What Falls Between the Cracks (Porter & Styles, 1) - Hardcover

Scragg, Robert

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0749022795 ISBN 13: 9780749022792

Publisher: Allison & Busby, 2018

Synopsis

Did she slip through the cracks, or was she pushed? When a severed hand is found in an abandoned flat, Detective Jake Porter and his partner Nick Styles are able to DNA match the limb to the owner, Natasha Barclay, who has not been seen in decades. But why has no one been looking for her? It seems that Natasha’s family are the people who can least be trusted. Delving into the details behind her disappearance and discovering links to another investigation, a tragic family history begins to take on a darker twist. Hampered by a widespread fear of a local heavy, as well as internal politics and possible corruption within the force, Porter and Styles are digging for answers, but will what they find ever see the light of day?

About this title

About the Author:

Robert Scragg had a random mix of jobs before taking the dive into crime writing; he’s been a bookseller, pizza deliverer, Karate instructor and Football coach. He lives in Tyne & Wear, is a founding member of the North East Noir crime writers group.

Review:

“Scragg’s detectives have the right combination of passion and savvy, and his plot is easy to follow while still saving some surprises for the end. Fans of British police procedurals will eagerly await the sequel.” (Publishers Weekly)

"In an interview on the Crime Time website, debut author Scragg defines what, for him, is the perfect crime: “Either nobody even knows one has been committed and it stays undiscovered, or it’s covered up so well that it’s impossible to unravel what happened and who is responsible.” So, putting those ideas into action, Scragg gives us Natasha Barclay, whose severed hand is found in an empty apartment. After using DNA to match the hand to a person, London detective Jake Porter and his partner, Nick Styles, are blown away by the fact that Natasha has apparently been missing for 30 years, and, sadly, no one has been looking for her. Deepening the mystery is Natasha’s uncooperative and well-connected family; as the story unravels, those connections become more and more sinister. This is a classic police procedural, with a host of engaging characters. Porter is a daring and determined investigator, sensitized and left somewhat damaged by his own wife’s unsolved murder. Recommend this fine mystery to all procedural fans, especially followers of Peter James’ Roy Grace and Alison Bruce’s Gary Goodhew." (Booklist)

About this edition

• Publisher: Allison & Busby
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 0749022795
• ISBN 13: 9780749022792
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320