This is book ten in the series. This story is very plot heavy. There is a lot of action and tense. It make me feel anxious at times. The ending was so good. This is such a great series

Great series, and great writing! Really enjoyable book by Nick Louth who is now a must read author!

I'm a huge fan of the author and I think this is the best yet. I was gripped from the very start and couldn't stop reading.

Loved this complex, suspenseful plot with tension so thick that it felt palpable. Wonderfully-developed characters with depth and substance. I was immediately drawn in and held captive from beginning to end.

This, the 10th book in the series finds DCI Craig Gillard facing another challenging case. Tense and written with a fast, smooth pace, you will be drawn in quickly to the story. A great read.

Not my cup of tea, the pacing was off and the characters were lacking. I kept trying to get in rhythm with this book but it just never clicked. I gave up about two-thirds of the way through.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this next installment from Nick Louth.
Always a good read and I just love the solid, dependable English gent DCI Gillard. I won't give the story away but suffice to say it covers 2 continents and has a rip-roaring finale.
If you haven't caught this series I suggest you do !

I think I enjoyed this book, it was somewhat predictable and a bit of a lack of any twists and turns, some pointless characters and could have been thinned out with a lot less of the police parts which didn't seem relevant to Hales story.

It was a good read though, but found myself skimming pages.

Edit: I've since found out this was the 10th book in a series. Perhaps some of the negatives I found with it are due to the characters being more prominent in other books.

I’d like to thank NetGalley and Canelo for approving me for an ARC of this book. I am a huge fan of this series and always on the look out for the next book! Whilst this book is part of a series this can definitely be read as a standalone. Nick Louth always does a brilliant job of giving the readers enough backstory without rehashing everything.

What I love about Nick Louth’s books is his fresh perspective. Each story has a new angle and takes us down a different route of life in the police force. This story was less about serving murders and more about fraud, money laundering and criminal activity. When Jonathan Hale, a successful businessmen and and money launderer, is released from prison he starts to settle back into his every day life. What he doesn’t realise is that the NCA have got a close eye on him and are watching to see if he returns to his old ways.

DCI Craig Gillard soon finds himself caught up with this team and is then rapidly involved in a highly tense situation. We see less of his usual team in this instalment and I have to admit I did miss them but I also liked seeing Gillard working in a different area. I do hope we get some more action from the familiar faces in the next book.

My star of the book was Lucy. Not just because we share the same name but I loved her personality and her candid nature. She wasn’t afraid to ask the questions and did not care if it showed her parents up, even when she was in a dire situation she still managed to use her survival instincts and not admit defeat.

This was a slow burn story that was building for a big finale and Nick Louth certainly delivered. I was on the edge of my seat during the last quarter of the book and I didn’t think my nerves could take anymore. There was action, tension and menace were prominent in this story. I can’t wait for the next one.

As usual in my reviews I will not rehash the plot...

This is the 10th novel in the "DCI Craig Gillard" series. Although I've read all the others, I feel that this would still read just fine as a standalone, as there is plenty of background information about the main characters.

Although these novels are a fairly quick read, the plots are well thought out, the dialogue is believable, and the characters develop more with each publication.

The story this time crosses international borders - with part of the action set in the USA. The "baddie" of the outfit is a deeply twisted individual, whose influence reaches beyond his jail cell...meaning that his target - former money-launderer lawyer in the UK - becomes fair game...

Can't tell you any more without giving away the plot, other than to say that this book will appeal to you if you enjoy police procedural novels, with great characters.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC. All opinions my own.

Quite slow to get going, the book is told from different viewpoints and takes some concentration. The plot does come together and I became more captivated by the story..The pace also picks up and it becomes a pageturner.
The book is mostly well thought out. Not a great deal about the investigation in this episode and also not too much about the personal lives of the police detectives .
A good read and I look forward to the next episode
Thanks to Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

The Body in the Stairwell by Nick Louth.
Jonathan Hale is terrified. The wealthy property lawyer and money launderer is back home in Surrey after a nightmare experience in a U.S. jail. The police have him under secret surveillance. But Hales’s fears lie elsewhere. His plea bargain has earned him the enmity of The Reptile, a notoriously cold-hearted gangster, now confined for life in a maximum-security jail in Arizona thanks to Hale. He’s taken precautions, moved house, hidden his identity and installed security for his wife and family. But still… what if The Reptile escapes?
I really really enjoyed this book. I do love this author. Had me hooked. 5*.

An original, gripping, and well written thriller. It's entertaining and well plotted. It's fast paced and kept me on the edge.
Good storytelling and character development. Not my favorite in this series but a good thriller
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

An intriguing and unusual story. Police procedural featuring Detective Craig Gillard,some great characters especially Lucy and her cat.

After returning back to the UK from a US prison, money launderer Jonathan Hale is a frightened man. Although the gang he helped put away are either dead or in prison, this does not stop him from fearing for the safety of himself or his family. Unbeknown to him, the police have him under constant surveillance, convinced that he will soon be up to his old tricks. Little does he know that all of his precautions are about to become worthless as his worst nightmare begins to become a reality.

This is the tenth in the DCI Craig Gillard series but as in some of the previous books, Craig and his team are not the central characters, the focus being placed firmly on Jonathan Hale and his nemesis Richard Tyler, also known as ‘The Reptile’. This is something I really like about this series as, although over the years, we have become familiar with Gillard’s personal life, it only comes to the fore if it is integral to the plot. The Body in the Stairwell, as in the previous books, is all about the gripping, tension-filled plot – one that certainly had me on the edge of my seat.

In The Reptile, Nick Louth has given us a truly vile character with not one redeeming quality. There are not many characters that make my skin crawl as I am reading but he was definitely one of them. As the book progresses, and we see what is is capable of, I was willing him to get caught, killed… anything to stop him from completing his audacious plan!

There is also a very serious warning to the reader about social media use, in particular the dangers of young people sharing the amount of information they do without being fully aware of the consequences. Do we actually know the people we are speaking to online?

The Body in the Stairwell is another superb book in the DCI Gillard series and, as each book has a standalone story, new readers will be able to start here without worrying about what has happened before. I cannot recommend the whole series enough, however!

Once again, I find myself reading a mystery out of sequence from its series order. The Body in the Stairwell is the tenth in the DCI Craig Gillard series, but it worked fine as a stand-alone. It was interesting that Louth spends more time setting up the situation and most of the story is told from the POV of the victims and criminal. It appears from reading other reviews that this is Louth’s standard writing style.
I found the premise interesting. Jonathan Hale was an English property lawyer who really made his money laundering cash for American criminals. When everything fell apart, Hale got a sweetheart deal of only six months prison time while the truly bad guys got life. One of those bad guys makes it his mission to break out of the Arizona prison where he’s housed and come to England to finish Hale off. The story of how the bad guy tracks down Hale and his family was entertaining and a warning to those that spend too much time on social media. The ending was well done - fast paced and heart in your mouth fear factor for the three young girls involved.
My thanks to Netgalley and Canelo for an advance copy of this book.

The Body in the Stairwell by Nick Louth is book 10 in the DCI Craig Gillard police series, having read all of the others in the series I have enjoyed reading this tenth book in the series.
The storyline is very clever and interesting, with money laundering and serious criminals locked up in American prisons. One of whom escapes and makes his way back to England to murder the man who was responsible for his imprisonment, in exchange for his lighter prison sentence.
The money launderer, Jonathon Hale lives in fear of his life and as far as The Retile is concerned he needs to be because he is coming to kill him. DCI Gillard manages to get involved in the hostage situation that evolves and nearly loses his own life.
Highly recommended

I have read all the books in this series and Louth always manages to bring something different to each book. This one was more plot driven and was not about solving a murder.

Jonathan Hale, former money launder for a crime gang got a very reduced sentence (6 months) for testifying against the gang members. He has since returned to the UK and is hoping to remain incognito. Although 2 of the 3 gang members have since died, the worst of them, Richard Tyler (known as the Reptile due to an unfortunate skin condition) is still alive and Hale is well aware that he will be seeking bloody revenge if he ever gets the chance. Although imprisoned in a super max facility in Arizona with a sentence of 260 years, Tyler is very resourceful and cannot be written off.

The NCA has been covertly watching Hale knowing he is running out of money and will likely need to be up to his old tricks again. But when 3 of the surveillance team are killed in a freak (or was it?) accident DCI Graig Gillard is roped in. As is often the way, Hale is located through the social media actions of his daughter, Azalea, and her two friends. You could blame the girls for being naive and silly but, then again, they were also resourceful and helped to rectify their silly mistakes.

Gillard’s team were not in the story much, this one was more about the action. But a special mention must be made of 8 year old Lucy - frustrating and awesome in equal measure. Oh, and her cat, Socks, also helped in the crime fighting! There was much foreboding and creeping menace in this book which was very nerve wracking and suspenseful. The ending was nerve shredding! An excellent story Mr Louth! Many thanks to Netgalley and Canelo for the much appreciated arc which I reviewed voluntarily and honestly.

This is one of the best in the series, it’s heart stopping, has vile characters in it and it is different to DCI Gillards normal day job!

This time it is not mere police procedural and every day crime involved, but involves with the NCA and other government departments to watch a disgraced lawyer and money launderer to see what he’s up to. The NCA and police are the least of Hales’ worries. Someone known as The Reptile is in a high security jail in the states and he cannot escape, or can he? Hale knows that this man is out for revenge, and no amount of security can protect him and his family, it’s just a matter of time.

What follows is a game of cat and mouse with a crescendo of an ending.

I have to say, I did think that the Hale family were a bit naive and also their friends were too, and the kids were a precocious nightmare. I’m just glad my daughter wasn’t like that!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, as I said it’s not the usual run of the mill Gillard workload.

My thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publishers for the ARC.

Tense and exciting with a nice pace. You really care about the three girls held onstage here, which isn’t always the case in police procedurals. A little too much of the prison in my opinion, it could have done with some pruning of those scenes to really get to the chase. I particularly loved Lucy, what a fantastic character.