The Body in the Mist is the latest book by Nick Louth and it is definitely a page clicking book with many twists & turns that kept me fully entertained until the very end.

Yes you have to suspend some belief as there is no way the main character would have the time or the opportunity to undertake his own personal investigations but that is a minor quibble in what is a book that I recommend

Can two old ladies, either or both together, really have deliberately run down and killed a man in Exmoor. The more it's looked into the more strange things they seem to be capable of.

An enjoyable read which shows how you can't pick your relatives.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Canelo for an advance copy of The Body in the Mist, the third novel to feature DCI Craig Gillard of Surrey Police.

DI Jan Talantire of the Devon and Cornwall police is called out to Barnstaple to investigate a particularly gruesome hit and run but with the body too damaged for identification and nobody reporting a missing person who could match what she does know her investigation hardly gets off the ground. In the meantime DCI Craig Gillard is called to Barnstaple by his two aunts for a family emergency, the hit and run car belongs to his aunt Barbara.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Body in the Mist which is an excellent police procedural and a clever unravelling of family secrets, full of twists and turns. I must admit that the number of skeletons in the Antrobus (Gillard’s family) family cupboard pushed my credulity but it makes for great reading. I was hooked from start to finish, unwilling to put it down.

The novel is told from two points of view with Talantire’s covering the procedural elements of the novel while Gillard’s pursues his family secrets in an unofficial capacity. The novel switches between the two perspectives seamlessly offering the reader a broader view of events and two different interpretations of events. The pacing is good with regular reveals to keep the reader interested and whet the appetite for more. And boy, is there more with lots of twists, not least the final one. I enjoyed the planning that went in to the novel with so many disparate events and clues gradually coming together to make a cohesive, if not neat, solution.

I really like Craig Gillard as a protagonist. He is smart and dedicated but in this novel he is like a different man. His difficult family history and its dynamics make him prey to his aunts’ manipulation and leave him a shadow of his normal decisive self. It’s an interesting side to his personality. I also like Jan Talantire who has a great attitude. I would love to see more of her but, short of a transfer, I don’t see her making a repeat appearance.

The Body in the Mist is a good read which I have no hesitation in recommending.

My thanks to NetGalley and publisher Canelo for the ARC.
What a read! - an intriguing web - of family secrets, lies, murder, historical abuse and, quite frankly hatred!!!
DCI Craig Gillard is 'ordered' all over the place by his assertive diminutive Aunt Trisha, expecting him to get down to Devon to help out his batty Aunt Barbara (known for her propensity for alcohol). Her Ford Ranger pickup has been identified as the vehicle involved in a hit-and-run on a country road near Exmoor. However, her vehicle had been reported as missing that same day.
The male victim is unidentified - his face torn-off by the road surface, all labels cut from his clothing, and no sign of personal effects.
Local police team led by DI Jan Talantine have the case and they become convinced one or both sisters are lying.
Craig, with wife Sam, visit Trisha's brother, Philip, at his nursing home. He's suffering from dementia but can remember some historical events. Why is a girl called Emily so important to him and why does he think he'll be locked up?
Trisha's husband left her years ago but she strangely still keeps in touch with him and his new Thai family, having a photo-wall in her house showing holiday pictures with them. She's expecting her husband and his new family to visit at Christmas.
Between DI Talantine's investigation into the unidentified body and Craig's personal investigation into who Uncle Philip's Emily could be, appalling family secrets begin to emerge.
Set around Trisha's home in Barnstable, Devon, and Barbara's family farm home on the edge of Exmoor, the atmosphere is bleak, damp and windswept.
This story begins as a rather tight police-procedural with DI Talantire and her team. Merges into a troubling family relationship story for Craig Gillard carrying out his own personal investigation, and finishes as a Court Room Drama where the evidence is presented. Who really is guilty - and of what?
Lots of twists and turns and surprises - a complex, thrilling story, ending on a cliff-edge which, hopefully will continue.

Twisted thriller with loads of suspects and not many clues. Varied characters all with secrets and two dogged detectives.

Although I didn't find this addition to the series quite as good as earlier ones, I did enjoy it and it was very readable. I think the emphasis on the family was a bit overdone as was the plot. It really stretched the imagination a bit too far.

I’d like to thank Canelo and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘The Body In The Mist’ by Nick Louth in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

A man’s body is found in a quiet country lane and when DI Jan Talantire gets to the scene she believes him to be the victim of a hit-and-miss. She locates the car involved which belongs to Barbara Antrobus, aunt of DCI Craig Gillard. Craig is contacted by his aunt Trisha asking him to visit and while there he discovers secrets about his uncle Philip which could have major repercussions for the whole family.

‘The Body In The Mist’ was well-written and thought-out but I found it to be a bit tongue-in-cheek although I’m not sure if this is what the author intended. Having read Nick Louth’s previous thriller I was expecting an exciting read, but the characters were unbelievable as was the disorganisation in DI Talantire’s department, and surely DCI Gillard’s workload wouldn’t have let him take so much time off for family business without giving prior warning? I haven’t read the two previous books in the series and although I don’t feel that I’ve missed anything, somehow this third instalment has failed to measure up to my expectations and rather than being a great story I thought it was just okay.

Thank you to Canelo and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this mystery - classic, but with many twists and turns. The author did a great job of bringing atmospheric tension to the page. Not just the detail on the hardships involved in farming in an inhospitable climate, but the horrible things family can do to one another, and still expect to call in their dues when needed. And the non-sugarcoating of police work, and how difficult it can be to follow the right procedure, and hit dead ends. Although I find it hard to believe that DCI Gillard would be given the freedom he takes to follow his own private investigations, it's a great read.

Goodreads review here (direct link not possible): https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2783900046

Nick Louth is really getting better - this is best book yet.
The story starts slowly, sedately, lulling you into thinking that you know the storyline, but you don’t.
As the story progresses shocking and unexpected revelations take it to a different and very dark level. This is dark coasts and moors and hills where nasty things happen in the farm woodsheds... And then there is the final page!
The novel is well crafted with logical, if shocking, outcomes that take the story into just what happens in these lonely places, where families have lived a hard scrapple life for many generations, and the neighbours are far away and likely to be feuding. The weather is stormy and dank and cold, and the sun is fleeting and miserly. Not the nice tourist image at all.

A body is discovered by a dog walker, when the police arrive they find a male with no identification, wallet, mobile phone or distinguishing marks. The search for the identity of the male and the vehicle leads the police to a stolen vehicle belonging to DCI Craig Gillard's aunt Barbara and when the police ask to question her he is asked for support. What follows is the story of DCI Craig Gillard's family history in all its gory details from paedophiles to murder and fraud.

An insight into DCI Craig Gillard's background and the deep rooted secrets that haunt him...

A very highly recommended read and another great instalment in this series

Craig Gillards two aunties and a deceased and their father make the Borgias family quite normal! An intriguing story of the past and present crimes of the family leaves the reader a little bewildered, nevertheless it keeps one fully occupied. With a surprising twist towards the end!

What a fantastic read. I cannot praise this book enough. If you love thrillers, then this is for you.
The story opens with the death of a hit and run victim in Devon and the car belongs to the Aunt of DCI Craig Gillard. This is the third novel featuring DCI Gillard and gets very personal. Involved in this story are his Aunt Trish and Uncle Philip along with sexual abuse, lies, great police procedural work. And the shocking ending, it makes me hope there is a another novel in there! Well done Nick Louth!
If you only read one book this year, make sure it is this one!!!!

Having read the first two Craig Gillard novels, I had really high expectations for this novel. I was not disappointed. Thoroughly enjoyed it. A much more personal tale for Gillard and his wife, with the introduction of Gillard errant family. A really excellent cold case who done it, or two, a current murder, and lots of whacky relatives. And Christmas, not forgetting, Christmas. What was there to not love about this book. It was great. Really looking forward to the next one, and hopefully more of Barbara and Trish. Great

A hit and run victim means that DCI Craig Gillard and his wife head off to Devon to support his family when they are apparently involved in the accident, or was it? The local police deal with the case but much of the book concerns Gillard and his past/present relationships with what is clearly a dis-functional, eccentric and rather nasty set of relatives. Not to mention undertaking some investigation of his own. Plenty to get your teeth in to and well written as usual. The eventual court case is long with very good portrayal of the two sides by what one can only call 'smooth' and sharp lawyers. That was certainly compelling reading. The end definitely had a twist and opens things for a 4th, and certainly uncomfortable, instalment for Craig and Sam. I dropped a star because it suspends rather too much belief that a busy DCI could spend so much time on what was clearly a personal case - even more so than the Albanian trip in a previous book.. Thanks to NetGalley and Canelo for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to read this book pre-publication.
I have read most of Nick Louth's offerings but I can must say this is possibly the best book I have read, so far, this year !!! Absolutely cracking......the slightly off centre relatives of the main character DCI Craig Gillard are well constructed and completely believable. I am sure most people will recognise the traits of someone they know in this novel. And the twist at the end.....bet you didn't see that coming !
What more can I say except "READ THIS BOOK" - you won't be disappointed.