I loved this book so much. The writing was excellent and I cannot believe this is a debut novel.
There was so much going on in the plot and I loved every minute of it!

The characters and their back stories are well fleshed, the protagonists have their flaws. There's a good level of emotion and empathy shown by them. Oh and I also loved the humor then and there. There’s some good attention to detail demonstrated.

Such a great read and I'm excited to read all of the author's upcoming works.

4.75⭐️Which I’ve rounded up. gore score 2/5

The author is new to me. Up til now he is better known as an advisor to authors on police procedural matters.

A footballer has been killed, who happens to be the son of the Chief Superintendent of Brighton. This makes the case even trickier for Detective Superintendent Jo Howes. The situation becomes even more desperate for her with blackmail, vigilantes and police corruption thrown into the mix.

It’s dark and gritty in places, but generally I’d say mid way on the gore score. The writing style is polished and proficient. The seniority level of the protagonist is a higher than usually found in police procedurals giving the storyline a different base point.

Plot wise there’s plenty going on throughout. The threads have a good complexity are intricately interwoven. The pov’s are varied including both protagonists and antagonists, we get a more street vibe from the county lines drug runner. There’s a good pace maintained throughout with no lag, and it builds up to a full on action finale.

The characters and their back stories are well fleshed, the protagonists have their flaws. Theres a good level of emotion and empathy shown by them. There’s some good attention to detail demonstrated.
I made a list of characters and their relationships as there are a lot mentioned in the early stages of the book. The amount of concentration required is the only reason this isn’t a full fledged rate 5⭐️

There’s snippets of humour running throughout too, but nothing that’s slapstick.

I highly recommend this book, and eagerly await the next instalment.

A gritty and exciting crime thriller set in Sussex. Having suffered cuts to the number of staff, the Brighton police are struggling to keep on top of the rising crimes in the city. A ruthless vigilante group has stepped in to fill the void but now the violence is spinning out of control.
This is a fast paced, complex and well constructed story. A very thrilling read.

Brighton is out of control. Every possible crime you can imagine, grossly understaffed police, bent coppers and a vigilante outfit dispensing paid-for justice of sorts.

But the murder of promising young footballer (and son of serving officer Phil Cooke) Harry proves to be the tipping point.

Just who can Joanne Howe trust as she tries to bring everything under control.

A brilliant crime thriller, and hopefully there's more where this came from

I ended up really enjoying this one. It had everything I love in a thriller.
Great read which I couldn’t put it down.
I appreciate the twists and turns in Bartlett's plot and always look forward to a nail-biting read.
The story here is fascinating and kept me hooked till very end!
The characters were interesting and the plot certainly was complicated.

A&B,
Thank You for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!
I will post my review closer to pub date.

I thoroughly enjoyed this for a debut novel. The plot moved along well with interesting characters and a satisfying murder plot line. I normally enjoy mystery/thriller novels so this was right up my alley. I rate it 4/5 stars.