The Body in the Marsh

The review is written with thanks to Ellie Pilcher for giving me the opportunity to be part of the tour, and Canelo and Netgalley for my copy of the book.
DCI Craig Gillard and his team are working hard to solve the case of Girl F, a historic child abuse case that was previously mishandled by Surrey Police, when they are alerted to the case of Liz Knight. Liz is the husband of well-known criminologist, Martin Knight. She has been reported missing, and her husband has also mysteriously disappeared. Where are they and what has happened to them? Craig must work round the clock to find the answers, including how this case is connected to the case of Girl F, whilst also confronting his personal demons: he dated Liz as a teenager.
The Body In The Marsh is the first book to feature DCI Craig Gillard, and I was able to warm to him quite quickly. He has all the characteristics I look for in a fictional detective: he’s determined and open minded and he thinks outside the box, but he also has flaws that allow him to appear human to the reader so that we are able to relate to him. He is also surrounded by a strong team, who are also able to bring their personalities to the case. I would like to see these characters developed in a future novel.
At first, the investigation in The Body In The Marsh appears to be quite straightforward. However, as the plot unravels, the reader learns that this is far from being the case. It is set over several months, unlike many other novels of the same genre, and I believe this makes The Body In The Marsh stand out from the crowd. This structure not only allows us to see the characters develop over a period of time, but it also introduces us to a different kind of police investigation to the fast paced, frenetic cases that are often the subject of police procedural novels. The Body In The Marsh is not fast paced and Louth doesn’t grab the reader by the throat to make them feel tension. The tension is there, but it creeps up on you and I found the investigation to be very cerebral, with the perpetrator’s meticulous planning. Louth has obviously researched this part of the novel thoroughly and I found his explanations of how things had been done truly fascinating.
I enjoyed The Body In The Marsh and have been left reeling by its conclusion.

A very atmospheric crime mystery this one with settings and landscapes where there are either marshes or rocky, dangerous mountains. So much could happen here couldn't it? And it does. The settings here more than added tension and expectation to the mix and made for a backdrop to some really twisty turnings of a novel.

I did find the lead DI a little bit of a wimp at times though pining for a woman he'd dated but barely knew. Still, an emotional policeman makes a change from one who drinks his way through every case. DS Mulholland was a very put together officer and she was a nice addition to the story. A good colleague for the DI and a good example you would hope!
As well as the main criminal mystery thread, there was a nice side story of a past case which comes back to haunt and this made for more intrigue and a story relevant to todays world.

A very good thriller which makes me want to read what Nick writes next. Make me very nervous of that marsh though and I thought Elly Griffiths had more than done that with her books set there!

Liz Knight, a History teacher goes missing. Her husband Martin is the first suspect but then he goes missing. It seems an open and shut case for Craig Gillard who has to investigate - a husband wanting to bump off his wife.. She's Craig's first girlfriend and he's carried a torch for her over 30 years; this muddies the waters. As progress is made the case becomes more and more complex. I did think the detectives were a bit dim-witted at times but it made a good story and added humour. It was an ingenious plot with a lot of surprises along the way. I particularly liked the way Craig's character was built up. it made him so genuine and real with his little idiosyncrasies and hobbies. You could help but have a soft spot for him. It was crazy page-turning at the end. A very enjoyable read. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher. I shall post this review to Amazon, GoodReads and my blog.

i loved this book. First time reading this author; and what an amazing read. The book kept me interested, intrigued and i felt that i was tangled in a web along with the characters. There are lots of twists and turns through the book that make you second guess everything.

A missing report for a 48 years old woman becomes an obsession for DCI Craig Gillard. Elizabeth Knight used to be his girlfriend 30 years ago. He remembers her as the sweetest person in the world. He knows that she couldn't just vanish without telling anyone. Her husband, Martin Knight,  a person with very hard character and little bit more forensic knowledge, doesn't seem to be very concerned about his wife's disappearance. But when the husband disappears just a couple of days after his wife, the police puts Martin Knight as a prime suspect in his wife's murder. Just because there is no murder without a body, DCI Gillard investigates Knight's home. Under the carpet, he finds a huge amount of washed blood, remains of bleach and pieces that might be bone parts. The forensics confirm that the bone parts belong to Liz Knight. So the search for the killer husband officially begins.

But is Craig Gillard ready for the truth? He remembers Liz in a good light. She was the best thing that ever happened to him. She spent some time in a home for mentally ill people. Was that because of her abusive husband? Was Martin Knight capable of butchering his wife into pieces or did he hire someone to do that instead of him? What was his motive?

Or maybe the real story is very different!

Nothing could prepare me for the truth!

I was left with my jaw dropped! A real blow up at the end of the story! A simply couldn't see that coming! The story is full of forensic details, many of them not known to me. I was asking myself: "Is that medically possible?" Probably it is. I don't want to reveal more, but The Body in the Marsh is an extraordinary story of police procedurals and the human nature hidden behind a mask. Totally recommended!

Nick Louth needs to write more books as this story is fantastic and keeps you turning those pages until the end and what an ending, some things I would not have guessed. I love that it is set on The Marsh as I used to live there and I always think it gives you a bit of a connection with the story. The descriptions are intense but well written with characters working well together. Will the police ever find out what happened to Liz Knight and her body and where has her husband disappeared to, leaving no trace and lots of dead ends for the police. Brilliant book that is out today.

A report of a missing person affects DCI Craig Gillard as Liz Knight was his first girlfriend over 30 years ago and he has never got over their break up. The main suspect is her husband, Martin, especially when he disappears and Liz's blood is found in the family home. This book is then a roller coaster of a ride, with lots of twists and turns. It is a well written police thriller and features some very good characters. As well as the main plot there is a side story of a past case which ties in well. I did guess though, early on, what the twist would be but it certainly didn't stop me from enjoying this book and I look forward to the next one. Definitely one to read. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

A true thriller that keeps you hooked from page 1. I loved the setting of the book as I have visited most of the places mentioned. I almost felt like I could connect with it more and really imagine what was going on. A definite must read for any thriller/crime book lover!

I love a good police procedural and I haven't read one for a while so I was really looking forward to this and I wasn't disappointed. This is the story of DCI Craig Gillard as he works to solve the case of a missing woman. On top of this the missing woman is someone from his past and her husband is a top notch criminologist. DCI Craig Gillard and his team work hard as they try and solve the case and come up against several obstacles along the way. I found this story to be engaging and interesting and I wanted to keep reading. I had to know what happened next and, in the manner of a good crime novel the ending was a surprise.


I really enjoyed the depth of this novel. It was obvious the author had done his research on the different aspects of a police investigation and the detailed nature of the story was great. It really made it feel like we were part of the investigation. When things came to a dead end you felt the characters frustration and when they had a breakthrough you again felt excited. The one thing I will say is that as much as I loved the depth of the story this did sometimes make it a bit heavy going and I found myself having to take regular breaks but I was definitely invested enough in the story to want to keep picking it back up.


I enjoyed the overall premise of the book. I found the investigation interesting and I wanted to know what was going to happen. I couldn't work out where the ending was going to go until we neared the conclusion. I had several theories but I wasn't able to tell which was correct and this is something that makes a good crime novel for me. There were aspects of the story however that I didn't think were quite relevant. I found the relationship between Sam and Craig a bit strange. Initially I thought Sam would be much more involved in the investigation however, it went off in a different direction and I found her parts in the story didn't really add much for me. I also found the aspects of the Girl F investigation a bit confusing and I would of liked a bit more information about this. I'm hoping that both of these aspects were setting up some plot points for future stories and I would love to see some more explanation of these in future books.


I thought the characters in this story were interesting as well and I particularly liked Claire Craig's work partner. It was nice to see a strong female character in a role that is often depicted in stories like these as male. I also enjoyed Craig as a character and how down to earth he was. You could see he cared about his job and appreciated his team. The one thing I will say about the characters is that one of the male detectives is quite misogynistic and thrives on the sexual objectification of woman. This didn't really bother me as I felt it was handled well and the character received his just desserts in the end.


Overall I really enjoyed this story I loved the depth to it and the plot was really interesting. I would definitely recommend it to people who like a good police procedural.

The truth is definitely darker than you could imagine, especially in The Body In The Marsh by Nick Louth. The story starts with DCI Craig Gillard rescuing somebody after a fall up in the Lake District. As coincidences go it's a big one. Her name is Sam Phillips, she's about to start working as a PCSO in Gillard's area, and they're both about to get caught up on two of the local force's biggest cases.

Sam takes a missing person report about someone called Elizabeth Knight, who turns out to be Gillard's first love from 30 years ago. Nobody has seen her and everybody is worried, apart from her husband, the esteemed criminologist Professor Martin Knight who is involved in the case of Girl F, also involving Gillard's station. The case takes an even stranger turn when Professor Knight also goes missing and suddenly everybody is involved and Gillard is heartbroken. He is convinced this is an admission of guilt on Martin Knight's part and sure enough, irrefutable evidence turns up all leading to one conclusion. Elizabeth Knight is dead, murdered most likely by her husband.

The Body In The Marsh is a rollercoaster ride from here on out and nobody is quite sure just how this has happened. Professor Knight has had a string of affairs and emails are found leading police to believe that he was planning to run off with one particular woman, having inherited a significant amount of money. Friends of Liz are convinced that she was being abused by her husband and that's what lead to her brief stay in a mental health unit. The Knight's children are none the wiser, one a solicitor and the other a student both appear to be clueless on the surface but a birthday card from France might indicate otherwise.

Nothing is as it seems in this case and when evidence points to a link with the infamous Girl F case, which Professor Knight viciously condemned, things appear to be pointing in another direction, or are they? Nobody is quite sure what to do next but trips to France, Spain, the Kent coast, and the fact that the allow the Knight family to hold a funeral for Liz would suggest that the case has gone cold and might never be solved.

The Body In The Marsh is a fantastic police thriller, well-written, fast-paced, and featuring some wonderful characters. I particularly loved DS Claire Mulholland, Gillard's deputy, who was portrayed as perhaps the most realistic policewoman I've come across, with a family, grandchildren, and definitely not romantically interested in her boss. Gillard was a little peculiar to me though, still pining after a woman 30 years later struck me as a little obsessive and allowing it to impact on all his romantic relationships was nothing short of foolishness. I can pretty much guarantee he is seeing his brief involvement with Liz through very rose-tinted glasses and allowing it to cloud his judgment of the Liz of today. I also loved the touches of humor which broke up the seriousness of both cases under the spotlight, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, in my opinion, should have featured more...

If you're looking for a thriller with a difference you can't go wrong with The Body In The Marsh. Its twists and turns will keep you up well beyond your bedtime. When you think you've got the culprit worked out the book will turn that upside down and thrown in a curveball for good measure. It was definitely worth losing a few hours sleep to find out who did it and what exactly happened. I've got 2 more of Nick Louth's books here to read so I'm hoping they're half as good as The Body In The Marsh.

The Body in the Marsh Nick Louth.

A confession to start my review. Nick Louth has escaped my attention in the past. He now has my full attention, and his previously published books have just been uploaded to my Kindle.

This is a cracking book.

Set against the back drop of a Cold Case Review, of the Murder of a young girl known in the press as Child F; in which the Surrey Police are under intense scrutiny, the last thing the Major Investigation Team need is another complex, high profile case.

When Elizabeth Knight is reported missing by one of her friends the Police quickly establish she is the wife of Professor Martin Knight, one of the main protagonists in the attacks on Surrey Police, and the way they handled the Child F case. She is also the first love of Craig Gillard


DCI Craig Gillard is a detective in Surrey, but we first meet him halfway up a rock climb in the Lake District rescuing a damsel-in-distress. The damsel happens to be a PCSO from his own force, and proves a bit of a nice distraction throughout the book.

Returning to Surrey Gillard heads the investigation into the disappearance of Elizabeth Knight, which quickly turns into a murder enquiry as forensic evidence stacks up to indicate she has been murdered.

What’s more Professor Knight has also gone missing. Is this a domestic murder? Evidence soon starts to show the Prof is a bit of a player, and has been having affairs for years.

The investigation finds a link between a property, that Elizabeth owns and rents out, to a suspect in the new investigation into the killing of Child F.

Gillard’s team work on both cases, and struggle to make much headway into either. The frustrations of the investigations are wonderfully portrayed by Louth as the story ploughs its way to a not very inevitable end. But what and end.

There is a lot of crime fiction on the shelves, at the moment. Most book shops have a shelf with their top reads, top recommendations, or top ten.

This book is destined for those shelves, right at the top. It has Number 1 best seller written all over it.

Pages: 360
Publisher: Cancelo
Available on Amazon

This was my first Nick Louth book and it certainly wont be my last! I thought I'd got it sussed by a quarter of the way through......I had, but it was nothing like my imagined scenario.

I changed my mind so often, because Nick's plot was so convoluted !

Loved it!

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.