Cutting Ties, a review by Joanna

Regan is still reeling from the events of The Dark Arches and now her situation has become even worse – her flat is a crime scene so she’s had to move in with her sarcastic, bitter mother, and now she’s been forced to take sick leave to recover from her injuries, so she can’t even escape to work. Unsure who she can trust, she is determined not to stop her pursuit of her nemesis, Jonathan Bradshaw. Meanwhile her ex, Richard, is starting to regret the choices he has made, and sees Regan as the answer to his troubles, but is about to learn that leaving the underworld is much harder than joining it…

This series is a spin-off from the author’s Eddie Collins CSI series, but you definitely don’t need to have read those to follow and enjoy this, and Eddie only makes the briefest appearance. While those are more conventional mysteries, but with a very unconventional hero, these books are not whodunnits or police procedurals, and significant parts of the story are told from the point of view of the villains. I don’t want to say too much about the plot, because it could spoil the earlier books, but part of the suspense is in figuring out what hideously venal Bradshaw is up to, after the mass murder he engineered in book two.

This one is also more character focused, where their lives are as miserable as the Yorkshire weather, and almost everyone is scarred by their past. It’s grim and sometimes gory so not for the faint of heart, but for those who’ve enjoyed getting to know Regan so far, there are some shocking twists and reveals that had me wondering how much more the poor lass can take! This does end on a bit of a cliffhanger, so I am anxious to find out what happens next… Thanks to Andy Barrett for the ARC.