This book really appealed to me and I was really happy to receive a copy through NetGalley. Gritty northern crime novels are right up my street, and I desperately wanted to love this. And initially I thought I was going to.

The Day of The Roaring starts strong. We have a grisly crime that doesn't make any sense and a compelling lead character in DI Diana Walker, a Black woman working in the police in the late 00s, who's moved away from Sheffield due to some events we aren't fully privy to at the start of the novel and is having to juggle her career and all the politics of race and gender that come with it at the same time as a complicated family life. Tie this together with some strong writing and a fairly authentic regional dialect on the page and I thought I was going to be in for a good time.

Unfortunately it falls off fairly quickly. The Sheffield dialect that works so well in the opening chapters starts to feel more like a bad parody of what northeners sound like (and I say this as a northerner, albeit from the other side of the Pennines). Half the time Bhadreshwar seems to forget that her characters are meant to speak in this way, and it's completely abandoned by the final act. And some of the decisions about how to render this speech are simply annoying; I never want to read "fk" in place of "fuck" ever again.

This is a shame because there are moments of brilliance on display in the writing. At times the prose slips into a really stunning cadence that reminds me of the best literary fiction, but the rest of the time it's a bit of a mess.

The biggest problem for me is that it doesn't really work as a mystery. It becomes obvious who the perpetrator is very early on, but none of the police who we're following pick up on this or connect the dots. This can work when it's done deliberately but here it was just frustrating, as I spent more than 300 pages wondering when the investigators were going to connect the very obvious dots. And when they do work out what's going on - right at the end, with barely 20 pages of the book left - it happens off screen, so that we're denied that "Aha!" moment that this genre thrives on. We jump from a fairly unrelated event to the arrest with no connective tissue to show us how DI Walker came to her conclusion and - crucially - how she convinced her colleagues to go along with it. This seems like a particular oversight, since so much of the narrative is concerned with how little they respect her and how they keep denying her instincts and holding back the investigation as a result. I really wanted her to get that moment of "I told you so" and it never happens.

Much like my frustrations with the writing - moments of brilliance hidden in a mess of clunky prose that feels like it needs a second draft - it's frustrating that the convoluted plot and poor research (the Bullring is in Birmingham, not Sheffield; MDMA has been a Class A drug since the 1970s; nobody has ever been in a mosh pit at a Def Leppard concert; the age of consent in the UK is 16, not 18) detract from the fact that Bhadreshwar is writing about some pretty serious issues that I don't think I've ever seen tackled in fiction. Her Afterword makes it clear that she's put a lot of time into researching FGM and speaking to people who have actually been impacted by it. I wish the final product of that work was better, because this feels like an important conversation to be having and fiction feels like a good place for it to start.

I've spent a lot of time criticising this. It's not terrible, but it feels half-baked - especially in the back end, which is demonstrably less polished than the opening. I suspect that were this not a review copy I would have DNFd somewhere around 60% as I felt things starting to unravel and the plot seemed to just be spinning in circles and never going anywhere. There's some bloat here, particularly involving sections from the point of view of a secondary character called Bruno that don't add anything and simply bog down the pacing. When it's good it's clear that it had the potential to be great, and that makes it incredibly disappointing that it's largely a failure to launch.

Complicated murder mystery which took a long time to get going, but has an intriguing concept of a headmaster's head found in a filing cabinet of a condemned school. The plot takes in numerous characters, has roots in Africa and a very well drawn north of England feel to proceedings. The detective was a conflicted character, but the novel was worth sticking with for the clever manner in which everything comes together. Was a bit slow, but still worthwhile.

Very good book with a compelling story and touching on several important but loaded and complex issues. I appreciated the generational storylines and how things tied together. It felt like an authentic take on women, and particularly women from the global majority, trying to find their safe space and a place to lift and support each other - but with the recognition that women in common have much NOT in common too! As a white woman I found this really interesting and I was definitely energised to seek more learning for myself. The story itself was satisfying too but I was left thinking about the cultural and community setting more than the featured crime, which I found noteworthy. Thank you for my ARC copy!

DI Diane Walker has a shocking case to investigate when the severed head of the former headmaster is uncovered as the old school is about to be demolished. Her white male colleagues are very unsupportive which does not help. She is resilient though. On top of this is her mother, Rehema, and her book club formed to support mostly Kenyan women who suffered at the hands of 'tradition' (female genital mutilation) and Grandma then arrives for a court hearing relating to the Mau Mau atrocities in Kenya a long time ago. Based in Sheffield, Diane also has to deal with deprived areas, drugs, racism and anything else that the author could include. There are too many threads for me although they are all related and have made Diane what she is today. The details are just too many although the author deals with, for example FGM, sensitively. It's the descriptions as well as the details that just seem over the top - cut out half of the adverbs and adjectives and the whole thing would read more smoothly. I'm really not sure about the dialect attempts either as they seem to come and go, even between the same characters. It adds confusion to me. Thin it down a bit. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy.

Initially this was hard going and complicated and I thought it would be a DNF but I am happy that I kept reading.
I could not see what the first chapter had to do with the following chapters but then it all becomes clear.
DI Diana Walker is called in to investigate when the dismembered head of a headmaster of a recently demolished school is found inside a filing cabinet. The book covers issues of sexism, racism, FGM, making it a thought provoking read.
The characters are well-developed and the strong female protagonist was compelling in her determination to solve the case.
Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley UK for the ARC.

Thanks to Netgalley and the Publishers for the ARC in exchange for a review.

I loved the title of this book and that alone would draw me in; the blurb was promising and I like a good, strong female lead. It was labelled as an award winning book as well so what's not to like?

I'm not entirely sure why this book didn't grab me in the way I felt it should, given all of the above ingredients. The lead character, Diana, is convincing; the main story of the school murder is credible, but I just felt there was too much else going on; way too many sub-plots which distracted and confused. Some interesting and strong supporting characters helped the story along, but I also thought there were a few cliches in here which the story did not need at all. I felt it all came together a bit too neatly at the end so wasn't blown away by this, but overall I did enjoy this.

I was a little overwhelmed when I started this book as there were so many characters, plots and intrigue but once I got my head round them I really enjoyed this story. He book is about a DI Diana Walker who is a Police Officer and very good at her job. She is called out to a murder and this leads her down a path which she was not expecting. She struggles at work with the male Police Officers who treat her quite badly. Her saviour is Roberson who is the one she relies on and does a lot of the research work. The book, as I said, is about murder but also intimation, drugs and even touches on FGM. This is dealt with well and although I understand the reasons behind the culture it is barbaric in this day and age and should not happen. DI Walker is convinced of the route she is going down for the murders although her colleagues are convinced she is totally wrong. She is proved right in the end and I did not guess who committed the murders, a good sign for a good story. This book also touches on county lines and drugs and how easy it is to get teenagers to deal with this if they come from poor backgrounds – money is always the draw. The book also touches on the uprising in Kenya – Mau and Mau – and this was interesting to read.

Revenge is at the Heart of The Day of the Roaring. There's a common theme too, weak men and strong women. I found the novel very interesting but a struggle to read at times because of the patois. The author has a keen interest in exposing FGM which the novel suggests is still being organised from the UK, whether to have done locally or abroad. Whilst it is generally understood what happens during 'cutting', the novel graphically describes the problems women suffer later on in life especially during childbirth. The main plot line was like a tree trunk and the branches were the elements that gave greater depth to the story, it worked rather well.
I have to say though, I was like a child at a pantomime, shouting out, 'He's behind you'.. Except it wasn't a 'he' and it was very early on in the novel, which spoiled it somewhat.

Oh my goodness, what a book. From the start, I felt the narrative pull me into a different time and plsce. All the grit and grime of Sheffield in 2010 laid bare on the page. Diane is a detective, recently moved to Sheffield and the gruesome discovery of a severed head in a locked filing cabinet on the site of a demolished school is the beginning a a very memorable time in her life. A black Detective, subjected to harassment both verbal and sexual by her make colleagues. Her mother trying to close her eyes to the past, certainly not proud of Diane's career choice or achievements. MaMa, her beloved grandmother, living with the very terrible memories of the 'Mau Mau uprising' and the atrocities she witnessed. The poverty, drugs, corruption and stench; secrecy of clans and gangs. Female genital mutilation carried out by women in women, for their families to 'belong'. This is a hard book to read, but I am very glad that I did.

I enjoyed The Day of the Roaring but it was quite hard to follow as others have said. A lot was going on and after a slow start, it did all piece together in the end.

I found this book a bit tricky to follow the multiple subplots of. I suspect one fewer might have made the story flow more fluidly. I liked the main character, DI Walker- she was well depicted although also fairly chaotic in her approach to life and work.

Crime and police procedural books are my absolute favourite kinds of books to read. This one had so much potential, but for me, it was just too chaotic. There were far too many subplots and way too many characters to keep straight. It was a slow burning story that just did not hold my attention. On top of that, there was a slang sort of language that just confused me even more. I wanted to enjoy this but it was a miss for me.

Thanks to the publisher on Netgalley for the chance to read this book, our in late January 2025

I enjoyed this first book set in Sheffield. DI Diana Walker is trying to solve the case of a teacher's dismembered body found on the derelict site of an old school. Her investigations lead her to have dealings with all sorts of nasty people. Consequently, there are some disturbing themes running through the book, not least the subject of FGM. It's a long read but worth it.
Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
Copied to Goodreads.

The synopsis of this sounded intriguing. However I just couldn't get into this. Throughout the book there were brief moments of enjoyment but overall I just couldn't stay invested long enough.

There's so much I want to say about this book, but I just don't know where to begin. I'm going to assume that you've read the blurb, so I'm not going to give you a synopsis of the book. I am, however, going to tell you that this book may be triggering for you, dealing, as it does, with some sensitive subjects.
The Day of the Roaring is first and foremost a police procedural, but it also deals with the issues of racism, sexism, misogyny, and female genital mutilation (FGM) and the wall of silence that surrounds this barbaric practice.

This is quite a busy book, told from multiple POV's, and with quite the cast of characters. It can feel overwhelming at times, but trust me, it's worth sticking with this thought provoking, gritty read.

Thanks to HarperCollins UK and Netgalley for the digital ARC.

This is a very busy book with lots of leads and crimes commited that from the start feel as though it could be one or two novels. However by the end the trail comes back to one path.
DI Diana Walker is a diligent police officer, unfortunately for her, apart from Robertson, she is surrounded by incompetent misogynistic colleagues who completely disregard her thoughts and feelings related to the case.
However she persists in her motion to get justice for all the victims.
A strong debut novel

I absolutely love a crime novel especially when it’s a thriller. I did think it was a very slow paced thriller but still engaging enough to keep you interested.

I enjoyed the multiple POV and the female lead, I mean who doesn’t enjoy a strong female character.

DI Diana walker finds a dismembered of a headmaster at a former school in Sheffield but everything leads to chasing shadows and not finding any answer but unraveling secrets, Diana knows something isn’t right and is determined to find out even though it reveals horrible truths and secrets.

Diana Walker is a police officer in Sheffield living in the Derbyshire countryside. Her grandmother has just arrived in England to testify at the Kenyan Human Right Commission. Diana's mother Rehema was sent to England as a child and the relationship between the three women is difficult; Rehema is closer to her friends in the Black Sistah's book club.
Diana investigates the murder of the former head of a school that was closed down unexpectedly. There are other deaths and missing people with links to the school, and problems with the former pupils. Another ex-teacher has died and she was a member of Rehema's book club, so Diana has questions for them too. It's a complicated plot with lots of characters and side stories, which are all linked to the case.
I couldn't see how Diana would have ever been in a relationship with the obnoxious Phillips. There were so many horrible characters, mostly the men, including some of the police officers, it was hard to read about their behaviour and treatment of Diana.
An interesting book, with a broad scope.

I was keen to read this 'award-winning' novel. The plot was sound enough but I became annoyed early on with two things. I thought it was overly descriptive, particularly at the beginning of the story. An author has to set the scene but this went too far for me. The other annoying thing was the grammar. A sentence has a subject and a verb and usually an object. There were far too many non-sentences in this book.

Despite the above, I still enjoyed the story, particularly as it is a debut.

What a powerful book on so many levels. Career, family, genocide, sexism but wonderfully written.
At the heart 3 females, daughter, mother and grandmother. Their lives, choices and how it affects the next generations.
Dealing with a murder as SIO, uncovers long buried secrets and pits mother and daughter against eachother. Grandma coming to stay whilst the government decides if they will look into historical abuse by soldiers against Kenyan natives.