DCI Craig Gillard is called in to investigate the disappearance of musician and daughter of German Minister of Justice, Beatrice. But what starts out as a simple missing person’s case soon develops into something far more deadly, when flood waters wash out not one, but two bodies, one of whom has been missing for a number of years. And then it starts to get personal.

This is my favourite of the Nick Louth books I’ve read so far. The story was action packed from start to finish, and in spite of the number of characters involved, never got confused or repetitive. I was involved all the way through, and was keen to find out how the plot would resolve itself. The central characters of. Craig and Sam Gillard are likeable and Craig in particular is somebody you want to succeed. Even though I was sure he’d come out on top in the end, there was still a small fear that it all could go horribly wrong, and that’s the joy of Nick Louth’s books. Nothing can ever be taken for granted,

A great read and one I thoroughly enjoyed.

I love this series. The characters are strong and the storyline always makes a compelling read. There was a lot to this story and I read it in one sitting. This is a very cleverly thought out plot. I would recommend this book and the rest of the series.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

Another excellent mystery in this series. It's gripping and entertaining, a well written story that kept me guessing till the end.
i liked the well thought cast of characters and the well crafted plot full of twists and turns.
Can't wait to read the next book in this series.
Recommended.
Many thanks to Canelo and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

The Body under the Bridge is the fifth book in a series about Surrey-based detective Craig Gillard, which I've read in order over the last year or so, and largely enjoyed, apart from some persistent niggles, mostly related to the characters. The mysteries are clever and the suspense works well, and there's enough variation between the plots to keep it interesting, but once again I was disappointed by the characters.

A month after the events of The Body in the Snow, Craig is ordered by his boss, Chief Constable Alison Rigby, to go all out on the investigation of a young musician who has gone missing, because her father is a high-ranking German government minister, so no expense will be spared to find her. A freak flood reveals the body of a young woman in a river who was reported missing in the 1980s - so how can she still be a teenager? And who is stalking Craig and his young wife Sam?

My main criticism of some of the previous books has been that the focus has been solely on Gillard as main character, with minimal development of the rest of his team. This begins with him being pulled away from the funeral of a colleague killed in the previous book, and despite only reading that one a few months ago, I genuinely couldn't remember what had happened to him as he left so little impression. This one attempts to fix that as there's a major subplot about DI John Perry, a pitiful character having problems at home, who seems there mainly to make Craig look super-manly by comparison.

Once again, the mystery was well done, as Louth gradually reveals clues and red herrings in equal measure, and we don't know whether the missing girl will be saved, or how she connects to the other disappearances. I do find it odd that Craig, a Detective Chief Inspector, spends so much time doing on-the-ground grunt work more usually suited to a Detective Seargent - this is sort of explained by the political pressure to have their "best man" on the job, but still felt wrong when he should've been coordinating from the top.

The aspect of this series I find most off-putting, and it was even more obvious here, is the portrayal of women. All the female characters are either bitches, sluts, idiots, ball-breakers or victims - in Sam's case a mix of all these. The only remotely sympathetic woman is Craig's colleague and friend Claire, a nice mumsy type always ready to lend him an ear or a spare bed, but she doesn't get to do any detecting herself. Craig really loves his wife but we never really get to understand why, as she's mostly comes across as a jealous shrew who objects to him spending so much time on his much-more-important -than-hers job and seems to fill hers gossiping on the phone with her girlfriends. Even Rainy, Glaswegian doctor turned cop, is portrayed as a sort of comedy thug to be scared of for her intelligence and size rather than valued as a team member.

A major sub-plot of the past couple of books has been Craig's malicious aunt Trish, who moved in over the road to torment them, and was at least interesting as a crazy-cat-lady nemesis who kept getting one over on him, but here barely features other than to become another victim and her fate is unclear as at one point it's mentioned that she died, but then perhaps not. Craig's refusal to go and feed her pets while she's in hospital dropped my impression of him another few notches.

I finished this last night and rated it 4 stars, but left writing this until I was properly awake, and now feel I only want to give it 3, as the problems mentioned above really have left an unpleasant taste. I'm invested in this series and want to know what happens next, but would enjoy it far more if the hero were backed up by some intelligent capable female characters.

Thanks to NetGalley and Canelo for the ARC which allowed me to give an honest review. The Body under the Bridge is published on 30th April.

This mystery winds through a small town and connects so many people in its chilling wake. This is a disappearance, and then a storm. Dead bodies begin to appear. Lies and deception abound in this tale full of twists and turns. It is a part of a series, however, it can stand on its own. The detectives are smart and clever and the suspects sneaky and mysterious. Bringing it all together with descriptive narration and a diverse cast.

Another excellent read from Nick Louth, I’m loving this series of books. Good characters, great plots and well written, what’s not to love. Police procedural novels are a favourite of mine and this one did not disappoint. Thank you Net Galley for my preview copy.

Book 5 in the DCI Gillard series sees him investigating kidnap and murder. In this book, the author goes into a lot of detail and builds suspense in a riveting way. I really enjoy this series of books and I love the character development. Plenty red herrings in this well woven tale of missing people and murder. My only criticism would be that the female characters are all horrible! Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for this ARC.

This is the 5th book in a series, and my 2nd read by this author. I thought this was a great read, after a slow start. DCI Gillard and his team search for a missing person which becomes a murder investigation when a body is found. When a second body is found nearby connected to a very old case the book starts to really pick up pace. The author has cleverly thought out the plot, the book is very well written with many twists in it, most I didn’t expect. I wondered how all the separate threads would come together, and the last quarter of the book was a riveting read when everything fell into place and all loose ends are tied up. The book had my attention from the beginning and moved along at a relentless pace. Another cracking read, I will look forward to the next book and read books 1-3 to catch up. Highly recommended.

I really love this series of books by Nick, and this one did not disappoint one iota. An excellent read and addition to this series. I am very much looking forward to the next one

With thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the arc, which I have enjoyed reading.
I have now read all five of the DCI Craig Gillard books, they just get better each time. I am looking forward to reading book 6, the Body On The Island by Nick Louth later in the year.
The police procedures, the characters and the storyline are all extremely well written.
Highly recommended.

DCI Craig Gillard returns in The Body Under the Bridge which is the fifth book in the series by Nick Louth.

The pace is fairly relentless once it gets going and the ending is well done. My only reservations were that it took a little while to get into its stride and at times it felt a little over convoluted.

Overall this was an enjoyable read and hopefully there are more books to follow

Is it personal?

This is the fifth in the DCI Craig Gillard series.

A young girl disappears and Gillard is called in from a colleague’s funeral by his Chief Constable no less. How can a missing person warrant the attention of so senior and experienced an officer and the Chief Constable? It transpires that the young musician in question is the daughter of a German minister so yet another example of ‘it’s not what you know.....’. The full team is activated and more resources promised if required. Leads are few and far between and the facts which are known just lead to further confusion.

The characters have clearly been well developed in previous books in the series but this example can be read as a stand-alone. There is little reference to previous publications so a reader fresh to this series will have no trouble picking up the threads.

So, to the review. Around half way in to the book it had all the makings of a 5 star review. The characters were great. The writing style flowed well. The plot was intriguing and the mystery deepened. From then on in my opinion it went downhill fast. I should stress that this is only my opinion and my dislikes as it’s a book well worth reading and I am more than tempted to look out the previous books in the series and anything else by this author – I enjoy his style and the way in which he develops his characters.

However, I personally always have trouble in swallowing a storyline which isn’t true to life. As soon as I start thinking “that just wouldn’t happen” I start to lose interest. The issue for me is the involvement of the detective’s job in their personal life. I can’t explain too much as it’s too easy to give away spoilers but as a parallel consider the once excellent TV series ‘Silent Witness’. It started as a first-class forensic investigation series and then ran out of ideas so the main characters were threatened by the bad guys. It just doesn’t ring true and the series should have been canned while it was ahead. I therefore wonder whether it’s true of this series as well. To maintain a constant flow of good ideas and plots using the same characters is a very real challenge.

So the 5 stars became 3 but was increased to a well-deserved 4 due to the sheer quality of the writing.

mr zorg

Elite Reviewing Group received a copy of the book to review.

This latest outing of DCI Craig Gillard follows Nick Louth’s usual style: there is a complex plot; the pace builds relentlessly; and the requirement for the reader to suspend her/his disbelief is present in full measure. Whilst this last point may sound like a fairly critical verdict, this reader has to acknowledge an almost irresistible compulsion to keep reading in the shortest time possible. So, readers looking for a fast-paced police thriller with plenty of plot twists and turns will find all of that and more in ‘The Body Under the Bridge’.
For this reader, at least, however, Nick Louth runs the risk of the author’s equivalent of painting himself into a corner. If sustaining a dramatic effect requires ever more implausible plot twists a point will surely come where the reader will find suspending disbelief too big an ask. Surely, the skill deployed by Mr Louth to such good effect can weave together a narrative where the drama comes from the investigation and the carefully drawn supporting characters rather than increasingly implausible tricks and twists?

But, bear in mind - it’s still a cracking read! Recommended.

This is book 5 in the series, and a real page turner! So much so, that I tried to finish it in one sitting (but couldn't). This is a take on the closed room mystery, except it takes place on a train.There may be plenty of possible suspects, but with alibis abounding, Gillard and his team are stuck, but as events unfold, slowly they realize there are clues but they didn't see them for the obvious. The ending is worthy of a Christie plot! Don't miss this one!

I always look for Nick Louth's books and they never disappoint. This one in particular was very interesting because it directly involved a search for one of the series' main characters.

Thank you Net Galley for the chance to read this novel pre publication. I love this series by Nick Louth - I have read them all and am never disappointed. This one has a quite unique scary bit too - which I will not spoil for future readers.
I recommend you give this entire series a go, you will be glad you did !

A most unusual and complex detective story that starts with a missing person, a young lady violinist travelling home from a concert. It becomes a high-profile case as she turns out to be the daughter of a German government minister. As the police investigation progresses it slowly becomes apparent that the perpetrator is a cunning devious highly skilled technician laying red herrings to baffle and bewilder the police. It becomes a battle of wits as more bodies are found until finally it becomes personal when the detective’s wife goes missing. The helpless police had to call in the whole of all the state resources to make progress in tracking down the villain. But it is the villains own miss deeds that finally causes him to meet with his nemesis before he is able to make his well planned disappearance.

This is my first Nick Louth book so I have not read any of the previous books in this series. I enjoyed the read, I thought the plot was original and very well developed, keeping the suspense going right to the end. I don´t think the characters were very well developed, having finished the book I had an impression of the main character, Craig Gillard, but I couldn´t tell you much about the other characters. Maybe if I had read the earlier books in the series, I would have found myself more engaged with the characters. Having said that, the book is well worth reading and I will look out for the next in the series.
Thanks to NetGalley and Orion Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Great, fast paced, action packed suspense book.
A high priority missing person, a talented young musician whose father happens to be a high ranking German government minister, lands 0n Detective Craig Gillard's desk. All resources are being stretched to find her and her father has assured them he will spare no expense to get them what they need to bring his daughter back alive. But, during a flash flood, a car is found submerged in water with a woman who has been missing since the 80's, but strangely the body is still the age of the teenager she was when she disappeared. How can that be? Suddenly Craig's wife disappears, another officer's daughter is gone missing, and the police are being sent on one wild goose chase after another. The clock is ticking, but will any of the missing women be found in time.
Loved this latest book in the series. These books can be read as stand alones. The characters are well developed, the story line will keep you turning the page and guessing until the very end.
I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

An enjoyable fast-paced thriller that I sped through. When a talented young musician fails to turn up for an important recital turns out to be the daughter of a German politician so all resources ate utilised to try and locate her. However, when the bodies of two young women are discovered in a flood swollen river, police start to realise that this is not just a kidnapping.

Fast paced and exciting.