The Dark Hours by David J Gatward
Publisher: Weirdstone Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

A murder game. A real dead body. Can he help a friend through a torrent of danger?

DCI Harry Grimm smells trouble brewing. As the Chief Inspector and his team prepare for a harsh winter storm, a call comes in from an old pal that a remote PI training session in the Dales he is attending has abruptly ended in a suspicious death. And while the gruff detective struggles through a blizzard to reach the crime scene, the residents of a nearby house come to a fatal end.

Questioning the attendees in a bid to narrow down the list of suspects, Grimm worries about the treacherous weather isolating them from the rest of the Dales… and his overdue backup. But when a group of strangers arrives in search of an escape from the savage storm, he could be opening the door to another round of murders.

Can he keep everyone safe when the rules turn lethal?

DCI Harry Grimm and his team are preparing for a harsh winter storm, when he gets a call from an old and important friend calls him with some bad news. A PI training weekend has gone horribly wrong, with the fake “murder mystery” turning out to be anything except fraudulent. And most of the people present have reason to hate the deceased. With the threat looming of them getting all snowed in and phone reception dodgy at best, can Harry and his team uncover what is really going on?

I’ve been really enjoying this series and find it a good blend of believable police procedural and interesting small-town crime murder mystery. There is a solid cast of relatable and enjoyable characters and even though a few of the secondary characters – particularly those in the local small villages – feel like they’re a little bit of a caricature, it all rolls up into a strongly believable mystery book. The plots are varied and interesting and in particular the main murder mystery was very well paced and plotted I felt.

I have also strongly enjoyed how Harry has evolved over the past few books and really felt that having an important – and long standing – friend portrayed in this book really helped highlight to the reader just how changed Harry has become and how the Dales have made him such a better – and happier – man overall.

This is an excellent series and while I do feel this book can be read by itself and with none of the previous books, I do feel readers will enjoy this better having read at least a few of the other installments so they have a good feel for Harry and his tightly knit police team. And excellent rural police procedural mystery book.

Unquiet Bones by David J. Gatward
Publisher: Weirdstone Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

When move-in day turns fatal, will facing up to his past prove deadly?

Detective Chief Inspector Harry Grimm has the keys to hope. Excited but nervous over claiming his new house, he’s tying himself even tighter to his adopted community. But he can’t contain his horrified surprise when a mutilated corpse in the lounge makes him the owner of a gruesome crime scene.

With markings on the body showing a disturbing link to his time in Afghanistan, Grimm shivers with alarm as his team discovers the victim’s identity. And when he’s taken off the case, the stoic cop pursues answers on his own out of fear he’s about to be shattered by his bloody past.

Will he hunt down the killer…or is Grimm about to become the prey?

Unquiet Bones is the page-turning twelfth book in the DCI Harry Grimm Crime Thrillers series. If you like besieged heroes, races against time, and nail-biting mysteries, then you’ll love David J. Gatward’s restless pursuit.

DCI Harry Grimm has finally taken the plunge and bought himself a small home in the Dales. Happy in his new area and job, with a dog, a girlfriend and his brother all comfortably settled Harry is finding life just grand. Until the new, temporary DSup arrives with horrifying news about his father, and Harry uses his brand new keys to unlock his home and finds a murdered corpse in his living room. Nothing can ever come easily, and Harry is determined to find out what, exactly, is going on.

As the twelfth book in the series, I was pleased with this addition. While there is quite a bit of history now between Harry and his police team, it was lovely to read how well they all work together and yet the author still managed to make it appear fresh and interesting. I feel readers should absolutely be able to pick this book up and not need to have read any of the previous installments – though obviously they’re all good and the series is much richer and deeper with all that background knowledge.

I have to admit I enjoyed the character of the new DSup. She appeared to be quite an interesting and intelligent character and I hope she sticks around for the next few books. I felt she added a breath of fresh air to the storyline, and I really enjoyed her character. I also enjoyed the fact there was a good blend between the faster pace of a murder/mystery novel and the slower pace of the small countryside setting. I do feel readers will need to suspend some disbelief at the high rate of serious crime in such a small and sleepy little area – but that’s a small price to pay for such a picturesque setting for these murder mysteries and the police unit having so many crimes to figure out.

There were a few twists in the plot towards the end of the book – one of which I had guessed somewhere in the middle of the story. That said, the introduction of a new character was something I hadn’t guessed, and I found to be a delightful and surprising addition to the story. I really hope that rekindled friendship continues in the coming few books as well as I’d love to learn more about the history there with Grimm and see if more could be added to the friendship and built into the future.

The author does an excellent job to my mind of balancing all these different elements and making an interesting plot work so well with vibrant characters and I really enjoy this series. This is a good book and one I enjoyed.

Fair Game by David J. Gatward
Publisher: Weirdstone Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Trouble in the Dales. A brutal gang of poachers. When one of the unsavories is killed, can a DCI stop a river of revenge from overflowing with blood?

Detective Harry Grimm is reaching another milestone in the Dales. As he completes the purchase of his new house, his plans for moving in are disrupted when a trespasser falls into a grisly calculated trap and bleeds out.

Tracking back to a recent violent confrontation in a local pub, Grimm and his team assemble a long list of suspects. But when a principal lead disappears in a potentially murderous payback, he fears it’s the start of an all-out slaughter across his idyllic countryside.

Can he halt a killer stalking human prey before the butchery destroys his beloved land?

DCI Harry Grimm is on the brink of making his biggest commitment yet to the Dales – signing on to purchase his own home. But life in the Dales continues along as normal, only this time some particularly grisly trouble is brewing. A small band of local poachers are roaming the area and many of the locals are taking matters into their own hands – and this ends up when a grisly trap turns deadly, and a man is left alone to bleed out in the dark night. Can Harry and his team figure everything out before more bodies are left behind in this idyllic small community?

I’ve been really enjoying the Grimm series and have found these last few books in particular to be strongly written and quite thick – with intriguing plots and numerous subplots all woven together to form a really engrossing and well layered story. Harry and his team are quite well meshed now, working well together and with solid relationships that are beginning to run really deep.

While I feel this extra depth and history between the characters would make it harder for a reader to pick this book (eleventh in the series) up by itself, I feel the story itself can stand well alone. It would be all the smaller interactions and deeper connection between the characters and their shared history that the reader would miss out on. The story itself – particularly this plotline – is very well encapsulated in this book and stands just fine by itself.

That said half the fun for me personally is seeing Harry and his team mesh and work together, and particularly Harry and his brother and how well their relationship has progressed and grown. All that is a real pleasure to read, and I feel adds a lot to the story. I feel the murder mystery is very well plotted and deep enough to keep me guessing – it’s a slower style police procedural plot but I feel the author really did an excellent job adding enough sub plots and false starts that it should keep even veteran mystery readers on their toes.

A great book with a number of linking plots and some exceptional small-town characters – this is a great British murder mystery and an excellent book I thoroughly enjoyed.

Blood Trail by David J. Gatward
Publisher: Weirdstone Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

A gruesome tradition, a blood-spattered crime scene, and a killer hiding in plain sight.

Detective Harry Grimm is a worried man. When a group of vigilante locals start patrolling the Dales in response to a recent spate of crimes, he is forced to warn them off. Things only get more complicated when he is called out to multiple crime scenes – each with plenty of blood but no bodies.

Very soon, though, body parts start turning up. Delivered in a way that echoes a local poem and an old-but-grisly village ceremony. Faced with the bloody evidence in front of him, Grimm soon realises that his worst fears have come true: someone has already taken the law into their own hands.

With an ancient tradition being used to commit modern-day murder, can this battle-scarred detective stop the lanes of the Dales running red with blood?

A group of locals from the Dales have formed a group, patrolling their farms and streets, determined to eke out their own brand of justice after a string of local petty crimes. DCI Harry Grimm is very worried, not just because of the increase in crime, but he’s seen how very quickly – and violently – such well-meaning assistance can spiral out of hand. Soon, a few crimes scenes are drenched in blood – but where are the bodies? When pieces begin to turn up, Harry knows that he needs to solve this and fast.

I’ve been really enjoying this series and found this book to be an excellent addition. Well into the Harry Grimm series I feel readers will get a fuller understanding if they have read at least a few of the previous books – but that’s not strictly necessary as the main characters and certainly the plot and mystery are very well explained and well contained within this story. Much of the links and camaraderie between particularly Harry’s team and the forensic technicians, however, come from the previous cases and the characters all working together and sharing so much history.

One of the things I really like with this series is just how relatable and “normal” the crimes and plotlines are. This isn’t some organized crime or street gang style deeply convoluted mystery plot. It’s a bunch of local – fairly normal – people being somewhat hot headed and misled. I felt this was a very relatable plot and something most readers should be able to associate with. Equally, I liked how none of the main characters are perfect, Matt is over-tired from being a new father, Harry has a bit of a temper, Rebecca is going stir-crazy on sick leave and jumps the gun getting back to work – they are not picture-perfect characters who never put a foot wrong. I feel this really helps not only keep my interest, but also lets me feel like the characters are more human.

Readers looking for a thoroughly enjoyable police procedural style of murder mystery set in the Dales countryside should find this (and all the other books in this series) a strong and lovely read.

Cold Sanctuary by David J Gatward
Publisher: Weirdstone Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Fern

A tragic farm accident… or so it seems. Can this former big-city detective defeat the human monsters lurking in the Yorkshire Dales?

DCI Harry Grimm’s happy emotions are confusing the hell out of him. Enjoying the company of his new girlfriend and furry black dog, the usually gruff detective finds himself feeling genuinely content for the first time in a very long while. But it’s soon back to business as usual when the idyllic countryside is rocked by the demise of a popular farmer in a horrific hay-baler accident.

After the coroner rules the mangled remains a homicide, Grimm sends his team out to follow clues that provoke more questions than answers. And as his officers drop like flies, the victim’s adopted son vanishes, and suspicious threats emerge, the justice-driven investigator vows he’ll restore peace and slam another killer behind bars.

Can he shed light on the darkest of sins before more lives are lost in the hills?

DCI Harry Grimm is called out to a local farm in what at first glance appears to be a farming accident gone horribly wrong. But the evidence quickly points to something far more sinister. The situation grows more complicated as tragedy strikes one of DCI Grimm’s own team members and all too soon, they realise the tensions boiling under the surface of their idyllic home are about to burst.

I’ve been really enjoying the DCI Harry Grimm series and found this to be one of the strongest additions yet. I feel Harry himself has really settled into both the countryside and his role leading the local police team. I love how tight knit the small team is and how the characters work so well together but each with their own distinct personalities. I also really enjoy how even though this is set well into the dales and countryside the problems and crime are both realistic but also utterly relatable. This is an exceptional blend I feel and really helps sell me on the series as a whole.

I also really enjoyed how while the plot was fairly straightforward from the start there were still a number of twists I didn’t foresee but the pace kept along at a good clip so at no stage did I feel the story was dragging. While the two main plots/cases did take up the lion’s share of the story I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the team work together and continue to grow. After the last few books – where there has been a lot of character growth in particular – it was nice for this to take somewhat of a back seat and the police procedure to once again come more to the forefront.

Readers should easily be able to pick this book up as a standalone story. The plots are well contained in this story and while the characters are a solid team and clearly have history together, I feel this doesn’t mean readers can’t pick this book up by itself and enjoy it on its own merits.

A strong mystery with interesting characters and a well woven plot. Recommended.

Blood Sport by David J. Gatward
Publisher: Weirdstone Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

A mysterious red sports car. A bloodied animal corpse. He’s caught the scent of a brutal crime, and he won’t stop until it’s solved…

DCI Harry Grimm is weary of humanity’s evil. Dragged to the middle of nowhere during the darkest of hours, he’s enraged by grisly evidence of a horrific illegal dog fight. And when the mutilated remains turn out to be a gamekeeper’s stolen pet, the gritty detective senses he has a solid lead after learning of a long-running feud.

Immediately putting his team on the case, Grimm worries the stakes may be escalating when the animal’s owner is beaten and left for dead. And though the tough investigator puts his nose to the ground and follows the bloody clues, he fears there’s only one shot to apprehend the real monster.

Can he bring a loathsome criminal to justice before the savagery turns deadly?

DCI Harry Grimm is now the permanent DCI for their small community, and he feels he’s finally settling right in. So, when a friend and local calls Harry in the middle of the night, upset at finding blood and the signs of a fight he’s not worried about the lack of sleep. Only all indications of the crime scene indicate there’s a ring of dog fighters and Harry knows too well how insidious – and dangerous – such criminals and actions can be. Will they be able to stop things before they get out of hand?

I’ve been really enjoying this series and found this book to be a solid addition to it. While there’s quite a few smaller plots that are linked in to this dog-fighting ring I feel readers who haven’t read any of the previous stories should be able to follow along quite well without any problems. Those of us who have read the previous installments however should be very happy – I was thrilled that quite a few of the previously unsolved issues got cleaned up in this book and felt quite satisfied with how those plot-arcs were resolved.

There is a fair bit of character growth in a number of Harry’s team in this book and I found it overall a really well written and interesting book. I was pleased to see this progress and feel it will likely make a lot of other readers happy too. I was glad the animal scenes weren’t too gritty and there was no titillation in these scenes – no graphic descriptions of abuse or cruelty to animals and indeed I was very pleased that the police are shown as taking this kind of cruelty and criminality every bit as seriously as abuse and damage to humans.

Readers looking for a country feel but still strongly police procedural and mystery solving story should absolutely try this series. Personally, I feel the books are better read in order, but I think they can be read out of order and still enjoyed.