I enjoyed this dark action packed crime thriller. The characters had their flaws but it was very believable. The author being ex Brighton copper really gave a believable element to the story, touching on subjects like lack of funding and how's it affecting policing today. There is lot going on in the plot and at first I did get a little overwhelmed but after a quarter of the way in I was totally hooked. I'm hoping this will be a start of a new crime series

This is a debut novel by Graham Bartlett and WOW what a debut read it is. This is not the first book that Graham Bartlett has written, as he has two non fiction books under his belt ~ Babes in the Wood and Death Comes Knocking: Policing Roy Grace's Brighton, which he co wrote with Peter James. Graham Bartlett has had lots of experience of police procedures with having been in the Police himself, reaching the positions of Chief Superintendent and police commander working in the area of Brighton and Hove. Leaving the Police in 2013, he has never stopped using his past experience and has been a source of knowledge for many Authors and TV writers over the years.

Can I just warn people that this book is not for those readers that are easily offended, as there are many violent passages, these are not gratuitous though as they are part of the action and what action it is!

Jo Howe is a Detective Superintendent, when the young son of one of her bosses is murdered she finds herself with a very difficult and sensitive case to handle with it being so close to home. As Jo sets about trying to solve the case, she is soon surrounded by leads that aren't always as straight forward as she at first thinks they are and the Chief Superintendent, whose son was murdered is soon drawn into the thick of it through no fault of his own. With murder, violence towards others, torture, blackmail and a group of vigilantes who aim to help maintain order. Who are people meant to turn to, the vigilantes or the Police?

I enjoyed the story that is told in short chapters that encourage you to read just one more and one more and ..., it goes on and you just don't want to put the book down. The reader is soon among the action and that action keeps on until the last few pages. I look forward to seeing what this Author writes next, as I have a feeling that there is more to come from Jo Howe.

This story is the perfect read for all crime and thriller fans. This Author is certainly one to keep your eye on and if you have not read this one yet, then why not grab yourself a copy and a cuppa.

There’s something pretty damned chilling about a former Chief Superintendent writing about systemic corruption in the force he used to work for. Graham Bartlett now makes his living advising some high ranking authors about police procedure and his testimonials are legend. He’s also written two non-fiction books, so his credentials are excellent.

So a debut novel from this expert was always going to be a ‘must-read’ and it does not disappoint. It is shot through with realism. Bartlett shows us a Brighton rife with drugs, violence and corruption. Head of Major Crimes in Sussex Police, Detective Superintendent Joanne Howe is struggling to keep her head above water. Police numbers are being cut to the bone, drugs are flooding the city and crime, especially violent crime, is on the up. She’s fighting a losing battle against budget cuts and of course she has to withstand a daily round of misogyny.

Then the unthinkable happens. Harry Cooke, a rising star in the footballing world who has just been offered his first professional contract, is stabbed to death. Harry is the son of Chief Superintendent Phil Cooke whose wife has terminal cancer. The obligation to find Harry’s killer and wrap this case up tightly is keenly felt but there’s more to this case than meets the eye.

Meanwhile, in the background, a new business is doing a roaring trade. This business is stepping in where the police have failed and they are proving to be remarkably effective. The police keep turning up in response to reports of violent crimes only to find that the problems has..well…gone away.

A group of vigilantes is proving remarkably effective at dealing with problems, though their services come at a price. This well-organised group is slowly penetrating all levels of the police force and their agenda is focussed and utterly ruthless.

Graham Bartlett portrays a Brighton riven with crime and a Police Force on its knees and highly susceptible to corrupt influences. The ability of the vigilantes to manipulate and inveigle their way into the highest echelons of the Police service is remarkable.

Detective Inspector Bob Heaton is investigating Harry Cooke’s murder when he is attacked by a suspect. Utilising his baton, he hits the suspect hard and causes his death. Meanwhile Howe is realising that the vigilante group is at work and sets up a ‘sting’ operation to catch them at work. This too goes very wrong and Howe finds herself suffering the ire of her Chief Constable.

When Phil Cooke stands for election to the post of Police and Crime Commissioner, people are surprised but even more so when he starts to put controversial plans into action.

Bartlett does a good job of weaving a number of threads together to show us a complex but related tapestry of wrongdoing. There are multiple perspectives in a full cast of characters and the reader will find a need to concentrate on the many and diverse villains running through this book.

Graham Bartlett’s novel is violent, action-packed and pacy. It has an engaging and thought-provoking premise and is not short of evil characters to dislike. He also does a good job of showing us good people in impossible situations and the hard choices they are forced to make.

He also does a great job of showing the pressures that the police are under and makes us think about its core purposes as well as how easy it is to put pressure on a force already on its knees. As the book progresses the action really heats up and the denouement, which is perhaps a little too high-noon for me, offers a suitably grand and explosive ending. Jo Howe is a great character; down to earth, methodical and determined. I’d love to see more of her in future books.

Verdict: An excellent, compelling debut from an author I’d read again.

Set in twenty-first century Brighton, this dark and insightful story explores the effects of urban crime in a coastal and rural setting. Through multi viewpoints, the story unfolds, drawing the reader into an intense world of crime that constantly overrides a dedicated but poorly funded police force.

The author portrays a heinous set of crimes with just enough violent imagery to let the reader visualise the scene. The violence is part of the ethos but not gratuitous. The characters are complex and believably flawed. The blurring of good versus evil is authentic and powerful. Multiple suspects and subplots interweave and draw together to deliver an impactful conclusion.

I like the variety of characters and the numerous clues that let the reader investigate with the team.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

It's a solid mystery and a good debut. Gripping and well plotted.
It could have been a higher rate but there were too many details and this made the plot drags a bit.
I appreciated the well developed characters and found it entertaining.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

With Graham having more than 30 years behind him in senior policing in Britain, it's not unsurprising that he's now ventured in to the crime fiction world - his presence is welcome in this genre.

So without giving everything away...

In terms of plot, Bad For Good, centres around the murder of a promising young footballer who just so happens to be the son of a senior police officer. There understandably ensues a lot of raw human emotions tangled up in procedure as well as matters of the heart.

At the same time a man called Wayne Fanner goes missing whilst released on bail. There starts a parallel plot about a group of vigilantes wanting to 'mop up' the criminals and bad eggs in their local communities because the Police aren't wiping these out completely.

Bad For Good is written really well, in an assured way in terms of police references, ranks and procedure. This is done at a level for everyone to easily absorb although I would say I think the book would benefit from both a hierarchy map of the senior police officers (because some do move around within it to0) as well as a map of Brighton. There are a lot of road names mentioned which is great in giving you a sense of place but arguably somewhat hard to connect with if you don't know the area - it sounds over familiar to the non-Brighton natives.

The pace is really well maintained throughout given the murder and the vigilante plots are set out in short timeframes - days and then hours. The tension is kept up too with bouts of really horrible torture, kidnap and death.

Bad For Good grippingly shows that there are plenty of rotten apples (people) in an organisation and makes you constantly question who you can trust. I did guess the killer and I did guess one of the minor baddies (but neither long before they were fully exposed).

In terms of structure, there's a lot of lies and double crossing, and who's witnessed what and when , which wouldn't be easy for the most seasoned of crime/thriller authors so my hat goes off to Graham for that. With this in mind, Graham's novel builds really effectively to a big firefight situation where you're not sure who will live and who will die. It feels realistic and not overdone.

Our heroine is the main protagonist, Detective Superintendent Jo Howe. She's flawed but fully dimensional and you root for her to get the baddies before they execute their entire mission. It's nice to see her as a senior female in the ranks, and it's heartening for the old school chauvinism to be called out like it is.

I'm really thankful for Helen Richardson for inviting me onto the blogtour for Graham and the Allison and Busby team, and for sending me an early copy to review.

I'm looking forward to what Graham will right next - think I heard that this is the first in a Jo Howe series which sounds both promising and intriguing...

Bad for Good by Graham Bartlett

Debut police procedural filled with characters and crimes with a whole lot more going on than one book usually has happening. I had trouble following at first due to the numerous characters and switch in location/group. I then read the end and skimmed the middle to get the gist of the story. I did not warm up to any of the characters and came away not really wanting to see any of the people again though I believe this is probably the first book in a series. I believe that dark gritty books are fine and do enjoy them from time to time, but I prefer a story that has a bit of positive and a reason to want to return to the main character or team and this book did not provide that for me. In the end I felt sad and unwilling to read every word so decided to stop. I am sure many will enjoy this book. Note: as I read Iwrote down words that might give you an idea of why I felt there was a lot to sift through… drugs, thugs, families, cancer, fratricide, torture, kidnapping, crazy police, budget and staffing issues, steroids, pay back, bribery-blackmail, threats, extortion, murder…and then I stopped…

Thank you to NetGalley and Allison & Busby for the ARC – This is my honest review.

2-3

Bad for Good is a thrilling police procedural set in Brighton during an exploding crime wave with a police force inadequately funded to capture and prosecute the villains. Into this power vacuum steps a vigilante / protection service where, for a price, victims can achieve the justice the police are failing to deliver. The two main characters are Phil Cooke, Brighton Chief Superintendent ( a role the author once held in real life) and his one time protege, DS Jo Howe. Cooke is close to retirement but has some personal challenges including a wife dying of cancer. Howe is young and ambitious and working her way up the police hierarchy which has some women in senior roles but is still very much a man’s world. The relationship between the two is complicated already but as the story unfolds it gets further stressed by the developing circumstances and the choices of what is the right thing to do.
Bartlett does an excellent job creating the characters and building an intimate portrait for the reader. However, the complex plot involves some decisions which I felt were out of character for the individuals as I had gotten to know them. That being said, the storyline was very well developed and written in a high momentum style that made the book hard to put down.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing pre publication access.

Wow! Here’s a novel all about crime and it’s results – and it is thrilling to the very last!

The murder of a promising young footballer is bad enough, but when he’s the son of the highest ranking police officer in Brighton, Superintendent Jo Howe has her work cut out. Little does she know this is only the tip of the iceberg . . .

I can honestly say I never saw what was coming with this one; it is action packed from beginning to end and I was enthralled and gobsmacked in equal measure all the way through. Bad for Good is a very exciting read! There were times when I wasn’t sure if I loved or loathed Jo Howe but, no spoilers – I’ll let you decide for yourself. I would love this to turn into a series but whether it does or not, one thing is for sure – I shall be following Graham Bartlett’s novels from here on in. He not only knows his stuff, he knows how to create a tip-top read which will leave the reader guessing until the last when they can close the book with a sigh of satisfaction. Highly recommended and a full five sparkling stars!

My thanks to the publisher for my copy and to Helen Richardson for my spot on this tour; this is – as always – my honest, original and unbiased review.

When I heard that Graham was writing his first fiction novel, I couldn't wait to read it. So I was so excited when little o'd me was invited to review the book! As soon as the book dropped onto my doormat, I jumped in, and I wasn't to be disappointed. Strong characters, emotional turmoil, a great mystery, and, of course, lots of authentic police procedure (you wouldn't expect anything less from Graham), this is an impressive debut fiction outing. If that doesn't hook you, there is also a totally gripping finale that had me truly on the edge of my seat. I can't wait to hear more from Detective Superintendent Jo Howe and the team, and the great news is that Graham is already working on the next books in the series, so we shouldn't have to wait long.

“How far would you go?”


Before I go any further, I am reminded of a phrase popular with so many of our British television news journalists –

“Warning! My following report contains bad language and distressing scenes of violence from the outset”

This is one hard-hitting storyline, but gosh! what an opening gambit, in what I can only hope is destined to be the first in a series featuring the redoubtable Joanne Howe. However, even if this turns out to be a single stand alone novel, it definitely works for me, I just need many more of them please! There is always a debate around whether or not it is more advantageous for an author to write books from the genre in which they have particular expertise, and in this case there is no argument about the authenticity and knowledge the author brings to his storyline, it is the complete police procedural, crime thriller package.

…

So, without further ado, I had better make an attempt at a ‘spoiler free’ potted premise around my reading journey…

Phil and Jo have been work colleagues on the Brighton & Hove Police Force, and personal friends for some years now, although the ‘with benefits’ aspects of their relationship have long since ended, with both of them now holding senior positions and having settled down with their respective partners and families. Cutbacks and staff shortages have made their jobs more difficult than they should have been, so stress levels are running high, as long working hours are beginning to take their toll on regular family life. Phil and his wife Ruth, are experiencing particularly tough health challenges too, which means that their young adult sons Harry and Kyle, have been left pretty much to their own devices in recent times, which Phil will ultimately live to regret with every fibre of his being. Whilst Jo’s husband Darren, is her rock, keeping day to day life for their two young sons on an even keel when she is unable to, because of the rather unsociable hours she keeps.

When a horrific tragedy rocks Phil and Ruth’s world, the downwards spiral begins; only intensifying and gathering momentum, when more heartbreak and sadness heaped upon the remaining family, bring a whole new set of challenges to the equation. At this point, I was quite heartened to be in the position of completely empathising and sympathising with Jo, when necessity takes her to the heart of the medical system and she is forced to go inside the hospital. Her visceral reactions to her physical surroundings and the emotions and feelings engendered, are known to me all too well and were articulated perfectly in this particularly descriptive portion of the narrative. It is good to know that I am not the only Nosocomephobia sufferer around the place.

A broken and vulnerable Phil, finds himself at the mercy of and exploitation by, the unscrupulous, from both inside his own network of colleagues and the wider scope of the criminal underworld, although even he is totally amazed at exactly what has been going on under his very nose and completely off the radar, or is that more of a ‘blind eye’, of those in the highest authority. He pays the ultimate price of experiencing first-hand exactly how easy it is to become caught in the net of corruption, and once trapped, just how difficult it is to find an escape route, without losing everything and everyone he holds dear along the way.

Meanwhile, the members of Phil’s old team, rally round Jo in an effort to bolster him, not knowing how completely damaged and compromised his position really is and with the added, potentially dangerous ignorance, of not knowing that they may not be able to trust or rely one another as much as they might have expected, which might compromise them all and even end up by costing them their lives.

Thanks to the tenacity of Jo’s collective team, and despite the efforts of other outside forces, two high profile cases eventually seem to be colliding, as common factors are rooted out and assimilated, thanks to some rather unorthodox policing methods and strategies, and a stubborn refusal to conform to the normal rules of engagement. It was obvious that eventually the two strands of the storyline were going to be in some way linked by cause and effect, however whilst one of them was pretty much laid out quite early on, there was still a last minute twist I never really saw coming. Whilst the second investigation definitely had me taking my eye off the ball, completely missing the subtle evidence drop, which eventually Jo pounces on almost by accident, despite the ensuing heartache and grief she knows it will cause her personally – So no detective badge for me this time!

…

Gripping, intense, powerful and violent. A well researched, multi-layered, textured storyline, relevant and very much ‘of the moment’. Whilst there are few marked chapters, there are plenty of natural paragraph breaks, which at least gives room for breathing space and time to surface for air, before the next gruesome event takes over and sucks you back in. The writing is crisp, punchy, immersive and fluent, and the pace utterly relentless. Together, the narrative and dialogue are compelling, atmospheric and descriptive, so whilst the footprint of the storyline is not huge, it offers a genuine sense of time and place.

Whilst there are many references to colleague shortages and budget cut-backs, which do tend to get a little repetitive, but are well used to set the scene for certain failings during this investigation, overall they don’t serve to distract from the story too much and are indeed, one of the most important challenges of British policing right now. When just two cases can encompass so many different and diverse crimes, many of them with potentially lethal consequences, it is easy to see how an organisation and its colleagues on the ground, are stretched both mentally and physically, to breaking point.

I am also always amazed at just how much we love our acronyms here in Britain. I admit that I had to compile myself a little list of the character names attributed to the initials of the individual groups and departments and their relationships with each other, so that keeping track of quite a sprawling cast of characters, was just that wee bit easier. And boy! did all the characters need keeping careful tabs on, as to a person they all had more of a past history, making them prime targets for corruption and blackmail, than I would ever have thought possible, given the thorough positive vetting procedures we purportedly carry out. It began to look as though the greed, lies and underhand dealings, were a standard part of policing, and that no-one stood in total innocence.

Secrets, lies, duplicitous and manipulative behaviour, you name it, these police officers have it by the spade-load. I have always assumed that there is is a kind of ‘brotherhood’ amongst a force, where they cover each others backs and look out for one another, although absolutely not when there is obvious wrong-doing, abuse of power and position, or corruption involved. I can tell you right here and now though, that I wouldn’t turn my back on any one of this motley crew, for fear of being well and truly stabbed between the shoulder blades.

There really were no winners in this war of drugs, vigilantism, corruption, kidnap, murder and family jealousies.

If you are a member of any kind of crime reading group, you will know this author’s name but not as a writer. He is an advisor to authors on police procedural matters & that background certainly shows in this, his debut book.

A young footballer is murdered, the son of the Chief Superintendent of Brighton. Low - lifes are disappearing at a rate of knots; vigilantes are suspected. Blackmail, corruption & eye - watering police budget cuts are all in the mix too.

There is gore but not too graphic & plenty of plot threads to keep you occupied. And, so many characters/POVs. In fact, that is one of my main criticisms, too many characters to keep track of &, add to that, the way the chapters are broken, making it a memory as well as a reading task.

That being said, I loved this book. The writing pace, touches of humour & some great characters that you can really get behind. Recommended.

It took me a wee bit longer than usual to get into the author's style of writing but, once I got there, it turned out to be quite the ride... I understand that this author is or was a police officer himself and is also a very well sort after and respected crime writing advisor. This could be a blessing or a curse as there's a balance to be struck between a book being too accurate as to spoil the flow and/or come across as dry, or too gung ho as to be unbelievable. I think that by the end of the book the balance was a bit better than where we started, either that, or I got better at filtering. Either way it definitely went in the right direction...
So... where do I start. It's all a bit convoluted and interconnected so I will have to be careful. I guess we start with the death of the son of the Police Chief Superintendent, Phil Cooke. He is very (over)familiar with how stretched the police are these days (believe me I understand that pain all too well with where I live), and one who is getting disillusioned and frustrated with the lack of solving of this, the most personal of crimes. We also meet Detective Superintendent Jo Howe, our main protagonist, who is Phil's subordinate. They have history. And then, the crux of the matter rears its ugly head in the form of a private enterprise who claim to be able to "assist" the police in tackling crime on the streets. A gift horse indeed. One which, well, has a bit of an ulterior motive...
Told you it was convoluted... you really need to have your wits about you here...
First... there's a LOT about how stretched the Police are. I get that, I really do, and it is an integral plot point for the whole book. But it is laboured a bit too much and sometimes makes the book over-political. We also jump around a lot mid chapter. The POV changing as well as the scene. Almost like it was written with half an eye on the screenplay. Well, that's how it read to me, and it wasn't always easy to follow due to this constant switching. The plot was convoluted and complicated enough without hindering it further.
The plot itself was well crafted, if a tad implausible at times - some of the decisions made by someone with that much intelligence at times beggared belief. Sorry I can't qualify that - spoilers. We also have a bit of an over the top finale which, although pulled out all the stops, also had me speed reading through the action to get to the point a couple of times.
All in all, a solid debut which I did enjoy overall albeit with the above comments. It also reads like it might be the opener for a series. If that's the case, I'm definitely in for book two. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Unfortunately this wasn’t a book for me!
I do love a police procedural - but this book seemed a little tedious in the details that are ‘boring’ about it, like staffing issues, lack of funding etc. - you could make it work, if it was not such a snooze fest about these aspects in a thriller…
Also, a lot of characters that seem similar to keep track of, which can be a pain at times.

This hard-hitting police thriller is set in an English city renowned for its sea air, Regency buildings and - latterly - the Green-ness of its politics. It has also been a surprisingly popular setting for crime novels. Think Pinkie Brown, Roy Grace and Colin Crampton. We are talking, of course, about Brighton. Now we have a new character on the scene, in the shape of Joanne Howe, Detective Superintendent with Sussex police.

The plot hinges around a series of dire events in the life of Jo Howe's boss, Detective Chief Superintendent Phil Cooke. Already trying to keep his mind on the job while his wife is dying of cancer, fate deals him another cruel blow when his son Harry, a promising professional footballer, is murdered, seemingly a casualty in a drug turf war. He steps down, but then comes into contact with a shadowy group of apparent vigilantes, who tell him that Harry was not the clean-cut sporting hero portrayed in the local media - he was heavily into performance enhancing drugs. The vigilantes - whose business plan is to provide a highly illegal alternative police force, where customers pay for the quick results that the Sussex Constabulary seem unable to provide - blackmail Phil into standing in the election of Police and Crime Commissioner. He is forced to agree, and is elected.

Meanwhile, things go from bad to worse for Jo Howe and her team. As they try to get to the bottom of Harry Cooke's murder, an arrest goes badly wrong, and one of her Detective Inspectors - Bob Heaton - kills the suspect with his baton. He is jailed. Howe realises that there is some kind of vigilantes-for-profit group at large and she organises a sting operation at a local pub. When the bad guys flee the scene the ensuing pursuit goes pear-shaped, an officer is badly injured and the crooks escape. Then the vigilantes fire bomb the pub in retaliation, the landlord dies and Howe has a furious dressing down from her chief constable. All is not what it seems, however, and Graham Bartlett lets us know that people very high up in the senior ranks of the police are as crooked as the proverbial dog's hind leg.

The vigilantes are operating under the banner of an ostensibly respectable security outfiy, but both they and the police seem equally clueless as to the identity of Harry Cooke's killer. Bob Heaton's boyfriend Chris - aka 'Crush' - works for the security firm, and Jo Howe persuades Bob - now released from jail buy jobless - to infiltrate the organisation. Harry Cooke's killer is finally identified, and the race is on to see who can get to him first, the police of the vigilantes.

Graham Bartlett was a police officer for thirty years and mainly policed the city of Brighton and Hove, rising to become a Chief Superintendent and its police commander, so it is no accident that this is  a grimly authentic police procedural. It is also very topical as, away from the violence and entertaining mayhem, it focuses on the seemingly insoluble problem of the divide between the public's expectations of policing, and what the force is actually able - or willing - to deliver. Bartlett doesn't overly-politicise his story but, reading between the lines - and I may be mistaken - I suspect he may feel that, with ever more limited resources, the police should not be so keen to divert valuable time and resources away from their core job of catching criminals. My view. and it may not be his, is that effusive virtue signaling by police forces in support of this or that social justice trend does them - nor most of us -  no favours at all.

Bad From Good is a cracking debut novel. I hope it heralds a long running series, and I eagerly await the follow-up. Published by Allison & Busby, the book is out in all formats on 23rd June.

Graham Bartlett used to be a high-ranking police officer in Brighton and Hove and is now an advisor to authors (Anthony Horowitz thanks him in his most recent novel) so is be well placed to write this crime novel set in the city he used to work in. Whereas a lot of crime writers naturally skip over some of the details of policing, Bartlett is perfectly qualified to go into that detail and, although he does, he doesn’t let the story get bogged down with the mechanics of solving crime to the detriment of the story.

However, having finished this, I couldn’t help but feel that Brighton seems a place to avoid. One of my fellow moderators on a Goodreads group comes from there, so that makes me feel more positive because, goodness, this is a very heavy and violent read. One of the real differences between this and many other crime novels, is that the central characters are of higher ranks that most that we are used to seeing. So, we have Detective Superintendent Joanne Howe, Chief Superintendent Phil Cooke and D.I. Bob Heaton among others.

Phil Cooke’s wife has cancer, and he is busy taking care of her and dealing with the demands of work and the never-ending budget cuts. The couple have two sons and when Harry, a promising footballer, is stabbed in a park, he is devastated. He has history with Joanne, who is juggling her career with the demands of being a mother – very different from that faced by most fathers – and also under constant criticism from her superiors.

This has a fairly complex plot, involving vigilantes and an epidemic of violence in the city, as well as a number of characters, so you need to concentrate. That’s fine though, as you will want to find out what happens and I read this fairly quickly, which is always a good sign. The novel balances the story of the crimes alongside an interesting look at the reality of policing and the characters are realistic and well rounded. I received a copy of the book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.

I’d like to thank Allison & Busby and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘Bad For Good’ written by Graham Bartlett in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Within hours of Harry Cooke getting a contract to play for Brighton & Hove football team his body is found stabbed in Withdean Park. His father is the Chief Superintendent in East Sussex and is desperate to find his son’s killer as the detective in charge, Superintendent Jo Howe, seems unable to. With a shortage of police officers due to financial cuts, Jo’s fears that her job may get even harder when word reaches her that a vigilante group is working her area and taking the law into their own hands.

‘Bad For Good’ is the debut novel of a new series that takes place in Brighton and features Detective Superintendent Jo Howe. From the beginning it’s immediately obvious that Graham Bartlett has considerable working knowledge of the police force and this gives an incredibly authentic feel to the story and characters. The story starts relatively slowly as we’re introduced to the characters and then increases in tension until the reality hits home with the criminals, vigilantes and violence that police officers around the country are dealing with on a day-to-day basis. This is an extremely well-written and gripping thriller that’s had me in its grip from the first page and hasn’t let go until I reached the last few pages with their shocking conclusion. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series and learning more about the characters.

A book from Graham Bartlett is a happy day in my house! Bad for Good is a police procedural that I knew would be an excellent read. Graham Bartlett is a former police officer and is an advisor to Peter James, the crime writer. If nothing else piques your interest in this book, that fact alone should help make your mind up.

The start of a new series set in Brighton, that's authentic, gritty and packed with intrigue. We are introduced to Detective Superintendant Jo Howe. She has a complex case on her hands. The son of the Chief Superintendant, Phil Cook, who just happens to be a rising star in the football world, has been murdered. This means its not just complex but intense with so much media interest. As she puts everything into this investigation she is unaware of what's going on behind the scenes. I warmed to Jo with her methodical ways and her tough, sassy self. She intrigued me and I'm hoping we get to find out much more about her. She is a woman who I could imagine taking this case on.

The characters are all well drawn and I am waiting for the next book to see where it takes us...and Jo. His attention to detail is perfect and set the scenes for a view of today's policing. Just the reality included in this book makes the story so real. The gangsters, the vigilantes, everything, including the violence is the sign of today's world.

Such an intricately detailed police procedural, with a story that gripped me throughout. I am so looking forward to more from Graham Bartlett! A very highly recommended read.
Thanks to Helen, and Netgalley for Mt copy of the book.

Before I had started reading Bad for Good I knew it would be a cracker. I had already heard of author Graham Bartlett, who has advised the brilliant Peter James on many of his novels, having being Chief Superintendent of Brighton Police. This stands Bartlett in good stead for really nailing the detail of this novel, in terms of the correct police procedures and unfortunately, how to get around the system.

Bad for Good will scare you at times, with its descriptions of how easily those who should be protecting us can be led astray, and the devastating consequences. You'll be left praying that those situations never come to pass with your local police force!

A great debut and I look forward to reading more from Graham Bartlett.

4.25⭐

Bad for Good is a dark and gritty police procedural set in Brighton in a time when police forces are shrinking and budgets are being cut. Yet, those in charge and the public still expect the same level of service.

But when it becomes clear that Brighton police are losing control a group of vigilantes step in and offer to take action for a price.

So when DCS Phil Cooke's eighteen-year-old son Harry a promising footballer is murdered, they are willing to step up and help and with plenty of locals believing they have the right idea the Detective Superintendent tasked with catching the killer has her work cut out, especially given her personal history with her boss who is beyond desperate to find his sons murderer.

And with great pacing, lots of believable characters, twists and some violence (which I loved) This was a really enjoyable debut novel by a former detective whose more known for advising other authors on police procedures and that definitely showed with the humour, eye for detail and gritty realism that was prevalent throughout.