Blog Tour – Book Review – The Body in the Marsh

Publisher: Canelo

Publication Date: 25th September 2017

Format: ARC eBook

Note: This book was received from the publisher in return for an honest review

About the book:

When a woman goes missing, it gets personal for DCI Craig Gillard. But he could never imagine what happens next.

Criminologist Martin Knight lives a gilded life and is a thorn in the side of the police. But then his wife Liz goes missing. There is no good explanation and no sign of Martin…

To make things worse, Liz is the ex-girlfriend of DCI Craig Gillard who is drawn into the investigation. Is it just a missing person or something worse? And what relevance do the events around the shocking Girl F case, so taken up by Knight, have to do with the present?

The truth is darker than you could ever have imagined.

Utterly gripping and full of twists, this is a compulsive thriller from master Nick Louth for fans of Robert Bryndza, Patricia Gibney and Carole Wyer.

What I Thought:

The Body in the Marsh is my introduction to Nick Louth, but I’m a huge crime fiction fan so when an email popped into my inbox with this blurb (if you’re a regular reader you’ll know what a fan I am of Patricia and Carol) I jumped at the chance to take part!

The Body in the Marsh follows DCI Craig Gillard as he investigates a complicated missing persons case. The woman missing is Liz Knight, Craig’s girlfriend for one wonderful summer before she left for Cambridge. To make the case a little more complicated her husband also goes missing, Liz’s husband just happens to be a world renowned Criminologist who has been heavily involved in condemning DCI Gillard’s police force for their handling of a sexual abuse case involving Girl F.

This is quite a difficult review to write, as I absolutely loved the book but I don’t want to spoil it for anyone who is considering picking it up, and you definitely should! Nick creates a fantastic cast of characters beginning with DCI Gillard.

When we’re first introduced to DCI Craig Gillard he’s halfway up a rock face in the Lake District, on a long activity filled weekend when he spots a woman in distress and rushes to her aid. It would have been easy to see him as a slightly false super!cop, instead he came off as genuine and I remember thinking he better be one of the good guys! Is he? You’ll have to read the book to see!

DCI Gillard is surrounded by his team, my personal favourite is DS Claire Mulholland, and PSCO Sam Phillips. Nick also introduces a number of secondary characters related to the missing persons case, we get a clear picture of both the missing Knights as well as their children and a collection of friends, all the characters feel fleshed out, there’s always more to tell but I wasn’t left disappointed with any of them.

Nick also does an incredible job of pulling together his plot, full of twists and turns that will leave you second guessing everything. He also manages to interweave aspects of the Girl F abuse case in a way which feels natural and not at all forced.

Would I Recommend?

Absolutely! I flew through this in less than a day, no doubt annoying everyone else as I hogged a table in Starbucks thinking I’ll just read one more chapter, just one more… The characters and the plot were engaging and I just couldn’t give up on it, Canelo have published some amazing thrillers this year and this is yet another one! You can’t buy many things in life for £1.99 these days but this is worth it and more! I’m not sure if there’s a series to come from this, it felt as though it reached a natural conclusion, but I certainly wouldn’t be adverse to following DCI Gillard into another case!