I have read numerous Andy Marlene books. They do not disappoint. This book kept me enthralled throughout. The writing flows very well and typos are minimum. I do not want to provide spoilers so I can only comment that the ending was not what I expected. I will continue to read his books.

This is the first book n this series I have read, and while I wasn't sure at first if Ford was going to be a character I would like, he definitely grew on me, as an honest and flawed character. Ford has an interesting dynamic with his squad, as this is his first major case, and all eyes are on him, he's delegating what he doesn't want to handle and maybe getting too focused n the wrong suspect. As his team works on 2 suspects, red herrings come and go, all the while heat is on them to ignore one suspect, but to solve the case asap. It's an interesting look at how we can be blind to the trees aside us while fixating on those in front of us. I look forward to reading more books in this series!

I absolutely loved this book. I couldn’t put it down. The suspense was on every page. DI Ford is magnificent in his new role and his new working partner/love interest Hannah is skilfully written. He knew he’d sussed out who the killer was but other ‘clues’ made it look like he was wrong. I can’t wait to read the next one. It’s top of my list!

Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon UK for the privilege of an early read of Shallow Ground by Andy Maslen in exchange for a fair review.
Deputy Inspector Ford has just been promoted and his first case afterwards is a serial killer who seems to enjoy draining the blood from is victims. As the bodies begin to be found, Ford and his staff, including new CSI Hannah, are working against the clock and the "Old Boy Network" as they find suspects. Ford is dealing with a teenage son and they are both still dealing with their grief from the accidental death of their wife/mother six years later. As Ford and his team search for the who and why of the killings, the suspect pool gets smaller.
This story kept me very interested, the characters work very well together and there is the potential for more books with these characters. I certainly hope so especially since there was the hint of a not professional interest between Ford and Hannah.

A good start to a series. DI Ford and Hannah are both interesting characters. The case itself was intriguing and kept me reading.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

A fantastic start to a new series!! DI 'Henry' Ford is newly appointed and finds himself on a case with no evidence, no motive...Only a dead mother and young son...He is a hard-working man who years ago lost his wife on a rock climb, and survivors guilt carries with him to this day. Raising his young son alone, while working to keep the town safe for everybody...He has a great team of Cops and other staff working with him, and a new CSI member, Hannah, brings a little life and lots of experience to the team...But the investigation is tough, the woman has been exsanguinated...But Not the boy...After investigating the team finds the young women had just left the food bank, now to check out everyone there... Soon other killings follow, with the same circumstances, and a strange number written in blood at every crime scene...What does it mean..Can Hannah's work with liars and blood assist in the answer?!
I thoroughly enjoyed this new character, Ford, and the scenes grab you and do Not let go until an answer to the murders is found. With interesting plots and descriptions you feel you are right there working with them!
I thank NetGalley and the author for a thrilling read and offer You my honest thoughts and feelings in this review.

I really enjoyed this book all the way through. It had a really good plot, great main characters and really keeps you hooked on the plot. I would highly recommend this book.

I am a great fan of the author and was interested to read this new book.
I will begin by saying that I rarely read murder mystery books so this was an exception for me.This book is a real page turner with a captivating plot and really interesting characters.I really hope that it is the first in a series .
The detail within the book is clearly well researched and the accuracy really supports what is an excellent read..A great read and highly recommended.

Short and sweet. DI Ford has my heart. Wiltshire? The rivers? I must confess that it's my first choice.
Not even reviewing this.
I l loved it.
More please?
Truthfully, the setting of this book was quite beautiful. I loved everything else, but sometimes, the background shoves itself into the spotlight!

I've really enjoyed Andy Maslen's Gabriel Wolfe and Stella Cole books, so was excited to see that he has a new series out. Shallow Ground is about a newly-minted DI who is investigating his first murder case. Ford and the team follow the clues in a twisty story where the police are faced with a seemingly random crime where there are multiple plausible suspects. Maslen does a great job of creating characters that are complex and believable, as they're certainly not perfect or infallible in their work and personal lives. As a US citizen, I enjoyed trying to decipher some of the British slang (had to check a few things online). On the plus side, I now know that I like Builder's tea - the style, not necessarily the brand (though I'm sure it's a fine choice). Anyway, check this out - I think that Maslen's got some new and interesting adventures ahead for DI Ford and the crew.

Absolutely brilliant book,I would highly recommend you read this book. It will keep you engrossed throughout.

A new author for me, I enjoyed the main characters Ford and Hannah..hoping for a little romance to blossom! A believable story line which had me guessing right up to the end! Would definitely recommend and would enjoy book 2.

Although already a fan of Mr. Maslen, I approached this book with interest. A new character based series.

Would I like the character, his associates, his environment? If you think similarly, rest assured, Maslen now has three great characters in his author's stable.

Ford is a great character, flawed, as is Maslen's trademark lead character, but interesting. This story probably has one of the strongest prologues/opening chapters that I have read in a long time and it keeps the reader turning page after page, even after the clock suggests bedtime might be the right place to go.

A good whodunit police procedural novel. If you've not read Andy Maslen before an excellent introduction to him, if you have, you will be gripped by this book.

I love all of Andy Maslen’s work, and this book, Shallow Ground is no exception. The first in what I hope will. E a series of police procedurals, featuring a very likeable D.I. Ford. Like us all, he has his secrets, which while intriguing us the reader, did not overpower the main narrative of the book. Highly enjoyable, highly recommended

My thanks to NetGalley and publisher Amazon Publishing UK for the ARC.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and just had to keep turning the pages. It's well-written, with excellent dialogue between the characters that highlights the interactions and relationships with Ford's colleagues, his suspects, and his son Sam.

DI Ford, newly-promoted over a colleague DS, is grappling with memories of his wife Lou. This is the sixth anniversary of her death; his guilt is still overwhelming; he and his teenaged son Sam are still grieving and they're going through a very teenager/father rocky patch.
A widowed mother, Angela Halpern, and her 3yr-old son Kai are found dead in their flat when their under stairs neighbours noticed blood dripping through their ceiling. This is Ford's first murder case as DI but when the body count starts mounting and the team and powers that be realise there is a serial killer on the rampage in Salisbury, Ford is pressured to get results within a week or a more experienced DI would be brought in.
Dr Hannah Fellowes, the new Senior Crime Scene Investigator, works closely with Ford, using all her intelligence and experience in forensics and psychology to bring surprising revelations to the investigation.
There are lots of twists and mis-directions going on especially with their main suspects. Ford just 'knows' who the killer is - but he has no evidence, surely he can't be wrong?

This is a fast-moving, tension-filled and thoroughly engrossing police procedural - and watch out for the twist at the end! A great read.

Police thriller, lots of suspects twists and turns. Characters were good,well portrayed ,room for future possibilities. Kept me guessing.

A good read, slow to start but about a third of the way in I was utterly gripped and completed within days.

This is the kind of book that had me thinking about it all the time - who’s the killer, will he be caught, will he kill again? I was back and forth with my thoughts as to to who the culprit was, and frustrated when my thoughts did not match those of the DI!

I believed the characters, and it was easy to keep up with them and the timeline.
I enjoyed the Ford’s background story which lends itself well to a book series.
I would definitely read more.

Thank you to NetGalley, Andy Malden and time Amazon Publishing UK for this ARC in return for review.

Wow - I could not put this book down! I’m a bit of a wuss when it comes to crime fiction - I’m really careful of violent images or ideas that root themselves firmly and unpleasantly in my brain. This one came close but didn’t cross that line for me. I think the first scene was the most chilling I’ve read recently and had me on the edge of my seat waiting for the killer to be caught. In typical detective fiction style the book starts with murder - that of a young mother and her son which felt particularly sad and brutal. Ford is a recently promoted DI, a widower who feels responsible for the death of his wife; he has a teenage son and feels unable to start a new relationship. He’s working on a force short of resources and money and under pressure, and he needs his first case to be solved quickly. But then there’s another death and another. What makes this a great read is the pace and tension maintained right to the very end, well-rounded characters and an excellent plot. Ford is a particularly intriguing D.I. - he feels some kind of mental connection to the thought processes of the killer, has gut instincts which are usually accurate but in this case appear to be misleading him. The unravelling of the crime is compelling, throwing out twists and false starts along the way and the conclusion is deeply satisfying. I really hope Ford will be back to solve another case, and look forward to seeing how his personal relationships will develop. With grateful thanks to Netgalley and Amazon Publishing UK for a digital copy of this book.

I’ve read a number of British crime series over the years and was excited to discover a new one.

DI Ford (his first name is never disclosed) has many challenges to deal with – he needs to prove himself in his newly promoted role of Detective Inspector whilst juggling life as a single parent to his teenage son, Sam, all the while dealing with the grief of loosing his wife in a climbing accident which he holds himself responsible for.

After some background story about the tragic climbing accident six years ago, the writing turns to present day when Ford is called to investigate a brutal killing of a mother and her young son. After a second body is found, where the killer has left a similar “signature” to the first killing, Ford finds himself in charge of his first major case in the hunt for the serial killer. As more bodies stack up, Ford has a gut feeling he knows who the killer is but has a hard time proving this and comes under increasing pressure to hand the case over to more experienced officers. He’s determined not to let this happen and enlists the help of Dr Hannah Fellowes, a recent addition to the forensic department, with an interesting background and an interesting personality.

I really enjoyed this book, the characters were well introduced with just enough background information to make you want to keep reading to discover more about them. The pace of the writing was great, and kept me engaged throughout. There were chapters written from the POV of the killer, which I always find fascinating and kept me guessing as to who the killer might be. Overall, a great book which I hope will become a great series where we learn more about the characters, especially how the relationships between them develop as we follow Ford in future cases.

Highly recommend this book to readers who enjoy police crime. If the series continues to be as good as the first book, I think it will deserve a place up there with the likes of Peter James, Ian Rankin and Peter Robinson.
Many thanks to Amazon Publishing UK and NetGalley UK for the free review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The plot for this first volume in a new series is interesting, the murders gruesome and innovative but, unfortunately, I found the characters too unnatural to be believable. It’s not easy to give a low rating to a book, because I can imagine how hard it must be to write a novel, but I never connected with the characters and the dialogues were repetitive and didn’t sound organic. Funnily enough, my favorite character was Hannah, a CSI with Asperger’s. Her dialogues are supposed to be stilted so they seemed more natural. Maybe the sequel will improve once the exposition is out of the way.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/Amazon Publishing UK!