Trust No One by Clare Donoghue

Trust No One by Clare Donoghue
Buy Trust No One by Clare Donoghue at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Crime
Reviewer: Lesley Mason
Summary: Another page-turning out for DS Jane Bennett who has a suspicious death to deal with as her first case on her return to work. Wives, boyfriends, friends, children all get caught up in a fairly run-of-the-mill investigation which nevertheless holds the attention.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 368	Date: March 2016
Publisher: Pan
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 978-1447284291
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They're an ordinary family, by modern standards. Richard and wife Nicola have split up, but are on reasonably amicable terms. The kids stay over with their Dad often enough. He makes time for them and their friends. Ok, so fourteen year old Harvey is dyslexic and has been diagnosed as having ADHD. He's also got a quick temper. But he's very protective of his little sister, 12-year-old Olive.

The kids are at that age when they start asking the really pertinent questions. The ones parents don't necessarily want to answer.

Richard has finally started dating again.

Then he's dead. In his bed. A peaceful looking corpse by all accounts… but it doesn't take long for it to be clear that this was not a 'natural causes' departure.

DI Lockyer is assigned as Senior Investigating Officer, but in real terms the case is handed to DS Jane Bennett. Bennett is only recently back at work following the harrowing events depicted in No Place To Die and alluded to occasionally in this one as the Hungerford case. True to the genre, Bennett has her family issues to deal with alongside finding a killer. In her case she's currently staying at her parents following the previous events, her father has had a stroke, her son is autistic – and just because life wasn't complicated enough already, her son's absent father has decided to return to the scene.

Donoghue keeps things within the bounds of possibility though. Lockyer seems to have now sorted himself out. To be fair he'd have had to if keeping his job was to be plausible and Bennett juggles things the way many of us do, by focussing on the work and hoping that we get the rest of it more or less right around the edges. Not good, not necessarily right, but fairly authentic I'd say.

In reviewing the previous book I complained that I felt Bennett would manage her un-sorted moments better than Donoghue lets her do. That's been fixed in this outing. She's not superhuman, but is now much more cohesively 'together' which is what I'd expect from someone in her position.

The story is told partially in flashback, with a few interspersed chapters slowly infolding Richard's final few weeks, but mostly it just follows the investigation. It's tautly plotted and moves along at a readable rate. The 'whodunit' was fairly obvious to me quite early, as were clues that might have been expected to pick up earlier than they do, but without a clear whydunit the tension does manage to be sustained. There are sufficient suspects to postulate various scenarios and for once none of the coppers go off down totally unfeasible blind alleys.

Ultimately, that's the only angle that pulls this one down from being a full five-star read: I'm not 100% convinced by the finally revealed motivation.

Nevertheless it's a good solid read, that doesn't need the backstory to be enjoyed, and it's only a matter of time before Lockyer and Bennett make it to the screen.

If you enjoyed this, do track down the previous story No Place to Die or for other female detective work check out the Lacey Flint novels of Sharon Bolton

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You can read more book reviews or buy Trust No One by Clare Donoghue at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Trust No One by Clare Donoghue at Amazon.com.

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