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Today am on the HQ Book tour, reviewing the book “Out of Sight” by Paul Gitsham which was just released on June 4, 2021 and is Book 7 in the DCI Warren Jones series.

(Note: This is the first book I read in this series, and I enjoyed it thoroughly on its own).

There’s nothing quite like sinking your teeth into a juicy British crime novel – the setting, characters, the puzzle, the twists and turns and all the red herrings until the ending is finally revealed.

It’s all the more exciting when the novel is part of a series – the added bonus of a continuing relationship with this team of CID characters with their “real” lives, problems, past cases, traumatic injuries and losses, sometimes not-so-understanding spouses, children, and hopes for the future – all to be managed along with their burning need to do their part, no matter what it takes, to see justice done.

This crime novel hits the mark on all levels – DCI Warren Jones and his team are wonderful, relatable characters, the plot is tight and intricately woven, and our victim is one you can’t help but feel for and care about. At the same time, the organization of this book added a further interesting element. The chapters each based on around activities occurring on a given day, beginning with the crime and then following the period up to approximately two weeks after, as the detectives work to uncover the facts and solve the mystery in near real-time.

In chronological order, we watch the the detectives process the crime from the beginning, as they work to first identify their victim, followed by team regroups to reconsider after every new discovery related to the case.

Most interesting of all, we sit in on interviews with suspects, both before and after their detainment or arrest, giving us an opportunity to discount, or believe, the new facts and stories that are disclosed, right along with the crime team. This process adds tremendous detail to the plotting, taking the reader on a winding, back-and-forth ride to figure it all out with the cops that feels authentic and is downright addictive.

The characters we most feel compassion for in this story, in one way or another, all keep “out of sight” their feelings of shame, grief, fear, loneliness and their core need to be accepted and loved. The ones we are most repulsed by work hard to polish the veneer hiding their greed, pride, brutality, and callous disregard for the humanity of others. Its fun to try to land on which characters fit in which camp, and you can be sure (no spoilers here!) this author has some clever tricks up his sleeve.

I found this book compelling and read it almost straight through. This book is a treat for British mystery lovers everywhere, and particularly those who enjoy character-based and multi-layered crime procedurals.

I can’t wait to catch up with the rest of the series.