I loved Perdue and her books so far and was so excited to read this one. The book is fast paced and the characters are well developed and credible. I really enjoyed the friendship between Laura and Niamh and could see this book becoming a TV series , I really enjoyed it and would highly recommend it,

Wow! This is my first book by this author but I immediately will be going out to get the rest. A superb Irish crime detective thriller.
This story is told from 3 different POV-the two female detectives and Gemma, an influencer whose brother went missing years before and his body has just washed up on the shore.
The plot was pacy but still had a lot of depth to the characters and the central and connected mysteries were well plotted and kept me turning the pages. Was surprised by the resolution and the tension was delicately layered so I had to keep reading.
Really loved both detectives and their deep friendship and although I found Gemma’s chapter’s difficult to read (DV trigger warning), they were superbly written. Emotional and heart breaking.

Loved. Thank you to NetGalley & Penguin for the ARC to review.

A twisty thriller that explores the dark side of marriage. Gemma’s brother Max went missing years ago one night when she was a young teenager. Since then she has married his best friend and has a beloved son and a great career as an influencer. But under the surface lies the truth of what the glitz & glamour hides. Now the body of Max has surfaced and with it the memories and fears of what happened that night. Two brilliant detectives are brought in to uncover the truth. A gripping read. Thanks to the author & publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fast paced, multi layered, action packed triller, with a truly terrifying villain.

What starts out as a missing persons case quickly turns into a murder case when body of ‘golden boy’ Max Fitzgerald floats to the surface of the sea tangled in rope.

Our story focuses on Laura and Niamh, two detectives with the Garda Síorchana, brought in to find Max’s killer. Through the investigation they meet Max’s younger sister Gemma, a successful influencer. Although her perfect online life might not actually reflect reality, and does she actually know more about what happened to her brother than she is letting on.

Laura and Niamh’s characters are well developed and likeable. They drive the plot forward towards an ultimate showdown. Can good overcome evil?

With twists and turns I didn’t see coming, this book had me turning the pages so fast to find out what happens next. A definite must read for triller lovers.

With thanks to Penguin General UK for a much appreciated early copy.

I really like this Dublin-based series with police Specialist Victim Interviewers (and good friends) Laura and Niamh - they're likeable characters and the stories are compelling. Here, a body is recovered from the water - identified as Max Fitzgerald, a young man who was a promising rower, who had been missing since 2007. His next of kin, sister Gemma, is now a popular social media influencer, married to Conleth and mother to a little boy, Ferdia. Was Max's death suicide, accident or murder? Gemma, for one, knows more than she's letting on. And meanwhile, Niamh and Laura both have their own issues to deal with....

The story takes the familiar concept of the influencer whose apparently perfect life isn't quite as great as it looks to new levels, because Gemma's life is a very dark place indeed.

There's a truly horrible villain here, some of whose actions really are staggeringly evil.

Excellent read, as ever.

An interesting storyline.
Great characters well written.
The book certainly picks up and i found myself racing through.
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my copy.

4+
Golden boy Max Fitzgerald has been missing since his 21st birthday party on the 1st June 2007. Set for a bright future as an Olympic sailor, his sister Gemma, his parents and best friend Conleth O’Hara, mourn and question where he could be. In the present day, a body floats to the surface of the sea, released from binds of a blue nylon rope and washes up at Drumleck Point, Howth. Post-mortem results reveals Max has been murdered and placed into a watery grave after death. This is the biggest MisPer case of the decade and a massive challenge for the An Garda Síorchana and Detective Garda’s Laura Shaw and Niamh Dormody. Gemma, now married to Conleth, is a successful Instagram influencer known as Gemstone and has a seemingly perfect world which is about to implode in more ways than one. Does Gemma know the truth about what happens to Max all those years ago?

I really like this series and this is another immersive addition. This has a complex multilayered plot as we have Laura and her life with plenty to mull on there, Niamh‘s life takes an interesting direction, there’s the mystery of Max and the subsequent investigation, as well as Gemma‘s current situation. In places it’s heartbreaking and emotional for several different reasons. It’s a suspenseful, twisty and intensely gripping read which is told at a good pace which definitely picks up towards the end, which is very tense and keeps me guessing.

The characters of Laura and Niamh are terrific, they’re very likeable and I love the bond between them. All the characters in this instalment are well crafted and one is the very personification of evil.

Overall, this is another cracking rollercoaster read from Gill Perdue.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Penguin General UK for a much appreciated early copy in return for an honest review.

I’ve loved Gill Perdue’s writing ever since The Interview (aka If I Tell).

Laura and Niamh are one of my favourite cop double acts. Gill Perdue crafts her novels with a sensitivity and humanity rare in crime fiction. This time it’s the a body washed up on the beach, the body of a man last seen eighteen years ago. The man’s sister Gemma is a successful influencer and may be the key to the mystery.

Great character writing and original plotting, as always from Gill Perdue who really deserved to be much better known.

Highly recommended.

Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin General

I really enjoyed the relationship between Niamh and Laura.
It seemed a really solid base for the whole book. Along with the rest of their lives. There was drama there, but they weren't dragging SO much baggage around that it becomes the focus of the whole book.
There were some real cringe inducing moments here for me, both in a horrified way at the way some people were treated, also in the way an influencer was promoted as celebrity friend .
Pace picks up nicely towards the end, I was turning pages so fast.
Great story, hope we see more of these two.