This is a new to me author, a very easy read, and a good start to a series. I would say that it’s of a medium pace, and I enjoyed being taken along in the investigation alongside DS Cross & his partner DS Ottey. It is stated from the beginning that DS Cross has a diagnosis of Asperger Syndrome, we know the name Aspergers now falls under the more common and acceptable term of ASD these days so I'm hoping going forward that will be used when referencing this characters neurodivergence. I'm unsure how I feel about the autism rep with Cross's character as it felt very stereotypical/rain man coded to me. Guess I will see if that is handled better in future books.

The story itself was engaging, there were occasions where the pacing slowed and felt like we were being taken the long way round but it kept my interest, the procedural side of the story was done well and I enjoyed watching these characters uncover the truth even if none of it was surprising to me (patrern recognition strikes again). There are no over the top action scenes, it is very much based on Cross and his meticulous, tenacious uncovering of the events. My first time reading a book by this author and I will be giving the next in the series a try, the book was available in the Audible Plus catalogue and narrated by John Heffernan who was a new to me narrator, I enjoyed his performance however I would have liked a bit more differentiating in the voices of the characters as sometimes keeping track of who was speaking was difficult. Overall, this was a decent Police Procedural/crime/mystery set in the UK.

"I work on logic, patterns, indicators, relevant factors and gaps that indicate a break in that logic or those patterns, I believe in order, in proper procedures being followed."

"He was profoundly put out, in a way that people may find essentially selfish. And of course it was, because the only way he was able to deal with the world was by placing himself at the very centre of it, making everything revolve around him."