Again, although a page turner, and the author rights English prose well, this is a written-by-numbers formulaic romance thriller, with now three pairs of in-love policemen, two clumsy plot lines, and a penchant for semi-pornographic thrills. I gave 1* to the first in the series, read as a precursor to this, the 14th, which was chosen as a local book club read (now cancelled due to Coronavirus! Sign up to the LJ Ross Book Club to receive the latest book updates and exclusive content directly from LJ. How in the world did a lone female end up running through the middle of the moors on a huge Army training base? now we are a few in, they seem very brief and whilst the plots are still good , I didnt find this as convincing and they are way briefer than they were.

I thoroughly enjoyed the story, the mystery, the friendships, and seeing that the goodness in mankind can overcome anything. Just like Ryan, the author shows compassion for the characters but not because of their race or backstory but because they are human beings (and, in one case, canine). The two storylines had merit but both seem to have been rushed at the end and left me with unanswered questions.

However, I was immediately confused because the soldier in the beginning of the book sounded just like Frank and I didn’t understand what he was doing there.

Matyt, sunku neišsikvėpti tiek kuriant apie tą patį veikėją ir jo tiriamus nusikaltimus, nes būtent tokia man ši knyga pasirodė - šiek tiek suskubėta, šiek tiek "tas pats per tą patį", šiek tiek nuobodi. LJ Ross is an internationally bestselling author, whose books have sold over 7 million copies worldwide. Love all of the characters, the story itself was good but felt quite rushed and lacked the content of other books. Whilst I am delighted that new episodes of DCI Ryan's escapades are coming thick and fast, I do think that perhaps the books are now beginning to suffer. As that symbol turns up at additional sites of vandalism – not just Muslim – but Jewish, black, etc.

They know it is definitely a hate crime, but is it an isolated incident and what does that symbol mean? As the body count rises, Ryan and his team must unravel the mystery behind its meaning - before it's too late. I’ve stuck with them with all except about two but this is just a complete rip-off , it’s more like a short story.

The team is definitely split into different ventures in this book, with Ryan and Phillips working a murder on an Army training base, Lowerson and Yates dealing with a series of hate crimes, and MacKenzie enjoying some off time with her foster daughter, Samantha.She studied undergraduate and postgraduate Law at King’s College, University of London and then abroad in Paris and Florence. The sheer improbability of them all living and working with their partners has become far too cosy, and would not be allowed in real life (I know it’s fiction, but it still jars). It was often hard and unpleasant, but they kept coming back because they remembered one thing: the victim could not speak, but their body was perhaps the greatest clue to finding their killer or, in this case, to understanding how they’d come to find themselves in such a vulnerable position.

As always, nothing is straight forward or without an element of danger and this makes for an exciting, fast-paced read. The elements that drew me to this series are still there – strong sense of place (Northumberland) and well-written main characters (especially the relationship between Ryan and Frank) – but this story lacked focus as the team were all engaged in different directions.As a NZ'er I will never use or acknowledge the name from 15 March 2019, rather I choose to honour the victims and survivors. For those who don’t know the Northumbria county, you get a sense of it through the wonderful descriptive writing.