This is the tenth book in the Detective Geldard Mysteries, but my first book by Heather Peck and my first introduction to DCI Greg Geldard and his team. Heather Peck does a brilliant job of welcoming a new reader into an already well-established series. Geldard is surrounded by a sizeable team, including his soon-to-be wife Chris, but despite meeting everyone for the first time, I never struggled to remember who was who or felt overwhelmed by the number of people involved.

Alongside the police investigation, there are glimpses into Greg and Chris's life away from work, where things aren't running quite as smoothly. It was obvious there was history between them from the previous books, but I never felt I was missing anything by not knowing it. There was everything I needed to understand where they were now, with their personal story remaining very much in the background and adding another layer to the characters without ever taking over from the investigation.

The case itself was very cleverly plotted and I was gripped by the progress being made. I really enjoyed being taken along with the team as they worked through the evidence and followed each new development. Everything was clearly explained without slowing the story down, and I felt completely involved in the investigation, working things out alongside them and needing to know how everything was going to come together.

The story moves at a fast pace and apparently so did my reading! I couldn't read quickly enough because I just wanted to know what happened next. Unfortunately, life and phone calls kept getting in the way and I genuinely reached the point where I considered driving somewhere, locking myself in the car without my phone and enjoying the peace until I'd finished the book! 😂

What impressed me most was how effortlessly this worked as a standalone story. I never found myself wondering what I'd missed or wishing I'd started at the beginning. There was enough background woven naturally into the story for me to understand the characters, their relationships and their places within the team without taking anything away from the investigation happening now.

And that's where I encountered a slight problem... I didn't need to know what had happened in the previous nine books. I wanted to know. I wanted to go back and get to know the whole team properly and discover everything that had brought them to where I found them in this book.

So I finished my review copy and bought the entire series for my Kindle. All ten books.
I think it's safe to say Heather Peck has gained a new reader! 😂📚
👩🏻‍💻 MoMoBookDiary (2026)