S. Tyler, this is her first time working as a plain clothes detective, something she has long aspired to do. I know I am not the only Boomer that wants to smack that obnoxious character, and so Tyler endears himself to me by not going there. He’s obviously a highly intelligent individual and I found it hugely enjoyable trying to work out who he was. The plot is strengthened by the cast of characters, particularly Lily who can’t remember the secret she’s keeping on account of the dementia that’s ravaging her mind. When a body is found behind a cellar wall in the Old Vicarage in a sleepy area of Sheffield, an intricate web of secrets, lies and cruelty is slowly uncovered.

I thought he handled everything very well though and I found myself admiring him for his intelligent determination towards the case. That leads us to DI Jim Doggett the lead and Constable Amina Rabbani, whom Tyler is responsible for, after a year of her trying to get into CID she’s finally on her first case. Questioning of the neighbors reveals two older ladies who used to help take care of Oscar: Ex-schoolteacher Edna is dying of cancer and Lily is suffering from a dementia-like illness. We also have PC Mina Rabbani with her fiery temper, broad South Yorkshire accent, her cleverness and initiative. He makes the snap decision not to tell his superiors, certain that he and only he can solve the crime.Let’s move on but before we do, here’s a newly created fictional detective team that I think has tremendous potential. His main communication to the detectives was through blog posts which gave the story a modern feel which made it seem more realistic. He makes the snap decision not to tell his superiors, certain that he is the only one that can solve the crime. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice.

There are two elderly women side characters, one of whom struggles with dementia, and Tyler is told that old women in small towns always love gossip; he refers to them often as “the old dears. It was clear from the very beginning that the book is well-written and has a great cast of interesting and well-developed characters. This is certainly a scorcher of a debut, which starts with a fire and possibly ends with a fire, with plenty of excellent story telling in the middle. There are the elderly neighbours, the cancer ridden ex-headteacher, Edna Burnside, living with the dementia suffering Lily Bainbridge, they looked after Oscar when he was a child.And then there's Lily Bainbridge and Edna Burnside, an elderly couple who looked after Oscar as a child. Alongside Tyler, we also have DI Jim Doggett, a no-nonsense, seemingly stereotypical bigoted cop from the old-school, and Constable Amina Rabbani, a uniformed cop trying hard to get into CID despite the hurdles in front of her.