I have to say, I do love this series, and this one is something different. It’s all contained in Westgrave Hall. I would have loved to live in a place like that, with all the splendour and the nooks and crannies to explore, how wonderful, but I expect it was a tad eerie at night. I don’t think I’d like to be alone there.

Well the story is a excellent one, with Craig trying to sort out the murders, MI5 and other departments sticking their noses in and a wife who, I have to say is a bit mardy for me. (Don’t all shout at me, I sympathise with her PTSD but before that she was mardy! )

The two main characters have been shot, along with the bodyguard and what a place for the CSI to try and collate the forensics.

From Craig’s point it’s all a bit odd, did the two men shoot each other? It’s proving hard work to try and ascertain what happened. Is the Russian government behind it all? Well, the story marches on and really it’s not until the last minute that we discover who’s behind it all, I couldn’t work it out, and although I had worked out how it had been done, I didn’t know who it was until the end!

I do like Craig and I’m glad his wife was in the background more, she really irritates me, she knew what Craig did for a living before she married him!

All in all, it was another brilliant addition to the series, albeit as I said, set in one place.

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

Another awesome suspense/mystery from Nick Louth.
In the Village of Steeple Risby, an extremely wealthy Russian has purchased Westgrave Hall. The town is no longer allowed access to its chapel and grounds, and many are upset. But within the walls of Westgate now lies an amazing fossil discovery, displayed proudly for the select few invited to see it.
As the wealthy Russian is giving a huge party, disturbing the peace well after hours with a concert and fireworks display, the unimaginable happens. Three people are murdered in a locked library, with no one seen going in or out. When Detective Gillard and his crew are called in to investigate, what they discover are a whole lot of motives, but absolutely no evidence of any other person being in the room, except the victims.
The plot takes a lot of twists and turns, and like all of Nick Louth books, takes the reader on a suspenseful journey right up until the last chapter.
I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I have devoured and loved all of this series by Nick Louth, and this book, The Bodies at Westgrave Hall was no exception.

A seasonal Christmas adventure for D.I. Gillard, and am pleased to say it took place in a corona virus free world.

The book, I felt, had more depth of plot, than some of the earlier novels. An excellent book, good plot, and lots of twists and turns. No spoilers from me, but thoroughly enjoyed it and looking forward to the next one.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Canelo for an advance copy of The Bodies at Westgrave Hall, the seventh novel to feature DCI Craig Gillard of the Surrey Police.

Gillard is called out to a bizarre crime scene on Christmas Day. Russian oligarch, Alexander Volkov, his bodyguard and his ex-wife’s new partner have all been gunned down in the locked library of his home, Westgrave Hall. The problem is that no one, except the victims, was seen to enter or leave the building.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Bodies at Westgrave Hall, which is a modern take on the locked room formula. It is told mostly from Gillard’s point of view but switches occasionally to others to give the reader a wider perspective. This is intriguing because all this wider perspective does is throw up more possibilities and suspicions. Of course, the words Russian oligarch mean that the possibilities are endless and a fair few are explored, from the political to the personal. There are plenty of references to the alleged acts of the Russian security services and none of them is beyond the realms of possibility. I found it fascinating and eye opening.

I must admit that while I guessed almost immediately how it was done I had no idea of motive or the perpetrator. There is so much going on in the novel it is difficult to see these latter clearly and too little hard evidence to draw conclusions. The answer came as a real surprise. This novel gives the reader a real idea of the difficulties involved in running such a vast investigation. Things get ignored, not because of a conscious decision but because they can’t get to everything immediately and priorities have to be set. It’s one of the few times I’ve seen this in crime fiction.

The characterisation in this novel is fairly standard in some ways. The detectives are hard working, smart and dedicated and their humorous dialogue brings a smile but the others are all easy to suspect. I wondered about their motivations, thought processes and the reliability of their words - they live in a different world and some of them could out-Machiavelli Machiavelli.

The Bodies at Westgrave Hall is an immersive read that I have no hesitation in recommending.

Umpteenth in the DCI Craig Gillard series and as good as the others. This time the murder is in a very grand house currently owned by a Russian, to the dismay of the local Parish Council and villagers.. At the time of the murder said Russian was throwing a very large, noisy and expensive party for his new fiancée and their new and very large fossil dinosaur. Closed door murder occurs, a bloodbath - leaving the Russian, a bodyguard and ex wife's new partner dead and ex-wife slightly wounded but safe in the panic room. A locked library. Gillard and Team are baffled but there are lots of forensics to go at (1000 plus guests) not to mention dozens of rooms, servants and interference by Special Branch of one sort or another. And it's Christmas, Plenty of suspects but all have alibis. Bring in modern themes of Kremlin attacks, car bombs and we have to wonder what's going on more deeply. The interactions of Craig and Team are as good as ever, I do like Rainy and the ever empty-tummy Hoskins. A good ending which I did not totally see coming, the method yes, the perpetrator no, and that is always pleasing. Next please. Thanks to NetGalley and Canelo for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Oh that was very clever! A sort of locked room mystery with lots of misdirection and red herrings. The story was more mystery than thriller, but an engaging mystery indeed. Westgrave Hall is an enormous Palladian country manor owned by a very wealthy, (very, very wealthy) Russian oligarch. He throws a massive party to celebrate the placement of the biggest fossil plesiosaur ever found (in Kazakhstan) into a purpose built (massive) library on the estate. There are around 1,000 guests and Beyoncé herself is performing.

During the fireworks that round out the evening shots are heard, and some of the massive library windows are seen shattering. The oligarch, Alexander (Sasha) Volkov is in the library with his ex-wife, Yelena Yalinsky, and Max Talin - an industrialist who is a former rival of Volkov’s but they are about to enter a new business deal. Yelena is now engaged to Talin. It’s a bit murky. Volkov’s bodyguard races to the library to aide his boss. When a young PC, present on another matter, gets into the library the three men are found dead. Yelena, it is later found, got trapped in the panic room after the shooting started.

DCI Craig Gillard and his team are called in. It’s a mystery - if the men are all dead and Yelena was trapped in the panic room - where is the shooter, and where is the gun? CCTV is pored over, the estate has excellent coverage. Yet no one was, unaccounted for, was seen entering or leaving the library. The police have a gargantuan job on their hands with so many guests and a mansion with over 60 rooms to search. Nothing of interest is found.

ThIs seemingly intractable problem is the guts of the book. It’s fascinating how they go about things. There are suspects galore and Special Branch even gets involved in case it’s a Kremlin hit. The author cleverly integrates the Skripal poisoning and other known Russian hits. Then there is a car bomb just near Buckingham Palace and some of Gillard’s theories go up in smoke along with at least one of their suspects. The lives of the very wealthy are made to seem almost difficult - how to spend all that money. They don’t seem happy. When money is involved it colours the relationships. I wasn’t able to guess how it went down in this story so my interest never waned as the author drew things together into a somewhat unexpected ending. As I said, very clever. My thanks to Netgalley, Canelo and Nick Louth for providing a copy for me to review. My opinions are my own.

law-enforcement, procedural, thriller, international-crime-and-mystery*****

This is one very busy story! I haven't read any others in this series, but I never got lost in that particular rabbit warren. The assortment of foreign nationals and the massive renovation of a historic mansion to accommodate a ginormous fossil was a different problem entirely. The characters were very well defined, the action and investigations which were complicated enough before the meddling from MI5, and the interdepartmental issues really added to this variant of the classic Locked Room Mystery. Kept me up too late reading it!
I requested and received a free temporary ebook from Canelo via NetGalley. Thank you

The Bodies at Westgrave Hall is the seventh book in the accomplished DCI Craig Gillard series set in Surrey, which is South of London. I’ve read all of these in order, but they do stand alone as police procedural thrillers, and you get enough backstory about the MC to not wonder what you’ve missed. This is an intriguing mystery set in the world of ex-Pat Russian oligarchs. I thought I had it all figured out but clever plot twists got me once again. The recent arrest of poisoned Russian politician Alexei Navalny makes the story particularly topical.

Billionaire Alexander Volkov throws a lavish Christmas party at his sumptuous stately home to celebrate his engagement to a famous TV presenter, and show off his latest acquisition - a massive plesiosaur fossil imported at great expense from Kazakhstan. As fireworks light up the sky, gunshots ring out, and the host, his bodyguard, and his long term rival, are found dead in the library - but CCTV shows all the main suspects were outside and no one can work out how the killer escaped. Gillard and his team are assigned the case, but MI5 meddling and the entitled antics of the victims family are going to make this his toughest case yet!

Locked Room mysteries have come back into fashion in recent years, happily for me, (I’m so over serial killers!) and I enjoyed this modern version with a range of deliciously awful suspects to choose from: was it the spoiled gangsta-wannabe son, the sexy palaeontologist fiancée, one of the hulking bodyguards, or a Russian government agent? There are also some wonderful Comic Relief characters like Wolf the jovial head of security, and ever-hungry Detective Hoskins. As this series has progressed we’ve gotten to know Gillard’s likeable, diverse & competent team - especially the fabulous Rainy, and I thought the investigative and forensic details were well done. I did guess how the crime was committed, but not by whom.

In the earlier books in this series, I had some issues with how women were portrayed, including Gillard’s attitudes to them. This has completely turned around, and I loved that the most desirable women here are all in their forties, smart and powerful, and the female police officers also play a major part in the investigation. Even the neglected and manipulative Poor Little Rich Girl daughter was a well-developed and surprising character. I would’ve liked a bit to see a bit more of Gillard’s boss, scary Alison Rigby - hopefully she’ll feature more in future books.
It’s all set pre-Covid - I’m not sure how long authors are going to be able to avoid introducing this aspect into ongoing series, but it’s nice to be able to escape from it for a while!

Thanks to NetGalley and Canelo for the ARC which allowed me to give an honest review.
The Bodies at Westgrave Hall is published on February 25th.

The Bodies at Westgrave Hall is the latest book in the DCI Craig Gillard series by Nick Louth and whilst I usually enjoy this crime series I felt slightly disappointed after finishing the book.

The book starts off very slowly with a look of description and at times padding before launching into the main storyline which was an excellent one with a good ending, however, some of the characterisation felt cartoonish as the tight balance between underlying humour and good storytelling wasn’t quite maintained.

This one book won’t put me off the rest of the series or future instalments and I am sure others will have found it more to their liking.

Slightly disappointed

A Seemingly Non-Sensical Crime....
The seventh in the DCI Craig Gillard series finds the Detective with a seemingly non-sensical crime. A country mansion, a locked room, a Russian Oligarch and a thousand guests - all seems well until a shooting takes place. Wholly entertaining and a fitting addition to the series.

I am grateful to Canelo and Netgalley for an advance review copy of this book which has in no way impacted the impartiality of the review. This is the latest in the DCI Craig Gillard thriller series and as always with this series it does not disappoint. A wealthy Russian is murdered on the edge of Gillard's patch but who is behind the murder? Is the Kremlin and the GSU? Is it the children desperate to get their hands on their fathers fortune? Is it one of the spurned lovers? Or someone else altogether? The book has many twists and turns and leaves you guessing right up to the last moment, the characters are well written and well rounded, the biggest compliment I can pay the author is that it isn't hard to imagine these people being real life people.

The method of the killing and all thats involved seemed a bit far fetched to me but all in all a good book well worth a read and I look forward to the next in the Gillard thriller series.

Another excellent novel from Nick Louth, they just keep getting better. In this novel a shooting takes place at Westgrave Hall the home of Russian billionaire Alexander Volkov. It all happens during a Christmas party and the majority of the guests are outside enjoying the entertainment. Alexander Volkov, his ex wife Yelena, business partner Maxim Talin and bodyguard Bryn Howell are all inside when the shooting takes place. DCI Craig Gillard is the duty officer on call and he and his team have to sift through the evidence to find out if this is a Russian hit or something else.

A gripping most unusual story line, a Russian Billionaire Oligarch buys a mega size fossil and at great expense brings it to England which in itself is most unusual because the only fossils they usually buy are London based football teams! Lots of twists and turns to the story line involving separate incidents of murder both of which were intricately planned and carried out in a most unusual way.

Alexander Volkov has the sort of money the rest of us can only dream of. The Russian oligarch also has the ear of governments, royalty, and A listers around the world, a new palatial home in Surrey, and a beautiful, internationally famous, girlfriend, what else could he possibly need?

For the Russian holding a Christmas Eve party at his new house for over a thousand guests with fake snow, skating rinks, and an outside dance floor is nothing out of the ordinary. As Christmas Day dawns, however, gunfire is heard in his private library and, as the smoke clears, the bodies of three men are discovered in a blood-soaked crime scene which, according to witnesses and CCTV footage, no one entered or left after the final victim arrived.

DCI Craig Gillard was looking forward to spending a quiet Christmas at home with wife Sam until the phone rings and brings that plan screeching to a halt. Faced with an initially confusing locked room mystery he and his team also have to deal with a press desperate for information, and a family intent on keeping secrets from everyone around them.

This is a whodunnit of the highest calibre. It starts slowly but, like the fireworks at Volkov's party, reaches more than one surprising crescendo. In many ways the locked room is the lesser of all evils but everything which happens because of it follows a coldly calculated logic that shows however much money or power you have, you will eventually reap what you sow.

Craig Gillard is an engaging, slightly put upon, main protagonist who comes across as a thoughtful man with a streak of ruthlessness running through him. His team are loyal to a fault but work independently and the occasional foray into their points of view add an additional depth to the investigation.

This is the seventh book in the series and I wondered if it would be as satisfyingly exciting and tautly written as previous books as the beginning has quite a bit of scene setting. I needn't have worried! Everything here has a reason and at the end there was nothing missing from my perception of what a first class thriller should be.

I was able to read an advanced copy of this book thanks to NetGalley and the publishers but the opinions expressed are my own. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it didn't disappoint in any way. I sincerely hope there will be a book eight in the not too distant future.

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

I have enjoyed some of the previous books in this series and this one fell a little bit short for me. I did enjoy it, it just didn’t thrill or really wow me. I thought the start was very long winded, and I wondered when DCI Gillard would come into the story. I know the author was setting the scene and I personally would have liked this to be a bit shorter. As always, likeable main character and there is a lot going on in this book, maybe a bit too much for my liking. The subject matter is very current though and there are lots of plot twists here. I was convinced I knew who the killer was and was surprised towards the end to find out who did it and why. It was a well written book that just didn’t quite hit the mark with me. I would still want to read the next book though and the earlier ones I’ve not managed to read yet.

3.5 stars

The seventh book in the excellent Craig Gillard series. This one involves a multiple killing at a Christmas Party at the stately home of a Russian oligarch. As the killings take place in a locked room, the "how" of the murders appears to be very puzzling.
This is a well-planned story with lots happening. The plot twists and turns and leaves the reader guessing all the way through. A fast-paced story with excellent characters. This series is highly entertaining and well worth reading.

A love triangle.
Three people shot dead
A locked room mystrey
A suspect locked within a room within the locked room
Russian Oligarchs, and conspiracy theories
If that list is not enough to get you hooked maybe this book is not for you. It was definitely for me, what a stunning read..
A stunning book with brilliant characters, a great setting, written in a way that makes you just keep turning the pages.
It gets the full five stars,.

This is the 7th book in the DCI Craig Gillard series by author Nick Louth. I read the previous book in the series and was keen to read the latest one.

A Russian oligarch named Alexander Volkov is murdered at his palatial Surrey residence while entertaining a 1000 guests. Volkov is giving a private tour of the library when a gunman kills him and wounds his ex-wife. A bloody crime scene for DCI Craig Gillard and no obvious forensic evidence ensure that this case is not going to be straight forward. Available CCTV shows that no one entered or left the library, and everyone seems to have an alibi. There is not much to go on making this a fascinating case.

This is an interesting read with fascinating characters and lots of action.

I would like to thank both Netgalley and Canelo for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Christmas in Surrey. Russian oligarch Alexander Volkov is having a party with a thousand guests. he's already made himself unpopular with the locals over his tenure at the Hall. But during a private tour, there's a shooting. 3 dead, including the lord of the manor.

DCI Gillard has a problem. Nobody in or out of the library, and everyone with an alibi.

It was obvious HOW (to me, anyway) once a critical piece of evidence was revealed early on almost as a throwaway observation. What wasn't obvious was WHO, especially with everyone having a motive.

A great addition to the series

The Bodies at Westgrave Hall is another great crime thriller with DCI Craig Gillard at the helm. This time he and his team have to investigate the murder of two Russian oligarchs and a bodyguard.
Alexander Volkov a multi billionaire has purchased and completely transformed Westgrave Hall much to the anger of the local villagers as he has ridden roughshod over council bylaws and closed down many ancient public footpaths through his land.
Holding a huge party when the murders are committed there are lots of witnesses so there is lots of interviews and forensic evidence to check, though it soon becomes clear all that evidence they find makes this crime no clearer. The British secret service also show an interest and take away some of the evidence and infuriating Gillard by withholding any useful information from him.
We learn how these Russians obtained their vast wealth, their love triangle and Volkovs son and daughter’s lifestyles.
A great story with lots of action and characters that are good, bad and also loathsome. Thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining as usual from this author, and with an ending I didn’t see coming
My thanks to net galley and publisher for the opportunity to review this book honestly.