3.5 stars rounded up to 4. I liked this, I really did but I did have a few little gripes with it. Also, I thought it would be the next instalment in Liz Mistry's very excellent DI Gus McGuire series. Unfortunately not, because i did love the Gus McGuire series. Its the second book already in a new series that I didn't even know about. Okay, moving along...

DS Nikita (Nikki) Parekh is an outspoken, grumpy, pig-headed, big-hearted, determined, ball-breaking police detective who doesn't take excrement from anybody. I like that, I really do but I found some of the dialogue and internal musings a bit, well - let's just say youngish. In this book a new crime kingpin is set to take over Bradfield and his enforcers are using extreme violence to get rid of anybody not with the program. We have a missing police officer, a dead villain, slavery, more mutilated dead bodies, people trafficking and its all set to go off with a bang one night stretching police resources to breaking point and beyond. 

I liked Nikki and her team, I really did but, in addition to the dialogue thing it seemed unthinkable to leave this escalating investigation in the hands of such a small and junior team. I mean I hope that's not the reality of modern British policing. Nevertheless it was a great story and I'll be very interested to see where the author takes this series next. If you like Liz Mistry's books you will not be disappointed with this.

Brilliant book full of twists and turns just when you think you have solved it another twist happens