I really enjoyed catching up with Ridpath and co in the second book of the series and look forward to the next one. Plenty of twists and turns to keep me enthralled. Would definitely recommend this this novel. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to review it.

This is a new author for me so wasn't sure what to expect. I enjoyed the story but I didn't realise it was the second book in a series and I wish I had read the first book first to get a bit of background on the characters, especially DI Ridpath who seems a very interesting character! It was a fast paced storyline but it had a lot of twists and turns that made me dizzy at times. I will definitely look to read the first book in the series now. All in all a great read and I just love discovering a great new author.

Really enjoyed catching up with this bunch of characters. Fast paced police thriller, gang warfare and old feuds. Great stuff,more please.

This is the second book in the series with D I Ridpath and what an excellent book.

I must say I hadn’t a clue who was behind it all and why and we are left wondering why no one saw the naked man and gunman on the motorway, only Ridpath and no-one believed him.

As the story moves forward, I was getting more and more concerned about Ridpaths health and whether his cancer had returned. He is not a well man and the constant pressure to do his job and find the murderer is crushing him.

This coupled with his wife and daughter and the fact that they are estranged leaves poor old Ridpath in a dilemma. What does he do? I hope there’s another book that will let us know.

There are some new characters in this book and I must say I thoroughly enjoyed it, and of course, coming from Manchester it was all familiar to me.

My thanks to Netgalley, the author and publishers for the ARC.

It really shouldn't have happened. DI Ridpath, conscious that his relationship with his wife and child is hanging by a thread, is off to collect them at his mother-in-law's house for an evening out. Traffic was heavy on the M60 (a match at Old Trafford wasn't helping) but it was moving steadily. Then a man wearing only a pair of blue boxers dashed out into the traffic, briefly put his hands on Ridpath's car then ran into the path of an articulated lorry. The driver had no chance of stopping and the naked man was killed instantly. Glancing to the hard shoulder Ridpath glimpsed a man with a gun. This was now a crime scene and the resulting seventeen-mile tail back of traffic would be the least of Ridpath's worries, although no one would let him forget about it in a hurry.

Ridpath's in a strange position. Technically he's part of the Major Incident Team, but he's not that long back from extended sick leave and he's been sidelined into a job as Coroner's Officer. Only Ridpath is incapable of looking the other way, of restricting himself to what will pass muster, serve his current job and leave the rest be. He's the only one who's seen the gunman on the M60 but he's not going to let anyone suggest that perhaps, just perhaps he was mistaken.

There's a new head of the Major Incident Team - Claire Trent. She's immaculate and well groomed but she knows her job, although DCI Charlie Whitworth can't see that it's right. He was expecting to get the job. It's not the fact that Trent is a woman - he's not a misogynist, for heaven's sake. He puts a lot of value on the women in the job: he doesn't know how he'd manage without Christie who's on the support staff.

It's a good story. Manchester comes gloriously to life, including the bits the mayor and his cohorts would prefer that you didn't see. You get a real sense of what it's like trying to police a city that diverse and with a gang culture which is constantly on the verge of bubbling over into open warfare. M J Lee does an excellent job of bringing it to life and making it realistic. Characterisation is good too: even relatively minor characters come off the page well.

It's the plot you want to know about though, isn't it? It's good and not at all predictable. I had my own views as to who the wrong 'un was but got it completely wrong. This story is completely wrapped up, but it ends on one helluva cliffhanger. If you enjoy this book you will have to read the next in the series.

I'd like to thank the publishers for making a review copy available to the Bookbag. Where the Dead Fall reads perfectly well as a standalone, but you'll have a better feel for the characters if you read the first book in the series.

I had very mixed feelings on reading this book. The story was compelling, and different from the usual run of police procedurals. However, the book was let down by a number of irritations. The major irritation was that the characters were cliched and rather unbelievable. A policeman with a failed marriage and drink problems. An assertive female boss. A frumpy clerk with thick glasses.. A precocious pathologist (and who in the real world would ever say "I remain your obedient servant" even as a joke?) There are a number of spelling mistakes (hearby for hereby was especially annoying, as were the rogue apostrophes) and the phrase "so help me God" is never heard in any English court. With a bit more polishing this could be a great page-turner, but I felt that it just needed more polish.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read book two of this brilliant series

ridpath still recovering from his brush with cancer is still working for the coroner...even though his heart is back at the station with his colleagues....

on the way home a man runs out into the path of his car...how he managed to not get hit but no sooner as ridpath stopped the car he sees a man out of the corner of his eye with a gun...the near naked man in front of his car looks and then begins to run but is hit by an artic lorry and dies.....

and so begins a brilliant story of how ridpath brings to halt a busy motorway lane and becomes popular with several counties...he is considered a laughing stock until the post mortem is done and the dead man is identified....

its then a race against time

what a story...i am loving this author and how he writes...cant wait for the next one in this series

A sequel to the previous Redpath book, and what a great series. I enjoyed this one as much as the first and the other works by the author that I have read, his superb Inspector Danilov series.

Excellent plot and great characters, I recommend it to fans of detective fiction, as well as the auhtors other books too! You know you'll get a good read from MJ Lee, and this one is no different.

Thank you NetGalley and Canelo for this arc.

This is the 2nd in the DI Ridpath series and even better than the 1st. I didn't notice any of the obvious plot contrivances and implausibilities that I found in the earlier book. This also had a nice twisty, twisty plot. It started off a little slow with 3 seemingly disparate death investigations, one of which Ridpath shouldn't have even been involved with, except he was the main witness. Poor Ridpath didn't seem to know who was his primary boss in this one and kept bobbling between the Coroner's office, the DCI of the MIT and his former MIT supervisor ( who was trying to run around the DCI). So the same office politics and gamesmanship as before, just some different positions. The pace did accelerate with seemingly disparate death # 4 and Ridpath kicked into high gear in his investigations.

I was a little frustrated with the "cliff-hanger" ending however and am waiting on the next book (I hope) to see how that resolves.

Before I read this I read the first one and I'm glad I did, I got to know Ridpath and his colleagues. I actually preferred this book and was racing through it to find out how they'd tie all the murders together. It's also left me hoping there's another but at the same time that may mean his marriage is over so I don't want that.

This is the second instalment for DI Ridpath, after recovering from cancer and moved from Manchester MIT unit to the coroners office also his wife and daughter leaving him, Ridpath was really not doing very well.
On a evening drive home to see his daughter Ridpath was driving along the M60 a semi naked man ran out in front of him, he managed to stop in time but the man was hit in the next lane by a lorry and was killed instantly.
This book has so many twists and turns that will leave your head spinning.

I was fortunate enough to read the first book in this series and was very impressed with the characters and storyline. So I was rather ecstatic when I saw the second book in the series listed. I was very happy to see that M J Lee had been given another opportunity and was even more happy that I was given the chance to read this one too. Sometimes the second book in a series can be a bit of a let down after the first, especially if the first one is really good, like this one was. However, Where the Dead Fall was just as good, if not better, than the first book! I don’t think I’ve ever read a book where the main character is a Coroner’s Officer and DI Ridpath is just so interesting. He loves his job so much he will literally nearly kill himself doing it. That’s dedication for you.

Great read - bravo Mr Lee.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Canelo for an advance copy of Where the Dead Fall, the second novel to feature Manchester based DI Ridpath.

On his way back from a training course Ridpath is forced to brake suddenly by the appearance of a young man running across the motorway, only for him to be hit by a lorry who couldn’t stop. Ridpath believes he saw a gunman chasing the young man and shuts down the motorway as a crime scene. Unfortunately this causes a gridlock and calls Ridpath’s judgement into question as no one else saw the gunman.

I thoroughly enjoyed Where the Dead Fall which is a compulsive read, full of twists and turns as the bodies pile up. It is Ridpath’s story as he struggles with the politics of policing and his own personal problems but it also gives the perspective of other detectives and the killer. This latter is intriguing as they are mission driven but there are no hints as to the mission until very late in the novel. I like the pace of the novel which is brisk and fast moving with few dull moments and an ever changing landscape. The novel is interesting when it comes to the politics of policing. It seems to be every man for himself (or woman) so I particularly enjoyed the politics in the motorway shutdown scene. The new head of MIT, Claire Trent, constructs her own narrative which conveniently puts all the blame on Ridpath until it can’t. It seems very realistic to me.

Ridpath is a good protagonist with an interesting quirk (it wouldn’t be crime fiction without a hook for the protagonist). He is a smart detective with good instincts and was a rising star in MIT until he got cancer. Now in remission he was transferred to the Coroner’s office as a way of easing him back into work. Well, that was the plan but he’s still investigating, often on his own as Trent isn’t particularly receptive to his theories. He also has marital problems, mostly related to his commitment to work and inability to look after his health.

Where the Dead Fall is a good read which I have no hesitation in recommending.

DI Ridpath is back but still not back in the job he loves. Although now seconded to the Coroners Office he still manages to get involved in a major crime investigation. When a semi-naked man runs onto the motorway in front of his car before stepping in front of a lorry, Ridpath cannot accept that it was a suicide - particularly as Ridpath had spotted a gunman on the embankment only seconds before.

Fast paced and dramatic this is a crime series that I am reall6 starting to love.

A well balanced book. There is enough about the detectives - and other professionals - to make them human, but you're not swamped with their personal lives, which detracts from the story. DI Ridpath is still attached to the coroner's office rather than the Major Incident Unit after his sick leave for cancer. Again he provides the link in helping solve crimes where knowledge of the coroner's office and police work is useful.

The second installement of of DI Ridpath in the coroner's office and it is as strong as the first.

Two good opening chapters that really captured my attention. It held my attention and I picked it up at every opportunity. We get a good sense of who DI Ridpath is just in time for him to almost run over a man naked, except for his boxers, in the middle of the M60 motorway.

Where the Dead Fall is a police procedural and it does get a bit procedural at times. Plenty of jargon, not just police but coroner's for good measure. No idea how accurate it all is but the story kept me hooked and, to me, it read as if MJ Lee had done the research.

Who is the gunman (only seen by Ridpath) chasing the under-clothed victim, who were his captors and why do they want to start a gang war? All is revealed as Ridpath and his colleagues painstakingly assemble the pieces of the jigsaw.

A good cliffhanger at the end and I'd be interested to read the next installment.

ARC courtesy Netgalley.

Very gripping thriller with a realistic storyline. Could well be a true story really well told it’s so believable all the way through. Good main characters as well as subordinate characters adding to the realism. End not rushed as can be normal with some thrillers. Looking forward to reading more in what surely will be a series.

Really enjoyed this book - there has been this gradual shift in gritty Northern set crime thrillers away from the cosmopolitan London scene; due in parts to the work of Line of Duty but big novels by A. A. Dhand and Joseph Knox has shown that readers of crime novels and that is a big market wants to read about other areas.

MJ Lee has woven a gripping novel that zips along, I found myself reading it in four large chunks - characters are rendered efficiently and the main protagonist of DI Ridpath is a sympathetic character to get behind.

Painting a picture of Manchester as one of back streets, canals and hidden worlds and one driven by a love of truth and football (are you red or blue?) this is a great addition to the DI Ridpath series, while this is the 2nd in the series (I have not yet written the first but started), it feels like a character you can drop in and out on much like the famous Reacher/Rebus novels (oh they are all R surnames odd).

Out in April, be sure to grab it for your holiday read as you will not be disappointed.

The second in this series and even better than the first one, which was brilliant. I love the characters in these books. The plotting of this was brilliant. I await the next book.

A bit slow to get into but once you persevere the story does grip.

DI Ridulph is back in is job at the coroners office and is tasked with investigating the death of a young man found facedown in a lake whose death is ruled as inclusive, was it murder or a sad case of suicide ?