The world is in a serious situation now with a global pandemic in the form of Coronavirus (COVID-19). This has seen the UK (and some other countries) in partial lockdown, meaning that we are now only allowed out of our home for essential shopping, doctor and pharmacy visits, and one form of exercise per day (near your home). Lots of people are now stuck at home, with cabin fever setting in, wanting something to do. Fortunately for me, so far at least, I am doing OK as I have things to do and a lot of books to read. Reading is an excellent way to escape the world and whittle away several hours in one sitting. I love crime, thrillers and police procedural novels so was happy to receive the new book from D. S. Butler – Don’t Turn Back.
Don’t Turn Back is the third book in the DS Karen Hart series, which is based in Lincolnshire.
When a man is found bludgeoned to death in a copse of the small, sleepy village of Canwick in Lincolnshire, Detective Karen Hart is tasked with investigating the murder.
When the investigation leads her to a pub and people from her past, Karen is haunted by the death of her husband and daughter five years earlier.
Her murder investigation is soon reassigned, and she is tasked with looking into modern slavery at the pub, just as it was five years previously. The two investigations into murder and modern slavery soon merge into one, and something much bigger than anyone could have imagined. But with missing witnesses, people keeping silent and a deep-rooted conspiracy, will she ever uncover the truth?
Overall, I found D. S. Butler’s Don’t Turn Back a very enjoyable and easy read. I haven’t read the previous books in the series but didn’t feel like I was a disadvantage reading this as there was enough backstory to fill in any blanks.
It is a novel that has a lot going on (murder, people trafficking, modern slavery and police corruption) that effortlessly moves into one bigger story. It has plenty of twists and turns with some red herrings, as you would expect from a book from this genre, but with some surprising events. A very well-crafted story.
The only small negative for me was the Karen, her boss, and other detectives seem to be keeping parts of the investigations to themselves rather than working together, though the end goals are the same. That said, some parts did need to be written that way to advance the story and add in the tension.
This is an easy and enjoyable read. It is reasonably fast paced with some good characters. A good police procedural novel and I will now be going back to read the previous two novels in the series whilst looking forward to a fourth book.
If you like crime and police procedural thrillers, then this is definitely worth a read.
Rating: 4/5
RRP: £8.99 (Paperback) / £3.99 (Kindle)
For more information, visit www.dsbutlerbooks.com. Available to buy from Amazon here.
