A good detective novel - with the interesting Albanian angle - I thoroughly enjoyed this book,which was one that I was putting off reading precisely because of the Albanian angle, which I didn't think would interest me - but it was a really good story. One slight niggle - I don't like it when the author puts a "spoiler" at the end of the chapter - but at least the next chapter carried straight on. Overall, recommended.

Throughly enjoyed this book. Twists and turns captivated me almost from the outset. I had never read this author before but glad I was given the opportunity to do so. Won’t be the last I’m sure.

What a brilliant book! I generally read at night but I had to stop because it was giving me nightmares! Superstition and crazy events brilliantly told in this fast paced crime thriller. I love how this was spread over 2 countries, especially as I have no connection with one. It allows the fiction of the story take hold. Brilliantly paced, I'm left wanting more. I will definitely be checking out other books by them. An excellent read.

I do think there is a future for the main police character Gillard in other adventures but this one didn’t excite me too much.

Amazing book. Loved it from beginning to end.
Well written which kept me captivated throughout.
I will definitely be reading other books by this author

Two murders 200 miles apart and two children kidnapped. All had links to Albania. DCI Craig Gillard and his team had a very complicated case to solve. They were slowly getting there but to get the children back and find the suspects DCI Gillard had to travel to Albania and enter into a different world with a bent police force and against the Albanian mafia. The case is eventually solved but not with loss if life and some shocks along the way.

Violence, family feuds, darkness- Louth doesn’t disappoint. The ending I did not see coming and was quite shocking.

Really enjoyed this thriller, leaves the reader guessing until the end. Unfortunately events described are all too often true and make you wonder how safe we all are .

This follow up to The Body on the Marsh, puts DCI Gillard in unfamiliar territory, as what appears to be a simple case ends up being connected to not one homicide, but a kidnapping, and all of it involved in something foreign to the police-an Albanian blood feud. As more evidence amounts linking the cases, the crazier the evidence sounds, Gillard and his team have to use their wits on foreign territory, to try to figure out the intricate web of deceit and lies, to come at the truth. But have they in the end? Readers of British police procedurals will love the last few chapters of this book and the surprise ending! I'm hooked on this new series, and you will be too!

An excellent read which kept me enthralled all the way through.
The plot has a good, steady pace with likable characters and plenty of edge of the seat tension (especially in the Albanian scenes!)
The Balkan aspect was interesting (Always good to lean something new) but although that worried me a bit, it only added to the plot. Think Mafia but much more scary.
The twist towards the end really caught me out. It was just on the right side of feasible, especially as I'd spent the last few chapters desperately trying to piece it all together with no luck.
I will look out for others by this author.
Many thanks.

“Well, I wasn’t expecting that”! Not something that can be said of every detective thriller. Two murders many miles apart and two children threatened by a nighttime visitor seem at first to be unconnected but as we immerse ourselves deeper in the investigations we find a deep and ancient link. DCI Craig Gillard plays an excellent role keeping the various detectives motivated and when he ventures overseas, relives a ‘Sound of Music’ style exodus. Fast paced, gritty, grim (don’t read the mortician thread on a full stomach) and well written, I couldn’t put it down.

Straight up, effective and fast-paced police procedural with slightly colourless detective faced with gruesome and inexplicable murder in white color setting of office block .. inextricably set almost across the street from lower class housing ..red herring? We wonder. Eventually the story evolves in important direction involving our detective in international politics and a nightmarish revenge story of a family at war. The authors is very adept at twists and turns .. it's part of a series .. for quick, light satisfying read, this is the one!

I had not read the previous book in this series but wanted to find a new character to buy into and read their story. Unfortunately I don't think this will be the detective for me. Firstly I was a little reluctant to indulge when I started reading to find it was in Surrey initially (I don't like it when detective stories are in the UK normally let alone in my home county. But I wanted to give it a chance and whilst I did enjoy it the investigation jumped around a little too much and seemed more about albanian mafia wars - which is not something I would normally choose read about. The author, Nick Louth has written well and does capture the violence and the crimes well but it just isn't the style I enjoy, I think I just like my detectives American and a little bit gung-ho!

This is an interesting, fast paced concept - two murders and two missing kids in the UK lead DCI Gillard on a journey as both British and Albanian cultures clash.

I liked DCI Gillard and it was refreshing to have a main character who didnt have so much baggage that they dragged down the rest of the story!

I was surprised to learn this was the 2nd in the series as it read well as a stand alone book and I didnt feel like I was missing out by starting at #2 rather than #1!

The only reason for the loss of a star is that I found it annoying that every chapter finished with a question or statement which I think were supposed to give a 'duh duh duuuhh' moment but frankly fell flat each time...

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for an ARC.
I really enjoyed this book. From leafy Surrey suburbs to the desolate Lincolnshire coastline, to the sometimes-beautiful but mostly poor and inhospitable Albania, this is a roller-coaster of a cracking detective story, linking two assassinations in England with continuing blood feuds in the Balkans; in the midst of it all there are two adopted Albanian orphans, caught-up at the centre of this web of intrigue. The characters were all well-formed and the dialogue gives real pace to convey the intensity of the investigation being undertaken by DCI Gillard and his team. There are lots of twists, as well as several shocks which could be termed as 'coming out of left-field'. This is indeed a Thriller - in parts psychological- in parts perhaps bordering on horror.
Nicely and thoughtfully concluded, all things considered, within the story context.

If I have one criticism - and the reason why this gets four, not five stars - is that I cannot forgive 'mental musings' where the Author allows the lead character, especially, to ask himself 'questions'. These 'questions' and 'musings' are what we. as readers, are asking ourselves, and I feel they rather spoil the 'whodunit?' aspect when reading the book - whether those posed questions are red-herrings or not.

This is a real mystery thriller with unexplained murders and plot twists that are inconceivable to the man in the street. It starts with the murder of an architect in his own office in London, but the murder gives the impression of being impossible. Firstly Gillard the detective works out how it was done but then is stumped by who, there are no plausible assassins in the area at the time of the murder. Nick Louth has written a first class murder mystery story that delivers you into a crazy world of blood feuds that just don't belong into today's modern society. Excellent.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the book in exchange for an honest review.
I have never read any books by the author Nick Louth before, but I have enjoyed reading this second book in the DCI Craig Gillard series, that I bought the first book in the series before I was even halfway through this book.
The Body on the Shore was full of intrigue and Albanian blood feuds and was a fascinating read. I particularly enjoyed the character of D C I Craig Gillard and will continue to read more of the books in that series.
Highly recommended.

What at first seemed a pedestrian read in a UK crime procedural took a challenging turn when the thread of Albanian crime gangsters was introduced to the story.
Fascinating, authentic, disturbing...the hunt for kidnapped children in a world of ancient mafia was both interesting and credible.
The writing even stepped up a notch so that the plotline unfolded at a pace and action and style connected.

Wow, what a fantastic book this was to read. Initially I did wonder where it was going as a couple of chapters seemed totally out of place but as you read on, you see why that occurred. Great characters and a fantastic, griping storyline.

A thrilling tale of Albanian blood feuds

Once in a while a book comes along that opens my eyes to a world of which I was totally ignorant, and this is one of them. Nick Louth has cleverly woven the long-standing custom of blood feuds into a modern-day novel. He has also obviously conducted extensive research into Albanian culture and tradition, and I really enjoyed his descriptions of the country and its people.

I find myself drawn to the Balkans and the history that has shaped the lands and the people and would like to visit Albania one day. This being said, I am also a little wary after reading this book, as the violence that surrounds the ongoing custom of blood feuds is quite alarming.

The main character, DCI Craig Gillard, finds himself investigating an assassination in South West London that has no leads, no witnesses, nothing to go on except the murder of Peter Young. A seemingly senseless crime with no motive, he and his team struggle to conduct the investigation amidst mounting pressure from the press and higher authorities.

At the same time, he is asked to help Sophie Lund, someone he met at a county fair and handed over his business card. She had encountered a childlike straw effigy near her home, hanging in the trees, dressed as her adopted daughter and someone was following her au pair as she ferried the children to school and back. As the local force do not seem to take the incidents seriously, she calls DCI Gillard as a last resort.

Another body is discovered on the North Sea coast, and as the story unfolds, all these puzzle pieces are cleverly woven together to reveal the truth. DCI Dillard has to travel to Albania to uncover the truth, and he learns that blood feuds are not the stuff of old stories but a genuine part of Albanian custom to this very day.

I admit that I had no knowledge of the intensity of blood feuds and that the feuds continue across many generations.

A thoroughly entertaining read with many twists and turns.

Gillian

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review