"Glad I took a chance on this new to me writer as I really enjoyed this book. The plot is interesting with plenty of suspects and a well-reasoned conclusion. I liked the lead detective and her team and enjoyed the setting of a changing, small town, overshadowed by Manchester. It felt totally believable and there were some vivid, thoughtful descriptions that really brought the scenes to life. Also I enjoyed the author's writing style with flashbacks adding depth to the characters and showing us the victim. This is an excellent whodunit, concentrating on characters and puzzle with no excessive gore. So pleased to find a new series to follow, hope this is the first of many."

"The story starts immediately with the death of a computer hacker and from here on in hits the ground running. The main character is Jane, acting super intendant I always find it interesting when the protagonist is not the same sex as the author and I have to say I think Heaton Wilson does this very well. Jane is a deep character and has a lot going on in her life. Her beloved boss is on his death bed, her mum cannot relate to her in any way shape or form, her boyfriend is a bit of a wet fish and if that’s not enough she now has the murder of a young man to try and deal with. As a reader you feel like you get to know Jane really well and you can’t help but like her. The book is really well researched and is set in Manchester. Such a clear picture is painted of the city that it is no surprise that Wilson once lived here. I loved Wilson’s style of writing and the images that jump off the page for me - eg in the very opening paragraph ‘His long fingers fluttered over the keyboard’ - it’s beautiful! The storyline leads Jane down a road that stirs up her past with a few twists! You get to know Jane’s team of detectives and coroners throughout the book and by the end feel part of the team! I really enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it."

"Jane Birchfield is back as a DCI at Ashbridge CID in Manchester after upsetting the Army and single again after splitting with newspaper editor Allan. Forensic Phil is back after his heart surgery and Jags has returned part time providing CID support work. At least DI George Creasey is still there as her excellent and very loyal second in command, as are DS Paul Rossiter (Ross) and PC Eric Sykes undertaking his CID training. The story opens at the wedding of Mark and DS Loretta Irons (Lorry) but it’s not long before Jane is called away from the celebrations. In the quiet village of Cardale, estate agent and chair of the village association Mary MacDonald is in bed with energy company sales director Geoff Pegg when a tractor ploughs into Mary’s cottage and both of them are crushed to death. It seems there was a problem with the tractor’s steering but was it accidental? There are plans afoot in the village for both gas exploration and also a housing development, so is someone working to their own agenda? With an attack on another villager, a rise in drug dealing and the discovery of a murder victim, Jane has to consider if all these events are connected in a village where apparently nothing exciting ever happens but it seems everyone has something to hide. As I have come to expect from this series, the plot is complex, twisty and clever, and my head was swimming with potential suspects and red herrings as I watched Jane and her team try to make sense of all the baffling clues to get to the truth. All the investigative team are instantly very likeable and work really well together both as colleagues and as friends, and I wonder what the author has in store for them next. Highly recommended for a gripping and engrossing read. 5*"

"Autumnal, unpredictable, rain drenched weather, is the perfect excuse to snuggle under a cozy blanket and lose yourself in a good book. I picked a new author to try for this particular bookish indulgence, Heaton Wilson. It’s always a risk to pick an author you’ve not read before when you are after, what I call a ‘comfort read’. So could he deliver? Well yes he could! The descriptive yet concise writing style was a joy to read, I love an author that can make you visualise a character, a scene, or an emotion without getting unnecessarily ‘wordy’ as sometimes that can become annoying to read. In this book everything was perfectly described yet never too lengthy, I could see these characters, these scenes, these emotions. The plot was solid, there was a good selection of potential perpetrators, enough twists to keep me intrigued and guessing and just as importantly, a believable and not disappointing conclusion. At no point did the story flatline, and we’ve all been there, where a story is brilliant, but there are chapters that feel a bit of a chore to read, but not in this book. I liked the to and fro aspect in time that was used to explain the story and characters, my only criticism and this is minor, is a couple of times I had to reread a few opening lines of a paragraph to work out that we’d gone back in time, but perhaps that was also down to the fact the story flowed so nicely that it was an easy read and threw me. I will be reading more and I’d definitely like to see how DCI Birchfields character develops, as I felt she was just getting started as a character, there was nothing to dislike about her (unusual in a leading detective in a crime novel) and I was rooting for her! Yes, there’s a new (to me) author on my list!"

"I have a lot of things to say about a book written by Heaton Wilson, but certainly not that it is boring. After seeing the title, which as for a detective story sounds quite interesting "Whatever is takes " at the very beginning I thought to myself "Oh, it's going to happen ", another encouraging factor was the cover which shows a hooded, mysterious figure on a dark background. The story is set in the Manchester suburb of Ashbidge, the main character, strong and charismatic DCI Jane Birchfield, who strugglig with her personal challenges, her tumultuous relationship with Allen, her cold relations with her mother , and the serious illness of Charles Aston. Now she is faced with solving the murder of a young computer scientist Jamie Castleton .The mystery itself is not as obvious as it seems. However, the more the hard-working team, led by the Ms detective, digs into the case, the more new facts come to light that making it more complex and causing a twist that puts Jane in a situation where she has to face the "monsters" from her past that she has been stewing about for 25 years. Will Jane manage to face her problems, will she keep her team together once she manages to work out and punish the guilty ? If you want to find out, I encourage you to read this book.. For sure like me it will quickly draw you into the world of crime mystery. It consists mainly of the fact that the author consistently built subsequent plots doing it very efficiently and not getting lost in details... I must also mention the characters, who did not use sterile to the point of boredom language, on the contrary. The author made sure that there was no boredom and that it was sometimes funny... As the book evoked a lot of emotions in me, I would rate it five plus."