Dead Water (Rees and Khan, #3)

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

A body (minus its head and hands) is discovered in the Thames with Laughton's address written on its wrist. It is quickly determined that the victim is a criminal associate of Shelby, Laughton's former 'boyfriend' and the father of her daughter Gracie. (I write 'boyfriend' in inverted commas, because Shelby was an adult who groomed 15 year old Laughton and kept her hooked on drugs.) Shelby turns up on Laughton's doorstep fearing that he will be the next to be murdered.

This was a fast paced read and the ending in particular was very well done, but I spent most of the novel scratching my head over the things Laughton and Grace did. Laughton spent the novel keeping things show more from/not answering the phone to her romantic interest and (more importantly) police contact Tannahill, which resulted in him having to rescue her. Grace's decisions in relation to her father throughout the book made no sense to me, even based on the sanitized version of events Laughton had told her moments before Shelby turned up.

I applaud Tannahill's decision on the final page, although I'm not sure where that leaves this series. show less