Published By: Michael Joseph
Pages: 368
Released On: 27/03/2025
When Nicola Bridge moves back to Dorset after years as a CID detective in the big city, the last thing she expects is for the picturesque village of Fleetcombe to become a grisly crime scene.
Jim Tiernan, landlord of the White Hart pub, has been found dead, the body staged with macabre relish on an isolated country road. As soon as she starts asking questions, Nicola realises everyone in the village has something to hide.
Frankie, the hairdresser who isn’t a skilled enough actor to conceal they’re lying about the night of the murder.
Eddie, the delivery driver whose heart starts racing every time he drives past the crime scene.
Deakins, the embittered farmer still living in the shadow of a supposedly murderous ancestor.
And even the little girl, hidden at the top of the playground slide, who’s watching them all.
Whispers. Rumours. Lies. But Nicola knows that somewhere among them, a killer is hiding in plain sight. Because sometimes the smallest villages hide the darkest secrets…
*****
Thanks to NetGalley and Michael Joseph for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
I absolutely loved Broadchurch and I am a proper nerdy Doctor Who fan, and so when the chance to read Chris’ debut novel came up, I jumped at it.
There are quite a lot of characters and threads and substories, which concerned me at first, that maybe I’d find it too much and confusing, but I hardly noticed it. They were all very interesting and well written and completely encompassing. It also provides us with lots of suspects and red herrings.
Nicola is our main character, our main investigator and I liked her. There’s clearly some turmoil going on in her personal life and she’s trying to balance an incredibly demanding job with a demanding family, and she’s not perfect at all, and that was really endearing. I really liked her. There are a lot of other characters – police, family, friends, strangers, enemies – and they’re all so well written and so distinctive that they really own their place in the novel.
There’s so much depth to it. And I don’t just mean in regards to suspects. But in terms of family history, relationships, money issues, traditions, rituals, myths, identity. It’s got so much in it but at no point does it feel like too much. It’s the very definition of unputdownable. I really couldn’t tear myself away and it just sped by.
I actually felt like I was part of this community by the end, and so felt a real sense of satisfaction and relief when the whodunnit was revealed.
It’s surprisingly really good. I don’t know why I’m surprised really, but sometimes just because you’re good at writing for screen doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be the same for novels. But Chris has. And I could definitely see this being adapted into a hit TV series.
I hope this is a success for him and in turn I hope he writes more. Whether it could be a series with Nicola as a detective throughout, or whether it’ll just be other crime novels, I for one will definitely be seeking them out.
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