Thanks NetGalley, inkubator books and OMJ Ryan for a copy to review.
Another installment in the series, it hooked me from the beginning.
Loved it.

A really good addition to the series with a great storyline that had you gripped. Looking forward to reading the next book in the series . I also liked the fact it was based in Manchester as I’m from there and know places that were mentioned in the book.

another great read in the DCI Jane Phillips series, it had what I was looking for in the series and the mystery kept me invested. I always look forward to the DCI Jane Phillips series and hope there is more.

DCI Phillips and her men were being rushed into closing the grim murder case quickly, which involved a high-ranking victim by their ever self-serving Cheif Suprindentent Fox, who would climb over any dead body to get where she wanted to go without any solace for the victims, to the top brass chair. This story was a real nail-biter DCI Phillips and her men had it hard from England to Beijing China, and back again to England, with links to the Chinese Mafia making their job most deadly with heads literally falling at their sides. Death was staring them directly in their faces, but DCI Phillips and her men were more than up to the challenge, personal problems aside.

Fun read which drew me in from the very beginning and kept me engaged the whole novel. Well crafted story, atmospheric, and very well plotted mystery.

Deadly Good! O.M.J. Ryan's latest DCI Jane book is every part a compelling & thrilling read! This is only the fourth book in the series & with every new book the series grows taking it to newer & more thrilling heights. I feel the thrills every time I read a book from this series & that is very rare! I've come to love every character on Jane's team especially Bov! Its been a great experience to see Jane & team work their way through one puzzling case after next. If I can, I avoid books with organized crime as a theme but with Jane & team being familiar characters I was curious about the book. Super happy I did( not that there would be a time I say no to reading a book from this series). I loved reading about Jane's experiences in Hong Kong. With most books I've come to expect those highly creepy & chilling parts at the end, but this one had those moments all throughout which made this my absolute fav till now! Can't wait for the next!
Thank you NetGalley, Inkubator Books & Owen Ryan for an arc!

DCI Jane Phillips and her team are called to investigate an apparent suicide of a high-ranking woman. Her husband insists that it's murder ... and the medical examiner agrees with him.

So who wanted her dead? Maybe her husband? Her lover .. after all she was pregnant and it wasn't her husbands? Someone more powerful who wanted her out of the way?

The investigation takes Phillips and her team from London to Hong Kong in search for a man who might know the truth. But at what cost?

This is a complex plot filled with corruption and betrayal at every turn. Is there no one willing .. or able .. to speak the truth. Someone is willing to do anything ... anything at all to protect those secrets and lies. Lots of twists and turns swirl around deftly drawn characters that lead to a surprising .. and explosive ... conclusion. Although this is 4th in the series, it is easily read as a stand alone.

Many thanks to the author / Inkubator Books / Netgalley for the digital copy of this crime fiction. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

This is a story of murder and corruption.An apparent suicide becomes a murder and the police must untangle the victims life and loves to get to the truth. A good read

*thanks to netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange of an honest review*
So, let's just start by saying that it was a decent read.
But it was just that, decent, like it was supposed to be a thriller but it felt a little boring regarding this aspect.
The murderer was revealed from the beginning, it was just a game of cat and mouse,also, the author tried to add in a little bit of personal drama to each of the police team, but that was kind of filler Content, just to give the book a little bit of an emotional side.
It wasn't hard to finish, but not the best read out there.

This was a solid police procedural. It's well written and held my interest but it did feel like it dragged a little bit

I loved the book! First book i've read by OMJ Ryan and it won't be the last. Keep me engrossed from beginning till the last page

First time reading this author & found this an O.K. read but too British in the writing & expressions for my taste.
Suspenseful with a good wrap up but just not my cup of tea. . Thanks to NetGalley & Inkubator Books for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is the fourth book in the DCI Phillips series, but the first one that I've read. Despite the comments I have made below, I did genuinely enjoy the book.

The plot is a fairly standard suspicious suicide which turns out to be a murder which takes the investigative team from their base in Manchester to Hong Kong and the Lake District. Leaving aside the implausibility of a cash-strapped UK police force allowing two of its officers to head off to Hong Kong at a moment's notice, the plot holds up fairly well. However there is little but surface action throughout - too much happens in what is a relatively short book for there to be as much depth as I would have liked.

There were a number of points that grated in the book - firstly, all the characters always refer to each other by surname (apart from "Bov" whose name is a contraction of his Italian surname). Perhaps in the 1920s this may have been the case, but we're in the 2020s and first names are the order of the day today, particularly in close-knit teams such as Phillips' is supposed to be. Secondly, there is a lot of grinning going on in the novel - a quick Kindle search reveals that the word "grin/grinning/grins" [etc] turns up 44 times. My third bugbear (and this is very picky) was the use of the term "lounge room". Again this phrase turns up more than once - I have never heard a lounge called a "lounge room" before - maybe this is local usage, but it's not something that transfers to a wider context. Finally, in the blurb, the victim is described as a "high ranking Government official" but in fact she is a mid-ranking Council (ie local government) employee (deputy manager of the planning department) - not the end of the world in terms of errors, but the impression given by the blurb does not really convey an accurate picture of what to expect.

However, regardless of the points above, I found this an enjoyable read and well deserving of the four stars that I have awarded it - I imagine I will read more in the series and look forward to some character development.

I didn’t enjoy this book because the characters didn’t seem engaging or particularly interesting. I felt disconnected from the story.

Good story line, second time reading D C I Jane Phillips and her team. Faux suicide, murder, corruption and Chinese triad involvement what more could a reader ask for. Fascinating story, well recommended look forward to more from this author.

Action packed thriller, in a tech age, good flowing plot once again in this series. Plot have plenty of twists to figure out. Given ARC for my voluntary review and my honest opinion Y Net Galley and Inkubator Press.

The fourth instalment of the DCI Phillips series is another gripping crime thriller from OMJ Ryan.

What seemingly looks like suicide turns out to be murder and Victoria Carpenter isn’t the only victim.

Phillips is on the case of a murdered member of the local council from the planning department and as usual comes close to death herself!

This time Phillips jets off out of Manchester to China as part of the murder investigation which brings a different dynamic to the story.

We also see Phillips in a tense stand off in the Lake District too.

This story has it all again!

Love rivals, an affair, murders, blackmail, dodgy deals and even Triads!

A really thrilling gripping read.

I really enjoy the DCI Jane Phillips series and hope there’s more to come.

Deadly Betrayal is the fourth instalment in the series featuring DCI Jane Phillips of Greater Manchester Police’s Major Crimes Unit. DCI Phillips and her team are called out to investigate when the Deputy Leader of Manchester Councils Planning Department, 39-year-old Victoria Carpenter, is found hanged in the garage of her home; it is deemed a suicide despite the protestations of her husband, Aaron, a chartered surveyor for Shotten Construction Ltd, who refuses to believe the verdict and is adamant his wife was not suicidal and would not have killed herself. Because of his insistence, the body is taken to Manchester Royal Infirmary mortuary for a post-mortem to be carried out by Dr Tanvi Chakrabortty, which ascertains that Victoria was actually murdered. The team now have clarity and so dig deeper into Victoria, including her personal life and her working relationships, but what they discover plumbs dark depths and takes them into the murky, dangerous criminal underworld of the Hong Kong-based Chinese Triads. Can the team bring the murderer to justice without getting themselves killed in the process?

This is an action-packed, compulsive and thoroughly entertaining police procedural, which it had no problem holding my interest right from the start, and the haunting opening chapter had me gripped completely. It moves at rapid-fire pace and is superbly plotted as the team realise the corruption and betrayal they are uncovering may put them in great peril. The methodology the team use to get their information is reflective of real police work as they use a solid mix of interviews, gut instincts and forensic evidence. The fear and tension were palpable in certain nail-biting scenes, and I must admit that putting it down never crossed my mind after I'd obliterated the first chapter; I was just too absorbed by that point. The short, snappy chapters also help build the suspense and keep you reading well into the night. Jane and her team have a great dynamic and Jane herself is believable, relatable and likeable. The icing on the cake has to be that Ryan concludes the book with a bang. Highly recommended.

I've been following this series ever since the first book came out last year, and Deadly Betrayal is already Detective Jane Phillips book number four... And without doubt another action-packed and entertaining ride! Technically you might be able to read this one as a stand-alone, but I don't recommend it as you will be missing out on character background that might make it harder to understand the dynamics between the different characters. The case itself stands on its own though, and Jane Phillips and her team without doubt have another intriguing case on their hands.

The first thing that stands out in Deadly Betrayal is that this time around we don't just stay in Manchester and its surroundings. Oh no, we get to travel all the way to Hong Kong for a few chapters as well! I really liked how this aspect of the investigation was incorporated into the plot and the descriptions and personal connection to Jane Phillips really made that setting come alive for me. And such shocking scenes too! The whole possible Triad connection in general managed to raise this story to the next level for me, and really gave the story an original touch.

These books always read superfast and Deadly Betrayal is no exception. This is one of those detective series where it's best to clear your schedule, as you won't even notice hours have passed until you reach that final page and stare at the clock. You won't find a boring minute in Deadly Betrayal as it is packed with suspense, danger as well as your typical murder investigation. I had a brilliant time following Jane and her team as they try to get to the bottom of what is going on... And there is no doubt that this story ends with a bang too.

As for the characters... I'm still a fan of both Jane and her team. They are easy to like and their banter is a nice contrast with some of the heavier and action-packed moments of the story. Fox is still enormously frustrating though, and the story ends with a hint a different irritating character is going to be coming back in the next book... Overall, the plot and writing made up for those minor frustations though.

In short, if you enjoy the detective thriller genre and like your stories fast, suspenseful and action-packed, this series will always provide you with an entertaining ride.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Inkubator Books for an advance copy of Deadly Betrayal, the fourth novel to feature DCI Jane Phillips of the Greater Manchester Police.

When Deputy Head of Manchester’s Planning Department, Victoria Carpenter, is found hanged in her garage it is believed to be suicide. Her husband refuses to accept that verdict, saying it’s something she would never do and the post-mortem vindicates his position, she was murdered. Jane and the team find themselves in danger as they battle corruption linked to the triads.

I thoroughly enjoyed Deadly Betrayal, which is an action packed read that held my attention from start to finish. I like the mixture of science based evidence, interviews and hard won experience that lead them to a murderer and a corrupt plot with international tentacles. I also like the emphasis on having enough proof to substantiate their conjecture and theorising. It all comes together nicely, but not before some hair raising scenes of physical danger.

I think the novel is well paced and plotted with a steady stream of reveals, matched by disappointments and frustration at their inability to find hard evidence. It isn’t easy to take on a subject matter like the elusive triad gangs but the author manages it with aplomb, painting a vivid picture of their ruthlessness in business and self protection.

I like Jane Phillips and her team as they are close knit and supportive of each other but also very down to earth and relatable. Not everything on the job is sunshine and roses and this is shown in some of the team’s personal struggles. It strikes a nice balance.

Deadly Betrayal is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.