Watch Over You is the 3rd book featuring DI Josie Masters. It is probably my least favourite of the series, it just felt a bit long and slow to start with. Didn’t really get my attention until further in. In saying that once it got going it was a good story

Josie returns to work when her son is 6 months old, trying to juggle being a working mum. Her first case is a familiar address, and when she arrives she find that her former colleague and friend Harry has been brutally murdered in his home. There is evidence of a lodger that she knew nothing about and the investigation begins. And then the bodies start to pile up with no obvious connection.

Thanks to Avon Books UK for my advanced copy of this book to read. All opinions are my own and are in no way biased

another great book from MJ Ford , I love this authors work. This is as twisty as you can ever want in a novel with plenty to engage the reader. Characters are crisp and believable and I really love the domestic details that help give depth to the police characters. An enjoyable read that I would recommend to anyone

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this gripping novel

oh my bodies are staking up with no real connection to them

jo is back from maternity leave and goes to a disturbance which is also where her friends lives to find him dead....
and it looks like he was broken into and also has a female lodger

but things dont add up and as more bodies keep piling up they need to find this lodger and tie up all the ends....

yes totally gripped by this one...and the outcome well doesnt disappoint...

Watch over you is the first Josie.Masters story that I have encountered. Despite the fact that she is a single parent mother  of a young child, she manages to continue to navigate her way through the seemingly unconnected murders. A great modern storyline which keeps the reader enthralled. Look forward to catching up with more from M J Ford.

I love this series from M J Ford, and this, the third in the series featuring Josie does not disappoint one iota.  With all the elements we have I e to expect from this series.  An excellent outing for Josie

Thoroughly enjoyable police novel with lots of twists and turns and will they won't they catch the bad guy or girl

Complex thriller with lots of twists and turns. Fast paced and exciting with two narratives which draw together to reach a conclusion. An engrossing read.

Watch Over You is the third book in the series and reintroduces us to Jo Masters who returns early from maternity leave to take her place as DS in Oxford.  Like most mothers returning to work she experiences all the doubts and guilt of leaving her baby son at the nursery on one hand and worrying about not given her all to the job on the other hand.  On her first day back she is called upon to attend a crime which turns out to be the murder of her elderly friend, Harry a former police officer.

In this police procedural the bodies start piling up quite quickly as the police try to figure out the motivation behind the deaths and just who is responsible.

As with the two earlier novels, I enjoyed catching up with Jo again, she is an interesting character and the author has once again given us plenty of action, puzzles and an interesting plot balancing Jo’s official life and her domestic life.  Just like catching up with a friend you have not seen in a while.  Sad to say goodbye to our hold friend Harry though.

If police procedurals are your bag, grab this one, you will not regret it.
Thank you to the author, publishers and NetGalley for providing an ARC via my Kindle in return for an honest review.

This book is basically about some arrogant punk kid who goes on a killing spree, along with police officer Josie and her team as they slowly solve the case of who is doing it. She holds a personal grudge as her close friend Harry is one of the many which James murders. She is also juggling going back to work as a single mother and dealing with her drunk ex who cannot seem to leave her alone. 
I finished this book, but grudgingly. It lacked the heart stopping suspense which usually keeps me intrigued. It's just several sordid attempts to catch the killer. I wish I had liked this book more, but I don't. Thanks NetGalley for another book, these opinions are strictly my own.

I really enjoyed this Jo Masters series, Jo not only returns to work early from maternity leave she is thrown straight into a case where the murders keep stacking up, one of the people murdered is an ex colleague and friend so it hits her hard, trying to get justice for him, trying to juggle being a single parent and DS, trying to piece together the pieces of how all these murders are connected leads to a great read

DS Josie Masters returns to work after having had a child, and her first case involves an apparent burglary turned violent.  However, she discovers the body is that of her former friend and mentor, Harry Ferman.  It appears that he has had a lodger staying with him, and had tried to contact Jo a few days before.  

The pace then builds up as the lodger transpires to be a troubled young woman.  Running parallel to the tale, and initially with no clear connection, is another story concerning James, who appears a violent and disturbed young man.

Overall the story did not really draw me in.  I found Jo a rather two-dimensional character, torn between her job and her new baby.  I felt no sympathy or interest in her dilemmas.  The back story of the main characters, as it developed, was ok but again did not elicit much of a response.  The style of writing was in parts a little clumsy, some of the phrases badly chosen.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fast-paced police procedural, apparently the 3rd in a series, though worked as  standalone.  It centers on Jo, a new mother, who ends her maternity leave early to work on the case of the murder of a friend of hers, which leads to more murders with no sign of stopping if she and her team can't figure out what is going on.

I found the storyline to be somewhat convoluted- there were a lot of characters, and a lot of "bad guys" it felt like work to keep them all straight as well a tie it all together.  I am also not super interested in the gang scene, which is a prevalent piece of the book.  That being said, the ending was a real surprise, which I enjoyed immensely.  

I could really relate to Jo and thought she was a likable and believable character.  I also really liked Harry, his story told through Jo's memories, and was sad for the loss.  I thought the character development overall was well done, especially for a story where it felt like there were so many.  I also enjoyed the descriptive writing around the crime scenes, though not for the feint of heart, as I felt really immersed in the environment.

All in all, pretty good story with a fast pace and a good ending.  I would interesting in reading the next one in the series.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

After only* 6 months maternity leave, Jo Masters is rearing to go back to work. And she’s not settling for desk work, she wants to be on active duty.
When she responds to an emergency call, she finds her old friend and ex-policeman Harry Ferman unresponsive and covered in blood on the floor. The octogenarian is dying after being assaulted with a fire poker. They find evidence that there was a younger woman staying with Harry but it looks as if it was a hasty arrangement without much comfort or any romance. 
Not much later they’re called in for a double homicide and discover that the missing girl is the couple’s daughter. There’s also a suspected link with a gang-related shooting. The investigation into all those different crimes that are somehow related is a difficult puzzle. Most of the police see the daughter as the perpetrator but Jo has reservations and thinks there’s another explanation.

The book starts out rather slow, with a child welfare worker looking in on little Theo who was bruised by a reckless driver that drove in the back of Jo’s parked car. The first day back at work is concentrated on a recent shooting incident connected to a local crime family.
The story is well written and keeps the suspense up. It’s rather violent and gritty compared to most British police procedurals, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The violence and killings are functional and not unnecessary vivid. Society is a lot more violent than 50 years ago and books reflect reality. The plot makes sense as well; it’s a grim picture of child welfare services though.
The chapters about the investigation are regularly interrupted by the thoughts and activity of someone called James. Who he is and what his involvement is becoming clearer as the story progresses.
Jo, the protagonist is easy to relate to. She’s a bit of a perfectionist and struggles to balance her highly demanding job as a police officer with her new status as a single mum. She’s rather insecure about her role as a new mother, constantly asking herself if she’s doing the right thing and giving enough attention and time to her baby.
I hardly noticed that this was the 3rd book in the series. So, if you haven’t read the previous 2 books, this is a good point to step in. It doesn’t mean that I won’t read them anyway

*6 months maternity leave is early to go back to work? I wish I lived there, as we get only 16 weeks in Belgium. And after that, she can get an additional 6 months as well. Be proud of your NHS, my English friends!
I thank Netgalley and Avon Books UK for a free ARC; this is my honest review of it.

A great thriller to get into full of twists and turns,the third book in the series and just as good as the others.It also has great charactors you feel riveted to the story.5*

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book for an honest review.

A fast paced thriller well written. I liked that even though it is a series it wasn’t over descriptive and the story and characters were able to stand alone in this story ,without all  the previous sometimes tedious history telling where the characters fitted. Read and enjoy you won’t be disappointed.

This is a fantastic well written story which had me gripped till the last page. I am looking forward to reading more in this series in the future by M J Ford.

The third book in this series, but, in my opinion, not as gripping as the last one due to the slightly unbelievable storyline and the excessive violence. I believe that a mother of a six month old baby wouldn't deliberately disobey orders and put herself in the firing line. To be honest, the book would have been better if the murders had been solved without all the 'gunfire' at the end, which added nothing to the story. The beauty of a police procedural is in unlocking the mystery, not pursuing the villain to the death.

This is so brilliant, I would watch it as television show. Third book in the series, but I was able keep up just fine. The plot twists kept me reading. I love how it is a cop story but also has realistic aspects like dealing with babies and child care. It shows women have lives outside of their jobs, but they can still do their jobs. This was such a quick read for me, but I enjoyed every moment of it. Thank you NetGalley and Avon Books UK for this advanced review copy. .All thoughts and opinions are my own,

I would like to thank Netgalley and Avon Books UK for an advance copy of Watch over You, the third novel to feature DS Josie Masters of the Thames Valley Police.

On her first day back after maternity leave Josie recognises an address on the radio and gets there to find her old friend and mentor, Harry Ferman, dying after an attack. Further investigation suggests that there was a young girl staying with Harry but who and where she is are unknown. And then more bodies are linked to her.

I thoroughly enjoyed Watch over You which is a good read with an interesting plot and a high body count. The novel is mostly told from Josie’s point of view but there are chapters which slip back in time to cover the activities of a violent man called James with an unexplained agenda. I like this approach as James’s chapters backfill the detail without giving anything away ahead of time. in practical terms this means that the reader meets each new development at the same time as Josie and the team and James’s motive remains shrouded in mystery. There is plenty of room for speculation and armchair detecting and it certainly held my attention. 

The plot is well conceived with a series of random killings defying the obvious solution and eventually being linked to a deeper motive. The novel also changes from a whodunnit to a hunt as the team home in on a suspect or from a puzzle to a thriller with plenty of action, tension and danger. It gets quite exciting towards the end.

Josie is a smart detective who enjoys her job but she misses her son when she returns to work. This involves the usual guilt, sense of inadequacy and reliance on others for childcare. It’s not really my thing in fiction so I found Josie a bit dreary in this novel.

Watch over You is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.

Another fantastic read by MJ Ford.
DS Josie Masters returning early from maternity leave, is thrown deep into of one most emotional and personal cases of her career. It was an addictive read, so hard to put down. Is book broke down Josie's character, giving great insight into her flaws and strengths as a woman, mother, and detective. The writing at times was so raw and real. Definitely one of my favorites of the book series. I am not so patiently waiting  for the next installment. 
#netgalley