This is the 3rd DI Fenchurch book and I have read them all in order, an approach I would strongly recommend. This is far and away the best of the books with twists and turns throughout. The book actually took on somewhat of a “Line of Duty” feel where I didn’t know which rotten apple was going to uncovered next. I am a huge fan of the TV series so this is praise indeed.
Absolutely brilliant and I look forward to book no 4. The bonus was that I got all three books through Netgalley so did not cost me a penny, although I would happily have paid.

DI Simon Fenchurch has never given up on his daughter Chloe. Now he's working an ugly case and there's a possibility that he might find info about her. NO spoilers. Fine as a standalone.

What Doesn't Kill You by Ed James is his third book in the DI Fenchurch series and the first book I have read in this series and author.
I enjoyed this book, with a few clever twists and turns, with lots of action, suspense and intrigue throughout. The author told everything in great detail. I liked the main character DI Fenchurch and he worked well within the story.
However, found I should of read the other 2 books in this series of DI Fenchurch before I read this one. I have now downloaded the other two to read.

*** I would like to Thank Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer in exchange for an honest review. ***

An enjoyable read with an intriguing plot. A good solid 4 star read. I enjoy this series because it is set in London. I get taken away from all the fast pace cities in America. Hope the author keeps writing this series.

What Doesn't Kill You was an enjoyable crime thriller with an intriguing plot and some great development on a thread that runs through all the books in the series.

When a young lawyer is found assaulted and murdered, DI Simon Fenchurch and his team are assigned to the case. Shortly after the case leads them to a ride-sharing company called Travis, a driver for Travis is found dead. The more Simon and his team look into this case, the more it becomes clear a conspiracy is at the heart of things that someone is willing to do anything to keep hidden. When a lead sends Simon down a path toward information about his missing daughter Chloe, Simon will have to decide just how far he's willing to go to find out what happened to her.

Simon continues to be a man who struggles with following the rules. When Simon finds a lead on a case he wants to follow it, consequences be damned. In a world where office politics play a key role, his approach is one that definitely doesn't endear him to others. I admire Simon's dedication even if I think he goes a bit far at times. If anyone close to him becomes involved, Simon loses his head and acts without thinking. At times it surprises me that he still has a job or is in charge of a team, but I suppose it wouldn't do if he was sidelined although he comes close several times.

We see the return of several side characters from previous books including most of Simon's colleagues. I still had issues with Simon's boss and the way he handled Simon's behavior, but at this point I'm becoming used to his rough attitude. My favorite of Simon's colleagues is definitely DS Kay Reed and I think she's one of the best assets on his team. Members of Simon's family return and play key roles in a few of the plot lines in this book.

There are three major cases that Simon works on in What Doesn't Kill You and all three were very well done and quite interesting. The author does an amazing job tying characters from different cases together and everything was so well connected. I was constantly on the look out to see how a new case would end up relating to the previous crimes and I was never disappointed. I was happy to see development on Chloe's case and was quite pleased to have some answers after several books.

What Doesn't Kill You ended up being my favorite book in the DI Fenchurch series so far and I'm looking forward to the next book coming out soon. I'd definitely recommend these books if you're a fan of British police procedurals.

I just absolutely love Ed James's books. The grittiness of the writing, the crime investigation, everything from beginning to end. This is already the third book in the DI Fenchurch series series, and it just gets better from book one! In light of the problems currently experienced in London with Uber, this book was very relevant for me, as well as the murder the Uber drivers are accused of. Recommended!!

Thanks to NetGalley and the author Ed James for the opportunity to read this book.
I hadn't read the previous 2 books and I think that maybe I should have done as I may have got into the flow of this easier and earlier. There's lots of dialogue, action, suspense and intrigue. I had guessed quite early into the book who the main bad guys were, but that is because I am suspicious. I felt disgusted at the storyline and it could have ended there but the author gave it an extra depth of a twist which was fascinating and I was awake in the early hours finishing the book!
I liked the main character Fenchurch, I wasn't too keen on his wife, but I did like his partner Kay.
All in all a good crime novel, but I would recommend reading them from the beginning of the series.

This is by far and away my favourite in the Fenchurch series so far, would even go so far as to say this is my favourite out of all Ed James's police procedural series (he has three characters currently on the go). The storyline is extremely upsetting and grisly, but I could not put this book down. You become extremely invested in the characters and the underlying storyline that has been running throughout the three books. I eagerly await the next in the series.

Another good book from Ed James (glad to receive it from Netgalley to review). Fenchurch's life is on hold and his marriage in tatters as he hunts down his daughter's abductors whilst dealing with his day job as well as those close by who have other motives and allegiances. Good storytelling and fast moving plot which intertwines past and present with hope and fears thrown in. Fenchurch follows one lead after another hunting down those who have abducted children which leads him to very high profile figures behind a ring of abductors and human slave trading.
Gritty at times with emotions running very high. Well worth reading and good plot with a very good twist at the end. - Eddy Weatherill

Review placed on Amazon. I have read all of Ed James books and find he just gets better with each novel. His DI Fenchurch series is gritty and at times disturbing but entirely readable without being gratuitously gruesome. Great read look forward to the next one.

Ed James has really come into his stride with this third book. We finally learn about his daughter, and the recurring characters are believable and lifelike. I can't wait for the next!

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. Not sure what I can say about this book, I had to read it in stages as did not grip me

When I was sent an advanced copy of this book, my heart sank when I realised it was the third in a series. I haven't read the previous two. I put it aside, thinking I should read them first but I just never got around to it. A few friend told me the books can stand alone as you get snippets or summaries, when required, of what's happened before in the previous books so, although preferable, it's not essential that you've read the previous two. So I read it and I'm so glad I did.

I have been looking for ages for a thriller author to match up to my favourite (Peter James's DI Roy Grace series) and I think I've just found him!! Now I understand why my friend said she'd like a different Ed James book for every birthday, Mother's Day, Christmas etc.

Very fast paced but with an easy writing style. You're right there in the action. Lots of twists and turns, double crosses, betrayals and the final conclusion to the mystery of Fenchurch's missing daughter. So, quite a lot going on, which I loved. I will, of course, now have to go get the previous two and read them in order and then all the other books by Mr James.
.
I'm really excited to have found another fairly prolific author who can keep me equally engaged in between books by my other Mr. James!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the advanced copy

DI Simon Fenchurch and his partner DS Kay Hooper are on night shift and assigned to attend a debate about a new "Uber" type cab company. London cabbies are not at all pleased and massed outside the debate site. No wonder, as London cabbies have to undergo rigorous education and certification on "the Knowledge"; encyclopedic knowledge of London and all its highways and byways. So why should this upstart company with drivers who are not required to have licenses be allowed to operate? The appearance of Lord Ingham, a longtime Conservative Party operative with some very right-wing views ratchets up the potential for violence. When the situation devolves into a riot, Simon is the one who saves his life. From the debate Fenchurch and Hooper are called to the scene of the brutal murder of a young City lawyer at a construction site, the worlds of the new "Travis" company, Lord Ingham, and a pedophile sex trafficking ring collide with multiplying bodies and a brutal betrayal.

Just as in the previous two Fenchurch novels, the abduction of Fenchurch's young daughter, Chloe, a decade before underlies the story. Simon and his wife, Abi, have managed to make some accommodation for the loss of Chloe, and are even expecting another child. But Simon will never give up on finding out what happened to Chloe, and neither will his retired policeman father, Liam. The present case seems to have a connection to Chloe. So will Simon and Abi finally get answers, and will they be the answers they want?

What Doesn't Kill You is another high-action ride through the mean, traffic and construction clogged streets of East London. Simon Fenchurch is one of the most driven police officers in today's crime fiction, and he has little regard for rules and regulations when he is on the case. Once you start a Fenchurch novel, it is very hard to put down.

Thanks to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for an advance digital copy. The opinions above are my own.

RATING-4 Stars

DI Simon Fenchurch has been looking for his daughter since she was kidnapped in front of their home eleven years ago. Now he is investigating a number of murders that seem to happen one right after the other and he is finding out they are related. Now who can he trust in the police department as there are some he finds are involved. It starts with a young attorney being raped and killed, then the bodies start to fall to cover everything else. Can DI Frenchurch get the answers he wants? The story moves fast and then try to keep up with the body count and why they are killed. Will he find out what happened to his daughter?

This is the third book in the London-based police procedural about DI Simon Fenchurch. Preferably, they should be read in order because a major part involves the arc about Fenchurch's missing daughter, Chloe, which has run through all the books. I think previous knowledge of all the characters involved would definitely make this more enjoyable.
This one starts with the murder of a female lawyer who was last seen catching a taxi using an app-based service. A suspect is soon apprehended, but the story really takes off after that and becomes Fenchurch's most twisted and hazardous case as well as his most personal one yet.
This series has been steadily getting better. I once again enjoyed how the author inserts little snippets of topics that very nicely pinpoint the story in time and place (the mayor of London, Euro 2016 competition etc.) It's really fast-paced and full of energy. A few times I felt it was all getting a little too overdramatic and the latter part of it stretched credibility. Fenchurch's very active and not-by-the-book participation in cases that are so closely linked to him seems unrealistic but if you can get over that, then this is a gripping crime drama with a complex storyline and a shedload of action.

This book is the best so far, brings closure to the storyline so far and yet opens up for the next book. I couldn't put this book down its totally enjoyable . The characters from DI Fenchurch the rest of his team and family are very realistic with both good and bad sides.
This book is definitely well worth a read and would recommend it.

This book is a somewhat dark crime novel. It is well written with a plot with many twists and turns that kept me guessing. I suggest reading previous books in the series for the back story.

I read the first two books of this detective series last year and enjoyed them, so it was an easy decision to request a copy of the third book as well. I was looking forward to another entertaining and intense ride, but found myself struggling to get a proper feel for the story instead. Like in the first two books, What Doesn't Kill You starts right in the middle of the action, but I had a hard time connecting to the story this time. Part of the problem was the excessive use of 'colorful' language... I don't mind a bit of swearing if it adds something to the story (in fact, it didn't bother me in the first two books), but I felt the swearing crossed the line of tolerance in What Doesn't Kill You. DI Fenchurch started to annoy me as well, even though the case itself is quite interesting. In the second half of this third book the pace picked up considerably and the story became a lot more intense and easier to enjoy. You will definitely have to prepare yourself for some very shocking plot twists! I'm not sure everything about the plot is exactly credible though, and it also felt like too much action and too many plot twists were squeezed together in the final part. Overall I guess I feel the 'spark' of the previous two books is missing. I'm not sure what I feel about the ending either, although at least it doesn't end with a big cliffhanger this time.

What Doesn't Kill You is an excellent follow up to the previous two Fenchurch novels . Like the others, James's new novel focuses on current crime concerns. This time the vetting of drivers for hire cars.

Travis Cars is an Uber-like service, where clients hire cars through an app. Like here in America there is conflict between the established taxi services and the incomers. DI Fenchurch and his DS are initially brought in to help with crowd control at a debate between a local politician and the head of Travis Cars. In a distasteful coincidence his next case is the rape and murder of a young lawyer who was last seen entering a Travis Car. Then another shocking murder lands on his lap, the apparent execution of a Travis driver. The deeper Fenchurch digs, the more connections appear between his current cases and the disappearance of his daughter a decade earlier.

Unlike many police procedurals, What Doesn't Kill You is not much of a whodunnit. The culprits of both murders are easily identified. Where the complexity of the plot arises is in the connections between the present and the past. The murders are key because the information the culprits offer up is essential to forming a case against powerful men who have been responsible for the disappearance of many children of which Chloe was one. Although much of the novel is straightforward, there are still plenty of surprises in store for the reader.

What Doesn't Kill You is a solid, well written police procedural that is eminently believable.

4 / 5

I received a copy of What Doesn't Kill You from the publisher and Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

-- Crittermom