This is the fourth book in the DI Thomas Ridpath series.

Ridpath is still working as a coroners officer following his return to work after his cancer treatment.
The coroner Margaret Challoner is due to hold an inquest into a death in custody case at a local secure immigration removal centre.
On a routine walk round at 4 am security discovered a room door open, on the bed a woman, Wendy Tang, was found with her throat slit. At the bedside lay the knife.
The death was originally recorded as a suicide but as Ridpath investigates for the coroner he discovers that cameras on route to Wendy Tangs room had been disabled.
A decision is made to have a second autopsy which highlights more discrepencies in the original police investigation.
With the inquest only days away Ridpath has to work fast on what turns out to be a much more complex case that anyone initially thought.
His enquiries spark a series of further murders with the same MO as Wendy Tangs.
This is a totally absorbing compulsive read dealing with police corruption, illegal immigrants, people trafficking and organised crime.
I found the workings of the coroners office interesting and informative.
I have no hesitation in recommending Where the innocent die.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Canelo for the opportunity to read this as an ARC.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for my ecopy of M. J. Lee's Where the Innocent Die, yet another brilliant plot which hooked me in from page one. I feel even more invested in Ridpath and the staff members of the Coroner's office and I certainly didn't see that ending coming although, with hindsight the clues were probably already there.
Looking forward to the next in the series.

Thanks again to NetGalley and publisher Canelo for the ARC in return for an unbiased review.
I've tried to view this publication without any pre-conceptions but it really is rather difficult.
This is book four in the series and if possible I reckon they are getting even better.
Interesting story as ever and from the unusual perspective of a police officer working for the Coroners Office.
Here's to book five please

It's the first book I read in this series and won't surely be the last.
It's a gripping and entertaining story that kept me hooked till the end.
There's a great cast of characters, a solid mystery that kept me guessing and a plot that flows.
I look forward to reading other books by this author.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

This is #4 in the series.

Ridpath is working for the Coroner's office after returning to work following treatment for cancer. He is asked to look into the death of Wendy Tang, who has died in an Immigration Removal Centre. The death has been recorded as suicide, but it becomes apparent during the investigation that further questions need to be asked. The added pressure of tight timescales adds to the tension.

This was a great read and Ridpath is becoming one of my favourite detectives.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for sending me an arc of this book, in exchange for my honest, unbiased review..

This is my review of Where The Innocent Lie by M J Lee. It’s the fourth book in the series featuring DI Ridpath. It’s set in Manchester.

DI Ridpath is currently working for the Coroner’s office. He’s finding it a nice change to the full on pace of running murder invesigations at MIT as the hours are better and give him time with his family. At the daily meeting, the Coroner gives him a case to investigate that happened a month before and that was investigated by GMP. When he looked it over, he was not impressed by the case notes or the time scale for the investigation as the Coroner was only giving him a week to find out what truly happened to this victim.

One early morning, at the Manchester Immigrant Removal Centre, a young female was found dead in her cell. There was blood everywhere with a knife near her body. The guards, police and pathologist all assumed it suicide. She was due to be deported on the day she committed suicide, for DI Ridpath, something didn’t add up so he started looking into the case properly. As was his style, he started asking questions and things started happening. With a second pathologist looking at the body, he gets a conclusion that it was murder! Now he definitely has a race on his hands and he goes to his old boss and team for the help that he needs. It’s too much for him to do all alone. Especially when a second body turns up….

Just who is behind all of this? Who would want to murder a young chinese girl? What could she know that could harm someone?

This was a great book to read, with a really good ending. The story line was fantastic with DI Ridpath in great form. I really enjoy reading this series, it’s gritty and dark with a good pace to it. I look forward to the next one.

When the death of a woman in an Immigrant Removal Centre is adjudged to be a case of suicide, it is only when the coroner’s office gets involved that a more thorough investigation begins to take place. Just how could a woman locked in a high-security building get hold of the knife that killed her when she had been searched on arrival? With only five days until the inquest, will DI Ridpath have enough time to find out the truth about what happened to Wendy Tang and will he be able to prevent even more deaths?

In the fourth installment of the DI Ridpath series, the author has painted a bleak picture of life inside the Immigrant Removal Centre. Operated by an outside agency, the establishment is clearly under-resourced and, quite frankly, not the sort of place you would want to spend any time in. Despite this, there are strict regulations in place which should have prevented the death of the woman, something which Ridpath realises quite early on. Although working as the coroner’s officer, his detective skills really came to the fore as he investigated what really happened, reaching the conclusion that this was no suicide. It was good to see Ridpath back working alongside MIT, leaving us wondering if he will return full time or whether he will continue his work alongside the coroner. Personally, I hope it will be the latter as I enjoy the deviation from the average police procedural.

With only five days to investigate, and with more bodies turning up, Ridpath really had his work cut out to reach a conclusion before the inquest took place. I find that many courtroom scenes can be quite long-winded, but I really enjoyed the coroner’s inquest, feeling that this provided a natural conclusion to the detective’s investigation. This also provided us with some great action and, although I had worked out who the killer was, there was so much more to this book than just finding out ‘whodunnit’.

Ridpath is a great character and I am thoroughly enjoying this series. After his good news at the end of this book, I can’t wait to see what happens next!

DI Ridpath #4

A young Chinese woman has been found dead in a immigration holding centre the day before she was due to be deported. Her throat had been cut. The weapon was beside her body. Its thought to have been a suicide. But Coroner, Margaret Challoner thinks differently. She gets Ridpath to investigate giving him five days to find out what had actually occurred.

DI Ridpath is still working with the Coroner. He has a strict deadline to find out the truth about what had happened to Wendy Tang. This is a roller coaster read and I couldn't put it down. I like the work relationship that Ridoath and Challoner have. This is a well written and fast paced read. The book covers human trafficking and immigration. This book could be read as a standalone, but you'd be missing out on a really good series if you do.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Canelo and the author M.J. Lee for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book! A great story line that kept me hooked and excellent main characters. I would highly recommend this book.

The 4th installment of the DI Ridpath series,

You can definitely read these as standalone books, but they’re a great series I’d recommend them all. I was really happy to have the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

We meet Ridpath after a tough 3rd case where he has proven himself as a great detective whilst being sidelined after treatment for an illness, in the coroner’s office. This 4th book covers Ridpath investigating a death at a detention centre of Wendy Chan, a lady waiting to be deported.

The coroners court is due to start on the Thursday and Ridpath gets the case on the Monday, so it’s a race against time to investigate the death of Wendy as her parents have come to the inquest to take her back with them. The case twists and turns until Ridpath and the team discover the truth,

Great series, which I think would translate well into TV.

A death in an immigration removal centre is written up as a suicide but was it? If not who did it and, just as importantly here, why?
Another really good addition to the Ridpath series and happily there still feels like there’s more to come. When you read a lot of crime it’s good to have something slightly different and as DI Ridpath is attached to the coroner’s office we get a mix of their work and that of the MIT. There are a couple of particularly loathsome characters in this one and let’s be honest who doesn’t enjoy a boo hiss baddie.
This would work on its own but if you have the time it will read better as part of the series.

I believe this is #4 in the Ridpath series and it follows the same formula of ridpath starting with a complicated coroners case that then becomes bigger and needs to go to the MIT. This book seems to be building for some shift in the next one. Solid procedural.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I loved the diversity of this novel and how it was dealt with was so very new to me.

It was also very eye-opening to see the little things in the justice system that you'd never know, and from the novel, I learnt a lot too. It was different for me, and I thoroughly enjoyed that.

The mystery and plot twists we're intriguing. It was really mind-bending, and the mystery left me wanting more.

As for Ridpath, loved him, and his no-nonsense mind.

It seemed from this novel, I have missed a lot previously, and I cannot want to catch up.

Incredible!

When a woman is found dead in a supposedly locked room in an Immigrant Removal Centre, it is suspected she committed suicide. Ridpath is sent by the Coroner's Office to investigate but as the inquest is due to start in several days, it means time is running out to unravel a case, which turns out to be much more complex than first thought.

I do enjoy this series as the author manages to write realistic characters in-depth without losing the pace of the story. I thought this one flowed well and I was never bored. I highly recommend this series to anyone who likes well-written crime novels.

Thanks to NetGalley and publishers, Canelo, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

Another great book by MJ Lee featuring DI Ridley who is still working for the coroners office.
In this book he is under a strict deadline to try to get to the truth as to what happened to Wendy Tang, who died whilst being detained at an Immigrant Removal Centre. The case is given to him on Monday, by Mrs Challoner, the coroner, and the inquest will take place on Thursday...
MJ Lee always writes brilliant books which keep me wanting to read another chapter.
I enjoy this series so much as DI Ridpath is a superb character and it is unusual to feature police working in a coroners office.
A superb read which I would highly recommend.
Thanks to NetGalley for a Kindle copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is another great book in the DI Ridpath series.
Ridpath is asked to investigate the death of a woman in a secure immigration facility, and he soon becomes suspicious of those involved in the initial investigation.
It seems some things weren’t followed up and other things forgotten completely.
They ask for another post mortem as the coroner isn’t sure it was suicide and they only have two days to get to the bottom of what really happened.
Ridpath is a great character and I’ve really warmed to him through reading this series.
This is another great addition to the series that I can highly recommend.
Thanks to Canelo and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

Brilliant addition to the series, Ridpath is the intriguing genuine figure you do not mind spending time with. From his battle with cancer remission, to his dithering career aspirations, to his faith to family life. Lee has written an everyman placing him in extraordinary moments pulled from the headlines - from gang warfare to deportation, Ridpath's position as a coroner allows him to float between the lines of police and civil duty.

Rip-roaring, this book was gobbled up in just a few sittings, look forward to the next already.

Where The Innocent Due is the fourth police procedural in the Detective Inspector Thomas Ridpath series set in East Manchester’s Coroner’s Court. It's not necessary to have read the preceding books before this as sufficient backstory is given so new readers can understand and enjoy the progression. When Chinese illegal immigrant Wendy Tang is discovered dead at a local immigrant removal centre whilst awaiting deportation back to China it is presumed she committed suicide. However, chief coroner Mrs Challoner is not satisfied with the investigation into her untimely passing and puts Ridpath on the case to see what details he can find out. It soon becomes apparent through some glaringly obvious discrepancies that the police investigation was a formality and more of a box-ticking exercise than a fight for the truth and sadly the post-mortem followed suit. With the inquest being merely days away Ridpath will have to work fast and with few people talking it doesn't turn out to be as easy as initially thought.

This is a riveting read from start to finish with a superbly constructed plot full of action, drama, and plentiful twists and turns. It has to be the most high-stakes case to date and my favourite in the series so far as it revolves very much around the topical issues of immigration, prostitution and corruption and the sordid criminal fraternities that exist everywhere the world over. Told primarily from Ridpath’s perspective the author cloaks the whole plot in mystery and satisfyingly gives you little to no chance of correctly guessing exactly what is happening. It’s one of the most intelligent, absorbing and compulsive thrillers I’ve read in 2020 so far. An urgent ripped from the headlines novel which expertly weaves the tense political climate and the European Union’s immigration crisis into a suspense-packed narrative. Ridpath is a likeable and relatable protagonist and I enjoy learning more about him with each instalment. Highly recommended. Many thanks to Canelo for an ARC.

My thanks to Canelo for an invitation to receive eARC via NetGalley of ‘Where the Innocent Die’ by M.J. Lee in exchange for an honest review.

This is Book 4 in Lee’s DI Ridpath series of police procedurals set in Manchester. I have read all of the previous books in this series and rated them all highly.

After a woman is found dead in an Immigrant Removal Centre, the officer on duty records it as a clear case of suicide. Yet a deeper investigation by DI Ridpath on behalf of the Coroner’s office not only challenges this cause of death but opens up serious questions about the Centre’s security. Yet Ridpath only has five days to solve the case.

Lee has once again created a brilliantly plotted, fast paced police procedural with the difference that Ridpath is investigating for the Coroner though he continues to liaise with his former police colleagues.

Lee weaves into his narrative a number of contemporary social issues including immigration, human trafficking, and the problems associated with the use of private detention facilities. It’s a dark plot and Lee doesn’t minimise the human tragedy at its heart.

I have enjoyed experiencing the buildup of the dynamics between Ridpath and others within the police department and coroner’s office. Still, enough background is provided to allow it to be read as a stand-alone for those new to the series though I would recommend the entire series for those who enjoy police procedurals.

This is a series that continues to impress book after book.

I have read all the books in this series and enjoyed them all. Ridpath is a wonderful character that I want to know more about. This book is really well written and I read it in one sitting.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.