Sarah Ward has written a compelling page turner of a crime novel that keeps you guessing right to the end. The story follows the police investigation into the deaths of a father, mother and their young son and subsequent fire in their house. As well as this, the lives of the police involved are also highlighted, with the demands of their job leading to difficulties in forming lasting personal relationships. As the investigation progresses, there appear to be links to an unresolved missing person case from 30 years before, although these are not clear cut. These elements make for a complex and shifting puzzle, with a few false leads before the resolution, one that still appears to leave an element of jeopardy for those involved.

A suspense-filled read - loved this, and demolished over the course of a day. ( )

Connie and her superiors investigate a house fire in which the three members of a family have died. It turns out that before the fire got to them, two were bludgeoned to death and the third hanged. Then it emerges that the father of the family (Peter) was previously married to a woman who disappeared (and was subsequently declared legally dead) and Connie is convinced this holds the key to the current case.

The narrative switches between the perspectives of Connie, Francis, her boss, and Julia, Peter's daughter from his first marriage. This sometimes made it difficult to keep tabs on whether the police or Julia were aware of a certain fact. It also switches between the present, the night of the fire, and the childhoods of Julia and her brother George, which was confusing, particularly with the time switches between the more recent past and the present - although dates were given, there were too many to sort out the chronology without making notes.

I found the ultimate conclusion (there were many twists and turns) satisfactory, but

SPOILERS

Elizabeth's character made no sense whatsoever. I found her entirely unsympathetic and unconvincing. I had issues with George too, but these were resolved by the end. Although... I thought the forensic scientists were convinced they would have detected the presence of a third party in the house that night...? ( )

A Patient Fury – There is always a dark side to a family

DC Connie Childs has just returned to work and she is not too sure if she has come back too soon, but no matter, it is a job that she loves. When the call comes through in the early hours Connie is being dragged out of bed to a suspicious fire at the request of the Fire Brigade in Brampton. With DI Sadler, they head for the fire, more in silent resignation than hope, as these calls only ever mean one thing, death.

Once again, Connie goes her own way on the case, does not listen to Sadler or any other of the team and ends up in the Daily Mail, after the case has been closed. When she is suspended she still ignores all the known evidence and goes head long into a secret investigation to uncover the secrets that the family involved seem to be hiding. As she gets further involved in the case, she notices her car gets vandalised, but carries on regardless. She does find that time has not healed any rifts in the family have never really healed. Connie really would like to bridge that and bring closure for her and the case.

Once again Connie Childs is on a one-way career destruction course, ignoring her detective inspector, because she knows she is correct, even if the evidence does not show that. Her health is not at its best and it looks like she may lose the one things she cares more about, her police career.

Sarah Ward really knows how to bring a family’s secrets out in to the open and make them interesting and throw in a few added twists to the story. She is really developing Connie Childs into a character you can believe in, if not love, and scream at her to eat something for a change too. This really is a fantastic mystery that keeps you guessing all the way to the last sentence, and always a sting in the tail.

A fantastic story, I cannot recommend highly enough. ( )