Critical Incidents by Lucie Whitehouse

Critical Incidents by Lucie Whitehouse
Buy Critical Incidents by Lucie Whitehouse at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Crime
Reviewer: Sue Magee
Summary: It's the first book in a grand new series and what a start! I loved it from beginning to end and I can't wait for the next book in the series. Highly recommended.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 400/8h6m	Date: April 2019
Publisher: Fourth Estate
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 978-0008268992
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When you reach a certain stage in life the phrase 'going home' when it refers to your childhood home is best if it means a short and hopefully harmonious visit. The woman who used to be DCI Robin Lyons, but was now just Robin Lyons, went home with her thirteen-year-old daughter after she was dismissed from the Met. She was going home to the room which she'd had as a child: she would have the bottom bunk and Elena - Lennie to those who knew her well - would have the top bunk. The room was redolent of the time she'd shared the room with her brother Luke - and they weren't good memories.

Her mother - Christine - did her best, but she was still her mother and thought she should act as such. Her father, Dennis, was more understanding - he was ever the peacemaker. The job with MH Investigation Services at least got her out of the house. Maggie Hammond was a friend of her mother, so there was a bit of 'doing a favour' to it, but even chasing benefit fraud suspects was better than sitting in her parents' home all day and it brought some money in, albeit much less than she was used to. Then Becca was reported missing by her mother. Valerie had been to the police, but they didn't seem overly concerned as Becca was an adult. The trouble is that Michael Sams, kidnapper and murderer, and Fred and Rose West were reasonably local and thoughts tended to jump to the awful possibilities.

Oh, but this was a cracking read. I was confident that I was in safe hands by the time I was at the bottom of the first page, and by the end of the first chapter I knew that the book would have to be wrestled from my hands if I was to put it down before I found out what happened. I read it in less than twenty-four hours, delighted to find that it was the first in a new series and only disappointed that there wasn't another book in the series to pick up. Why? Well, the plot is excellent with plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing, but it's completely unforced. I felt as though a good friend was telling me a story - and towards the end I was urging her to tell it a little faster! It was all completely believable.

The writing is classy. Do you need to know any more about this young lady:

Cheap black trousers, slightly scuffed high heels - career-dressing on a budget.

Or on the feeling of having to return to your parents' home when you're in your thirties:

The powerlessness - the complete, stifling powerlessness.

I loved the book. It was a delight to find a new author and best of all that it was the start of a new series. I'd like to thank the publishers for letting Bookbag have a review copy.

If you're looking for something of equal quality, have a look at what Dr Ruth Galloway has been getting up to.

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