This is the third outing for Harbinder Kaur who has been promoted to DI in the London Met. Her promotion has necessitated a move from her parents home to a house share in West Kensington. She is sharing with two other female professionals as housing is way out of her financial reach. She finds herself in charge of her own team and nervous about her acceptance, both professionally and personally.

It’s not long before she finds herself leading her team in a high profile case where an MP has been found dead of an apparent drug overdose. All is not as it seems however, and DI Kaur is soon in charge of her first murder. The Conservative MP had been found dead at the local exclusive Manor Park school as part of a school reunion.

The MP had been part of a close knit group of friends who had all attended the school in 1998. Now all aged 38 the group includes a famous actress, beautiful Isabelle Ishtar; Sonoma Davies the current head of Manor Park; foreign language teacher Anna Lance; Labour MP Henry Steep and a member of DI Kaur’s police team, DS Cassie Fitzherbert. The narrative moves backwards and forwards in time and is told mainly from Cassie, Anna and Harbinder’s perspectives.

Some of Harbinder’s team are clearly star struck by the celebrity status of some of the suspects but this clearly doesn’t bother Harbinder. The team start to focus on other angles such as the threatening bleeding heart notes sent to Garfield Rice before his death and they are drawn back to the death of one of the group of friends in 1998 when they were celebrating the end of their A level exams. David Moore had died after falling onto the railway tracks in front of a speeding train in what has been judged a suicide.

The London setting including the House of Commons and Bleeding Heart Yard is vividly brought to life by excellent writing. DI Kaur need not have worried about how she is seen by her team as they are all impressed by her. The team all have nicknames and Harbinder eventually finds out hers is “Suzi” - she doesn’t mind in the least being thought of as Suzi Quattro, feisty rock star. The DI is capable, professional and she doesn’t mind getting her hands dirty. Who wouldn’t appreciate a boss line that?

This is such a well written story and all the ends are nicely tied up in the conclusion. It is full of twists and turns and has lots of intrigue. There is enough information to allow readers to guess outcomes but also enough red herrings to make it complex. It’s a joy to read and I can’t wait for the next in the series.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Quercus and Elly Griffiths for my ARC of Bleeding Heart Yard in return for an honest review. I have read many of Elly Griffiths’ novels and they do not disappoint. Neither did this one. I found it thoroughly enjoyable and raced through it.

This sees the return of DI Harbinder Kaur, the third in the series but the scene is now London. DS Cassie Fitzgerald is getting used to her new boss and when she and her husband attend a school reunion. Garfield Rice, one of ‘The Group’ Cassie used to go around with is murdered and it becomes clear that it relates to a tragedy which happened when Cassie and her friends were at school.

As the story unfurls in a cleverly plotted way it becomes clear that one of ‘The Group’ is responsible for the murder. The pace increases and the finale is excellent.

Brilliant read.

Ah I'm so gutted I didn't love this. I love Elly Griffiths writing and her other series featuring Ruth. I've also enjoyed the previous two novels in the Harbinder series, giving them both 4 stars. However this one just didn't do it for me. I found I didn't rush through this as I normally would, losing interest and getting easily distracted. While I enjoyed it well enough, I felt some of it didn't really make sense and the ending was a massive disappoint for me. I felt it didn't work for the murderer to be who it was based on what we'd been told about them and then a lot of things for me personally felt left unexplained and rushed. I had so many unanswered questions. I found I didn't really bond with any of the characters (apart from Star). I felt this was partly due to not only us meeting a whole new team and roommates for Harbinder but also a whole bunch of characters to do with the plot, including 2 other POV. I did enjoy Harbinder's side story and I will still eagerly look forward to the next book. I think this one will be chalked up as an anomaly.

This is the third book to feature DI Harbinder Kaur, I have read the previous two and enjoyed them but this one, not so much. The pace was slow and steady, not much tension and it failed to grip me. Just another average police procedural with a plot which centred around a school reunion and old friends. I failed to connect with any of the characters, I liked the location but the ending left me disappointed. Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.

DI Harbinder Kaur returns in Bleeding Heart Yard, but this time the setting has shifted to the heart of London. The plot centres around the death of MP Garfield Rice at a school reunion, seemingly from a drug overdose. One of Harbinder's officers, DS Cassie Fitzgerald attended the school reunion. Cassie was part of Garfield's group of friends at school, and it is revealed that the group are harbouring a secret that they have kept hidden for over 20 years. Further deaths follow within the same group of schoolfriends, and it becomes apparent that there could be more to the secret than Cassie could have imagined.

This is book 3 in the Harbinder Kaur series, but it could be read as a standalone book; however, there is a welcome return of the delightful trio that featured in the previous book, The Postscript Murders. If you enjoy crime fiction, a good thriller, or if you're just in need of new reading material, I highly recommend this book!

Thanks to Netgalley and Quercus Books for the ARC.

Bleeding Heart Yard follows the fates of six high school friends who, reunited at a school reunion, find their lives plunged into chaos after the death of a seventh friend at the party. With the dead man a successful Tory MP (and climate change denier), the investigation was always set to be a tricky one for Harbinder and her new team at the Met, but the fact that one of the six is a DS in the murder squad complicates matters even further...

Switching narrative perspective between the friends themselves and DI Kaur, Bleeding Heart Yard pulls together multiple plot strands in the typically satisfying way I've come to expect from Griffiths. While the news that her next Ruth Galloway book is likely to be the last in the series may have broken my heart, the Kaur novels going from strength to strength has assuaged my grief at least somewhat.

4.5 stars rounded up to 5.

Cassie is a police officer - when she was at school she and her friends killed a fellow pupil. After a school reunion an ex-pupil is found dead and she wonders whether the two deaths are connected.
I enjoyed the characters and found the storyline interesting but I was in two minds about the ending hence the three stars as opposed to four.
An enjoyable read nonetheless

We're really lucky in the crime/mystery genre to be blessed with so many great writers. Liz Mistry, Peter James, MW Craven to name just a few of the greats. Then there's Elly Griffiths. More known for her Ruth Galloway and Brighton Murders series, she's also blessed us with another series, the Harbinder Kauf crime series. I remember reading the first one, The Stranger Diaries. It was brilliant. It was the Christmas book I bought everyone I knew. Now it's a series, and we're on the third instalment of a series I hope goes as far as Ruth Galloway.

Bleeding Heart Yard starts with Harbinder moving to London and the Met police. She has to make new friends, forge a new team of detectives, as well as remember her family. Straight away she's into a murder. One of her detectives is at the scene when it happens. A school library, scene of the 21st anniversary of the class of students. The victim is a controversial Tory MP, found in the bathroom with cocaine on his nose. Is it a simple overdose or is it a murder? Harbinder and her team must find out as time ticks down.

The book starts with a murder confession, but as is always the case this might be a gigantic swerve ball or perhaps it's true? The book is told by many characters from the story. This way you get their points of view and their inner thoughts. It's a wonderful way to tell this tale of rivalry between former students. Sometimes it can be confusing, but in this case the author has excelled herself. The story flows with no lull in the middle. In some ways it's a closed room mystery as you know all the suspects, yet is it ?

I'm used to Elly Griffith's style of writing through her previous works, yet this book seems different from the rest. Don't get me wrong, it's good, but it seems Elly has adopted a new style of writing. It works really well. I loved the hesitation in Harbinder's character, the doubt in Cassies mind. A group of former friends thrown together, and what a stellar group it is. A BAFTA winning actress, a pop star (I had him pegged as Chris Martin of Coldplay), two MP's, the headmistress of their former school, a police officer and a teacher. The story unfurls before your eyes and hits a frentic finale.

A five star book and Elly Griffiths go together. Yep she's managed it again.

The third instalment in this series has a new location and a new promotion allowing more scope for new mysteries. Uncovering a spate of murders linked to a school and events of twenty years ago Harbinder Kaur must prove herself in her new role and to her new team, among the bright lights of London. This book was punchier than the previous one but stuck to the same style of moving between characters viewpoints thereby keeping the reader on their toes. Thank you to Netgalley for the advance reader copy of this book.

I don’t know how Elly Griffiths manages to keep so many series going at the same time, and yet make each book fresh and interesting.
This is the third Harbinder Kaur (mid-thirties, lesbian, still living at home, but now a DI) book, and she has now relocated from Sussex to London.
At a reunion at a London comprehensive school, an MP is murdered. Think Holland Park, not sink estate. The reunion year had produced a rock star, a famous actress, the current head of the school, and two MPs, as well as a detective. The murder seems to be connected with the death of a pupil 21 years previously.
As this is Harbinder’s first case with a new team, and it is high profile, there is a lot of pressure for a result, and the final result is unexpected, and very clever.
The book addresses serious issues of coercive control, end of life care, as well as the nuts and bolts of detection, and Harbinder’s new life in London, but is always done with a light touch.
And I love her reaction when she discovers her nickname.

Thanks to Netgalley and Quercus Books for the opportunity to read this book.

So this was a first in this series for me and I really enjoyed the book one I will now be defiantly be looking out for.

The main character in the story DI Harbinder Kaur is a genuine likeable character and the author has brought her to life in this story and you see her confidence gaining as the story develops .

The story is told from several different view points which I really enjoyed as it sees the different points of views and reactions to the same situations.

A satisfying read.

What can I say about how great this new series it? This is another excellent addition to a series which has really grown on me. Looking forward to more!

Love the Harbinder novels. Great writing and premise. Amazing characters. Page turner. Plenty of suspense to keep me guessing..Definitely looking forward to the next offering. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to review it

Wow! I really liked the introduction to Harbinder Kaur in previous Elly Griffiths books but this installment takes her story to a new level. A great blend of police procedural with the classic school murder mystery and some top class humour as well

Bleeding Heart Yard by Elly Griffiths
Harbinder Kaur is now in London, and Griffiths makes full use of the city’s evocative places, which hinting at a terrifying past obscured now by gentrification. The move ranges from council flat to the House of Commons, but focus is a posh comprehensive 21 years before and the mixed fortunes of The Group of friends many of whom face a terrifying present. They meet at a school reunion when one member, a Tory MP is murdered, followed by another, this time a Labour MP. Griffiths plays both with time and perspective. This seems to be Elly Gtrffith’s ‘literary” series- in the past she has used gothic horror and detective fiction itself. This time Shakespeare and The Tempest are central. I genuinely could not guess who was the killer. I enjoyed it greatly and recommend it.

The versatile Elly Griffiths can do no wrong. The peerless Ruth Galloway, the entertaining Brighton mysteries and now the return of Harbinder Kaur. As always, the writing is impeccable, the characters fascinating and the plot engrossing. Twenty one years after leaving school, a group of alumni, most of them now famous, are reunited at their alma mater and they can be sure that their past misdeeds will find them out! Superb.

This was another great outing for the newly promoted Inspector Harbinder Kaur. No longer living in Sussex, she has now moved to take up a new role in London heading a detective team. This means she has finally moved out of her parents’ house and is now sharing a flat in London. A new life beckons.
Her first murder enquiry is a high profile one when a prominent MP is found murdered at a school reunion. To complicate matters, her sergeant, Cassie, was also at the event and as a possible witness, cannot be involved in the case. The murder victim was one of an elite group who were all pupils at the school and there seems to some link to the unexplained death of one of their school mates 21 years ago. When another of the group is murdered, things become darker and it is unclear who can be trusted
I enjoyed both of the previous books in this series but this is my favourite one so far. I love the character of Harbinder and it’s great to see her moving on both in her career and her life. She is gay, non-white and small of stature so life in the police is likely to be difficult. However, she is completely competent and soon gains the confidence of her new colleagues. These are a mixed bag of characters and are all vividly written as is always the case with Elly Griffiths.
The book is written from different points of view and sometimes we see the same scene twice as we revisit it through the eyes of a different character. I enjoyed this aspect of the book as it’s always interesting to see how different people can view the same event.
I loved this book and am eagerly looking forward to the next one. Thank you to Net Galley and the publishers, Quercus Books for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Great story telling, Elly Griffiths always keeps the readers interest. I wasn't aware this was part of a series but it works as a standalone. I've now gone back to the beginning of Harpinder Kaur's story and read the first book. Its definitely a series I'd like to see continuing and developing.

This was my 1st encounter with the author and omg! It will definitely not be my last. I found it a bit slow to start with but it soon picked up and I was absolutely hooked! I loved the characters, how unique and how well rounded and realistic they were, and the twists and turns were second to none. I could not have predicted that, even being a hard core thriller reader..... I still didn't see what was going on until the big reveal. It was an absolute joy to read and I can't wait to read the back catalogue now

This is the third book in the Harbinder Kaur series by author Elly Griffiths. I enjoy the cosy thrillers from this author and have read both this series as well as the long running Ruth Galloway novels from the start. These are very good reads, interesting characters, well written and fascinating plots.

DI Harbinder Kaur is called on to investigate the mysterious death of eminent MP Garfield Rice. Early investigations point to a drug overdose but as you would expect there is more to this death than first thoughts. Garfield Rice was attending a school reunion along with one of Harbinder’s officers DS Cassie Fitzgerald. Cassie has a secret she has kept for thirty years, in the 1990s when she was at school, she and her friends killed a fellow pupil.

This is going to be an high profile case due to the victims standing and is going to be further complicated by Cassie’s involvement. Cassie’s memories of thirty years ago are hazy but she fears one of her friends may have killed again.

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