Helen Carter was a sergeant when she transferred to CID in Edinburgh in the 70s, and although used to the treatment of the few women in the force, by the men, was over it. She thought the sex-discrimination act would have changed things – but no, it made no difference. A new case alongside Inspector Jack Craven saw Helen deep in a murder investigation which saw more deaths follow the first.

With each body having the card of an ex-cop with it, and Helen having trouble with Ted, her boyfriend and the drink which had taken him over when his father died, Helen found herself following clues without backup. What would happen to her when she got too close to the killer?

The Uniform is the 1st in the Detective Helen Carter series by Jodie Lawrence and is set in Edinburgh, Scotland in the 1970s. The main characters were easy to keep up with but there were many more, plus the Scottish language was broad and at times difficult to understand. (There is a glossary at the end but on the kindle, it’s not easy to access) Corruption was rife, alcohol a crutch (such an often used trope) and the male attitude eye-roll-able! I was looking forward to this one, but it didn’t work well for me.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first book that introduces us to DS Helen Carter who is the only woman working in the CID police department. It’s set in the 1970s in Edinburgh so full of sexism and misogyny. Helen holds her own however and I warmed to her. This was a good detective novel and keeps you gripped though out. It was a good read.

Thanks to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

3.5⭐️⭐️⭐️🌛
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Thankyou #netgalley #joffebooks #jodielawrance for a copy of book for an honest review.
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It's a retro detective genre book based actually in Scotland/England.
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First of all, the first few chapters are a bit wobble in the place until it given me a little bit of chills of the writing. To be honest it gotten me hook, now the only let down was the ending ,, it feels so rush but then again written very well.
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Shaye.reads❤️

This was a quick and enjoyable crime novel set in 1970s Edinburgh- it reminded me a bit of the Tv series Ashes to Ashes and Life on Mars both of which I loved.
Helen Carter is a police sergeant working for Detective Inspector Craven who is a bit of a dinosaur à la Gene Hunt from Life on Mars. Some of the other members of the squad appear to be quite misogynistic and she has to deal with a lot of personal comments and teasing because of her sex and the fact that her late father had been a Detective Inspector.
The team are asked to investigate a series of murders and the plot moves quite quickly implicating George Stanley, a former policeman who once worked for her father. Helen fears that her Dad may have been on the take like Stanley but she is determined to do her job and solve the case.
I liked Helen’s gritty character- she is not someone to give up easily and she certainly has to hold everything together to get through her work days when she feels that her colleagues are against her. Her inner strength shines through more and more as the novel progresses.
For me It was quite jarring to hear the language used when addressing women in the 1970s- pet, darling, sweetheart but unfortunately this is an accurate portrayal of the time and helped to create the period atmosphere! It definitely made me realise how much things have changed over the last 40 years.
The Scottish setting was well described and I was immediately transported back to Edinburgh in the 1970s.
I’m now looking forward to reading more about Helen, Di Jack Craven and DC Terry McKinley in the near future.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my arc in exchange for an honest review.

Excellent detective mystery set in Scotland with a strong female lead - definitely a solid portrayal of harassment women face in male-dominated fields, but she comes out strong! A cast of interesting and complex characters weaving around several sub-plots everything tying in nicely to a satisfying end - or is it the beginning? Can't wait for the next installment.

Lawrence knows how to grab your attention and draw you into a compelling story. I felt like I was on a scary unpredictable roller coaster with several twists and plunges. What a great read!

This is a relatively quick historical crime read from Jodie Lawrence, the first in a new 1970s series set in the Edinburgh and police force with the prevalent social norms, expectations and attitudes towards women. It is 1977 and the newly promoted DS Helen Carter is finding that fellow police officers and her boss, DI Jack Craven can be problematic, and feeling the strong need to prove herself when a dead body is found in an old abandoned cinema, the victim tortured and brutally murdered, and there are a number of strange factors at the crime scene, the wall is daubed with blood, including a symbol that resembles a clock, and a business left behind of an ex-police officer George Stanley, now a private investigator. In a case where more bodies turn up, Carter shows herself to be smart, astute, hardworking and determined, and not a woman to be trifled with. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC..

I honestly don't have much bad to say about this, honestly my biggest issue was keeping track of some of the secondary characters, but that might just be because I always have more than one book on the go.

Edinburgh in the 70s, perfect setting, dark, dirty, dingy, smoky and drenched in booze, just the right tone for the first in mystery series. Helen is a lovely character, works much better for me than Jane Tennyson, in and about the same era down south. She's smart, intuitive and doesn't act entitled.

This is a pretty quick read, it wraps up nicely, but I'd like to see Lawrence do more character building of Helen but also of DI Craven, and the rest of the crew at the nick. I'll definitely be following up with volume 2 of this series.

I’ve enjoyed the Scotland mysteries I’ve read so I thought I would give this new series a try. The book is THE UNIFORM by Jodie Lawrance. I enjoyed this book and thank Netgalley and Joffe books for the chance to read it before publication.

Detective Sergeant Helen Carter is having a hard time . It is not just that she is working a very difficult case. There is also the difficulty she is having with co-workers, including her boss. This mystery is set back in the day when a female detective is a very unusual addition to the mostly male police force. To make matters worse her father was high-up in the police and some believe she got job because of nepotism. Then there is her fiancé who would like her to quit her job and be the lady of his house.

A very good detective story with a character that is engaging and well written. It is a promising beginning to a new series: I am looking forward to the second.

IT’S NOT EASY BEING A WOMAN IN THE POLICE FORCE IN THE 1970s.

Introducing the first in a thrilling new Scottish crime series starring DS Helen Carter.

Sergeant Helen Carter is having trouble making her mark in the male-dominated Edinburgh CID, working under the difficult Inspector Jack Craven.

But then she’s landed with her first case: a murder in an old abandoned picture house. Whoever did it left a mysterious clock-like symbol on the wall . . . drawn in blood.

Stranger still, the killer has left a clue: the business card of an ex-cop.

Corpses keep turning up in the strangest of places. Can Helen prove herself and piece together the case before the body count rises?

Fans of Ashes to Ashes, Caro Ramsay, Angela Marsons, Rachel McLean and Maureen Carter will love this retro Scottish crime series.

MEET THE DETECTIVE
HELEN CARTER
Detective Sergeant Helen Carter is used to getting a rough time of it at work. As one of the few women officers around, she has heard it all before: she’s only there as a box-ticking exercise, or she only got the job because of her father, who was a detective inspector. But she can handle it. She knows she can hold her own against any man on the force. The only thing she can’t handle, however, are the constant fights with her fiancé, Ted. It didn’t take me long to get to race through the book. I found this to be a superb read, which kept me guessing and which kept me on the edge of my seat throughout. Very good novelist.

Jodie Lawrence gives us an insight to how women work as detectives when they are treated as kitchen slaves by their superiors and worse by their colleagues at the same level. A good storyline enhanced by the side story of the struggle of women in general

I read the synopsis for ‘The Uniform’ and I was immediately drawn in. It sounded right up my street as I love police procedural books that are set in the 1960s and 1970s. So I grabbed my book, grabbed a cup of tea and settled down for an interesting afternoon of reading. Oh boy, I absolutely loved reading ‘The Uniform’ but more about that in a bit.
The main character is Detective Sergeant Helen Carter and I warmed to her from the very start. In fact I began to feel as though she had become a friend of mine and I felt all protective towards her. She is trying to make her own way in a traditionally male dominated world, as the police service was in 1970s Britain. Helen tries not to let the mickey taking get to her and she rises above the inappropriate comments and actions by her colleagues. Helen knows that if she is to succeed, she needs to prove that she is just as good a detective as her colleagues. Helen puts a hell of a lot of effort into work and seems to work twice as hard as some of her colleagues.
To say that reading ‘The Uniform’ became addictive is a huge understatement. I would stupidly pick the book up only intending to read a couple of chapters to fill in the odd half hour but I would become so wrapped up in the story that I would still be sat there well over an hour and several chapters later. My book wasn’t exactly glued to my hand but it might as well have been because it travelled everywhere with me. I just couldn’t bear to miss a single second of the story. It didn’t take me long to get to race through the book. I found this to be a superb read, which kept me guessing and which kept me on the edge of my seat throughout.
‘The Uniform’ is superbly written. The author certainly knows how to grab your attention and draw you into what proves to be a compelling story. In Helen, Jodie has created one hell of a feisty character and it is extremely difficult to dislike her. I loved the era in which the story was set and some of Helen’s colleagues reminded me of a certain Gene Hunt from ‘Life On Mars’ fame. Reading this book felt like being on a very scary and unpredictable rollercoaster ride with several twists and turns along the way. I felt as though I was part of the story and that’s thanks to Jodie’s very vivid and realistic storytelling.
In short, I thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘The Uniform’ and I would definitely recommend this book to other readers. I will certainly be reading more of Jodie’s work in the future. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very vivid 5* out of 5*.

It is 1977 in Edinburgh, Scotland, and Helen Carter has received promotion to Detective Sergeant. She likes to think she has got there on her own merits, rather than simply ticking a box for the top brass or due to the influence of her late father, a Detective Inspector. Her first case in CID is the torture and murder of a man found at a disused picture house. Tied to a chair with multiple stabs to his arms, the actual cause of death is a massive blow to his head. Two things stand out – a strange drawing on the wall made in blood and the business card of a police detective turned private investigator on the floor. The post mortem reveals something even more sinister and they still don’t have an identity for the victim yet. In those days forensics were much slower and it could take days for fingerprints to be matched up. They finally get an ID and also interview George Stanley, the PI who had met the victim and who seems to have problems of his own. Four days later a much loved sweet shop owner is found shot dead at his premises with marked similarities to their first victim, then the detectives are made aware of another murder, the very first death in this case. The various strands start to weave together and things begin to get very interesting indeed.
Together with a difficult supervisor in the form of DI Jack Craven and a boyfriend who has a drink problem while mourning the death of his father and who wants her to give up her job, life is not always easy for Helen but she’s a tough cookie and determined to succeed. Although it is a very male dominated environment, Helen does not seem to be unfairly treated by all her colleagues. She gets to go out on enquiries with the DI and her opinion is taken seriously. She certainly has a much better time than we hear a lot of women police officers receiving in the 70s. It made a refreshing change to read a story where there is much less reliance on technology and fast forensics, and more on good old-fashioned coppering, although maybe a little less “pc” tactics and methods of extracting evidence being used at times!! There are also lots of authentic references to the era – who from that time doesn’t remember the Bay City Rollers or “Clunk Click Every Trip”?!! Well written with an engrossing storyline and great characters, this is a very promising start to what I hope will become a very successful series. 4*

A new Scottish crime series by first time author Jodie Lawrance introduces Detective Helen Carter in The Uniform. Set in the late 1970s, a body is discovered in an old cinema and a clue is left by the killer. As the body count mounts, snide comments and negativity from colleagues are the least of Helen Carter’s problems. Whilst historically appropriate, the repeated use of derogatory female terms like lassie, hen, sweetheart and darling were jarring. Apart from the odd reference to Cortina cars the time period setting did not feature prominently in the narrative. A disappointing read and lost possibility for the introduction of the new Edinburgh CID detective hero, so a two-star rating. With Thanks to the author, publishers and NetGalley for the review copy.

This retro crime series, taking place in Edinburgh, features a new face, DS Helen Carter. It's the late 1970s and few women have been accepted into the male dominated CID. She's been accused of only being hired because she's a woman, because her father was who was a DI. Her supervisor, Jack Craven, rolls his eyes whenever she speaks, another calls her sweetheart instead of her name, yet another expects her to serve the tea and biscuits.

But Carter is a fighter. She has to work twice as hard as the men in order to prove herself ..and she's doing a bang-up job. Her personal life is a bit of a mess. Her fiancee recently lost his father and has turned to drink .... something that Carter can't abide. He doesn't like her job because it interferes with his plans with her. Red flag waving?

She's got her first case ... a murdered man is found in an abandoned movie theater. The killer has left clues .. one is a clock-like drawing on the wall, The other is the business card of an ex-cop, now working as a private investigator.

Unfortunately, that's not the only body that will be found .... all that connects them is the drawing and business card left at each crime scene.

Carter's going to have to dig deep to solve this case before anyone else dies ... and before she becomes the next target.

As this is a new author to me, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. What I found was a well-written story, a fully developed plot, twists and turns, and outstanding characters. There is plenty of action and it's fun to watch how police in the 70s solve crimes without use of cell phones, data bases, DNA testing ... instead, it takes sheer determination and a lot of door-knocking. I also liked how the professional blended so well with the personal lives. I look forward to seeing what lies ahead for DS Helen Carter.

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

This was a enjoyable read. Definitely a series I would like to continue with. The writing was pretty good with an interesting story.

The Uniform is the first instalment in the (Acting) Detective Sergeant Helen Carter series. Helen is currently working for the male-dominated Edinburgh CID, is the first female DS in her squad and with the year being 1977 unfortunately, sexism and misogyny are rife throughout the ranks. To make matters worse, her father, retired Detective Inspector Richard Carter, is less than happy about her following in his footsteps and her colleagues believe she only got the job due to her father’s status (classic nepotism). This means she must work twice as hard to prove she is worthy of her badge; luckily, she has thick skin. Helen and her DI Jack Craven are called in to investigate when a body is found in a four-storey abandoned and dilapidated art deco cinema. They find strange artwork on the wall resembling a clock drawn in what appears to be blood with its hands either indicating 7:25 or 4:35. The victim is sat tied to a chair in the front row and has a blunt force trauma injury to the back of his head and both of his arms are peppered with stab wounds. His face is also swollen and bruised, the side of his head has been caved in and there are ligature marks from a rope around his neck.

It is clear he has been tortured and killed, but with no ID, it'll take work to find out his identity. They find a business card at the scene belonging to private investigator and ex-policeman George Stanley and a small gold coloured watch had been rammed down his throat. Four days later, a scruffy, intoxicated vagrant is discovered face down in a puddle at the bottom of Arthur’s Seat in a possible case of accidental drowning. However, everything changes when the same business card and watch are also present thereby linking the victims. Can Helen help stop the murder spree before any more people get hurt? This is a compulsive and engrossing procedural where the lack of technology, forensics and DNA we have today meant much harder work for the police. There is a strong stench of toxic masculinity portraying the patriarchal culture of the time, but Helen can more than hold her own despite the constant digs and put-downs from male colleagues. It kept me guessing and held my attention from the very first page, and Lawrance spins some dizzying twists and red herrings. It moves at a decent pace and is told from multiple perspectives allowing you a wider view of proceedings. A riveting start to a new series. Highly recommended.

Helen is finding her way in the Police Force and is new to CID. The year is 1977 when women police officers were under-rated and there was a lot of prejudice against them. This comes across very well in the book and is an underlying theme to the story.

Random people are being killed and CID are struggling to find a link while the bodies are stacking up. The victims were tortured before they were killed and it becomes clear that someone has an axe to grind but who is it and why?

In addition to the pressures of the case Helen has personal issues to cope with. Her partner is drinking too much and is against her career it seems she is on the receiving end of more than her fair share of hassle.

Helen is a realistic character grieving for her father and questioning her decision to join the Police Force when everyone seems to be against it. However she is a determined character and will continue with her chosen career.

Her boss, Jack Craven, is a typical Scottish male of that era who thinks women should be at home cooking and cleaning he is always ready to snipe at Helen but the implications are there that he is a big softie underneath.

A very enjoyable book I struggled with the Scottish language in parts and that seemed to distract me from the main story which is a shame.

Thank you to Joffe Books for the advance copy

This book is set in Scotland in the 1970s about a female detective called Helen Carter. I absolutely love crime and detective thrillers and this book was brilliant. It’s different to ones that I’ve read before because it’s set in the 1970s. This was brilliant because it clearly showed how times have changed - no technology, no internet and how much harder it would have been to be a detective back then. It was also very interesting seeing the everyday sexism that women faced back then - it was open with even the top bosses doing it. This book was written very well I really enjoyed the Scottish dialect in it, the plot was very good and I really enjoyed how it all came together in the end. I hope this series continues because I really enjoyed it

Really enjoyed this. You don't find many modern crime novels set in the 70s, least of all with a female lead character. Well written - the author takes you back to the 70s and what policing was like back then. Reading a female perspective was interesting - so much has changed. Look forward to reading the next in the series. Thanks for the ARC