This is the third book in the Harbinder Kaur series, and I think they should be read in order to fully appreciate how far Harbinder has come, she has recently been promoted to DI and has moved to London. I really like Harbinder as a character, she is believable, has a brilliant sense of humour (her internal thoughts crack me up), and in this tale she is trying to make sense of herself and the new role she finds herself in, as well as dealing with the murder of two high-profile males!

This story is mainly told via three characters: Cassie – a DS in Harbinder’s team, Anna – who is one of the many suspects, and, of course, Harbinder. Whilst this type of narrative does work, it also leads to a fair amount of repetition, which, for me, grew a bit tedious in places.

Unfortunately, I did not like this book quite as much as the previous two - it’s a definite slow burner, and I felt it lacked a sense of excitement and drama. I found myself being easily distracted and even losing interest in places. The ending was, however, a surprising twist in the plot, which I feel the tale needed.

All in all, I enjoyed this instalment, but I didn’t love it.

Harbinder Kaur is a wonderful invention – a true original. This is Elly Griffiths’ third novel featuring the diminutive British Asian detective and, in some respects, it is the best so far. Harbinder has been promoted to DI; she has moved to London, a far cry from sleepy Shoreham and life with her parents. Her eccentric, warm-hearted friends have been left behind and Harbinder is feeling homesick. When the call comes for her to head up an investigation into an MP’s murder, she knows that she will have to prove her worth.
The narrative centres round ‘The Group’, six thirty-somethings who have reconnected at a school reunion. When one of them dies that evening, they all have to confront the past. Elly Griffiths’ greatest strength is in her characterisation. Whether major or minor players in her story, all of them come alive through credible dialogue, understandable motives and the apposite domestic details with which she surrounds them. Her use of spiky humour is very entertaining too!
So why isn’t this a 5-star read when it brought this reader a lot of enjoyment? Mainly because the final reveal borders on the farcical. Nevertheless, I’ll be back to read the next in the series, such is the draw of Griffiths’ detective and her team.
My thanks to NetGalley and Quercus Books for a copy of this novel in exchange for a fair review.

I think Harbinder Kaur is my favourite fictional detective.

Harbinder is 38, Sikh and gay. This is the third in the series and she's now moved to the Met and out of the family home. She's called out to what might be a suspicious death at a school reunion. One of her detectives, Cassie, is present at that reunion as an ex pupil of Manor Park school. When the death is confirmed as mruder, Cassie is taken off the team and like everyone else present becomes a suspect.

The narrative goes between Anna (one of the other suspects), Cassie and Harbinder. Each voice is distinct and the characters are well developed. Harbinder is a brilliant creation and i love her internal monologue and little asides which are so funny. She is a great character. When is the TV series coming? Highly recommended.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I’ve read all Griffiths’ Ruth Galloway series and didn’t realise this novel was the third in the Harbinder Kaur series.
I really enjoyed it. Kaur is a very well characterised Sikh DI embarking on a murder case.
The case involves thecurrent murder of an MP and ‘The group’: a band of his old school friends brought together for a reunion.
The murder also seems linked to the murder of another old school friend 25 years earlier.
There are plenty of twists and turns but the characterisation is great and humorously done.
The book is very well plotted and paced and you don’t need to have read the previous two books.
Recommended: I read and enjoyed it in a day.

This third book in the Harbinder Kaur series is as good as the previous books. Kaur has moved to London and has a new job and new room mates. The change of scenery is good for the series I think since it helps Kaur to gain independence from her parents and gives her love life a chance.

in this book Kaur investigates a murder that happens in a school reunion. The book has three protagonists: Kaur, Cassie who is in the school reunion and a suspect in the murder inquiry but who also works with Kaur, and Anna who is Cassie’s classmate and also a suspect. The constantly changing narrator took me a bit of time to get used to but I think the narrating style worked in the end.

Elly Griffiths’ writing style has a light humour which I enjoy very much, and I can’t wait to have a chance to read more Elly’s books.

Thank you Netgalley for a chance to preview this book.

In this third novel in Griffith’s Harbinder Kaur series, Harbinder has been promoted to a DI at the London Met to head up her own team in Homicide and Serious Crime. She’s clearly come a long way since her early days in the force in Shoreham, West Sussex where she still lived with her parents. She’s now sharing a flat with two other women, Mette, a rather striking blonde Danish architect, and Jeanne a primary teacher.

One of Harbinder’s new team members, DS Cassie Fitzgerald, is reluctantly attending the 21st anniversary reunion of the class of 1998 at Manor Park School, a government school in Chelsea that attracts kids from wealthy families. Amongst her school friends, an extraordinary number have gone on to successful careers including two MPS, a famous actress and a rock star. Since she left school, Cassie has tried hard to forget the traumatic event that occurred during her last days there, when classmate David Moore died after falling onto the train tracks in front of an incoming train, something for which Cassie felt responsible. However, Cassie’s husband Pete, also an ex-pupil at the school persuades her to attend the reunion.

Harbinder is spending a quiet evening alone at home when she receives the call telling her well-known MP, Garfield Rice has died at the school reunion. A doctor attending the party was unable to revive him. When she arrives at the school, Harbinder is surprised to see Cassie, but decides her inside knowledge will be useful even though, as a witness, she can’t be involved in the investigation.

This is an entertaining read with the narrative told from the perspectives of Harbinder, Cassie and Anna, another school friend. Insight into the dynamics between various members of the friendship group, brought back together by the tragedy, add richly to development of the plot and the London locations add colour and interest. The title Bleeding Heart Yard derives from the courtyard where Garfield Rice was a member of a dining club attended by fellow MPs and leading businessmen and is also a real courtyard in Holborn with a gory history of its own. There are lots of good twists in the plot before we get to the truth of what led to Gary’s death, culminating in a very dramatic scene in a building site.

One of the things I most enjoyed about the first two novels in this series was the light touch used in introducing us to an interesting gay policewoman from a culturally diverse background and the slightly offbeat, almost cosy, crimes she investigated. Harbinder is a wonderful, original character, sensible and pragmatic but with a softer, quirkier side which was delightfully brought out by the crimes she was investigating.

With Harbinder’s move to London, this third novel feels more serious with gory murders at its heart and a more traditional approach to the investigation, although Griffiths does have some fun by planting a DS with a secret inside her team and also with Harbinder’s social life. It is good to see Harbinder taking on more responsibility and her new team coming to respect her (to the point where they award her a nickname), but I hope we will also continue to see more of her quirkier side in subsequent novels.

Something happened in the 1990s that DS Cassie Fitzherbert has tried to block from her mind: she and her friends killed one of their fellow pupils. Now, she has been persuaded to go to a school reunion where disaster strikes – another ex-pupil, Conservative MP Garfield Rice, has been found dead, allegedly from a drug overdose. Cassie’s boss, DI Harbinder Kaur, is tasked to investigate, leaving Cassie wondering is one of her school friends has killed again…

Bleeding Heart Yard is the third book to feature Harbinder Kaur but the former detective sergeant has had a promotion and is now an inspector. Relocating to London, away from the watchful eyes of her parents, she is immediately given a high-profile case to work on when the body of a prominent MP is found at a school reunion.

The story is told from the perspective of three of the characters: Harbinder, Cassie and Anna, one of a group of high school friends who have met up again at the reunion. I liked how this gave us the story from different angles, seeing how each of the characters reacted to events that were happening. The characterisation is great and you really feel that you get to know the characters well as the book progresses. One of my favourite characters was a minor one, Anna’s mum, a woman who despite her circumstances, is living her life as best she can.

Like all of Elly Griffiths’ books, the plot is engaging and well-written, full of mystery and humour. There is a great ‘whodunnit’ element as we try to figure out who has killed Garfield Rice with enough twists along the way to really get you thinking. I also liked how the murder that happened decades earlier is not as cut and dry as the group originally thought, leaving us to wonder what part it plays in what is currently happening.

This is a great addition to the Harbinder Kaur series and I hope that we see more of her and her new team. I did enjoy seeing the return of a few familiar characters at the end of the book, and it was good to see what they had been doing since The Postscript Murders.

I love police procedurals and this one is very good with a great plot and believable characters. I was pleased to ‘meet up’ with some of the characters from the previous book too. I had no idea who the murderer was, so a real surprise at the end. Harbinder is a fabulous main character, intelligent and brave, yet not reckless or a rule breaker. More please?

Bleeding Heart Yard is the third novel by award-winning British author, Elly Griffiths to feature Harbinder Kaur. Having made Detective Inspector and moved to London, Harbinder Kaur’s boring Saturday night is livened up by her first case as lead investigator for the Metropolitan Police. Conservative MP Garfield Rice, a notoriously vocal climate change denier, has been found dead at Manor Park School during a class reunion.

What initially looks like a drug overdose is soon revealed to be murder, and her team has quite a task ahead of them, interviewing and investigating the reunion attendees, one of whom, it turns out, is a DS under Harbinder’s command. Cassie Fitzherbert has to be excluded from the investigation, but Harbinder might rely on her for some inside information about those present. Wise?

Research alerts the team to the death of another Manor Park student back in 1998: David Moore’s fall under a train at a decommissioned tube station was ruled as accidental, but Gary Rice was apparently the only witness. And he had recently been talking to others about it. Now he, too, is dead. And all this time, Cassie has been holding a guilty secret.

Of interest are the class of 1998, in particular, members of The Group, a tight clique with a BAFTA-winning actress, a pop star, a teacher, a Labour MP, Manor Park’s headmistress and a Police detective, Cassie, in their number, all but one of whom attended the reunion. Harbinder assigns her somewhat star-struck team to question them, selecting some to chat to personally.

By the time alibis are checked, CCTV footage examined, and each has been interviewed several times, it looks like a number had the means and opportunity to murder their classmate. And if, as is looking more likely, David Moore was murdered, his murderer or murderers would have a motive too. Not that this could be the only motive, considering Gary’s political stance.

And then, three days later, another of The Group is murdered…

Griffiths uses three narrative strands: Harbinder’s perspective can certainly be trusted, even if some of her decisions are a little puzzling; classmates Cassie Fitzherbert and Anna Vance offer different points of view on the events of both 1998 and the reunion and aftermath. Cassie’s narrative seems reliable, but is Anna’s? After all, as a classmate tells her: “it’s perfectly possible to convince someone they experienced something they didn’t… all that’s necessary is for someone you trust to tell you that you did something and you start to believe it.”

With Harbinder’s move to London, Griffiths introduces a whole new cast of characters: colleagues and flatmates, while not completely abandoning those from earlier instalments. Not all of Harbinder’s team seem to be on the same page, but she and DS Kim Manning do make a good team. And one of her flatmates is both entertaining and of a handy stature during a nasty situation. The reveal will have most jaws dropping: someone not even on the reader’s suspect radar. Cleverly plotted, Harbinder’s third outing is excellent British crime fiction.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Quercus.

Another mystery featuring Detective Harbinder Kaur who has moved from the South Coast to London and the position of DI.
This one is full of misdirections, red herrings and is told from various viewpoints which really keeps the reader on their toes! There are many characters and any one of them could be the murderer!
Bleeding Heart Yard begins with a possible murder at a 21 year school reunion when an MP, Garfield Rice, is found dead. Cassie, one of Harbinder’s team is present and she calls the police. Some of the story is told from her viewpoint and there are some surprising revelations and secrets from her right at the beginning of the book.
The story goes back to the day a particular group of students finished their A levels when a terrible tragedy occurs, something that none of them will get over, even Cassie who joins the police out of a sense of guilt., hoping to do some good in order to make amends. Anna, Izzy, Henry ,Chris and Garfield himself were all present at the time but their memories of the event are rather scrambled. It is clear that the present day murder is connected to events of 21 years ago and all are therefore suspects in Garfield’s murder.
Elly Griffiths who is definitely one of my favourite authors has written a really clever page turner. She certainly knows how to keep the reader guessing right until the very last page. However just as in the Ruth Galloway books there is also a fair amount of humour to lighten the serious subject matter of murder. This comes in the guise of Scandinavian Mette, Harbinder’s new flat mate and possible love interest. She’s a great character and I look forward to reading more about her in subsequent DI Kaur novels. Even Harbinder shows the same self deprecating humour that Elly Griffiths fans will recognise from reading the Ruth Galloway novels!
As you can probably guess from this glowing review this is definitely a five star read for me and highly recommended.
Thanks to NetGalley and Quercus Books for my advance copy.

Misdirection Galore..
Twists, turns and misdirection galore in the newest suspense featuring Detective Harbinder Kaur. An innocuous enough school reunion which ends tragically prompts memories of murder and secrets. With an exceptionally well crafted cast, a pitch perfect narrative and an immersive plot peppered with red herrings this is a worthy addition to this superlative series.

Bleeding Heart Yard is an excellent murder mystery by Elly Griffiths which features DI Harbinder Kaur who has had a couple of previous books but is now based in London.

Also Kaur is probably not the main character in this well written book with a largish cast being used to tell the story from their individual viewpoint which in the hands of a lesser author would be a disaster waiting to happen but definitely not in this instance.

The story moves along at a good pace with plenty of twists and turns. Another trademark from the author!

Highly recommended.

Another good story from Elly Griffiths. I am enjoying the Harbinder Kaur series, she is such a great character. This story is full of twists and turns and false starts and dead ends. A great read. With thanks to NetGalley. the publishers and the author for a e-ARC to read and review.

One thing you can be sure of when reading an Elly Griffiths novel. Misdirection is forced upon you with every turn of the page.

Even the title, Bleeding Heart Yard, could be misdirection, although it is part of the plot, in several different forms.

But although Elly Griffiths leads you through a tortuous maze of lies, deceit and forgetfulness (the characters, not mine this time), the story is brilliantly written. It never lets you down. The characters consistently come up with excuses and false memories. Somebody mentions reading Machiavelli. Did that have a bearing on their life as a politician? Or someone else’s life?

Both Anna and Cassie have memories of the day David died, the last day of their school exams, 25 years ago. Occasionally I forgot who Anna was, but this may be because she herself is wondering who she is and what she should do in the future. She is drifting, and easy prey for someone trying to twist her memories.

But it turns out to be the author who is twisting all our thought processes, leaving the killer in plain sight. It even says that on the cover, although I didn’t notice. Fortunately Harbinder Kaur is prepared for anything. Although maybe not for her flatmate. I love Harbinder. She’s a real person, even if she is a cop.

I’m looking forward to seeing what happens next!

This is a really cracking police procedural that had me hooked from beginning to end. The story centres on a school reunion where a prominent politician is found murdered. Could this have anything to do with the death of a young pupil from the same school many years ago? DI Harbinder Kaur is leading her first big case in London, and one of her detectives was in a group of friends when the first death occurred and was also at the reunion. Any detective would be wondering about this connection and the whole story just works so well. Believable characters, settings described so well that they become pictures in the mind, and a good twisty plot to keep the reader guessing right until the very satisfying denouement at the end. Don’t read this if you only have a short commute to work - wait until you have a whole day to give it your full attention. You won’t be able to put it down!

This is the third in the series featuring Harbinder Kaur and I must say with every outing this series gets stronger, what's also nice is you can read this as a stand alone as there is a slight mention of her backstory but no spoilers so if you enjoy this return to the other 2 in the series, The Stranger Diaries and The Postscript Murders. I'm going to suggest that this is one of 'Elly Griffiths' best novels in a while, its got character who are interesting, there is intrigue, Harbinder's story arc is strong, there's a good reveal at the end and you will fly through it.. The narrative is told through multiple characters which gives the reader a chance to see the action through different eyes. Here's to the next mystery featuring Harbinder.

Bleeding Heart Yard is the third instalment of the Harbinder Kaur series, about a British Sikh CID detective solving complicated murder mysteries, although it would work fine as a stand-alone too. I loved the first book (The Stranger Diaries) but found the second rather too cosy In style. However I liked Harbinder enough to continue the series regardless - a good decision as this one is the best to date. It’s a more conventional police procedural, and change in direction for the series, but worked brilliantly in my opinion because of the intriguing cast of characters.

Harbinder has moved to West London following her promotion to DI, and her first case with a new team involves the death of a prominent Tory politician at a school reunion. Her suspects include the man’s former friends, all part of a popular clique known as The Group, one of whom just happens to be Cassie, Harbinder’s DS - who has been keeping a terrible secret for twenty years…

I like the nostalgia of a school reunion plot line - and Manor Park Comprehensive, though fictional, is set very close to where I went to school, so I enjoyed all the geographic references. Having a cast of celebrity suspects, and the flashbacks to their teen years, had me engaged from the start, and contrasted nicely with Harbinder’s down to earth murder investigation team and comic relief flatmates.
I wasn’t sure how the Bleeding Heart Yard of the title would fit in, with its gory backstory, but when it does the mystery deepens further - I was interested to learn from the afterword that it is a real place.
I’m fairly sure that the defunct Imperial underground station doesn’t exist though, as I rode that tube line for six years so surely would’ve noticed.

The story is told from Cassie and Anna’s third person past perspective, and Harbinder’s in third person present, but I was mostly able to tolerate this. It’s set in 2019, presumably to avoid having to incorporate Covid into the plot. I didn’t like the jumping timelines where events happen, then we go back half a day to get the build-up to those events from someone else’s POV. Apart from this minor quibble, I thoroughly enjoyed this and flew through it in a day, wanting to know both whodunnit and how it would all turn out. I did suspect the killer’s identity but only because they seemed the least likely culprit! (You can tell I read too much crime fiction.) 4.5 rounded up for good writing and a satisfying ending.

Thanks to NetGalley and Quercus for the ARC. I am posting this honest review voluntarily. Bleeding Heart Yard is published on September 29th.

3.5 rounded up.

Twenty-one years ago Cassie killed a man, David Moore. She lured him to one of London’s mothballed underground stations promising him he can get drugs there. Her friends are all lurking nearby. The plan is kill to him or, at the very least, scare the living daylights out of him. You see David r@ped Cassie and had tried it on with two of her other friends. It didn’t seem like he would ever stop this behaviour. Cassie and David struggle and there’s a loud noise as a train approaches and David Moore falls in front of the speeding train.

In the present Harbinder Kaur has been promoted to DI in the CID of the MET and is in charge of the MIT at West Kensington. Apologies for all the acronyms but I’m sure they are pretty self explanatory. Cassie is now DS Cassie Fitzherbert. She has a husband and two children. Cassie attends a reunion at her alma mater, Manor Park school. Everyone in her friendship group will be there

Garfield Rice - now Tory MP
Kris (formerly Chris) Foster - lead singer for The Cubes
Isabelle Istar -actress
Henry Steep - now Labour MP
Anna Vance - now lives in Italy

And Cassie of course, the only friend who doesn’t turn up is Sonoma who is now the school principal. Before the night is out Garfield Rice is murdered. Cassie cannot be on the case as she present at the reunion.

Suspects are batted backwards and forwards faster then a tennis final. Red herrings appear and enquiries and interviews yield nothing. Then, a couple of days later Henry Steep is found dead in Bleeding Hear Yard - a strangely named courtyard outside an old pub. Harbinder marshalls her troops very effectively. It is wonderful to see her flourish in the new environment. She is ably assisted by DS Kim Manning. Manning is an older woman who has a real skill in calming people down and getting them to talk. It was interesting to read about some of the more hidden parts of London too.

I did not enjoy this book quite as much as the previous two. It didn’t quite have the same sense of drama, in fact the case itself seemed to go around in circles a lot. The ending was, however, a very surprising twist. I enjoyed reading this one but I didn’t love it. Many thanks to Netgalley and Quercus books for the much appreciated arc which I reviewed voluntarily and honestly.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book.

Loved the way this story developed. Didn’t guess who’s done it. Great read!

There is a notable change between this book and its predecessors in that they were both inventive and cunning whereas Bleeding Heart Yard is a straight forward mystery. It is still a good book but I was expecting something different.

Harbinder has moved to London and is starting afresh as a DI in the London Met in charge of a team. This introduces a parcel of new characters at work plus she moves in with two other women in a shared house. Her first case becomes very high profile when an MP is murdered. Most of the suspects are old friends of the victim and they all get opportunities to express their own points of view. There are red herrings aplenty and the murderer is(view spoiler). There is a nice romance for Harbinder too which lightens up the action.

It is all very standard mystery writing and there is nothing wrong with that, especially as Griffiths always writes well. Despite a teeny bit of disappointment in the change of direction I will still be one of the first in line to read the next book.