SPOILERS: I've been following this series for many years, but this latest installment has disappointed me. Hill uses the "county lines" phenomenon as a basis for the plot, and sets up a series of interesting characters who look set to play a major role in its development. But then, one by one, they get killed off in a series of increasingly horrible ways, and by the time the end comes, nothing has really been resolved. The small-fry dealer at the bottom of the chain has died, the drug addict whose body was found at the beginning of the book turns out to have overdosed after all, and the identities of the people at the top of the chain are still a mystery. I know that this is probably a realistic portrayal of detective work, where things are left hanging more often than not, but it's fairly pointless as a thriller.

I'm also losing patience with Simon Serrailler and his "moody hunk" schtick. He behaves like a dick towards most of the people in his life, and is rewarded at the end of this book by his beautiful "one that got away" girlfriend agreeing to marry him. And that's before you even get started on his annoyingly saintly sister, her equally marvellous husband and kids, and their family pet. What is supposed to be a subplot becomes increasingly dominant and at times this is more like a day in the life of a private GP than a police procedural.

There's no shortage of detective thrillers on the market, most of them not as well-written as this one, and giving the characters backstory and personal development isn't a bad thing, but in this instance it comes at the expense of an interesting plot.

Released at the York Bookcrossing meetup.