A complicated story of murder, duplicity, corruption, bigamy, drug dealing, secrets and lies interspersed with family, grief and humour.

Fantastic book! Kept me hooked from first page. Twists and turns every which way, just as you think you know where this is going it changes again. Well written and look forward to further books from D H Michaels

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

This started out well; Annie was a likeable character and, despite the obligatory tragic backstory, mostly got on with being a competent DI. The multiple viewpoints and narratives slowed things down though. Each chapter was fairly short, so just as you were getting invested in a storyline, the novel switched to someone else and to a completely different narrative. Eventually they started to converge, but for a while it was like switching between three different stories. The male perspectives were a little unconvincing: Danny's grammar came and went and Martin used such detailed language to describe Sarah's clothes at one point that I thought his familiarity with such terms was a clue!

There were a couple of twists in the middle which were clever, but after that it went downhill for me. I was ready for it to be over long before it was. At one point I was so bored with the focus on each and every prison buddy of each character who had had a brush with the law and how they interconnected that I almost gave up. The last third of the story included enough plotlines for a couple more novels - it was exhausting.

I loved this! Annie Parker is a woman after my own heart.

This book was full of twists and turns and kept me highly entertained while reading it

I would like to thank Netgalley and Aria for an advance copy of Dead and Gone, the first novel to feature DI Annie Parker of the East Midlands Historical Crime Unit.

Annie is out shopping when she recognises a well known villain, Colin Richardson, and chases him him in her car. Richardson escapes but drug dealer Andy Ellison is found tied up in the boot of his car. In return for leniency Ellison promises to tell them about the murder of teenager Ashley Crewe 25 years ago but unfortunately dies before he can reveal the detail. Annie teams up with old friend DI Charlie York, now with the National Crime Agency, as his hunt for Colin Richardson overlaps with her investigation into Ashley Crewe's disappearance.

Wow! What a read. I was initially a bit sceptical of the plot and put off by the format of this novel but despite this unpromising start it soon had me glued to the pages and I literally couldn't put it down, staying up way too late to finish it in a marathon (it is quite long) one sitting read. The coincidental escape of Richardson and death of Ellison before handing over vital information do seem clichéd but the novel soon morphs into something different with twist upon stunning twist, none of which I saw coming and I can only doff my hat to the author's ingenuity and ability to pull it off. It is a masterclass in bamboozling, shocking and surprising the reader.

The format, first person narrative from various points of view, is one that I don't really like and as such gets the novel off to a slow start but I soon came to welcome the different perspectives on the same events and feel it adds a richness to the overall narrative. The novel is told alternatively by Annie, Paula, her husband Danny, Sarah and her husband Martin. The slow start comes from the author introducing all these characters and the reader trying to work out how they all fit in. There is some dependence on coincidence and some baffling decisions by the characters but it makes for an excellent read and I found my eyes out on stalks at some of the twists.

Annie Parker is an excellent protagonist and I'm looking forward to her next case already. She is a 44 year old widow and grandmother who does her best to juggle home and work life. A tenacious and smart investigator on the job she feels a bit overwhelmed at home with her family leaning on her for support.

Dead and Gone is an excellent read which I have no hesitation in recommending.