Oops! I hadn’t realised I had this one on my kindle from NG. Talk about late! Maybe I can stir up some interest on this book again.

It’s from a series DI Zigic and DS Ferreira) and this is book #4.

On a well known route where the public community walk their dogs, use it for a ‘way through’ walkway chatting on their phones or texting, stopping for an “hello” “good morning” type of thing…..a body is discovered face down.

Is this another trans gender killed by this serial killer?

I thought that the author Eva Dolan did a wonderful job with this and the subject matter.
I only knew the basics of trans and how they identify themselves but I’ve learnt how hard, how difficult people can make other peoples lives and the amount of prejudices out there when someone’s lives are different than our own.

This was a well written and sometimes a draining emotional read, and I thought I knew how this was going to pan out. I was wrong.

I’m glad I chose to read this. I’ve not read a DI book for quite a while so I read this with a fresh open brain and eyes!

If you like an intense thought provoking g read, this DI case is very good.

This is a brilliant fourth book from one of my favourite writers I have yet to meet; it continues with the focus on DI Zigic, a Serbian and DS Ferreira of Portuguese heritage working in Peterborough in the Hate Crimes Unit.
The subject is a bold one and the writing never falls short in delivering on plot that is not just contemporary but is a potential minefield within the LGBT community. Even this label used to represent those within an area where oppression and discrimination continue in our 21st century, pc co-operative nation isn't universally accepted as being fully inclusive.
The author here looks at men who like to dress as women and fall into the transgender category; it isn't an apology or an explanation, rather it is about crimes like in previous books where hatred and fear of minorities or people who are different seems to be the motivation behind attacks and assaults.
This novel starts with the background of serious sexual assaults on women where no DNA is left and other evidence fails to allow a case to be built against their main suspect. When another female goes running one morning her attack appears to have gone further as it becomes a murder investigation. The case is passed over to Zigic's team when the victim is found to be a man transitioning. The life of her family relationships is quickly revealed to be very complicated; leaving behind friends and children from a marriage that hasn't ended in divorce. Stereotypes are addressed and unpicked as different suspects see the victim as either Colin or Corrine and use him or her to describe them. It goes further as both identities seem to prefer women to men even as Corrine.
You may find my review difficult to follow but the book never strays from a comprehensive and believable plot. The book raises the suspicion others in this community hold towards the police and the secrets they have learned to keep. This is played out with other men who have been targeted in the past for their sexual identity and the pressures hidden lives places on their wider social life and employment.
The beauty of Eva's writing is that it remains fresh, challenging but never judgemental even where characters in the book struggle with some of the issues readers may hold.
It is a very real topic and helps one understand better some of the wider issues. I set the novel aside for about 5 months. It isn't always an easy read and I wanted to come at it again with fresh eyes to ensure it was read as a crime thriller. Finishing the book in the last few days I have managed to see the story clearly and I have even greater respect for the writer's ability not to duck issues and cover the various incidents such a unit would have to investigate.
From the advance new of her latest novel it appears she has set aside this engaging series and there may be some freedom for the author to write from a different premise. I can only imagin how draining such writing may be weave into a story where so much anger and hatred is focused and the cause for such serious crimes.
Please check out this series it is quite unique in terms of its remit and they are wonderfully crafted.

This is the 4th book in the series, and the writing just gets better and better. I enjoyed the book and will try to read more of the author in future.

Eva Dolan has fast become a leading light among a new generation of British crime writers, combining tense police procedurals with quality writing, a fascinating detective duo, and crime tales threaded with up-to-the-minute social issues. Centred on Zigic and Ferreira and their Hate Crimes Unit, Dolan's series can be confronting, and is quite superb.

There are many things to like about Dolan's writing. One that stands out for me is a real sense of authenticity. Not just in terms of the details of a police investigation, but much deeper than that. There's a realness to the difficult subjects addressed in her books, the emotions of the characters, the varying opinions - the very human aspects of a crime for police, victims, families, witnesses, and others who identify with or fight for the vulnerable and abused. An emotional authenticity.

There's humanity amongst the dark deeds, a humanity in all its variances, good and bad.

The early books in the series dealt with discrimination and hatred towards migrants, and last year's excellent After You Die touched on bullying of those with disabilities. In Watch Her Disappear, Zigic and Ferreira are each battling challenges on the personal and professional front, when they're called to a killing in a local park that may or may not be a hate crime. The victim is a trans woman who was attacked when she was out jogging. Is this the escalating handiwork of a serial rapist police have been hunting, or was Corinne Sawyer targeted because of who she was?

Zigic and Ferreira have to tread carefully while trying to uncover the truth and catch a killer. Tensions are high: from fault lines in the victim's family, to fractures among the investigative team, to white-hot media scrutiny focusing on police failures to properly address crimes against trans people.

This is a beautifully rendered murder mystery with a thoroughly modern feel. Dolan not only delivers a tense page-turner, she provokes thought and tears at the beliefs of the characters (and readers). Shades of grey abound. The victim is neither the 'total innocent' pulling at our heartstrings of much modern crime, nor the 'hated by all' target of classic Golden Age. Instead, Corinne is a complicated person, who evokes similarly complex reactions in the reader. She, like all the characters, is wonderfully human. Flawed, different things to different people, capable of love and selfishness.

This is the kind of crime novel you can read and enjoy as just a cracking good page-turner, but it also offers up something more to readers who are fascinated by the complexities of human psychology and the melting pot of modern life. Top shelf crime fiction from a fresh and exciting voice.

Watch Her Disappear is a fascinating novel, dealing as Dolan’s stories do with social issues, prejudice and hatred. The quality of writing is, as always, excellent and deals well with sensitive issues such as transphobia. Eva manages to write about it perceptively without sensationalising the issues, despite focusing as it does on murder..

Brave subject and it works really well. You feel sympathy for the characters and yet feel the bigotry and anger searing off the pages. A chilling read yet a story of love.

One morning the body of a woman is found at a local beauty spot, strangled to death. However it is not as it seems because the woman, Corinne, was formerly known as Colin and was transitioning from male to female. The Peterborough Hate Crimes Unit is called in to investigate and uncovers two separate lines of enquiry. Was Corinne's murder something to do with her complex relationships with family? Was it related to a series of local rapes? Or was it related to a spate of attacks on trans individuals? Each line of enquiry has possibilities and each plus the team in different directions. However when a transgender victim commits suicide and blames the police for hounding her, Detectives Zidig and Ferreira realise that the very existence of the unit is endangered.

This is the fourth in a series of novels by Dolan but is the first that I have read. There is a certain degree of expectation that readers know something of the backstory of the protagonists but not so much that it makes the book impenetrable. Dolan has a lot of fans and I can see why. The plot is tight and keeps the reader guessing with 'red herrings' and suspects who lead in a different direction. The whole premise of attacks against the transgender community is handled sensitively and is topical without seeming sensationalist. Although on the surface a standard police procedural this book is so much more and all the better for it.

This is the new book in the Zigic and Ferreira series and although I've only read one of the others- this is easily read as a standalone. It is well crafted and builds on the suspense as y0u get further into the book so that you are keen to keep turning the pages and find out who is behind the crimes. The Hate crime unit are called in when a transgender woman is found murdered. There have been a series of violent rapes and they have to discover whether it is all related.

You are introduced to the issues that the transgender women are facing and why some of them have difficulty coming forward to report the crimes. They want to protect these women- but keep facing opposition from family members wanting to keep secrets.

I was so drawn into this book that I was sorry to come to the end- the sign of a great book.

Eva Dolan's police procedural series set in Peterborough featuring Zigic and Ferreira is one of the best things on the current British crime fiction scene. The characterisation is sharp, the plots are meaty and the books capture the social issues that surround lives these days. In Watch Her Disappear, the book opens with a murder: a body is found in a spot popular with local runners. Despite the fact that a serial rapist has been operating locally the crime is allocated to DI Zigic and DS Ferreira of the Hate Crimes squad. The reason for this becomes clear when they reach the scene, though, the victim, Corinne Sawyer was born Colin Sawyer. Is the crime the result of a sexual assault that has escalated, or is there a more personal motive?

As the case unfolds the detectives explore the world of the transgender community as well as the family and friends of the victim. By setting her detectives within the framework of a Hate Crimes unit, Dolan investigates current attitudes towards difference and the values placed on communities deftly.

This is a well crafted, enjoyable and again thought-provoking read, and I'm very fond of the character of Mel Ferreira, who has been through a lot in the course of duty in the books so far!

The fourth book in the DI Zigic and DS Ferreira series and it was great to pick up with the Hate Crimes Unit again. This story set amongst the LGBT community was quite intense with characters who felt very real to me and a plot that could be sadly happening all over the world today.

Normally with any crime novel I'm constantly trying to work out who committed the crime, but with this book I forgot about that focusing instead on the characters and the intricacies of the plot.
Once again I felt as if I'd been 'a fly on the wall' of Hate Crimes Unit and am a little bit sad that I've finished the book. This is one my of favourite police procedural series and I thoroughly recommend it to anyone to likes this genre.
Thanks so much to NetGalley, Random House, Vintage Publishing for my digital copy in exchange for a review.

This is the 4th Zigic and Ferreira novel, books which focus on cases dealt with by the Hate Crimes Unit in Peterborough. While Zigic is concerned with the impact that a new baby is having on his sleeping patterns, Ferreira is avoiding unnecessary personal intimacy by having casual sex with someone she should know better than to be with. But these personal issues serve to give depth and characterisation to two already well fleshed out detectives, whose personalities and approach to the job have been developing with every book.

The crime this time is against a transgender woman, found murdered on a lonely path. Is this the culmination of a series of attacks on trans women? Or is the answer to be found in the murdered woman’s personal life? For DI Zigic and DS Ferreira gaining the trust of the transgender community is essential, but they are battling against distrust of the police, antediluvian attitudes within the force and prejudice on all fronts.

Always an intelligent writer, Dolan's work flows impressively. Her characters are entirely believeable, her plotting flawless and her writing is exceptional.

I loved reading this because the characters were both plausible and engaging. The plot is riveting and the denouement completely true to the book.

Dolan is a writer of great talent. Any new book from her should be snapped up straight away.

Watch Her Disappear takes a difficult and sensitive subject and tackles it with honesty and searing authenticity.
In this latest case Ferreira are called to an unusual murder, that of tran woman Corrinne formally Colin. Was she the victim of a hate crime or a serial rapist?

I am a big fan of Eva Dolan and her latest offering does not disappoint. Highly recommended to anyone!

Eva Dolan for me writes a very unique brand of crime fiction. It’s gritty and very hard hitting yes, but it manages to include some of the most marginalised people in our society in a way we start to understand them in new ways. Some writers would be afraid to look at how transgender people are treated - but not Eva - and kudos to her for that. The uncomfortable nature of these issues and the way Eva writes about it in the cold light of day make for some really heartbreaking and gripping reading.

Characters are fleshed out..plots are picked and primed, the time and place are evoked with panache. The issues dealt with in modern society are new and ones which continue to grow, and putting them at the heart of a gripping drama does bring them into the spotlight.

No worries about Eva standing on her soapbox either - this isn’t a social conscience kind of novel but one which rather shows society as it is - no matter how unflattering the light and angle.

Corrinne is a very memorable character for many reasons. Eva Dolan is a memorable author too. She writes with a scalpel and cuts open the very worst scars of society.

Watch Her Disappear, the fourth in the DI Zigic and DS Ferreira series, is another great Detective novel by Eva Dolan She's an author I've only read one other book by (After You Die) so far, which I also hugely enjoyed!

DS Ferreira is back, and still a really cool character - strong, opinionated and fiery - which makes you want to read more about her and her working relationship with Detective Inspector Zigic, who I also really like. Together they make a great team heading up Peterborough's Hate Crimes unit, and it's quite refreshing to read a crime novel that isn't strictly set in the CID department, but instead Hate Crimes, and in my home city of Peterborough (strange to read about murders and such in Ferry Meadows, somewhere I used to go a lot when I lived in Peterborough!)

I found the subject matter really interesting, and learning more about men or women transitioning to a different gender. It's not something I personally know a huge amount about, but from reading Watch Her Disappear it feels like the author has done her research, and presented it all in a convincing, reasoned way. She has approached a difficult subject really well, in my opinion; it's just a shame more people (such as some of those in the novel) don't treat the subject with a bit more compassion and understanding.

There's plenty of shocking moments and grit in this novel, but it never feels superfluous or overexaggerated, and I like her writing style. The characters involved - for example Corrinne and Nina - aren't black and white 'good' or 'bad', and the narrative really makes you think about whether someone is as bad as they're made out to be, or whether someone else (who everyone might put on a pedestal) might be at fault too. I really hate when characters are oversimplified - it makes me feel insulted as a reader, but I know I'm never in danger of feeling like that with a well-written crime novel - and this certainly falls into that category!

I am so pleased that Watch Her Disappear is as well written and intriguing as After You Die, with twists and turns leading the reader skillfully to the final conclusion, and I certainly will be reading more by Eva Dolan!

I am ashamed to say that I think I have another of Eva Dolan's novels on my bookcase(s) of doom. Judging by Watch Her Disappear, they'll obviously be ones that appealed, but have for whatever reason fallen into the endless circle that is the TBR pile. Equally obviously, I shall now have to hunt them down.

So this being my first introduction to Zigic and Ferreira you might think I'd be running behind on who's who and the nuances long-standing characters have, but I honestly had no problems. I mean obviously there are references and relationships that I was a little unsure of, but absolutely nothing that caused me any concern or in any way spoilt the book. Thus, if like me you've not read the previous novels in the series, don't let that in any way put you off - this one only serves to make you want to read the rest pretty quickly.

I did like both the characters, finding them interesting and with enough depth that I cared about them. The other side characters held the same interest, if not always the same level of likeability, through characteristics rather than writing style I should add.

And as for the storyline; well it had me hooked that's for sure. The murder of Corrine remained pretty much of a mystery throughout, and the dual plot of the numerous attacks gave an added depth to the novel as a whole. It is certainly sufficiently meaty to keep any reader captivated and enthralled.

I'm pretty sure that there is so much more I could tell you about Watch Her Disappear, but I'm afraid that thanks to a spectacular head cold, I'm going to simply say - Please buy this and read it - you definitely won't be disappointed.