus of the book is on the case at hand.

I flew through this book and had read it within two days, I just didn’t want to put it down. The case was gripping and as more people were murdered I was intrigued as to who the killer could be and why. To be honest, I actually didn’t guess the killer and it came as a surprise, believe me, this doesn’t happen often.

Overall, Where the Innocent Die is a bloody fantastic. I do hope that there will be more DI Ridpath books to come as I don’t want his story to end just yet.

I love the character of Ridpath and this book does not disappoint as he continues to bring his unique detection skills to the forefront and fights for the truth for the forgotten.
Working with the coroner he forces a proper investigation into the death of a detainee in a detention centre filled with people awaiting deportation.
The characters all spring to life from the pages and the bleak descriptions of the detention centre pull you right into the cell with the young woman in question.
The tight timescale that Ridpath is working to before the body is released and flown to China really helps ramp up and maintain the tension of the story and I found myself turning the pages even more quickly than normal to try and get to the end before the case was lost!
Definitely a book to start early in the day as it is very hard to put down!

Head Coroner Margaret Challenor is asked to conduct the inquest into the suicide of a young Chinese woman in a detention removal centre.
Mrs Challenor isn't happy with the initial investigation or the post mortem that were carried out and asks DI Ridpath to look into the case.
The inquest is in a couple of days and Mrs Challenor wants to release the body to the parents so Ridpath is up against the clock to find out what really happened. The company who run the detention centre have coached their staff and they are all sticking to their story but Ridpath knows something is not right, he just has to dig deeper to find out what before anyone else dies.
Fast paced and cleverly written.

Another great story line from M J Lee, featuring his character D I Thomas Ridpath. Had me guessing who the murderer was right to the very end and I still got it wrong! A fantastic read and a chance to view policing by the Coroners office .

Another excellent novel by M J Lee and his character Detective Inspector Ridpath, formerly of Greater Manchester Police now attached to the Coroners Office whilst recovering from cancer. The novel begins with the death of a Chinese national in an immigration detention centre in Manchester. It is suggested that the death was a suicide and this is agreed by the original pathologist. The case is sent to the Coroners Office for investigation, Margaret Challonor the Coroner is unhappy with the investigation carried out by the police and requests a second post mortem which indicates that the death was in fact a murder. DI Ridpath is requested to investigate and starts to find holes in the investigation, why the police officer who attended the scene did not interview the detainees in the cells on either side, why so many cameras in the detention centre were not working, why there were only two staff for 34 detainees etc, etc. The case gets even more complicated when Ridpath eventually locates one the other detainees and he is also murdered.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the opportunity to read this book. This book like the other DI Ridpath books was absolutely brilliant. The storyline was well thought out and very well written. It’s one of those books that grabs you from the first page to the last. Very hard to put down once you start reading it. Absolutely brilliant writing. I look forward to reading more of DI Ridpath. Only thing i would say is check some dates, Manchester United won the treble in 1999. I know it’s only a work of fiction but for us fans it looks good 😂😜.

D I Ridpath returns in Where the Innocent Die which is book 4 in the series by M J Lee.

Ridpath works for the local Coroner and this time has to investigate the death of a woman who died in a Detention Centre.

The author cleverly uses the very tight timescale until the hearing to ramp up the tension and to keep the pages turning.

This is an excellent series and Where the Innocent Die is definitely recommended

I never repeat the blurb. I would, however, be repeating myself to say that I just LOVE this series. Wonderful characters, fast paced and with no unnecessary padding, the realism is still there and this was a great addition to the DI Ridpath books. More please...and soon...

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this brilliant book in the series

a young woman in a detention centre is found with her throat cut

ridpath is sent on a mission by the coroner but was it suicide or was it murder...

love this series with the coroner and ridpath they have a brilliant working relationship that is hard to describe , it was also lovely to catch up with everyone else in this series, to find out where they all are

never disappoints and keep you on the edge of your seat, very topical with human trafficking and gang related incidents

but the question remains if it was a suicide where did the knife come from and how did the detainees door open after they are locked down at 9pm....brilliant read

This is the fourth novel in the D I Ridpath series by this author and I have read them all. The review I did of the third in the series I stated they were getting better and better and this is still true. Absolutely brilliant read and D I Ridpath is probably my favourite detective character at the moment for a whole host of reasons. Although a series it is easily read as a standalone.

D I Ridpath is part of the Greater Manchester Major Incident Team (MIT) and has been seconded to the coroner’s office for some time as he had cancer which still plays a part in his life even though it is now in remission. He is not too good at looking after himself and his daughter and wife play a big part in helping him.

Once again, some difficult subjects are handled with care and detail as a woman, Wendy Tang, is found dead in a detention centre where she was awaiting deportation. The initial verdict is suicide and Ridpath is brought in to assist the Coroner, the inimitable Margaret Challoner, with the inquest.

As can be expected nothing is as it seems and when the man who was in the room next to her is found dead in another location it soon points to murder. One of the main questions is how could anybody get into a secure building, watched over by guards to commit murder.

Clever, intriguing with numerous twists and turns and M J Lee does not pull punches in his storyline, so it can be grim in parts.

Thank you to NetGalley, Canelo and M J Lee for my ARC in return for my honest review.

Once again a brilliant read and highly recommended.

This is the fourth book in the DI Ridpath series and they certainly take you on a roller coaster journey! The books can be read as a stand alone but I think are best read in order.

We meet DI Ridpath, his wife Polly and their daughter Eve and also join him on his journey recovering from cancer. After his diagnosis and whilst recovering from the treatment, Ridpath is seconded to the Coroner's Office, ran by the indomitable Margaret Challoner.

This book starts in a detention centre where the body of Wendy Tang is found, and deemed to be a suicide by authorities, Margaret is adamant she should receive justice and her parents, who are flown in from China, should get answers.

Ridpath is given the task of finding out what happens, with extreme time pressures as the inquest is due to start in a few days and has no time to waste.

I had just a couple of small queries, probably me, but tasers have been around for quite a few years so I am surprised at how surprised everyone in the book was about them, and also when Ridpath first read the reports filed by Ronald Barnes, the first line states On August 20 at 06.10 hours 1995, I was dispatched etc etc, is the 1995 a typo or am I misreading it somehow?

A thoroughly enjoyable read and can't wait for the next one to see where Ridpath ends up. Highly recommended

There are quite a number of police crime thriller series available in book form. This series, for me, is definitely one of the better ones. I can get involved with and understand the characters and the story line is not over complicated by 2 of 3 separate threads.
This primary character, Ridpath, is excellent and you never feel he is arrogant or uncaring. The story does not contain any strong violence or over the top serial killers. So, if you are into crime thrillers you won't do much better than reading this one. You do not need to have read earlier ones.

Where The Innocent Die. M.J Lee

This is the latest in a really good Crime Fiction Series. DI Thomas Ridpath is not your stereotypical fictional cop. He is a family man who is really good at what he does and is well liked amongst his peers. Where he is different is that he is a cancer patient in remission. With Senior Officers in the Police worried about his health when he returned to work, he has been temporarily deployed to Manchester’s Coroner as a Coroner’s Investigator.

This has given M.J Lee lots of leeway to put Ridpath into situations not usually encountered by Police Officers as he investigates how people have died. However in this book the streams are crossed and Ridpath finds himself right at the front of a murder investigation, and this time he will not be Mr Popular.

The death of a Chinese woman in a detention centre, the day before she is due to be deported, is found to be a case of suicide by the Police Officer who carries out the investigation.

The Coroner is not convinced. It’s the latest in a line of deaths in detention centres across the country, most of which have been recorded as suicide. This one has happened in Manchester, and there is no way the Coroner is going to let it slip by without proper investigation, and she tasks Ridpath with taking a second look at the circumstances surrounding the woman’s death.

Ridpath soon finds out that the Police Investigation was slipshod at best. Unfortunately, for him, it was carried out by a popular Detective Sergeant who is 3 months from retirement and stands to lose his pension if Ridpath is correct in his theory that the woman was murdered.

The discovery of another body only adds credibility to Ridpath’s hypothesis and he is “invited” to lead the investigations into both deaths as part of the MIT.

The Coroner has made it impossible to carry out a deep investigation as she refuses to put back the date of the inquest, giving Ridpath less than a week to gather the evidence he needs to establish the woman was murdered and, if so identify the killer.

Meanwhile, understandably, Ridpath is working every hour available and his family are worried about the effects on his health.

This is a great book. In effect it starts as a “locked-room-mystery” but soon develops into something much more sinister.

At the end of the book Ridpath is left with a decision to make. I, for one, can’t wait to read the next book to see what he has decided.

I just love this series!! Let me being the review with that declaration!! DI Thomas Ridpath (Call him Ridpath, everyone does. Only his mother calls him Thomas) is my favourite policeman in fiction. And this book carries on the brilliant series with even more brilliance. As usual, the story is fluid and easy to read. I finished the book in just two days, I was so engrossed in it. I love all the characters in it, even that one character who's meant to be unlikeable. I love MJ Lee's style of writing and how he just builds the characters and how he spins the stories around them. And finally I can't wait for the next book in this series as Ridpath has to make a decision which can seriously affect this series. Overall a brilliant series and one that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to anyone who loves a good book. And a big thank you to NetGalley and Canelo for giving me this ARC in exchange of my honest review.

One thing about Mr Lee is that he's predictable - well-rounded characters, excellent sense and description of place and intriguing stories. Then, no more predictability. Each story is based upon some current social topic and this, the 4th case for Tom Ridpath, is no exception - the insensitive, to say the least, treatment of detainees on the point of being deported . A young Chinese woman is found dead in her cell, sorry room, at the Wilmslow Immigrant Removal Centre (IRC) which is as grim as its name suggests. Suicide is the initial verdict. The Coroner's Office needs to establish cause of death and Tom's nose smells rats. Staff at the privately run IRC are not forthcoming, shall we say, the police seem to have done a rather hasty investigation as did the pathologist and the centre staff are far more concerned about procedure and protocol than the people in their charge. Tom ruffles feathers as usual and then a second post-mortem discovers taser wounds on the body and irregular paperwork. Further delving leads to further murders, covers up, bad practice at best, fraud, trafficking and a whole series of nastinesses. Tom has five days (hmm, thinks, Jayne Sinclair, genealogical investigator Mr Lee) to prove cause of death before the body will be released to her parents. His personal life continues in the background with normal ups and downs, his health is continuing ok and he solves the case to the satisfaction of the Coroner. Of course he gets involved with his old police colleagues as he cannot seem to forget the 'why' of any case and that leads to a question put before him and which might be answered in the next book! (and I won't say anything about Redditch being near Manchester!). Thanks to NetGalley and Canelo for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to netgalley and canelo for this arc

Number 4 in the Di Ridpath series and he is still in remission for the cancer that led to him taking leave from the police force and still seconded to the Coroners office

Investigating the alleged suicide of an illegal immigrant at the detention centre he soon comes up against conspiracies and finds himself with only 5 days to learn the truth

A well written read that opens your eyes to a seedy world