[[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]]
We're in Stoke on Trent. A group of young women who study at Dunwood Academy are running the cross-country course. One of them - Lauren Ansell - stops behind to tie her shoelace and is murdered, to the shock and devastation of her friends. Twins Courtney and Caitlin Piggott, Sophie Bishop and Teagan Cole cling together for support - or do do as much as they can given that their parents are understandably reluctant to let them out of their sight. One of the parents is journalist Simon Cole, boyfriend of DS Grace Allendale, who is charged with investigating the murder under the guidance of DI Nick Carter. It's a struggle to keep their professional lives separate. [[Tick Tock by Mel Sherratt|Full Review]]
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Two boys, Ben and Fab, are growing up in a small town in Northern Australia in the late 80's. They do all the normal things that boys of that age do - go yabbying (fishing), play cricket, fight their battles at school and think about girls. Their family lives are different; Ben comes from a happy home, whilst Fab is the son of Italian immigrants who clearly have little money, and has a father who is very violent. Yet despite their differences, they are fiercely loyal to each other. So far, so normal. But with the arrival of a new neighbour for Ben, a man called Ronnie, things begin to change. Ronnie wants Ben to come over to do some odd jobs for him, and both Ben and Fab are increasingly uncomfortable about this. [[Into the River by Mark Brandi|Full Review]]
[[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]]
Chloe Emery might have been eighteen, but she wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, as the saying goes. So when she came home from staying with her father and his new family earlier than she was expected, she didn't immediately notice the state of the house. It was when a neighbour arrived that they realised that the house was the site of a brutal attack and that her mother was missing. It's not long before DS Maeve Kerrigan and the murder investigation team decide that this is a case of murder, despite the lack of a body. Kerrigan's determined to get Chloe to talk, but it's impossible. [[Let the Dead Speak by Jane Casey|Full Review]]