Please note that this UK police procedural is not M/M romance (my usual millieu) but does have LGBT characters. Also, this is the third book in the series. I have not read the first two books but felt this worked well as a stand-alone read.

Claire Summerskill and Dave Lyon have a new case to solve, involving the death of a 15-year-old student crushed by a fallen wall at any old brewery site. There are suspects aplenty - some in his own family - as well as a high-strung schoolmaster with a sullen daughter. The case is revealed in a fairly slow manner, with plenty of time to delve into Claire's current tense relationship with her husband, as well as Dave's friends-with-benefits relationship with Sean Cullen, one of the youngest MPs in the House of Commons when elected over 10 years ago, and a new (gay) junior officer.

The murder / mystery held my interest throughout and there were several times I definitely knew who did it, but was proved wrong. Upon the resolution of the case, though, I felt there were some elements that just didn't make sense, mostly the weird relationship between the school master Alun Blake and his daughter Ann.

4 stars, and I liked the series enough that I plan to go back and read the first two books in the series.

DNF. Too much British Procedural for me. Maybe if I watched some of this type of show on TV I would understand more, but just not for me.

Even though gay I’m not one for ‘searching out’ LBTQ books, either authors nor stories, if they are in a book I am reading I am always interested in the portrayal or how the story promotes the character etc, I do though make the exception for this author and this series, this is Book 3 and the last book was out in 2018 ( so was happy to see it )
And they are good
This time D.I.Summerskill and D.S.Lyon are investigating a couple of murders linked to a local notorious family and also linked to the uptight local headmaster and his daughter, the story plays well, the police procedural parts as always with this series are not stifling or too wordy and the characters a mixture of good, bad and in-between, there are some ongoing storylines between some of them but enough back story hints if this is your first book to feel a part of it
D.S.Lyon’s also has to face some questions re the man he is currently meeting, when the urge takes them both and a new P.C. and all the hassle that could bring if their relationship goes past professional
It’s never gay preachy, but does raise a few points that are worth raising and its written to make any reader feel comfortable and welcomed into the story
Love this series, the inclusive style of writing and the character driven dialogue, roll on Book 4

9/10
5 Stars