It was so refreshing to read a crime novel featuring a more mature detective (okay, I actually mean older woman....) which has more miles under her clock and has other concerns than a younger lady. Even though it seems this book is part of a series, it read nicely enough as a standalone and I will definitely be reading the next one as well.

Kate Evans is a new author for me but unfortunately I wasn’t overly impressed with this, first in a new series, featuring a probationer DC Donna Morris.
I love police procedural books but I found this book to be more about Donna Wilson and her life story rather than focusing on her work as a new detective. However I found the back story interesting and I liked the focus on the homeless community.
Worthy of a read but not a page turner for me.

This is the first book in the series featuring DC Donna Morris. One of the attractions for me was that the book was set in Scarborough, my local seaside town. Donna is a late starter to the police forces and is on a probationary period at Scarborough. Her husband didn’t come with her and has stayed in Kenilworth and we realise that one of the reasons for Donna’s move to Scarborough was to be near to her daughter who is in prison in North Yorkshire. On her first day Donna is called out when a body of a man, Henrik Grunttor, is found in the woods. He is suspected of being homeless and a drug user. But on investigation realises that he had been working at the local GCHQ on the Russian section. Donna is drawn to the case as she is hiding her secret past growing up in East Berlin and escaping over the wall. She realises that this is a complicated case as there are plenty of people who wanted Grunttnor dead. The book relates back to the pre Berlin Wall and the present day. I enjoyed meeting Donna and her team and look forward to the next book in the series.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I am from the Scarborough area so I could relate to this book. Not a bad read, a little slow in places, but good to familiarise with the area.

Credible, Compelling…
The first in a new series of police procedurals featuring DC Donna Morris, Scarborough set. Donna is starting her probationary year when a body is discovered on her first day. Mixing the personal life of Donna with a compelling, often complex and interesting plot leading to a satisfying denouement, this is a credible and compelling read with a well crafted cast.

Donna Morris has chosen to do her probationary year as detective constable in the small seaside town of Scarborough. But on her first day, a body is found in the woods: the corpse of Henrik Grünttor presents itself as that of a homeless man, dead from his own drug use. However, until recently, Grünttor had been working at the local GCHQ centre on the Russian section and the postmortem reveals the cause of his death to be uncertain. A nail-bitingly tense crime mystery that will keep you turning the pages late into the night.

In this story we are introduced the the character of Donna who is completing her probation year as a detective in Scarborough leaving her husband and her family home behind but there is a reason she has chosen this destination, her incarcerated daughter.

This book is a mix of professional and personal and as the book develops Donna past is brought to life, including the secrets she's been concealing about her past.

This story was easy to follow, descriptive and I look forward to seeing how this develops! into a series.

I really struggled at times with this book, which is set in Scarborough in Yorkshire. The first half seemed to centre around Donna, the main character, and her health issues relating to the menopause. I really don't want this in a crime novel but, nevertheless, I soldiered on with the read. The second half was a bit more interesting in that the investigation threw up the issues of homelessness and police culture, very topical at the moment. I liked the short sentence structure and the descriptive passages but overall, it's an average read. Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC

DC Donna Morris is a late starter to the service and is on a temporary probationary period in Scarborough whilst her husband stays at home in Kenilworth. When the body of a male in his 60s is found near the GCHQ complex a complicated and multilayered investigation ensues.

The novel starts really slowly and I struggle to connect to it as it’s disjointed with narratives from the past in the GDR especially East Berlin which are a puzzle. We are also treated to a great deal of detail on Donna’s perimenopausal symptoms which I think we can all live without. I’m not keen on the short sentence style either as the pace isn’t fast and so snappy sentences don’t match this and there’s a lot going on in the plot and it all seems a bit superficial.

However, at about 50% it starts to connect and this half is good and you get into the story. You realise why we have the GDR pre-Berlin wall collapse narrative and I end up really enjoying this. You also get a better idea of the character of Donna, she has a lot of baggage from the past and in the present and she is very likeable. The pace speeds up, the strands begin to fuse and come together well and with a homeless element that’s very good. The police team are mostly likeable especially DI Theo Akande and DS Harrie Shilling and a couple who are not, especially DS Chesters who you hope will get his comeuppance sooner rather than later. The setting in Scarborough is very good and it gives plenty of atmosphere, there is a lot of description of it which some readers may not like though I do as I know Scarborough well so can picture the scenes.

Overall, when is the novel gets going it’s a promising start to a new series and I definitely want to read more about Donna but without the menopausal details please.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Little Brown book group/Constable for that much appreciated arc in return for a honest review.

Donna Morris has chosen to leave her family home in Kenilworth and serve her probationary year as a detective in Scarborough, on the North Yorkshire coast. The book immediately appealed to me as I have spent a lot of time in Scarborough and the east coast over the years. The descriptions of the town and surrounding areas are first class.

On her very first day she attends a crime scene where a rough sleeper has been found dead in local woods. She is inducted onto the investigation team and it initially appears that the man died of his own drug use and had, until recently, worked for a local GCHQ on the Russian section. He was born in Germany and this discovery alerts Donna to things that happened to her younger self, drawing her deeper into the investigation. The postmortem fails to specify the exact cause of death, but bruising and a mysterious needle mark add to the mystery. The book reveals layers of the story well as it progresses, always hinting at Donna’s past.

One of the reasons Donna has left her husband of twenty-five years and picked Scarborough is because her daughter, Elizabeth, is serving time in a prison nearby and she wishes to support her.

Donna, now in her early fifties, has always hidden her past and this case begins to reveal things she has kept secret for over thirty years.

Initially, I struggled with the point of view and the short sharp sentences but as I read on, the story drew me in and I began to appreciate the authors writing style. The descriptions of people and places are excellent and push the story along nicely. Some readers may think it over descriptive but I feel it was part of the author's voice and, for me, pulled me into scenes.

The story flips back and forth and slowly unveils her secret past but is easy to follow and understand. The narrative took me in a completely different direction to where I expected it to go so well done the author.

Thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for this chance to read a review copy of this book.

A Wake of Crows by Kate Evans

A slow start to this book , but a great read nother the less. The story built up too a great read with a good plot and I ended up wanting to find out more about DC Donna Morris , who was a complex character .

Donna Morris has chosen to do her probationary year as detective constable in the small seaside town of Scarborough. But on her first day, a body is found in the woods: the corpse of Henrik Grünttor presents itself as that of a homeless man, dead from his own drug use. However, until recently, Grünttor had been working at the local GCHQ centre on the Russian section and the postmortem reveals the cause of his death to be uncertain.
Enjoyed it.

This was definitely a slow burner in the first instance but towards the second half of the book I was hooked. It was well written, with well developed characters and a good storyline that was definitely much better in the second half. Overall a really enjoyable read.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for a review copy of A Wake of Crows, the first novel to feature probationary DC Donna Morris of the Scarborough police.

On her first day at work in Scarborough Donna is assigned to a suspicious death enquiry. A body has been found in the woods near a GCHQ facility and while he looks like a homeless drug addict, Heinrich Grüntor was until recently an employee at the facility. Donna is drawn to the enquiry due to her similar background.

A Wake of Crows is a novel of two halves. I really struggled with the first half which is slow on the investigation front and spends its time on Donna’s menopausal troubles and her extremely shaky relationship with her husband, whom she has left in Kenilworth for the duration of her probationary period, and her daughter, who is incarcerated in HMP North Yorkshire. Intercut with this is the narrative of Erica Neuhaus and her life in the GDR in the 70s. I found myself putting off picking up the novel as it didn’t interest me - I’ve done the menopause, know all about the GDR and the daughter is horrible.

The second half is much more interesting. The investigation starts to come together and Donna seems to be the one doing the legwork and the thinking. I like the way the author gets creative with her plot and offers a fresh take on murder and death.

This is, no matter the crime, a novel about people. Obviously Donna is front and centre but it throws up all sorts of mini scenarios involving different people, like the homeless or police culture. Not all get solved satisfactorily, but there is some resolution and I think it is all realistic.

A Wake of Crows is an interesting start to a projected series once it gets going and I would be interested to see Donna as a more confident detective without her GDR baggage and menopause cluttering up the narrative. 3.5*