Nick Louth has done it again.  Just when I thought this series could get any better, he writes a belter of a story in his latest outing in the DCI Craig Gillard series.  In this plot - it gets personal for Craig as someone out there has it in for him - big time.  It takes a frantic chase to catch the perpetrator with all the usual red herrings thrown in to disarm the team and throw them off the scent but when it comes to his family, he has to think on his feet very quickly.  With his usual great team around him they pull off some highly credible stunts to get to the brilliant climax.

I was left quite exhausted by the end of the book as if I had been on Gillard's tail willing him on.  Highly recommended - as usual and can't wait for the next one in the series - hopefully later on this year.

Another excellent read from Nick Louth, I’m loving this series of books. Good characters, great plots and well written, what’s not to love. Police procedural novels are a favourite of mine and this one did not disappoint. Thank you Net Galley for my preview copy.

Book 5 in the DCI Gillard series sees him investigating kidnap and murder. In this book, the author goes into a lot of detail and builds suspense in a riveting way. I really enjoy this series of books and I love the character development. Plenty red herrings in this well woven tale of missing people and murder. My only criticism would be that the female characters are all horrible! Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for this ARC.  

This is the 5th book in a series, and my 2nd read by this author.  I thought this was a great read, after a slow start.  DCI Gillard and his team search for a missing person which becomes a murder investigation when a body is found.   When a second body is found nearby connected to a very old case the book starts to really pick up pace.    The author has cleverly thought out the plot, the book is very well written with many twists in it, most I didn’t expect.   I wondered how all the separate threads would come together, and the last quarter of the book was a riveting read when everything fell into place and all loose ends are tied up.   The book had my attention from the beginning and moved along at a relentless pace.   Another cracking read, I will look forward to the next book and read books 1-3 to catch up.   Highly recommended.

I really love this series of books by Nick, and this one did not disappoint one iota. An excellent read and addition to this series.  I am very much looking forward to the next one

With thanks to Netgalley and the publishers  for the arc, which I have enjoyed reading.
I have now read all five of the DCI Craig Gillard books,  they just get better each time. I am looking forward to reading book 6, the Body On The Island by Nick Louth later in the year.
The police procedures, the characters and the storyline are all extremely well written.
Highly recommended.

DCI Craig Gillard returns in The Body Under the Bridge which is the fifth book in the series by Nick Louth.

The pace is fairly relentless once it gets going and the ending is well done. My only reservations were that it took a little while to get into its stride and at times it felt a little over convoluted. 

Overall this was an enjoyable read and hopefully there are more books to follow

Is it personal? 

This is the fifth in the DCI Craig Gillard series.  

A young girl disappears and Gillard is called in from a colleague’s funeral by his Chief Constable no less. How can a missing person warrant the attention of so senior and experienced an officer and the Chief Constable? It transpires that the young musician in question is the daughter of a German minister so yet another example of ‘it’s not what you know.....’. The full team is activated and more resources promised if required. Leads are few and far between and the facts which are known just lead to further confusion. 

The characters have clearly been well developed in previous books in the series but this example can be read as a stand-alone. There is little reference to previous publications so a reader fresh to this series will have no trouble picking up the threads. 

So, to the review. Around half way in to the book it had all the makings of a 5 star review. The characters were great. The writing style flowed well. The plot was intriguing and the mystery deepened. From then on in my opinion it went downhill fast. I should stress that this is only my opinion and my dislikes as it’s a book well worth reading and I am more than tempted to look out the previous books in the series and anything else by this author – I enjoy his style and the way in which he develops his characters. 

 However, I personally always have trouble in swallowing a storyline which isn’t true to life. As soon as I start thinking “that just wouldn’t happen” I start to lose interest. The issue for me is the involvement of the detective’s job in their personal life. I can’t explain too much as it’s too easy to give away spoilers but as a parallel consider the once excellent TV series ‘Silent Witness’. It started as a first-class forensic investigation series and then ran out of ideas so the main characters were threatened by the bad guys. It just doesn’t ring true and the series should have been canned while it was ahead. I therefore wonder whether it’s true of this series as well. To maintain a constant flow of good ideas and plots using the same characters is a very real challenge. 

So the 5 stars became 3 but was increased to a well-deserved 4 due to the sheer quality of the writing. 

mr zorg 

Elite Reviewing Group received a copy of the book to review.

This latest outing of DCI Craig Gillard follows Nick Louth’s usual style: there is a complex plot; the pace builds relentlessly; and the requirement for the reader to suspend her/his disbelief is present in full measure. Whilst this  last point may sound like a fairly critical verdict, this reader has to acknowledge an almost irresistible compulsion to keep reading in the shortest time possible. So, readers looking for a fast-paced police thriller with plenty of plot twists and turns will find all of that and more in ‘The Body Under the Bridge’. 
For this reader, at least, however, Nick Louth runs the risk of the author’s equivalent of painting himself into a corner. If sustaining a dramatic effect requires ever more implausible plot twists a point will surely come where the reader will find suspending disbelief too big an ask. Surely, the skill deployed by Mr Louth to such good effect can weave together a narrative where the drama comes from the investigation and the carefully drawn supporting characters rather than increasingly implausible tricks and twists? 

But, bear in mind - it’s still a cracking read! Recommended.

This is book 5 in the series, and a real page turner! So much so, that I tried to finish it in one sitting (but couldn't). This is a take on the closed room mystery, except it takes place on a train.There may be plenty of possible suspects, but with alibis abounding, Gillard and his team are stuck, but as events unfold, slowly they realize there are clues but they didn't see them for the obvious. The ending is worthy of a Christie plot! Don't miss this one!

I always look for Nick Louth's books and they never disappoint. This one in particular was very interesting because it directly involved a search for one of the series' main characters.

Thank you Net Galley for the chance to read this novel pre publication. I love this series by Nick Louth - I have read them all and am never disappointed. This one has a quite unique scary bit too - which I will not spoil for future readers.
I recommend you give this entire series a go, you will be glad you did !

A most unusual and complex detective story that starts with a missing person, a young lady violinist travelling home from a concert. It becomes a high-profile case as she turns out to be the daughter of a German government minister. As the police investigation progresses it slowly becomes apparent that the perpetrator is a cunning devious highly skilled technician laying red herrings to baffle and bewilder the police. It becomes a battle of wits as more bodies are found until finally it becomes personal when the detective’s wife goes missing. The helpless police had to call in the whole of all the state resources to make progress in tracking down the villain.  But it is the villains own miss deeds that finally causes him to meet with his nemesis before he is able to make his well planned disappearance.

This is my first Nick Louth book so I have not read any of the previous books in this series. I enjoyed the read, I thought the plot was original and very well developed, keeping the suspense going right to the end. I don´t think the characters were very well developed, having finished the book I had an impression of the main character, Craig Gillard, but I couldn´t tell you much about the other characters. Maybe if I had read the earlier books in the series, I would have found myself more engaged with the characters. Having said that, the book is well worth reading and I will look out for the next in the series.
Thanks to NetGalley and Orion Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Great, fast paced, action packed suspense book.
A high priority missing person, a talented young musician whose father happens to be a high ranking German government minister, lands 0n Detective Craig Gillard's desk.  All resources are being stretched to find her and her father has assured them he will spare no expense to get them what they need to bring his daughter back alive.  But, during a flash flood, a car is found submerged in water with a woman who has been missing since the 80's, but strangely the body is still the age of the teenager she was when she disappeared.  How can that be?  Suddenly Craig's wife disappears, another officer's daughter is gone missing, and the police are being sent on one wild goose chase after another.  The clock is ticking, but will any of the missing women be found in time.
Loved this latest book in the series.  These books can be read as stand alones.  The characters are well developed, the story line will keep you turning the page and guessing until the very end.  
I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

An enjoyable fast-paced thriller that I sped through. When a talented young musician fails to turn up for an important recital turns out to be the daughter of a German politician so all resources ate utilised to try and locate her. However, when the bodies of two young women are discovered in a flood swollen river, police start to realise that this is not just a kidnapping.

Fast paced and exciting.

Nick Louth never fails to disappoint with a beautifully twisted crime novel. DCI Craig Gillard is always a great read as he gets his teeth into the investigation

Great storyline. Easy reading. Highly recommend...
Looking forward to the next DCI Gillard installment

when the daughter of the german minister for justice disappears from a train it sets off a whole flurry of work for the team .keeps you involved all throughout this novel .

4.5 stars. I’ve had a run of great books lately. This is the fifth book in the DCI Craig Gillard series. I have read 3 of the previous 4 books and I think this is the best one yet. Happily it can be read as a stand alone although you do get context from the earlier books.

Someone seems to have it in for Gillard. A series of baffling crimes leaves the police in Guildford reeling. A 25 year old up and coming violin prodigy disappears. She is the daughter of the German justice Minister, so resources are thrown at the investigation as politics overtakes policing. But it doesn’t help. It soon becomes apparent that the investigation is being hampered by a devilish piece of ,misdirection. Eventually two bodies are recovered from a vehicle in a flooded river. One of them just doesn’t make sense, it seems impossible. Gillard gets some threatening emails but his world implodes when someone close to him disappears and another taunting message is left. The clock is ticking.

The suspense became almost unbearable towards the end. As police started to get a handle on the devious and manipulative killer I had real concerns this would not end well. The Body Under The Bridge was a riveting a page turner that was all the more enjoyable for depicting characters that seemed likeable and realistic. Thanks to Netgalley, Canelo and Nick Louth for my review copy.