Guilty: someone's getting away with murder in this heart-stopping thriller

by Martina Cole

'The stuff of legend' Mirror
'The queen of crime' Woman & Home
'One of the best fiction authors around . . . spectacular' Closer

*Pre-order the heart-stopping new novel from queen of crime Martina Cole*



All families have their secrets . . .

'Martina Cole is back and back with an unapologetic bang' 5* reader review
'Well worth the wait!' 5* reader review
'Phenomenal' 5* reader review

Due to health reasons, Martina Cole has chosen to continue her collaboration with writer Jacqui Rose for her upcoming novel Guilty.

Genres: Crime, Thriller, Fiction

407 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 8, 2024

About the author

Martina Cole was born and brought up in Essex. She is the bestselling author of fourteen novels set in London's gangland, and her most recent three paperbacks have gone straight to No. 1 in the Sunday Times on first publication. Total sales of Martina's novels stand at over eight million copies.

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

And Martina’s back

The 27th book and have bought, read and loved them all

Tbh the book needs little review as if you enjoy MC’s books then you will have bought this or have it on your list to get

This is the 2nd book co written with Jaqui Rose and I think whoever does whichever parts to make it one book it works, and works really well

It is if course pure Martina Cole and so as such if you have a trigger point in books it is worth saying the trigger point will be in the book, words are not minced, descriptions not flossed over and life is portrayed as it is for these characters, often grim, ugly and unpleasant

As addictive as Book 1, there is a reason the author has sold multi millions, she is a brilliant writer and her stories just keep you going back for more

[Valli Reece · Rating 2 out of 5]

Martina not at her best, too many characters, which dragged and dragged on, then at the end in a very few pages everything is resolved apparently. Then wallaaa 10 weeks later everyone is happy and ready to move on.
Nothing about all the nefarious acts and how people moved on, or how many were killed etc. Sloopy at and not a lot of her usual fantastic resolutions and care to the story line.

[Carrie ✨️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. The only negative I have is that you get really close to the end and realise so much has to happen in such a short period of time (the pages are dwindling) and it's wrapped up in a few pages, I feel the story deserved a little longer ending and to not be wrapped up so quickly.

[The Book Review Café · Rating 5 out of 5]

If like me you’re a big fan of gangland thrillers then you are going to love this one. It’s gritty, brutal and a real page turner. Not for the feint hearted Guilty delves into the seedy life of prostitution where violence and abuse are a daily occurrence for the woman who find themselves working the streets. Martina Cole has created a mixed bag of credible characters, the good, the bad and the ugly but each one adds to the story. There is one character Joseph who will make your blood run cold, and if I had one small niggle I would have liked more of a backstory to his character. Martina Cole has written a cracker of a book that I raced through

[Jane Bridger · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story centres on Steph Barker who can't forget her past. A single mother, Steph runs a women's shelter for local prostitutes while coming to terms with a tragic loss. And it's people like Joseph Potter, battling with his own grief, who keep her going. One by one the prostitutes start to go missing and Steph is determined to find out who is responsible.

I have been a fan of Martina’s books since the very beginning and I’m enjoying the collaboration with Jacqui Rose.

The themes of revenge, loyalty, guilt and survival are intense as you come to expect from Martina and Jacqui. Whilst the characters by their very nature have tough exteriors they face more that their fair share of emotional turmoil.

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

First time reading a book by Martina Cole and it was veryyyy gritty and dark - don’t think I’ll be reading more of her books 😬 there was a lot of characters and did take me a while to get into the style of writing but was still gripping and hard to put down.

[Julie Lacey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great read from Martina Cole and Jacqui Rose.
This is a gritty gangland thriller that centres around Steph and the women she tries to help.
It was a bit confusing at first with new characters being introduced in every new chapter, but it soon all clicked together.
Someone is murdering women out on the streets and whilst we know who the killer is, he’s hiding in plain sight of Steph and the other women.
Artie and Fletch are causing panic with their heavy handed techniques in getting money from the women as well as others who owe them money.
This is a great book.

[Sue Hickling]

This is the worst book iv ever read ,just filfth and bad language ,why do people read it . 🙃🙃🙃

[Mariaan Belinfante · Rating 5 out of 5]

Life on the estates are harsh, brutal and poverty reigns. The thugs rule and women are just worth the money they can earn on the game. Violence is a way of life and lives are not worth a penny. Most of Old Bill are on the payroll and look the other way. Once again Martina portrays the life here to the T and I was thrilled to read a book of hers again. Not for the faint hearted, but absolutely brilliant writing (even with a co writer her style and touch is undeniably there)

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

UNPUTDOWNABLE!!! Excellent! This is the Martina Cole I know and love!! Gritty, twist, and turns with a great cast of characters!
Story has a cozy vibe that makes you want to pull your blanket up to your throat with your teeth! Intense!!

Definitely going my list as a favorite MC books!!!

[Pol · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a book by Martina Cole and Jacqui Rose
Kept me wanting to find out what was going to happen and how it was all going to end. Brilliant
Love the Gangland genre looking forward to the next book 📕 by them both

[Gail Mead · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was Martina Cole’s best her books are always spectacular but this was well worth the wait . It was hard to put down as you needed to know what would happen next . Lots of amazing characters in the story hope she does a sequel to this book you just have to know what happens to them all .

[Ginny Mullins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Martina Cole is one of my favourite authors.

I enjoyed reading this, very violent, a real page turner.

I did find there were too many characters at times and similar names. As others have said, the ending felt a bit rushed, but would recommend.

[Anna-Marie Corcoran · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5🌟

Book 37/52

Been a while since I’ve read a Martina Cole book and it didn’t disappoint.

My only criticism would be that when there were a 100 pages left things didn’t seem to be getting wrapped up and then it seemed a bit of a rush at the end.

[Patsy · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you enjoy gangland crime this is the one for you.

Unputdownable, dark, gritty and compulsive reading.

[Evelyn Hicks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read in a day - very much a page turner.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book read fast

[Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

An easy read that’s hard to put down

[Rhianah · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25* This was fucking sick

[Mick Grimble · Rating 5 out of 5]

Martina Cole delivers again Annie Adlington brings the characters to life really gripping from start to finish

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant read! Martina never disappoints. Can’t wait until her new one comes out

[jkw · Rating 1 out of 5]

Only rushed to the end so I could write this review. SO MANY characters (result of a co-write?) , mindless violence that had little to do with the plot. Rushed ending and predictable twists

[Evelyne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly one of a kind , brilliant read ❤️

[Sammy Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always know what you are getting with a Martina Cole

[Caitriona Maher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good but the end seemed rushed!

[Caitlin Lamb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read but incredibly long and felt myself getting lost at times. By the time the opening chapter had come back round (if you’ve read it you know) I’d forgotten it had even happened so the shock factor wasn’t as intense

[Emily Day · Rating 1 out of 5]

What Annabel said….

My main thoughts after reading this was WHERE TF are social services, police (not every copper is bent?!) or literally ANY other professionals?! Why is Steph, the ex-sex worker, responsible for literally everything going on? Like I know she now has a women’s refuge but How? because that’s a lot of back ground not explained. I don’t really feel like there is really enough information about her character to fit with the level of responsibility she is given. Is she living off the hooker/loan shark businesses? And how did she get out the sex worker business? And on the lack of background info… Joe’s wife?! Who was she? How did no one know about the abuse or murder and HOW has no one other than big crim and wannabe pimp Danny the only one who has noticed some possible safeguarding concerns about his kids. Bel’s hand had burns?! But as Toni would say, maybe I should just not deep it out and accept it as the wild but flawed story it is.
I did initially find it a bit hard to follow as they introduced sooo many characters I couldn’t keep up with who was who and had to keep flipping back. Also I kept getting confused about whose POV it was as it kept flipping even within chapters. Maybe it’s because I am use to books that are written from the POV of one main character. I got to grips with it from around chapter 14. Another point of contention for me was how much was happening… I mean Steph really has a hell of a lot going on (AND SERIOUSLY NO PROFESSIONALS 🤯). Anyway, I was actually really looking forward to finding out who she had killed and what would happen to the big creep. And although I had already guessed some of the surprises I didn’t guess who was dead on her floor. So that was good. But overall I did actually think the ending was too rushed and I think because there were soooo many things happening none of them really had the big hitter moment in the end and I thought it fell a bit flat. Sorry it’s not a raving review from me, but I did think it was a nice easy read and entertaining because it was totally mad! I am looking forward to hearing everyone else thoughts!

[Jill Kirk · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this book on holiday because it was given to me and my kindle was flat. I wouldn’t have chosen it myself. To me Martina Cole wrote this to pay the mortgage.

It was gratuitously violent and over use of foul language actually put me off. I don’t care if bad language appears in a book but not just to increase the word count!! Sentences littered with f**k and other words unnecessarily!!

Also considering this was published in 2024 it did not reflect certain aspects of modern day living. I understand this is a work of fiction but modern day Policing does not turn a blind eye to horrific violence against women and reports of missing women will be investigated.

I would not recommend this book and would not choose another Martina Cole any time soon.

[Lainy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Time taken to read - 2 days

Pages - 432

Publisher -

Source - Bought

Blurb from Amazon

It's time to confess their sins.

Steph Barker can't forget her past. A single mother, Steph runs a women's shelter for local prostitutes while coming to terms with a tragic loss. And it's people like Joseph Potter, battling with his own grief, who keep her going.

When Hennie, one of her friends from the shelter, goes missing, Steph's convinced Hennie's violent pimp Artie Rogers has something to do with it. Steph and Artie go way back, but his reign of terror throughout the Medway towns is out of control and even she can't do anything to stop him. Then another prostitute disappears and it's time to find out who's guilty.

Everyone has their secrets - but one of them is getting away with murder.



My Review

If you have read Martina Cole you know what you are getting, this one is particularly dark. Steph runs a shelter for prostitutes, she got out of that life and knows just how hard it can be. She has her ex who is just a piece of work but he is the father of her daughter so he will always be around. Her current partner is on support after a hit and run that left him unresponsive and killed her wee baby. His brother runs the girls and rules with an iron fist, drugs and his partner who is a complete deviant with muscles. As some of the girls disappear Steph realises that something much darker than their pimp may well be on the prowl and no one is safe.

The book has some really dark themes, issues, sa, child abuse, murder, coercion, dv, manipulation, absolute deviants they would give you the absolute boke. We see families pushed to the brink and having to make choices so they can survive, threats of violence, being put in unimaginable positions. Prostitution features heavily throughout the book and all the perils that come with it, shady punters, predators, substance issues and a stalker/murderer.

When I finished this I needed to genre switch, a lot of the worst sides of humanity feature in this one as well as strength, love, friendship and family. There is child endangerment and some hard scenes and threats featuring them so be warned, 3.5/5 for me this time.

[Demi Dickson · Rating 2 out of 5]

My first Martina Cole book - I was absolutely shook by the language 😂. Was so much swearing, I didn't even know what the story line was.

Too many characters, and not enough depth into them. At one point I didn't have a clue who was who. Midway through I started to get into it and could overlook the bad points but then the ending was predictable, boring and too gritty for me. Personal preference, but I couldn't take to the vulgar. I've read true crime, thrillers, horrors but the language was just too much for me