No Name Lane

DC Ian Bradshaw #1

by Howard Linskey

The hunt for a serial killer unearths an unsolved cold case from over sixty years ago.

Young girls are being abducted and murdered in the North-East. Out of favour Detective Constable Ian Bradshaw struggles to find any leads - and fears that the only thing this investigation will unravel is himself.

Journalist Tom Carney is suspended by his London tabloid and returns to his home village in County Durham. Helen Norton is the reporter who replaced Tom on the local newspaper. Together, they are drawn into a case that will change their lives forever.

When a body is found, it's not the latest victim but a decades-old corpse. Secrets buried for years are waiting to be found, while in the present-day an unstoppable killer continues to evade justice

Genres: Crime, Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Mystery Thriller, Audiobook, Procedural

487 pages, Paperback

First published March 12, 2015

About the author

ABOUT ME
A bit about me and my books. I am an author with Canelo, currently writing a series of William Shakespeare mysteries. The first is 'A Serpent In The Garden' which sees Will forced to look into the mysterious death of a lady in Elizabethan London. .

I am also the author of a series of books set in the north east of England, featuring journalists Tom Carney & Helen Norton with detective Ian Bradshaw, who all appear in ‘The Chosen Ones’, ‘The Search’, 'Behind Dead Eyes’ and ‘No Name Lane' and the standalones, 'Alice Teale Is Missing', 'Don't Let Him In' and The Inheritance'.

My WW2 historical novels include ‘Hunting the Hangman’, which tells the true story of the assassination of Nazi General, Reinhard Heydrich, and ‘Ungentlemanly Warfare’. The latter features SOE agents, Harry Walsh and Emma Stirling and OSS agent, Sam Cooper.

My earlier novels, the David Blake books, have been optioned for TV by Harry Potter producer, David Barron. The Times newspaper voted 'The Drop' one of its Top Five Thrillers of the Year and 'The Damage' one of its Top Summer Reads. Both books broke into the top five Amazon Kindle chart.

I’m honoured to be the ghost writer of ‘Surviving Hell’ which tells the true story of former Para, Nick Dunn, one of the Chennai Six, who were wrongfully imprisoned in India for years, having committed no crime, and 'Surviving Hell', the autobiography of Princess Diana's former bodyguard, Lee Sansum.

On a far lighter note, I am also the writer behind ‘The Little Book Of Pintfulness’ a mindfulness spoof, which comprehensively proves that life is just better with beer. Please read responsibly.

Prior to becoming a full-time author, I led a series of different lives with a number of jobs, including barman, journalist, catering manager and marketing manager for a celebrity chef, as well as in a variety of sales and account management roles. I can confirm that writing books definitely beats working for a living.

I started writing many moons ago and was first published in the Newcastle United football fanzine, 'The Mag'. I then became a journalist and wrote for regional newspapers. I have also written for magazines and web sites and was once the English Premier League football correspondent for a Malaysian magazine. I've stopped all of that nonsense now, preferring to make up stuff instead and call myself an author.

I'm originally from Ferryhill in County Durham but, like most of the people I grew up with, I left the north east in search of work and never quite made it back. I am now settled in Hertfordshire with my lovely wife Alison and wonderful daughter Erin.

I'm still a long-suffering Newcastle United fan and can only assume that Mike Ashley is a punishment inflicted upon us for all of the crimes we committed in our past lives.

I am represented by the best Literary Agent in the UK, Phil Patterson at Marjacq. Catherine Pellegrino looks after my foreign rights there. If you are Brad Pitt and you wish to play David Blake in a movie then Leah Middleton takes care of Film and TV rights:

Marjacq Scripts Ltd
The Space
235 High Holborn
London WC1V 7LE

+44 (0) 20 7935 9499
F +44 (0) 20 7935 9115
enquiries@marjacq.com

Reviews

[Maxine (Booklover Catlady) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was excited to read No Name Lane, the early reviews were good and it was set in the North East of England, where I was born and bred and still live. A nice added touch for me. I was ready for a super crime thriller.

Journalist Tom Carney returns to his village in the north-east after being suspended by his London tabloid.

Helen Norton is a reporter doing Tom's old job on the local newspaper. Together, they investigate a string of disappearances of young girls in the area.

Struggling DC Ian Bradshaw works the same case, fearing that the only thing he will unravel is himself.

When a body is found, it's not one of the girls, but a decades-old corpse. They all search for answers to a murder buried in the past, while in the present-day an unstoppable killer must be brought to justice...

The book started well with Tom being booted out of his jammy office in London on suspension so heads back home whist on sabbatical. Unable to sit around he soon hears of the missing girls that are vanishing in the village and after a rocky start he convinces Helen Norton, who took his job to work together with him to dig around and see what they can uncover. This storyline was great. I loved the chapters where we got into the head of the person taking the girls. I had huge hopes for the rest of the book.

Then a skeleton is discovered during an excavation, it's a very old skeleton, years and years old, the problem is, in this close knit town, nobody remembers anyone local going missing, so who is the body in the soil?

This is where I lost enthusiasm a bit. I found the police bumbled around the skeleton case, there was no decent policing, no forensic reporting, nada. Despite it being set in the 90’s a lot more tools were available then than got used. Our two Journalists find out more from door knocking than the police. I was shouting out "dental forensics" but no copper was listening to me.

This part of the book includes flashbacks to the days when the skeleton was alive and who he/she associated with then forward again, back and forward. Sigh. I didn't think the pace of this storyline worked at all with the much more gritty storyline of the missing young girls. I wanted that to feature a lot more. When it did it was really good, and again the pace picks up again.

With a lot of local characters to keep track of, be on the ball, or you might miss some key things. I didn't connect with any of the characters except for Helen, I found her very tangible and a strong character.

So, a mixed bag, I almost think they should be two different books, but it was an okay read, I liked most of it.

Thanks so much for reading my review. If you’d like to follow me for more reviews you are most welcome or send me a friend request. Happy reading!

[ReadAlongWithSue recovering from a stroke★⋆. ࿐࿔ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a chunker of a book, but read on the Kindle it didn't seem that long, maybe its because I was so invested in everything about it that made my time reading it go quick.

A detective and a journalist, who would have thought a relationship could develop so well. The author did a great job with that, as did the [what I call] tooing and frowing between characters and chapters.

The author seems to lead you to the next chapter, but it turns out to be someone else's turn to have a POV and then the reader is gasping to go further on in that last persons chapter, then you get rooted in someone else's, and so it goes on. Its not confusing, its absolutely done well.

I'm very late reading this book and I know the next book is already out there, so I can't wait.

My thanks to Penguin UK - Michael Joseph via Net Galley for my copy

[Rachel (not currently receiving notifications) Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

No Name Lane apparently marks a distinct change in style for Howard Linskey from his earlier material featuring a Newcastle gangland hard man and whilst I hadn't come across his work before, on the evidence of this novel I certainly wish I had done so! Linskey tells a cracking yarn and delivers a compelling narrative which thoroughly engaged me from start to finish, with a welcome social commentary and three lead characters who are all believably flawed. Impressively, this is a novel which segues between two stories and manages to make light work of switching from the 1993 narrative to the time of 1936. No Name Lane also offers a fascinating view of the rationale behind the crimes as readers hear from the perpetrator attempting to justify a warped logic behind their behaviour. That Linskey delivers an emotional connection to the serial killer makes this all the more powerful and readers will empathise with the many drivers which have combined to leave a man viewing this as their only option.

A punchy start introduces the three principal characters who feature and all three are seeking to either salvage their careers or certainly give them a decent kick start. Frustrated DC Ian Bradshaw, out of favour with his colleagues and ostracised after a period of depression is seeking to resurrect something from his attempts to prove he has the makings of a decent police officer. Tom Carney, cocky Northern boy made good has just hit the big time with a job in London on the biggest red top in the country, only for a front page headline to blow up in his face and leave him suspended and taking the rap. Helen Norton replaced Carney in his role as crime correspondent on the Durham Messenger, a regional newspaper with a reputation for solid and unspectacular journalism. With a boss that edits every word she writes and away from her Surrey home and boyfriend, what had seemed a dream first job isn't all that she envisaged.

The novel is set in the main in 1993, and captures the weary cynicism of the early nineties brilliantly and a police culture which is worlds away from the politically correct approach of today. A time when the police force was regarded by many as an old boys club, often blurring the thin line between those they apprehend and their own behaviour. That the police force in 1993 was more of a political beast with a less sensitive to culture towards depression and those who were considered misfits is without doubt. Howard Linskey also highlights the cosy relationship between the media and police of the era where leaks were regarded with resignation, a time which seems an age before the press standards furore.

With a serial killer having taken four young girls and left their bodies in clearly visible locations in the surrounding countryside, the North East is under siege and waiting on the next move of a madman. When he strikes again it is in the insular village of Great Middleton, former home town of Tom Carney and a paltry 1,200 residents. Fifteen-year-old victim Michelle Summers seems to mark a change in the perpetrators modus operandi after four girls who were all significantly younger. As the wait for a body goes on the discovery of a long dead corpse buried under a playing field reveals that Great Middleton is home to more than one shocking crime. DC Ian Bradshaw along with three colleagues all assigned to the dead-wood team of the squad and tasked with identifying the man who has lain buried for almost sixty-years. It is this case which occupies the focus on the first part of the novel as opposed to the serial killer on the prowl, but this is not to its detriment as it unravels to reveal a hidden secret which has seismic consequences of its own.

The police focus of the investigation into the decades old skeleton is largely focused on the rather unremarkable door-to-door enquiries and Bradshaw and his dead-wood sidekick make little progress. Meanwhile, the two journalists make light work of getting their questions surrounding the history of the village answered, perhaps because this is a community which still bears the scars of the miners crisis and has a long memory. When Bradshaw and his partner (DC Vincent Addison) decide to take matters into their own hands and encroach on the more pressing serial killer investigation they are lambasted for meddling with a sensitive investigation, potentially jeopardising a future prosecution. It is a frustrated DC Bradshaw who bumps into old schoolfriend Tom Carney with fellow journalist Helen that evening, and the trio come to a begrudging understanding that pooling their knowledge could be mutually beneficial for all of them. As we learn more about the three main players I found Tom Carney to be filled out in a lot more depth than either Ian Bradshaw or Helen Norton and I hope that Howard Linskey addresses this in his follow-up.

The focus on redemption was clear, with an outcast DC Ian Bradshaw up against it and journalist Tom Carney returning to his old stomping ground with his tail between his legs and ego severely dented, thus the ending felt pretty much set in stone, but just how Linskey gets to that point will leave many readers reeling as the underdogs live to fight another day. The social angle is also mastered well and Linksey manages to highlight the social norms and attitudes of two entirely different eras in terms of both investigational techniques and the culture within the police force. I was particularly impressed with how insightful Linskey proved to be as he shed light on the incident which resulted in Bradshaw's mental health problems. An absolutely scintillating finish will leave the reader in awe with the twists and turns and the accomplished manner in which Howard Linskey ties everything up was the icing on the cake for me!

There was more than enough promise between the pages of No Name Lane to show that with a minor bit of polishing this could be a first class police procedural/journalistic series. The social commentary angle was already covered well and Linskey is a masterful storyteller and with DC Ian Bradshaw showing a little bit more nous and intuition for his chosen career, this could be a more than satisfactory series. It was with a wry amusement that in the closing pages Bradshaw commented to Tom Carney that he was more of a copper than a reporter! Perhaps a role reversal would have been more apt! I have already purchased the follow-up to this novel, Behind Dead Eyes, but I will need DC Ian Bradshaw to rely on more than simply luck and show some evidence of a more rigorous police procedural angle to proceedings.

[Lee at ReadWriteWish · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always skim other people’s reviews after writing the initial draft of my own, and I was shocked to read so many saying this was a thick tome that at first daunted them. As I received this via net galley as an ebook, I had no idea the book was so long. I certainly never once felt bogged down by it, or struggled to finish. I enjoyed it from beginning to end, and would definitely describe it as a page turner now I've read those comments.

The book introduces three lead characters who, if I’m not mistaken, will all be used again in a sequel/series of books.

The first is Tom Carney, a journalist from London who has just written his first front page story for a popular tabloid. Just as he should be basking in the glory of it all, everything turns sour. He ends up returning to his hometown, an ex-mining village in Northern England, to hide out until the dust settles. He also uses the opportunity to research a story based on a series of murders in the area.

The second male is Ian Bradshaw, a policeman who is out of favour with his superiors and colleagues alike. His career is down the proverbial toilet, and his only chance of redemption would be to crack the case of the latest young girl to be kidnapped, presumably by the said serial killer.

The third is Helen Norton, also a journalist. In fact she took Tom’s place at the newspaper he had worked at in the village, and eventually sees the wisdom in partnering up with him if they want to scoop their competition.

All three characters are engaging, intelligent, and have as many moments where you want to hit them as when you want to kiss them (or for them to kiss).

There is also a huge cast of supporting characters, all equally well written. I found I had no trouble keeping track of them.

The murder/mystery plot was great, and although I did guess whodunnit in the end, I think I had suspected most of the book’s characters at one time or other. The final reveal had just the right amount of chill about it to make it equal parts creepy and realistic.

I loved the time setting -- 1993. Pre-internet, pre-high tech forensic, pre-mobile phones (although Tom does have one, it rarely works/has service), apparently post-police corruption, but as yet pre-UK tabloid press's scandal. So much fun for the reader; so much easier for the writer. Although, I must admit, at times I assumed the setting to be earlier again, perhaps the 70s before the section told us the actual date. I think it could have been because I recently watched the tv series, Ashes to Ashes, and at times I had flashbacks from that show. In fact, overall, the book read quite like a tv show, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it did pop up on my screen one day in the future.

I’d recommend this highly, and will definitely read more by Howard Linskey

4.5 out of 5 stars

[Best Crime Books & More · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was pretty excited to read this latest release by Howard Linskey. I have read all of his previous books but knew that this one would be slightly different. First up massive congrats on the cover because I love it. Once I got started the story seemed to flow just as well as previous ones which is always a bonus. The main premise is that young girls are being abducted and murdered in the North-East of the country.

DC Ian Bradshaw is a copper that is currently out of sorts at work. Following an incident he seems to be a shell of the man he once was. The first thing that struck me was how much I disliked this guy. He oozed the whole ‘poor me’ routine and I found myself wondering what on earth Linskey had done introducing such a wet character to one of his books. Luckily the balance was tipped for me with the introduction of Tom Carney. Tom is a journalist in London who manages to get himself in a bit of hot water. He leaves London and makes his way back to his home village not realising that this may be a blessing in disguise.

Characters aside, the story has a couple of threads both which made for great reading. The first being the case involving the abducted children, and the second being the discovery of decades-old corpse. Tom gets his teeth into the body found in the village and manages to pair up with young Helen, who is a journalist working for the local rag. Both Tom and Helen really added some flavour and spice to the mix, which sadly Bradshaw seemed to drain in equal measures.

I really enjoyed the story, and the writing was just as great as it has been in his previous books. There were plenty of plot twists and a couple of surprises I certainly didn’t see coming. I think this is a book you can certainly get your teeth into. However, although I loved this Ian Bradshaw as a character literally redeemed himself by the skin of his teeth towards the end of the book. Aside from that I spent the best part of the book loathing the man. Sadly my pure disinterest in this guy made me bump it from a 5 star read to a 4 (sorry Howard), but other than that another fantastic read.

[Lisa Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a lovely surprise. It had been sitting on my Kindle for a good while, and I clicked on it whilst on holiday - in a hotel room with no wi-fi and no way of reading the blurb. I'm so glad I picked it up - I was hooked from the first page. There are some very strong characters, and an excellently executed plot which alludes to the final twist at the end early on, but I didn't realise and the twist was a surprise. The story is very well-written, from both time periods, and although sometimes books written in this fashion can become confusing, the storyline ran smoothly from one time period to the next.

In short, a brilliant book, with a great plot and some excellent characters. I'm glad I wasn't able to read the blurb on the back before reading, as it just added to the tension during the book, as I had no idea at all what I was expecting.

This is the first Howard Linskey novel I have read, but I highly recommend it and I will definitely be looking out for his previous work!

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

No Name Lane is the first book I have read by this author and it certainly won't be the last!

This is the first book which follows DC Ian Bradshaw and journalist Tom Carney. I have to say I love the idea of a story of a copper and a journalist, as reading many crime novels, they certainly don't seem to have the best of relationships. It certainly makes for some interesting as well as entertaining reading.

The storyline of a serial killer who kills young girls as well as a cold case certainly made it a gripping and intense read. The story tends to jump around a bit, going from past and present as well as different characters but the author has done it in such a way that it is easy to keep up with and it felt like he was almost teasing me by revealing a bit more, then I would have to wait until it got back to that character again to find out more. I have to say he played it very well to make sure that he had my full attention at all times.

The main characters have their flaws but they kind of attach themselves on you, so much so that I can't wait to see what's in store for them in the next book.

No Name Lane is a great new crime series that is highly enjoyable and I struggled to put down. It starts of steady and picks up speed until I was hurtling towards the end and the discovery of the killers. It certainly had my heart beating that bit faster and I had to have a few minutes breather after finishing it to calm back down as I had been so caught up in it all.

Great read.

Many thanks to Jenny at Penguin Random House UK for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Sarah Farmer-Wright · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in the North East of England, the book starts with a potentially gritty story line where 4 young girls have disappeared and later been found killed. Police think that, as the girls are all of a similar age and that none have been sexually assaulted, a pattern has emerged and so hire a forensic profiler to help them crack the case. While this case is being investigated a skeleton is unearthed in a field, it is clear this skeleton has been there for a long time and is nothing to do with the missing girls. At this point the book appears to divide into two stories which I felt never really converged.
The story switches between 1993 and 1936 as the mystery/ies slowly start to unravel. Ultimately, and without wanting to give anything away, the cases are more effectively solved by the journalists tasked with covering the stories than by the police and their somewhat implausible procedures.
This is a multi-layered and quite long book with several sub-plots and many characters - its almost two books in one. I really liked both story lines but think I would have preferred them to develop more deeply and individually rather than within the same pages of the same book. I'd definitely like to read more from this author though and look forward to doing so.

[Keith Nixon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I devoured this novel in three sittings in a little over 24 hours, literally breakfast, dinner and lunch. This is high end police procedural writing, touching on some difficult subjects - a serial killer who strangles young girls - but with none of the glorification or gore, in fact there's no swearing either.
It's brilliantly written with very strong characters, with flaws and strengths. Linskey cleverly weaves several investigations together, covering the past and the present.
There's really nothing to criticise about this story - taut writing, great dialogue, excellent characterisation...

[Nick Davies · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perfectly readable, in truth, but far from impressive. At times it felt like a bit like the author was writing a crime book by numbers, and not completely successfully at that (the shifting POVs often poorly distinguished, the plot unnecessarily convoluted yet not that compelling) and I was disappointed at the North-East setting not really coming through with any strength. Not an author I'll seek out in future, but entertaining enough for a few hours.

[Bree T · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the north east of England, young girls on the cusp of puberty are being kidnapped and murdered. The police have no leads and they’re getting desperate. They know they need to find out who this killer is and stop him fast.

Tom Carney is a journalist and what could’ve been the biggest story of his career just might result in its unraveling. Suspended from his London newspaper pending a legal action, he returns to his home town in County Durham where someone is kidnapping and murdering local girls. His replacement is reporter Helen Norton and Tom suggests they work together, rather than go around separately, trying to interview all of the same people. A fourth girl has gone missing although her body is yet to be found.

Detective Constable Ian Bradshaw is struggling. Ever since something terrible happened on the job that he blames himself for, he’s been doubting his ability to continue and it seems he isn’t the only one. His superiors doubt him too and Bradsaw fears that this case might just be the end of him.

This book was good.

Author Howard Linskey employs not one but two common crime novel characters here in the traumatised cop undergoing counselling and the disillusioned hack/journalist who needs to break a big story to resurrect a flagging career. They could’ve butted heads and fought with each other for top billing in the reader’s mind but the characters of the detective Bradshaw and the journalist Carney work well together as each narrative provides a very different aspect of the investigation.

Both Bradshaw and Carney should be at the top of their respective games. Bradshaw was the local high school golden boy and went into the police force and had a rapid rise to detective. Since a terrible incident however, he has been doubting his ability and is currently undergoing therapy to help him deal with issues and basically ensure he’s still fit to do his job. The sessions for Bradshaw aren’t at all easy and he’s at times belligerent and deliberately obstructive. When the killings begin, it’s all hands on deck and the police force needs everyone they have working on the case – if not for that, Bradshaw probably wouldn’t have gotten a look in, given he’s on the outer with a lot of his colleagues and superiors. For Bradshaw, this is a chance to prove that he can do it, that he does have what it takes, if only he can let go of some of his demons and believe in himself and trust his instincts. At times you can tell that he’s not ready for that yet, but he does grow in confidence as the case progresses and he begins questioning things, putting the pieces together.

I feel as though Carney provided a lighter side to the novel, with his attempts to fit back in with his small home village after leaving for the big smoke. He’s on leave because the paper is being sued because of a story Carney wrote so while that all gets sorted out, he goes home in order to get the scoop on the story of the missing girls that are being murdered. He does a lot of digging and during the course of the investigation regarding the young girls, a body is dug up that has clearly been buried for over fifty years. This gives Tom and Helen something else to investigate as well, pulling them closer personally as well as professionally as they seek to uncover the identity of the body and the story of what happened to them. I really enjoyed this aspect of the story, I think it added a little something extra and also helped provide a balance to the rather depressing story of the little girls being kidnapped and murdered. I liked that I figured out who the killer was at the same time the others did, it was that “oh my God” sort of moment where you realise at a really bad time and just hope that everything works out.

I think that sort of story taps into every parent’s worst nightmare. There’s nothing more frightening than the thought of your child being kidnapped. The police have so little to go on – the girls are usually found dumped, having been strangled a few days after going missing. All except the fourth one, whose body has not been discovered yet. I liked Carney and Bradshaw working together, in a way, exchanging information over the guise of two old school mates having a beer. Bradshaw slowly begins to heal throughout this book, although there are things that he will discover that will be equally hard to let go of I think he has proved to himself that he can still do the job and that there are people who still believe that he’s a good cop and a good man.

A quote on the cover of the book says that this is the first in a must-read series and I’m pretty excited to find out that there’s going to be more. Like I said, I think Bradshaw still has a way to go but I look forward to seeing him take more steps toward getting his career back and I also think that Tom and Helen have a lot left unfinished as well. Both of them look like moving on from County Durham after this book, so I’m not quite sure how we can revisit all of these characters again but I can’t wait to find out.

[Pat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another batch of ratings for books I read months ago.

This one was a bit slow to start with, but thoughtful. I think this author is worth following so I'll read another of his books soon and let you know.

[Leona · Rating 3 out of 5]

Firstly my thanks to The Book Club on Facebook and the author for allowing me to read this via netgalley.

This is my first book by this author and it caught my eye as the blurb sounded great. However I have to be totally honest and say I struggled with it. I found the beginning of the book slow and at times I was skim reading. Then after the half way mark it improved a bit but I just couldn't bond with this book.

[David Gilchrist · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really good book, difficult to put down, gripping all they way to the end, this author I will read again

[Nemo · Rating 3 out of 5]

19/05/2016
I won this book as part of the GoodReads giveaways. It's one of the few things I've ever won, so I definitely intend to read it as soon as I've finished a series I'm working through, and I thoroughly intend to write a review afterwards.

23/07/2016
Right, well, I'm honestly not sure how I feel about this book, but I think I ended up liking it and disliking it in equal measure. I started it, and it seemed okay, it got me pulled in easily enough, which isn't always an easy feat, but then it slowly started to bother me in places.

The dialogue is all kinds of weird, slapped in at really odd places (like in the middle of long-winded sentences without the usual rules of dialogue, and alongside character thoughts that are represented the same way in the middle of speech so it's hard to distinguish what is actual speech and what's merely a thought, for example), and a lot of it lacks capitalisation despite it being the start of someone speaking or after a question mark/full stop, which can of adds to further confusion - this bothered me a ridiculous amount, probably because I'm anal about grammar and punctuation, and even though I realise there are varying styles that people choose to work with, which is fair enough, this really was beyond that, and when you have to re-read the paragraph before a piece of dialogue half a dozen times in the same chapter, it really throws you off. Bizarre. That alone would often be something to make me put a book down, but the story did seem interesting enough to make me push passed it, so on I went. Also, there really were a lot of sentences that kept repeating themselves in places, and that carried on for far too long, which kind of made me space out a lot, so I'd have to re-read bits anyway because I'd lost track of the point. Otherwise, it was well written enough, though there were examples of the correct use of grammar and punctuation in places that were lacking in a large majority of the novel, which comes across as either lazy on the author's part (because the capability is obviously there) or sloppy on the editor's part (for correcting some areas and skipping others).

Right, so, the story itself I liked, though I have to admit there's some stuff I didn't get. For starters, the novel was put across to be mainly about a handful of girls going missing and turning up dead, but the bulk of the novel seemed to focus more on the body of bones found in a field, and as is usually the case with plot and sub-plot, the two are usually weaved together throughout the novel until they finally meet somewhere and wrap up the story as a whole, but neither plot had anything to do with the other beyond the fact that the two journalists - Tom and Helen - and the police guy - Ian - were all working on both cases in their own special way. At some point, we finally learn about three brothers who could have been responsible for the murdered guy from decades ago, and I wondered if the one that had special needs might have somehow not actually died and be the one killing the young girls in the present, so when we learn he wasn't in fact dead, I wasn't surprised, but when the body of bones case was being wrapped up, I was surprised that it had sod all to do with the missing girls turning up dead. Why not write a story for each rather than one novel that, to me, seemed somewhat all over the shop, not only throwing the reader from one perspective to another with added snippets into the unknown killer's world, but also from one story to the other, one of which involved digging into a different time on top of that. Both stories were decent enough, but they had the potential to be so much more without the added distractions around them that were confusing in places or if they'd somehow been connected, even in the smallest of ways.

And speaking of different perspectives, there was one unknown guy's perspective we kept slipping into who's wife cheated on him (it went into this in far too much detail, to be honest, more than was really relevant to put the point across), so he left, and then he hated her to the point of imagining killing her in order to calm himself down, and despising his own daughter because she was 'going the same way' as the mother. Not only was this disturbing (not that I usually mind disturbing to a point), but it...didn't go anywhere. Like, by the end of the story, I kept waiting for it to be mentioned, brought into either case, but it wasn't - it was just some bloke who despised his wife along with women in general and even his own kid who was supposedly going to wind up the same, but he wasn't the killer, and it was never declared who the guy even was, unless I somehow managed to black out whilst reading a chunk of the story that is. There were a few things gone into that were completely irrelevant to either the characters or the cases, and that were never brought up again, and though I appreciate this is the first book of a series, even in book series' an author should find some kind of conclusion to every sub-plot as they're wrapping up, even if it's only a partial one that leads into the next book where we'd discover more or something. But, no, this bloke, his wife, and his daughter were left a mystery, and after about half-way through the book, he was never even mentioned again, so I have no idea on that one.

I'm not a feminist (I'm more of an equalist, if anything), but the amount of hate that shone through each and every character, despite the case or circumstances, towards women was a little disturbing. It was like a giant message that kind of said that all women are slags (paraphrasing, of course) no matter what, and they either end up as power-crazed bitches without a heart or even a soul, or they end up as feeble, weak creatures to be pushed around and trodden all over, and either way they're all the source of men's failures - there's no inbetween ground, either, it's either too strong, which is wrong, or too weak, which is also portrayed as wrong. Now, I'm not sure if that was some kind of way of trying to make it seem as if anyone of the people we cross throughout the book could be the killer, but there are other ways of going about it. There also seemed to be a message that said all men are twisted perverts, too, and, again, from every character's perspective despite case or circumstance, so I guess it probably was a way of throwing suspicion around, but, honestly, it didn't do that particular thing for me, and it could have been handled far better than making out that women deserve what men give them, even if men suck too. Plus, there's this random conversation about queer people that seemed to be irrelevant and made it appear as though it was a bad, shameful thing, which was obviously going to stick with me, and the thoughts from characters towards depressed/mentally ill people made them out to be people who ought to go kill themselves and do the world a favour, which was put across in the narrative in a round about way, and, sure, the depressed guy who was mentioned the most turned out to be the guy taking girls and killing them, but that only made people with mental problems seem that much more despicable. But it was just one judgemental thought after another from a narrow-minded perspective, and it bugged me all the more that anytime a character came up, it was repeatedly driven home (and I mean really driven) that they were either male or female, and it cast everyone in a stereotypical way, because people can't just be people, they have to be their sex or their gender, and there's nothing in between, right? Like, every woman was a stroppy cow that sobbed at least once, and when a bloke did it it was made clear he was the biggest jessie ever, or every guy had to piss some bloke off at least once and get the shit kicked out of him. People may be born male or female, but not everyone is stereotypically their sexes gender, there's loads of grey, and if every person to ever walk the earth acted as a man or a woman, then fuck me the world would be a boring place. Just, maybe, I don't know, cut back on repeatedly pointing out and driving home that this person is a girl or a guy, because it's not only distracting from the plot, but it gets boring fast, and it's kind of insulting, and I'm not even easily offended.

And, I have to admit, I hated the character of Tom. He lacked personality, he constantly walked around like he owned the place, demanding information from all these old contacts he still had from when he used to work the patch, and people spilled their guts without much persuasion to aid him, or he turned into a psycho dick threatening it out of them - it was like he claimed to be one thing, but all his actions went against it. I'm all for flawed characters, in fact they're always the best ones, but there was nothing likeable or redeemable about him at all. Helen, on the other hand, for what personality she had, was a character I could get behind with more development thrown her way, but she wasn't much further along, throwing strops every five minutes and storming off, because she's a woman, naturally. There were just actions all the characters did that contradicted what we were lead to believe about them, and then they still claimed to be this or that even after doing whatever.

That said, I did enjoy the book, which is probably shocking after all that, but everything else aside, including the plotholes, going back to the war time was interesting, a nice little story from the past, even if it didn't have a happy ending, and the idea of how being something or doing something, just one small aspect of a character or a clumsy action can lead to so much pain and misery many decades later, affecting more than just them, but those connected all around them. The story itself had plenty of potential, it was just the rest of it that let it down, which was a little disappointing, and because of this reason I made it from start to finish without putting the book down and abandoning it - it was intriguing, there was enough to pull me in, but, again, the thing that did that from the start ended up not being the focal story or really being gone into again until the end, which was the missing girls - I expected, or was given the impression beforehand, that this would be the biggest part of the story, and yet that went to the body from years back found in a field. The climax to the decades old body was gripping enough, I suspected Henry from the start, though, and to discover it was him after all was sad, but also expected (I usually end up guessing way ahead of the book and being right more often than not, so perhaps that's a flaw on my part for having read so many crime novels/watched crime shows, and knowing how they usually work), and even the wrap up to the missing girls case was good, I actually enjoyed that, reading from Ian Bradshaw's perspective was more interesting to me than Tom, though Tom seemed to be the one who got more page time than anyone else and he was the least interesting - he was the heartless, soulless one who only cared about his own sorry excuse of an existence, not about the dead body or the missing girls, or even Helen, really, who I think we were supposed to believe he gave a shit about? I don't know. But, yes, so pretty decent wrap-ups to both plots, and even the latest missing girl who hadn't turned up dead had a twist with the teacher, but it was obvious there was something off about that guy (because he was a huge geeky guy who seemed genuinely nice whereas everyone else were twisted and horrid, so, naturally, I sensed something fishy) and the way Tom looked at a photograph and instantly connected it to him being a paedo made little to no sense, but, whatever, I went with that and chose to get over it. I love how the journalists, especially Tom, figured out pretty much all of it over the cops who only figured out the last piece of the puzzle right at the end, because surely the police, even then, would have had more access to information than a small-time journalist who had only recently made it big at the other end of the country and even failed at that. Just, urgh, I hated Tom, okay? Hated. And although I've been considering buying the next book, which I think just came out, I really hope he's not in it, and if he is then he's kept to a minimum - I'd really like to see Bradshaw get more time, and to see if his character gets developed more and where he's taken, so I probably will, but if he's not the main character, then I doubt I'll end up liking it.

For the first book in a series, I'm willing to overlook what appear to be plotholes or dead-end scenes that were left hanging without any explanation on the off-chance it's brought up again in the follow-up novel to be of some significance, but I'll be disappointed if they're not explained there. But considering this isn't the first novel by the author that's been published, I won't hold my breath on the writing side of things to improve too much, though I can hope, right? Overall, though, it was an enjoyable book, despite dragging in places and being unnecessarily repetitive in others, because the stories were enough to keep it going, and they were intriguing enough to keep me interested from start to finish, so there's that - if someone's not so great at writing, but they have a good story to tell, sometimes that can be enough, but I get so easily distracted that I'd rather have a well-written story that's amazing enough to keep me with it combined than either one or the other alone. I'll give this author another chance by investing in the next installment, and I'll leave it at that until I can decide from that whether or not I can keep going with them. I do actually feel bad for not being able to give this one a better review, especially as I won this book, but here's to hoping the next one is better.

I'll be giving this to my mum to read, now, and I'll encourage her to review it afterwards - I think she might appreciate the book overall more than I've been able to.

P.S. I'm all for more British (English, especially) author's writing in an English setting, and even more so for the north east, as that's where I'm from, though not quite as north or as east as this one, but still - it's one of the reasons I was so excited to actually read this when I won it, and it's part of the reason why I'm leaning more towards four stars than a mere three, though it's undecided yet. I want to give it more a 3.5 stars, which they should make possible on this site, but alas.

(Disclaimer: It's five in the morning, and I've got my tired dyslexic head on, so I apologise for errors and lack of actual sense.)

[Bookpassion · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ich weiß ja, dass Howard Linskey es draufhat, allerdings musste er mich hier erst mal wieder neu davon überzeugen. Darüber hinaus finde ich den Klappentext sehr irreführend, denn bevor sich die beiden Männer "zusammentun" (was ziemlich übertrieben gesagt ist), tun sich die Journalisten Helen Norton und Tom Carney tatsächlich zusammen. Einen wichtigen Hauptcharakter aus dem Klappentext herauszulassen, finde ich schon etwas reist, vor allem, da Helen gefühlsmäßig öfter zu Wort kommt als DC Ian Bradshaw. Aber mal in Ruhe und von vorne.

Die Reihe um David Blake ist aus der Ich-Perspektive geschrieben, was den Einstieg in eine Story ja für viele Leser einfacher macht. In "Mädchen Nr. 5" verfolgt man hingegen viele verschiedene Leute. So viele, dass es einen anfangs erschlägt. Die zu häufigen und schnellen Wechsel zwischen den Charakteren und Schauplätzen sind zwar filmreif, aber in einem Buch rauben sie einem die Möglichkeit, sich auf die Akteure einzulassen. Es wird mit der Zeit besser, aber ich habe bis zur 150sten Seite gebraucht, um richtig in die Geschichte eintauchen zu können. Ob es geschickter gegangen wäre? Ich weiß es nicht und ich bezweilfe es. Immerhin waren alle Infos mehr oder weniger relevant und auch der Grundstein für die Reihe um Bradshaw/Helen/Tom musste irgendwie gelegt werden.

Wie gesagt hatte der Autor mich dann aber eingefangen und ich wollte das Buch kaum noch aus der Hand legen. Ich bin halbwegs mit den Helden (und noch mehr mit den Nebencharakteren wie etwa dem unbeholfenen Vincent Addison) warm geworden und musste unbedingt wissen, wie die beiden Kriminalfälle aufgelöst werden, die Howard Linskey kunstvoll miteinander verwoben hat.
Zum einen ist da die Suche nach dem vermissten Mädchen, das dem Kiddy-Killer zum Opfer gefallen sein könnte. Und zum anderen wird eine Leiche von vor 60 Jahren gefunden, die das Dorf aufrüttelt und deren Schicksal nach einer Auflösung verlangt.

Die Spannung wurde durch kleine Einstreuungen des Mädchenfängers höchstselbst in die Höhe getrieben und später trugen auch die schnellen Perspektivenwechsel dazu bei, dass es wie in einem Film rasant blieb. Als die Geschichte schließlich endlich Fahrt aufgenommen hatte und der erste Einwurf aus 1936 kam, bin ich halb ausgeflippt. Das war hervorragend gemacht!

Da der Autor selbst als Journalist arbeitet, wurden jene Aspekte authentisch beschrieben und boten einen interessanten Einblick in die Arbeitsweise dieser Zunft :) Überhaupt ist alles gut recherchiert und Howard Linskey beweist wieder einmal seinen schwarzen Humor - besonders gut erkennbar an den Stellen, an denen er Ian Bradshaw von seinen Vorgesetzten runtermachen lässt. Sehr boshaft, aber witzig.


Eine hammermäßige Alternative

Ich würde Howard Linskey-Neulingen auf jeden Fall empfehlen, zuerst seine Reihe um den Gentleman-Verbrechen David Blake aus Newcastle zu lesen. Die ist wirklich - wie die Überschrift sagt - der totale Hammer! Ich liebe die Bücher!


Bewertung und mein Fazit

Alles in allem ein guter Kriminalroman mit interessanten Charakteren und zwei sehr spannenden Fällen. Einen Punkt Abzug gibt es für den Einstieg, der es mir persönlich nicht ermöglichte, gleich in das Buch abzutauchen. Wenn man das aber mal geschafft hat, will man es nicht mehr aus der Hand legen und noch länger bei Ian, Helen und Tom bleiben.

Solider Kriminalroman in hollywoodreifem Tempo.

[Ingstje · Rating 3 out of 5]

No Name Lane was a good read (3.5 stars) and the first of the DC Ian Bradshaw detective series currently consisting of four books.

The novel follows two disgraced men, one a journalist and one a detective and both will dive into the disappearance of a teenage girl and a body found by some local builders. The blurb already tells that it’s not the missing girl and someone’s pointing fingers right away (and then of course shutting up completely) so that’s a good starting point for the investigation.

There’s a lot going on with two cases and with two different sets of people working them, and I can’t say I was very impressed with the police work. Tom and Helen were the ones getting most results, mostly by knocking on people’s doors and Tom was my personal favorite character. He’s clever and has a good heart. I also enjoyed what was hanging between him and Helen and I hoped they would just go for it. My patience was severely tested though 😉.

I was completely surprised with the outcome of one of the cases and in the other more historical case I wasn’t too sure either who the killer might have been after the identity of the body came to light, there were a few possible candidates. Perhaps the investigation in the past weighed a bit more and went a bit deeper than the other one but both plots were pretty intriguing and clever.

And then there was also the added mystery of what happened in a previous investigation of PC Ian Bradshaw which led to him following therapy and visiting a colleague in a wheelchair. It’s torture for him but it’s his fault so he’ll do whatever he must. It’s a thread throughout the book and I was eagerly awaiting the end of the book to know what caused all of this.

Overall No Name Lane is an enjoyable novel although the police department’s shenanigans irritated me sometimes and I was more ‘team journalists’ so there was still a bit of an unbalance there but perhaps that will even out more in the next book since PC Bradshaw did come out better at the end of it.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I heard the author on the excellent 'Two crime writers and a microphone ' podcaset so thought I'd give this new to me police procedural a go and was glad I did.
There are three elements two the plot; four missing pre puberty girls snatched from the street in the North east of England, a 15 year old girl who disappears , and a dead skeleton unearthed in school grounds. And there are 3 main characters DC Ian Bradshaw a young man struggling with the repercussions of an event a year before, journalist tom carney who escapes his tabloid newspaper to return to his home town, and Helen Norton the novice reporter on the local paper.
They all interact to resolve the crimes set in the mid 1990's. very atmospheric and captures time and place well so look forward to reading the next in the series.

[Karen Keane · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first book I have read by this author and I loved it. DC Ian Bradshaw is a bit of a misfit, add to the mix Tom and Helen, two journalists, and you have a perfect story. Three crimes in one book, but all interconnected, with three different culprits. Brilliant. I couldn't have guessed the ending and I will definitely be reading more of this author.

[Beaux · Rating 5 out of 5]

Howard Linskey is now one of my fave authors, love all the characters in his books. Great story.

[Renita D'Silva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stunning. Loved this one

[Karen · Rating 1 out of 5]

A poor narrator can indeed ruin a book
I didn’t make it very far in this audiobook. Why, you ask? This is the second narrator of a book I’ve run across who reads words with the letter “s” in an extremely exaggerated way as David Leon lingers on every “s,” creating an “sssssss” in every word.”I’ll be putting David Leon in my lisssssst of narratorsssss to avoid. {{{{Yessssss, I do have ssssssuch a lissssst.}}}} Very disssssapointing.

[Jean · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 for me, an interesting story line and I quite liked DC Bradshaw.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

No Name Lane by Howard Linskey will be published by Penguin on 12 March 2015 in paperback.

No Name Lane is a long book, it runs to almost 500 pages, but despite the length, it is an accessible, quite simple story.

Set in the North East of England, in a fairly average, if a little run-down, ex-mining village, this is the first instalment in a new crime series that fans of Peter Robinson and Stuart MacBride will enjoy.

DC Ian Bradshaw is a young, troubled copper. He's out of favour with the top brass of the force, and with his colleagues. There is a serial killer on the loose, he targets young girls and the investigating team have no leads, and no ideas. Bradshaw is desperate to work on the case, but instead, he finds himself on the outskirts of the team, concentrating on trying to discover the identity of a recently uncovered skeleton. It's clear that this is an old case, and Bradshaw despairs of finding anyone in the village who can shed light on a murder that took place sixty years ago.

Tom Carney is in a similar place to Bradshaw. A local who left to work as a journalist on a tabloid newspaper in London, he too finds himself excluded from his team. He made a huge mistake, and has returned to his old stomping ground to nurse his wounds.
Tom soon finds himself caught up in both the current investigation and the decades old murder. Teaming up with local reporter Helen, Tom is determined that this story will be the one that proves to his editor that he really is a great journalist.

Howard Linskey has created a fast-moving and intricate story. The plot moves at a fast pace, throwing up surprises and unexpected discoveries at every turn. His characters are well drawn, if a little predictable in this genre; with the troubled detective and the well-worn journalist with issues of his own.

The North East setting is described so well, with the bluntness and wry humour of the people of the region expertly woven into the dialogue.

Gritty, with an intriguing plot; No Name Lane is a great start to this new series, I look forward to reading more about Bradshaw and Carney in the future.

My thanks to Real Readers who sent my copy for review

[Thebooktrail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in the old mining landscape of County Durham, where loyalties from the past come back to haunt the present Visit the locations of the book here - Booktrail of No Name Lane

Set in the North East of England, in a fictional yet instantly recognisable ex-mining village, this is the first in the series of DC Ian Bradshaw and a reporter who returns to the region after many years away.

The story opens up in County Durham 1993 with the most creepy of beginnings. Someone is watching a young girl and getting ready to murder her. Then the action jumps to London where the young reporter originally from the North East is set to return a phone call that will change his life .

Although the village of Great Middleton is fictional, it could be representative of many of the former pit villages in and around Durham. For reasons of this booktrail we’ve selected Tanfield since it is a good starting point for a Durham tour and shares some eerie similarities! Great Middleton is said to be some 20 miles from Newcastle.



A great new addition to the North East Noir category of new characters putting even more of the north east on the map. Here the mix of past and present is a good one and the mining community with its secrets and not forgotten past histories is a good starting point for an investigation or two. The two cases covered were interesting although the one from the pas proved to be the most intriguing

Particularly like the fact that a journalist from the North East returned to his patch and worked on the case. Everyone here had their problems and issues but northern characters like these have grit and were good to get to know.

The Northern humour and dry wit also shines through – when describing a marriage and relationships with their ups and downs –

“Roller coasters are exciting but I wouldn’t want to spend 35 ruddy years on one”

It was good to meet some new characters on a new patch. The two cases covered were interesting although the one from the past proved to be the most intriguing.

[Ian Ayris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having read, and thoroughly enjoyed, all three of Howard Linskey's first three novels - The Drop; The Damage; The Dead - each one following the life of white collar gangster, David Blake, I was a little dubious about the change of direction No Name Lane promised. I wondered if Linskey could make the leap to the other side of the moral fence, so to speak - from villainy to justice. But I had no need to worry. A great writer is one skilled enough to make such leaps. And Linskey is a great writer.

No Name Lane is set exclusively in the village of Great Middleton - an archetypal old English village in the north east of England, where everyone knows everyone else and strangers are rarely welcomed. When a body is dug up in a field in the village during an investigation into the disappearance of several young girls, it is expected that another poor lass has been discovered. Except it isn't. It is a body from an age long past - an age only a few in the village now remember.

Enter Tom Carney - tabloid journalist extraordinaire, and Helen Norton, a young local journalist looking to earn her stripes on the local paper. Their relationship is brilliantly portrayed, the friction between them palpable, and yet with just a well-placed word or two, the sympathy each character has for the other is never far away. And there is local copper DC Ian Bradshaw. Something of a laughing stock amongst the local constabulary, Bradshaw is out to prove his critics wrong.

Linskey takes us through the unfolding story with immense skill, as we follow Carney, Norton, and Bradshaw as they investigate both crimes simultaneously. With two timelines and three points of view, No Name Lane could have been something of a mess in the hands of a lesser writer. Instead, what we have is a fantastic detective story told in a manner which is both thrilling and sensitive.

I think I'm pretty good with these sorts of books, guessing who the perpertrator(s) are. But Howard Linskey beat me on this one.

Well done, sir.

A truly brilliant novel.

[Damaskcat · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book started off really well and I thought it was going to be a tense thriller with the police racing against time to find the latest young girl to disappear. It turned into something rather different and at times I was wondering whether I was reading tragedy or comedy. The police characters were a mixture of the good, the bad and the utterly indefensible. At least two of them shouldn't have been in even a fictional police force because of the way they treated suspects which was condoned by their superiors.

The reason why I have given it four stars is because there were parts of it which were really good. The ending was tense and well written and I definitely didn't work out who the killer was. DC Ian Bradshaw, who is the main police character, seems to make so many mistakes and is almost ostracized by most of his colleagues. I did feel quite sorry for him but at other times I just wanted to reach into the book and shake him and tell him to pull himself together and get on with the job. His strained relationship with his former work colleague who had been seriously injured before the start of the book was well done I thought.

The two journalists involved in the modern story and the corpse discovered on the building site were well written and they actually did a better job of investigating all of the cases - the latest young girl to disappear, the previous four whose bodies had been found and the sixty year old crime.

I felt there was a really good book in there somewhere but it seemed to disappear under the weight of too many 'main' characters and several different plots. I also wasn't keen on the prevalence of swearing and the number of violent characters. I think this author will write many better books and this had some very strong elements in it and some good writing. In spite of my criticisms I did enjoy reading it. I received a free copy of the book from NetGalley.

[A Reader's Heaven · Rating 5 out of 5]

(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

Journalist Tom Carney returns to his village in the north-east after being suspended by his London tabloid.
Helen Norton is a reporter doing Tom's old job on the local newspaper. Together, they investigate a string of disappearances of young girls in the area.
Struggling DC Ian Bradshaw works the same case, fearing that the only thing he will unravel is himself.
When a body is found, it's not one of the girls, but a decades-old corpse. They all search for answers to a murder buried in the past, while in the present-day an unstoppable killer must be brought to justice...

I don't give out 5 star reviews very often but this book by Howard Linskey (author of the David Blake trilogy) has every element that I love in a crime novel. And that is no mean feat!

There are times when a fast-paced, all-action story works...but I am glad the author didn't take that route with this book. A "slow-burner", this sets the scene well early on but the characters are the one thing I keep coming back to (and telling my friends and customers about!) While they are all not loveable by any stretch of the imagination, I found them to be believable. The intersecting plots - which could have become a shambles in the hands of another author) worked seamlessly and was easy to keep them all separate. The fact that there was a historical element as well really added to my pleasure in reading.

I thought The Drop was a cracking start to a series - this one absolutely blows it away.

Certainly looking forward to the second one.


Paul
ARH

[Lynda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this as an Advanced Review Copy and to be honest hadn't come across this author's work before. However, I will be rectifying that and look forward to reading more of his work.

The plot is interesting and well-structured, the characters are believable and their actions and reactions are realistic. Although there are several strands to the book which cross time periods between the present day killings and the cold case, they all intertwined well without being confusing - only at one point did I have to go back and re-check the story and that was because I hadn't really picked up on the time setting at the beginning.

As a crime thriller this was slick and holds up well when compared with other British crime thrillers. It was also interesting that it was set in 1993 and I found myself impressed at the author's accurate portrayal of communication, technology and other details from that period.

It is set in the northeast which is my home area as well as, from reading the blurb, that of the author. What is particularly appealing is that the local characters are clearly true to their setting but I didn't have to wade through an endless stream of accented speech.

The main characters Ian Bradshaw, Tom Carney and Helen Norton were nicely developed and have potential. I will be interested to read the next books in this series and will be looking out for them in the future.

[Tracy Shephard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I could not wait to read No Name Lane purely for the fact that I live in Co Durham, the place that this book is based, and as Howard Linskey said in a tweet 'local-author' credentials used to skip to the front of the queue.' so I was happy to oblige.

At the start of the story Michelle goes missing, Tom Carney is called a complete prat by his boss at 'The Paper' and we learn that DC Ian Bradshaw has been involved in an 'incident' for which he is having therapy.

Girls are going missing and a corpse has been found in a field.

Tom and a reporter named Helen take up with each other to try and find out the facts of each case.

No Name Lane is a great story with the description of the North East town realistically told. The characters, while not lovable, have a charm that I liked. It was not an easily guessed tale and I was so engrossed that I stayed up half the night to finish reading.

I was sickened when the truth was revealed about Michelle, but No Name Lane is a love story and also a tale of murder and betrayal and finding the truth. It also shows that no one can be entirely trusted.

The story is not a fast paced thriller but neither does it plod. It is steady and interesting and I was happy to let the story unfold at it's own speed.

Howard Linskey has written an exciting thriller that I have been happy to review and I will be looking out for his other titles to read.