4+
Golden boy Max Fitzgerald has been missing since his 21st birthday party on the 1st June 2007. Set for a bright future as an Olympic sailor, his sister Gemma, his parents and best friend Conleth O’Hara, mourn and question where he could be. In the present day, a body floats to the surface of the sea, released from binds of a blue nylon rope and washes up at Drumleck Point, Howth. Post-mortem results reveals Max has been murdered and placed into a watery grave after death. This is the biggest MisPer case of the decade and a massive challenge for the An Garda Síorchana and Detective Garda’s Laura Shaw and Niamh Dormody. Gemma, now married to Conleth, is a successful Instagram influencer known as Gemstone and has a seemingly perfect world which is about to implode in more ways than one. Does Gemma know the truth about what happens to Max all those years ago?

I really like this series and this is another immersive addition. This has a complex multilayered plot as we have Laura and her life with plenty to mull on there, Niamh‘s life takes an interesting direction, there’s the mystery of Max and the subsequent investigation, as well as Gemma‘s current situation. In places it’s heartbreaking and emotional for several different reasons. It’s a suspenseful, twisty and intensely gripping read which is told at a good pace which definitely picks up towards the end, which is very tense and keeps me guessing.

The characters of Laura and Niamh are terrific, they’re very likeable and I love the bond between them. All the characters in this instalment are well crafted and one is the very personification of evil.

Overall, this is another cracking rollercoaster read from Gill Perdue.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Penguin General UK for a much appreciated early copy in return for an honest review.

I’ve loved Gill Perdue’s writing ever since The Interview (aka If I Tell).

Laura and Niamh are one of my favourite cop double acts. Gill Perdue crafts her novels with a sensitivity and humanity rare in crime fiction. This time it’s the a body washed up on the beach, the body of a man last seen eighteen years ago. The man’s sister Gemma is a successful influencer and may be the key to the mystery.

Great character writing and original plotting, as always from Gill Perdue who really deserved to be much better known.

Highly recommended.

Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin General

I really enjoyed the relationship between Niamh and Laura.
It seemed a really solid base for the whole book. Along with the rest of their lives. There was drama there, but they weren't dragging SO much baggage around that it becomes the focus of the whole book.
There were some real cringe inducing moments here for me, both in a horrified way at the way some people were treated, also in the way an influencer was promoted as celebrity friend .
Pace picks up nicely towards the end, I was turning pages so fast.
Great story, hope we see more of these two.