Whatever it takes

by Heaton Wilson

DCI Jane Birchfield is facing a series of personal a rocky relationship with her partner; her mum hardly talks to her; and her boss and mentor is critically ill, which means she is covering his post as well as her own. Then she has to take charge of the toughest of murder investigations.
Jamie Castleton is found dead, seemigly frozen in position at a computer in a grubby internet cafe near Manchester. He was a self employed tech consultant and a computer expert, so what was he there?
The more Jane and her team dig under the surface, the more the evidence points to one of Manchester's biggest companies and its wealthy boss.
This leads Jane into a sordid underworld and a surprise twist in the investigation forces her to face up to an event in her own past, that she has kept secret for 25 years.
The investigation has become a personal crusade, but in this race against time there is far more at stake than she ever imagined.

243 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 16, 2020

About the author

I've been a journalist, a postman, a glass engraver, a bad singer, run a theatre company, an actor, a playwright, a communications consultant...
but whatever I have done, I have always been a writer.

I was born and bred in and around Manchester, then lived and worked in Bolton, Herefordshire, Southampton and London, before travelling all over the place as a comms consultant.

I have now landed on the beautiful Isle of Wight, and hope to be allowed to stay!

Find out more at heatonwilsonbooks.com;
also @heatonwilsonbooks for Facebook and Instagram

Reviews

[Sophie Narey (Bookreview- aholic) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is definitely my type of book so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to give it a read!

Heaton Wilson isn't an author that I had ever heard of before this book so everything for me was new and fresh I had no thought of what the writing style might be like...but I loved it! The book was fast paced , full of action, twist , turns , moments to keep you gripped until the very last word!

This book features DCI Jane Birchfield , while going through her own personal turmoil so is also thrown into a murder investigation like no other! Leading into Manchester's underworld , twists and turns through up unsuspecting evidence and also takes Jane into part of her past she never wanted to revisit.

Can Jane manage to figure out what happened to Jamie? This is a great read for fans of thriller books and I think I might have found a new thriller author that I love! I will certainly be looking out for more from this author!

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whatever It Takes by Heaton Wilson is an excellent crime novel. Crime is one of my favorite genres, so when I find an author who writes great crime, I add them to my list! Whatever It Takes is set in the UK, which is always super interesting for me, living in the US.

DCI Jane Birchfield is an excellent main character. I truly enjoy strong, female leads. She is quite a deep character, with a lot going on in her life. Heaton Wilson definitely knows how to create complex, intriguing characters that pull the reader into the story.

This story starts off with a bang, and the pacing is great. I was invested from the beginning and didn’t like setting this down because I wanted to know what would happen.

I really enjoyed Whatever It Takes and recommend giving it a read.

Thank you to Rachel’s Random Resources for the opportunity to review this book honestly on the blog tour. All opinions are my own and unbiased.

[Sian · Rating 4 out of 5]

My review of Whatever it Takes is on my blog.

https://quirkybookreads.wordpress.com...

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love discovering new authors and Heaton Wilson is certainly a new author for me. I read the synopsis for ‘Whatever It Takes’ and it certainly sounded like the sort of crime book I particularly enjoy reading. I couldn’t wait to start reading so I dived straight in. I thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘Whatever It Takes’ but more about that in a bit.
The synopsis for ‘Whatever It Takes’ was enough to grab my attention and draw me into this compelling story. Within the first five minutes of reading this book I knew that I wouldn’t be able to put the book down for any length of time. The book wasn’t exactly glued to my hand but it might as well have been because it travelled everywhere with me. I couldn’t bear to miss a single second of the story and I had to keep reading to see if the lead detective, Detective Chief Inspector Jane Birchfield, managed to crack the case as it were and if she managed to juggle everything that she has on her plate. The pages turned over increasingly quickly as my desperation to find out what happened steadily grew and grew. I found ‘Whatever It Takes’ to be an unputdownable, page turner of a read, which certainly kept me guessing and which kept me on the edge of my seat throughout.
‘Whatever It Takes’ is extremely well written and then some. For me, the story hit the ground running and maintained a fast pace throughout. Reading ‘Whatever It Takes’ felt like being on a scary and unpredictable rollercoaster ride with several twists and turns along the way. I felt as though I was part of the story and that’s thanks to Heaton’s very vivid and realistic storytelling. I found ‘Whatever It Takes’ to be a well plotted and well written book and the true definition of an unputdownable page turner.
In short, I thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘Whatever It Takes’ and I would recommend it to other readers. I will certainly be reading more of Heaton’s work in the future. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.

[BooksCoffee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wilson combines a fast-paced plot with top-notch character development to create a brilliant police procedural in his latest installment in DCI Jane Birchfield.

With her personal life in turmoil and Charles Aston, her boss and mentor, critically ill, Jane has her hands full. When Jamie Castleton, a young self-employed tech consultant and computer expert, is found murdered in a grubby internet cafe, Jane’s investigation leads her to Manchester's biggest companies, Greaves, and its super-wealthy boss, Graeme Hargreaves. But a surprise twist in the investigation forces her to face up to an event in her own past that she has kept buried for more than two decades.

Wilson adeptly incorporates the guilt and turmoil that Jane feels as she struggles to balance her personal life with her own high-set professional challenges. And in doing so, he gives Jane’s life a huge resonance. Credibility never flags as Wilson reveals the specifics of the event in Jane’s past, creating suspense as Jane struggles to stay objective. The relationship between Jane and Allan is etched in reality, the plotting is tight, and the careful pace never slows.

Wilson matches assured prose with deep characterizations as he skillfully shines a light on his characters’ dilemmas, fears, and inner struggles. The plot twists keep coming, the ending is satisfyingly shocking, and the side characters are as convincing as the lead cast. Though Wilson delivers an emotional blitz in Jane’s story, the novel, with its meticulous investigation detail remains a police procedural at heart.

This hard-to-put-down, intelligently delivered mystery is pure pleasure.

[Francica Cornwall · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story that will keep you at the edge of you seat!!!


DCI Jane Birchfield and her team is at it again and this time the case is even more dangerous. When a young hacker Jamie Castelton is realized dead at an internet cafe, his mom Irene expects foul play. As revelations are made DCI Jane realises that she is spearheading a murder investigation. Meanwhile on the home front, her relationship with her partner Allan is on the rocks due to her busy work schedule and her mentor lays dying at hospital. Could Jane handle it all. Especially as the murder investigation is revealing some shocking results.

If you are a crime novel fan like I am you would truly love this story by Heaton Wilson.

The writing was very well executed. I especially liked how the murder was not your typical type of murder how Jamie died added to the intrigue in my opinion. The heroine DCI Jane was a very realistic character. Apart from the murder investigation we had a picture of her personal life and got to experience a bit of what it is like for a female holding a big position as she had. Jane handled it well though.



The investigation had me on edge because while reading I had so many thoughts swirling in my brain as to who did it? What was Jamie up to? Why did they kill him? And who was Beavis and in the end let me tell you I did not expect that. I loved every minute of this story. It made me relax on a day when I needed a good story to read. So if you like mystery, intrigue and drama check this one out.

[Alyson Read · Rating 5 out of 5]

DCI Jane Birchfield is acting Chief Supt at Ashbridge CID in Manchester since Charles Aston, her beloved boss and mentor, now lies dying in a hospice. Her partner journalist Allan is giving her occasional grief and she is hardly on speaking terms with her mother, so she has plenty on her plate anyway even before she is called to body of Jamie Castleton found dead in the Pretty Cool internet cafe sat at a computer terminal almost frozen in position with no obvious signs of injury or cause of death. The reader knows better as the prologue describes how Jamie met his death, a brief sting to his arm that shut down his internal organs. The murder inquiry reveals leads Jane and the team to a large online gambling company, Greaves, that also own a string of internet cafes. Owner Graeme Hargreaves is concerned that rumours of a lack of security is hitting his profits hard and has been making his own enquiries, but little does he know what else has been going on behind his back. As they discover that Jamie was involved in hacking into the company for his own ends, the detectives soon realise that there is a lot more to be uncovered than simple fraud.
This story has a superb cleverly written plot, with the suspense and intrigue kept up throughout. All the investigative team are instantly very likeable, particularly “Forensic Phil", Jag and Shirley French, and together they work excellently under Jane's command. The whole book flows beautifully and is impossible to put down until the final gripping pages. Completely engrossing and highly recommended. 5*

[Sheri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve read several crime novels set in the UK over the past few months and love the differences between crime novels set in the US. This book is focused on the crime and finding out what’s behind the crime. The crime becomes so much more than it appears on the surface and I was intrigued to keep reading to find out more.

I found the characters to be very relatable, both in their work and their personal stories. I can tell this is part of a series because I can’t wait to hear more. At the same time I didn’t feel lost since I had not read the first book. The author did a great job of explaining everything.

If you enjoy crime thrillers with a personal side you will enjoy this book.

[Claire (c.isfor.claire_reads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The synopsis for this book really grabbed my attention but as Heaton Wilson is a new author to me I didn't really know what to expect. From the prologue to the very last page this book held my attention. Set in Manchester (UK) this crime thriller is well written and researched. The characters are peeled back layer by layer as the storyline progresses and the main character DCI Jane Birchfield is a strong one. There is plenty of suspense and intrigue that you would expect in a crime thriller and the pacing kept me gripped and guessing. A Great read and I would love to read more my this author.

[John W Hacker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another good read.

An excellent second outing for DCI Jane Birchfield and an even better read than "Every Reason", the first book in what I hope will become an ongoing series. I felt I got to know much more about the characters in this second book who became interesting in themselves rather than simply vehicles to carry the plot. It's a great storyline with enough twists and turns to keep you guessing. Looking forward to book three!

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this ebook.

Heaton Wilson is a new author to me and I thought the premise of the book looked very much like my kind of read. And it was. I really, really enjoyed this book and thought it had a great start which immediately grabbed my attention and held it from start to finish. DCI Birchfield and her team are investigating the murder of a young man. I liked the main character and her team and think the author has created very realistic and believable characters, all with good background histories. For me, this is a very well written and engaging book with a good, well thought out plot line. I loved the separate story threads that really kept me guessing, and I liked that the story was told through the different characters, and enjoyed the little glimpses the author gave into the DCI’s home and personal life. It just didn’t wow me though. Although saying that I read this in less than two days and it was an absorbing read. I’d definitely look to reading the author’s other books and would recommend this if you like crime and police procedurals.

[Covie · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF

[Heaton Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had to give it five stars, though I am biased...