I loved it! This is actually the third book in a series, but full disclosure: I haven’t read the first two. Honestly, it didn’t matter one bit. The story stands completely on its own and I never felt like I was missing any crucial info from the earlier books. So if you're debating whether you can jump straight into this one – you totally can.

British mystery thrillers are my absolute jam, and this one ticked every box. Fast-paced? Yep. Twisty? Very. Gripping plot that keeps you turning pages? 100%. I could see this becoming a TV series tomorrow – the atmosphere, the suspense, the characters… it's all there.

What really made it extra special for me, though, were the relationships woven through the story. There’s so much depth in the characters’ pasts and personal connections – especially Laughton’s complicated ties with her father, daughter, ex, and of course, Tannahill. And then there's Gracie and her own story with her dad. Those threads added a lot of emotional weight and made the mystery hit even harder.

And THAT cliffhanger between Laughton and Tannahill just asks for another book. Seriously, I can’t wait to see where it all goes next.

Many thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction for the digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for this eCopy to review

From the moment I picked up Dead Water, I was completely hooked. Simon Toyne crafts a chilling, atmospheric thriller that blends mystery, psychological tension, and relentless suspense.

The story begins with a headless, handless corpse washing up on the banks of the Thames. DCI Tannahill Khan immediately recognizes that this is no accident—the killer wanted the body to be found. But the real shock comes when forensic analysis reveals a disturbing clue: Dr. Laughton Rees’ home address is written on the victim’s arm.

As more bodies appear, Laughton and Tannahill find themselves entangled in a deadly game, racing against time to uncover the truth before Laughton’s own name reaches the top of the killer’s list. The investigation takes them deep into the shadows of London, where crime, trauma, and identity collide in unexpected ways.

Toyne’s writing is sharp, immersive, and utterly compelling. The tension builds masterfully, keeping me on edge as each new revelation unfolds. The dynamic between Laughton and Tannahill is intelligent and layered, adding emotional depth to the relentless pace of the investigation.

What sets Dead Water apart is its intricate plotting and psychological complexity. The mystery is gripping, but it’s the exploration of trauma and identity that truly elevates the novel. Toyne doesn’t just deliver a thriller—he crafts a story that lingers, making you question the depths of human nature.

If you love dark, atmospheric thrillers with razor-sharp twists, Dead Water is an absolute must-read. Toyne delivers a riveting, high-stakes narrative that refuses to let go. Prepare for a story that will keep you turning pages long into the night.

This was the third book in the series, and reads nicely on its own. I do think reading book 1 and 2 would help, but I really enjoyed this one, will read more in future!

Dead Water by Simon Toyne was another excellent read and is the 3rd book in the Dr Laughton Rees and DCI Tannahill Khan series. WoW this book was so good I was guessing all the way through who it was, there was so many twists and turns which will have you going you all different paths, you will never guess what will happen next! Superb book. Dead Water is a book that will have you hooked and I am so looking forward to the next book in Dr Laughton Rees and DCI Tannahill Khan series. I just love these characters.

Dead Water, the third book in the Rees and Khan series, is a fast-paced, atmospheric thriller starting with a murder on the Thames riverbank. The relationship between Rees and Khan has evolved throughout the series and adds an emotional angle to this already personal story. With an intense and complex plot, strong character development and surprising twists, this was a gripping read and great instalment to the series.

Can this series get any better? With this book it can. A headless & handless body washes up on the bank of the Thames with Rees address on the arm. Full of twists in this well plotted thriller. Love the interaction between Rees and Khan. I loved Simon Toyne's earlier work but he's knocked it out of the park with this series, roll on book 4. Thanks to Harpercollins UK and Netgalley for this review ARC.

Reads well as a stand alone novel. The story moves on at a good pace and covers some interesting topics. However the ending is ridiculous, something rather like James Bond or Mission Impossible. It mars what is otherwise a good tale. Hence only 3 stars not 4.

This is the first book I have read from this author and did not realise it was apart of a series. . I found that I would have liked more of the backstory.. There were plenty of twists in the storyline to keep me reading. I would definitely read the next offering.Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to review it

So this is the third Laughton Rees book. I loved Dark Objects, the first, but found the second, The Clearing, disappointing, in part because the first was focussed so much on Rees, whereas the second merely had her as an investigator. And it was a bit boring.
Toyne here wisely returns to a story with Rees at the centre of events, with her relationships with her daughter, Tannahill and, to an extent, her daughter’s father, all serving to support the mystery/thriller element.
It’s a decent read, but…
…I’m wary of saying this, as it might count as a spoiler, in the sense it will confirm the reader’s suspicions as they read it…
… was I supposed to be surprised by the twist (a term I use generously)? I can understand why Rees was, but seriously, it would have been more surprising if literally there was any other reveal.
It’s an interesting book with an interesting pair of lead characters, but if you’re looking to read it for primarily the mystery or the twist, you may well be disappointed. Go back and read Dark Objects instead.

This is a great crime thriller which centres around criminologist Dr Laughton Rees and DCI Tannahill Khan.
When a body is found in the Thames with no head or hands they know they have a strange case to solve.
On closer inspection a link to Laughton is found and lives are in danger.
This is a fast paced thriller that I’d highly recommend.
Thanks to Harper Collins UK for the opportunity to read this book.

Book 3 of the Rees and Khan series which just gets better and better. DCI Tannahill Khan is called out when a body is found in the River Thames near Tower Bridge. Nothing unusual about a body in the water except that this person is missing their hands and head! It disrupts his planned evening with criminologist Dr Laughton Rees and her 15 year old daughter Gracie but then that’s only the start of the story.

Briefly, it is quickly discovered that the body in the water is connected with a 16 year old closed case handled by Rees’s father and with Gracie’s father who has reappeared after a 16 year jail sentence for that particular crime. Things get very messy when another similar body is found and it is clear there is a killer seeking retribution relating to the original case.

With some decidedly gruesome scenes, but tempered by the relationships between Rees and Khan, this is a cracking police procedural. The plot is tight and I love our two main characters. A dark and exciting read with a deadly and shocking twist at the end which leads us nicely into book 4. Very entertaining.

Having a story set in a city that one knows very well is a big bonus and this book has all sorts of other bonuses too.

Inventive is an understatement when it comes to this story and I loved the fact that I thought there was a slip in the plot but it turned out that I had it all wrong. The plot was perfect.

Rees and Khan do make a good if odd pair and if the finale in Dead Water is anything to go by, book 4 in this series is going to be a total wow. If you have not yet discovered this series, give yourself a real treat and read all three and then I will have company whilst I wait, eagerly, for book 4.

Thank you @harpercollinsuk #partner for the gifted eARC!

Y’ALL. This is my third book in the Rees & Khan series and once again, a solid, no-doubt-about-it 5-star read. If you’re even remotely into police procedurals like I am, you need these books in your life. They’re dark, gritty, twisty, and completely unputdownable.

Quick side note — in the US, this one’s called The Black Highway. Why did I read the UK version, you ask? Well… let’s just say I got denied for the US arc and my little book-obsessed self got some insider tips on how to get my hands on it anyway 😏. Sneaky sneaky. No regrets.

Back to the book — Simon Toyne just knows how to craft a tense, clue-packed, high-stakes thriller that keeps you guessing until the last page. I swear I could feel my blood pressure rising at times. And let’s talk about Laughton Rees for a second because she is seriously one of my favorite fictional detectives. Total badass, fiercely loyal, a kickass mother, and the sweetest girlfriend. I love how she balances being a tough detective while still showing her softer side — it makes her feel so real.

And of course, DCI Tannahill Khan is another standout. I honestly can’t get enough of these two. This book was dark, atmospheric, and so binge-worthy I devoured it in one sitting. I just couldn’t stop.

If you’re a fan of Hannah Morrissey or gritty crime series with unforgettable characters, do yourself a favor and pick this one up. Or better yet, start from book one — you’ll thank me later.

Highly, highly recommend this whole series. Simon Toyne, you’re a legend. 🙌

this book gives us both huge personal storytelling of our now familiar characters but also a grisly murder mystery. having them then linked is even sharper and better tension building to the mix.
i love it when books do get into the characters. some of my fave series, especially the darker or thriller type ones have been where we get to know the main characters and follow them. almost like the murders and thriller parts of the book seem important but secondary to what we learn and want to learn about the teams working on solving them. i have truly fallen hard for some of characters we get to follow in crime and thriller series. they often have a lot more going on which i guess might be what leads them into the job in the first place.
and so you not only care about the case. but you also care about the people solving it just as much if not more so.
in this one we also have one of the main characters address being discovered written on the victims arms. so it seems even more tense and hurried to find out just what is going on. but this wont be easy considering a tactic of the killer has been to remove identification markers. ie the head and hands.
in this book we are also brought much closer to home for one of the team when we learn about her own private life and just what went on in her past. its doesnt take long for not only the reader and the character herself to start seeing things a little differently or certainly having to rethink some things. right now though she has herself and her daughter to protect so will stop at nothing to solve the case.
this book has everything you want from ether a standalone or favored i think those who love a good series to follow.
i am truly coming to be involved and care about the team we meet every time Simon blesses us with a new book. and this one leads perfectly on to book number four with a few questions and !!! needing to be answered and or solved.
i cant wait for the next one. this book was perfect addition but equally good on its own. because just as the plot can swerve to characters some of us know, it gives us enough info to follow perfectly fine if this is your first time meeting the team. and each character is given their perfect placing in the book.
DCI Tannahill Khan. as always is a brilliant protagonists to follow and the interactions between him and Dr Laughton Rees are ones i look forward to every single time a new book comes out. long may they continue. i wont give too much away about these two not least because i dont want my heart to break if it doesnt ever follow the way i want it to. this is after all not a romance dear reviewer(something i need to remind myself of when reading of these two)

Wow what a read! Full of red herrings,gripping with a storyline that held me spellbound from start to finish.
A gutsy female with a checkered past but is now a criminologist. Is her past coming back to haunt her?
Excellent, loved it!

This book is gripping, suspenseful, dark, gritty and unputdownable. It kept me on the edge of my seat. The characters were so interesting. And the plot was completely unpredictable and I didn’t see the twists coming. The book begin with a discovery of a headless corpse. But why would a K!ller leave a driving license? The mystery gets deeper and somehow it’s connected to the past events. Dr Laughton Rees story was horrifying and deeply touching. She has a daughter Gracie, she keeps asking about her father but Laughton hidden the truth from her daughter for a reason. And it all made sense when truth and secrets unveiled. The truth was twisted and secrets were deep. The story is multilayered, I loved the setting and deeply connected with the characters. It begin with a dead body and terrifying clue but the mystery had so many layers, and as soon as the layers unfolded, the truth comes out in light and it brings everyone’s life at stake. The ending was so terrifying. The book has been masterfully plotted. Expect the unthinkable, gruesome murders, secrets, twists, suspense, spine-chilling moments and shocking revelations.

Thanks to the Author, and Publisher

Another cracking read in this series.DI Tannahill Khan and Criminologist Laughton Rees become involved in investigating a headless body washed up from the Thames. It soon becomes apparent that there are strong connections to Laughtons past and the case becomes personnel and further bodies are found..The story moves along at a good pace and keeps the interest going with plenty of twists and turns. The romantic relationship between Khan and Rees is woven neatly into the plot. Like all good series we are left with a hook at the end and wanting to know what comes next.If and when there is a next then I will certainly want to read it.
An excellent British Crime Thriller.

This was my first book by this author but it definitely won't be my last. The book was perfectly paced with a good number of twists that not only kept me gripped from the start but also kept me guessing all the way through. I loved it

An excellent police procedural set in London and featuring DCI Khan and Laughton Rees. It is a character driven, fast paced and very addictive read which had me engrossed from the first chapter. There are quite a few twists in the plotting, which is very fast paced and I really like the writing style. I am sure fans of the genre will love the read, especially the unexpected ending. Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.

I've not read any of this series but I didn't feel disadvantaged as the book is easy to read as a stand alone story. The Met police engage the services of Laughton, a Forensic criminologist, when the body of a man is washed up on the banks of the Thames, gruesomely missing his hands and head. There are quite a few coincidences within the story including the link to the tattoo on the body to Laughton's address and also her daughter Grace asking about the father she never knew who then turns up on their doorstep! This didn't detract from the story though that moved at a fast pace as Khan and Laughton endeavour to prevent further murders taking place which they quickly realise relate to a case years ago that Laughton's father investigated. The finale was an eye opener to both Laughton and her daughter and leaves the story neatly set up for a follow on book.