I did enjoy this book, though there were a lot of different things going on in the story at once. On the whole, it was an easy read that did have more than one person who you could have picked to be the murderer though in the end it was left to a choice of either or.

I thought the ending was a bit rushed with a feeling of "tie up all the loose ends". It was the first Lucie Whitehouse book that I had read and I think it might be a good idea to have met DCI Robin Lyons beforehand so that I would have known some of the previous history of the characters.

The storyline was quite appropriate to the times we live in.

A brilliant story which had my gripped from the start. I love the character of DCI Lyons and I look forward to reading more about her

Took me a while to get into but after several attempts i was sucked in. Great mystery/thriller, dark and twisty. My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my copy. So glad i persevered.

I've read a number of Lucie Whitehouse books in the past so was looking forward to this one
A body has been found in the woods, which links to another case
I found the characters and storyline a bit hard to keep track of in this one, and it didn't grip me the way some of the previous books have.

This was a solid police procedural, the first one I’ve read by this author but elements of the story clearly referred to previous stories which didn’t stop me enjoying it but I think it’s probably more fully enjoyed if you’ve read the previous ones. This was a great idea for a story due to the backstory of the teenage murder victim who was a witness to a rape and suffered a lot of harassment and worse prior to the trial. This had some really good characters in it from the teenagers trying to help other victims of sexual assault, to the family of the boy who was convicted of rape - in fact their story took on a brilliant twist. Then there’s the families and police staff though most especially DCI Robyn Lyons who has her own personal stresses going on. The story is well woven and there’s a surprising outcome. I’d definitely look out for the next in the series .

This is my 200th book of the year and the one which has allowed me to hit my Goodreads Reading Challenge target and boy what a way to hit that goal!

This is genuinely one of the best crime novels I have ever read and, as you can see, I read a lot of them!

This is my first book by the author and I requested this not realising it was part of an on-going series. Whilst, like most such series, you can read this as a standalone, there has clearly been some backstory and character development that I have missed out on so whilst I would recommend going back and reading the previous two (I think) novels, you definitely don't need to.

In this novel, Ben Renshaw is found dead and a murder investigation is quickly started. The list of suspects doesn't take long to fill given that Ben recently gave testimony in the rape trial of Alistair Heywood which led to his conviction. The Heywood's are a well known, successful family in the local community and are still adamant that Alistair was wrongly convicted.

However, more than giving testimony, Ben, along with his best friends Theo and Molly (who was the victim of the above rape) have set up Strength in Numbers, an online site which gives the victims of rape and sexual assault a voice. Was Ben's murder linked to the Heywood's? Or was it part of his wider Strength in Numbers work? Or was it altogether something unrelated.......?

What I love most about this book is that the story is complex however the author doesn't take anything to extremes. I often find with books nowadays that there is a feeling that a crime/thriller needs a massive twist that no-one could possibly have seen coming and often defies belief.

Here, there are twists and red herrings aplenty and the reader will be kept guessing page after page. You will suspect everyone at some point and the ending just comes together perfectly.

The characters are also so well drawn out that you care about each and every one of them and the personal storylines, along with the crime plot, work so well together. Whitehouse doesn't over sentimentalise anything but really gives a strong account of the personal/professional boundaries and conflicts that occur.

An excellent read and thanks to Netgalley and Orion publishing group for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

Just an OK from me I'm afraid.
I felt we spent too much time on the personal baggage of our main character.
Interesting crime, and I enjoyed finding out who/why, just felt it took too long to get there.

This mystery/thriller is definitely full of darkness, suspense and a tense atmosphere. I'd definitely recommend this book.