Dead Mile is a very clever and entertaining thriller. In a twist on the classic locked room mystery, the events take place in a motorway traffic jam following a major terrorist incident.

DS Belinda Kidd, known as Billy, is heading home from the airport. Jetlagged, burnt out and about to resign, she just wants her journey to end. But then a series of bombs closes the motorway. And a dead body is found in a nearby car. As the only police officer on scene she has to investigate. But she has no equipment, no means of communication and not even her warrant card.

The cast of characters is very interesting, as Billy gets to know those around the murder victim's car. All seem to have secrets, but can she unravel the mystery? It's a novel puzzle and well told. Billy Kidd is a well described lead character, her sense of duty driving her on when she'd rather be anywhere else.

I think this is a good mystery and it quite fun. I did find myself getting a bit lost halfway through and I have to be honest it isn’t really one that has me gripped. It’s fine and I think that other people might enjoy it, for me it’s a bit too cliched and a bit messy.

With many thanks to Netgalley for this free arc and I am leaving this unbiased review voluntarily
So this was an unexpected good fun read! Loved the idea, even though ‘locked room’ mysteries have been done before, but this is the first one I know about set on a gridlocked motorway. This was full of interesting characters - although there are quite a few so you do need to keep track. Billy was great and most of the chapters told from her pov interwoven with the odd chapter from her fellow motorists. A cast of would be suspects and the author does a really good job of bringing everything together at the end. A fun, different and interesting read

Sergeant Belinda Kydd (‘Billy’, obvs.) fled to Australia when she faced a crisis in her police career. Now she has returned to England to work out her notice on light duties prior to taking early retirement. But she gets no further than driving her hire car from the airport before she finds herself running a crime scene and investigation. A series of terrorist attacks has brought the city to a standstill, gridlocking the motorway. As stranded travellers get out of their vehicles, they notice one driver is dead at the wheel. Did another driver commit murder and, given the traffic jam, are they still at the scene?
Not only has Jo Furniss come up with a wonderfully fresh blend of police procedural and locked room mystery, she has meticulously planned her plot and motorway logistics, and she has clearly researched the police regulations that Billy has to follow as best she can without the benefit of any standard police kit.
The way likable sleuth Billy has to work with and against the motley crew of suspects in the other cars reminded me of Trevor Wood’s You Can Run, another book I thorough enjoyed. Each of the suspects in Dead Mile has something to hide and the suspense builds as we discover more about them. There is also a sense of urgency as the drivers tune to radio news and discover that bombs are continuing to go off in and around the city. How close will the next one be to these sitting ducks?
This is a super read that would make a good TV series. It will do very well.
With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an independent review.

Fabulous read which i didn't want to end. Humour, murder and a plethora of characters all stuck in a huge traffic jam. You know those books you have read where you think i am going to enjoy reading this again in the future......well this is definitely one of those. My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my copy. Big five stars from me.

Sergeant Belinda Kidd is suffering from a whole series of maladies - some perhaps imaginary, and others very real. She is horribly jetlagged. She needs the toilet badly. It is a miserably hot day with no end in sight.

Menopause appears to have done a job on her confidence, including borderline anxiety attacks, but she is also demoralized from an earlier incident in her career which she has yet to fully recover from. Which is why she is considering early retirement.

But life has other plans for Belinda, aka Billy. Stuck in the traffic jam from hell on the outskirts, while a series of terrorist attacks is wreaking havoc in the city of London, Billy discovers that she must step up to calm the volatile situation involving the trapped motorists around her. Not to mention, the murdered man whose body she has discovered in a neighbouring vehicle...

This is a tense, fast-moving character driven story that will hold the reader's attention effortlessly. There is plenty of action and some very British humour on offer. Highly recommended.