Cold Reckoning by Russ Thomas

Cold Reckoning by Russ Thomas
Buy Cold Reckoning by Russ Thomas at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Crime
Reviewer: Sue Magee
Summary: It's the third book in the series but would read well as a standalone. A very good, commanding read and highly recommended.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 464	Date: May 2022
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 978-1398507500
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DS Adam Tyler never believed that his father committed suicide and for the last sixteen years he's been searching for evidence to prove that he's right. When a frozen body was found in Damflask Reservoir, there was a link back to a cold case from 2002. There didn't immediately seem to be any connection with DI Richard Tyler's death but Adam Tyler senses a link to the case his father was investigating before he died. Above all there's a growing sense that the criminality of Det Supt Stevens is going to be brought out into the open. Perhaps Tyler is going to get the answers he needs?

Edith Darke is only fifteen-years-old but her life is far from easy. She's the carer for her mother Melanie and is at her beck and call. She doesn't quite suspect that Melanie is not as ill as she makes out – and she does love her dearly. Life at school is no easier: she's the target of a bullying campaign led by Alice Clitherow. Right now, it's worse than usual: not the everyday cruelty she's used to. Edith's life is one of regular rebukes, tellings-off and vicious jibes. Her escape is a walk – usually between four and five-0'clock in the morning out onto the moorland which surrounds Sheffield. On this particular morning, she hears gunshots and as she nears the old boathouse she's seen by a man. She notices his cruel eyes and then he chases her.

So far as the police are concerned, they have one case which is more problematic than the rest: one of their own is missing. It's three weeks since DCI Diane Jordan disappeared and there's been no sighting of her since. It's a difficult situation for Adam Tyler: Jordan is his godmother and he knows that he owes her everything. Now, he just has to find her and he knows that time is running out.

The book would read well as a standalone but if you're a regular reader of the series you'll recognise some old friends. DC Amina Rabbani is growing in confidence and rapidly becoming my favourite character in the books. She's now got the courage and presence of mind to challenge Tyler and DI Jim Doggett when she thinks that they're holding something back from her. They usually are.

The location is Sheffield and whilst it doesn't come across as strongly in this book as in the earlier novels, it's definitely a presence. The plot is up to Russ Thomas's usually standard: it's a cracker. There were twists I definitely didn't see coming – right up to the final page. I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag. It was a real treat.

DS Adam Tyler can be strange. So can DS George Cross.

Russ Thomas's DS Adam Tyler series in chronological order

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