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DCI Gawn Girvin #3

A Force To Be Reckoned With

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Discover this superb mystery series now!

DCI Gawn Girvin is on leave, waiting to hear the outcome of an internal affairs investigation when her godfather, Assistant Chief Constable Norman Smyth, asks her to revisit a missing persons case as a personal favour before he retires.

Jason Sloan had gone missing without a trace after a night out partying with friends in Belfast over twenty years earlier.
Gawn has two weeks to find him before Smyth leaves the force. With the clock ticking and only a two-person team she stumbles upon another cold case that might be related. This time it is murder.

Already sidelined within the police, and having few friends outside, Gawn will have to pose serious questions about powerful people. And when her boyfriend starts receiving threats, it all gets too personal.

Will she crack the case, or crumble under the pressure?

A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH is the third murder mystery by Northern Ireland’s bestselling fiction talent Linda Hagan. The novel can be enjoyed entirely on its own or alongside the other titles in the series. The full list is as

1. THE PERFUME KILLER
2. MURDER SKY HIGH
3. A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH
4. KILLING THE VIBE
5. THAT MUCH SHE KNEW
6. MURDER ON THE TABLE
7. NOTHING BUT SMILES

All these books are FREE with Kindle Unlimited and available in paperback.

298 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 7, 2021

102 people are currently reading
97 people want to read

About the author

Linda Hagan

13 books27 followers
Linda Hagan was born in Belfast. but for many years has lived in the town of Carrickfergus on the shores of Belfast Lough and overlooked by the magnificent Norman castle.
After a career in education and academic research, retirement has enabled her to indulge her passion for crime fiction. A lifelong reader of the genre, she has now turned writer and her first two novels, 'The Perfume Killer' and 'Murder Sky High' were well-received leading to a further six novels in the series .
The central character of all her novels is DCI Gawn Girvin, ex-army and now PSNI officer with the nickname "The Ice Queen". Gawn often battles her own demons from her past as well as the criminals she is investigating and her sense of duty can often lead her into dangerous situations.
When not reading or writing crime, Linda enjoys Formula 1, researching her family history and spending time with her grandchildren.

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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
Profile Image for Erik Empson.
506 reviews13 followers
November 13, 2021
This is a detective who gives little away about herself, but gradually more is becoming revealed. I can't wait to find out more about her back story.
Here she is somewhat out on a limb and in dangerous territority as her quarry could be very close to come.
A super read. Keep these coming, Ms Linda.
Profile Image for SylviaV.
683 reviews9 followers
May 19, 2023
A Force To Be Reckoned With by Linda Hagan. (The DCI Gawn Girvin #3)

This is a stand-alone book even though it is part of a series. I like Linda Hagan's writing style, the story flows between solving the crime and a look into Detective Chief Inspector Gawn Girvin's private life. I kept turning the pages to find out what little pieces of information were being uncovered to create the whole picture and to find out the why and the who. A great read.







Following is the Blurb for this book.

DCI Gawn Girvin is on leave, waiting to hear the outcome of an internal affairs investigation when her godfather, Assistant Chief Constable Norman Smyth, asks her to revisit a missing persons case as a personal favour before he retires.

Jason Sloan had gone missing without a trace after a night out partying with friends in Belfast over twenty years earlier.
Gawn has two weeks to find him before Smyth leaves the force. With the clock ticking and only a two-person team she stumbles upon another cold case that might be related. This time it is murder.

Already sidelined within the police, and having few friends outside, Gawn will have to pose serious questions about powerful people. And when her boyfriend starts receiving threats, it all gets too personal.

Will she crack the case, or crumble under the pressure?

A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH is the third murder mystery by Northern Ireland’s bestselling fiction talent Linda Hagan. The novel can be enjoyed entirely on its own, but for more backstory readers should pick up the other books. The full list is as follows:

1. THE PERFUME KILLER
2. MURDER SKY HIGH
3. A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH
4. KILLING THE VIBE
5. THAT MUCH SHE KNEW
6. MURDER ON THE TABLE
291 reviews5 followers
November 16, 2021
Excellent and complex storyline.

DCI Girvin is given a missing person cold case which escalates to a level she never anticipated. Threats to her and those she cares about. Coverups from powerful people that don’t want the truth revealed make solving this case a nightmare. Great in-depth characters drive the story and elevate it to a must read.
1,181 reviews6 followers
July 28, 2022
Another great story

Another great story in the Gawn Girvin series where she is persuaded to return to work to look at a historic cold case. A well plotted story with lots of twists and turns as well as lots of personal issues. Looking forward to reading the next book in the series.
Profile Image for Viragored.
168 reviews
June 19, 2023
That book ticked all my favourite boxes - proper police procedural, good characters, well paced story-telling. I wanted to keep reading and was disappointed when I reached the end and there was no more to look forward to.
I'll be getting some more of this author's work!
Just one little thing struck me as odd - references to aftershave that didn't add anything to the story.
5 reviews
July 6, 2024
Page turner

These crime books came up on my reads from Amazon. I never heard of Linda before ........ Now I'm one of her followers. I've read the first 3
Books in less than a week. Real
Page turners. Even better with it being a local author whereby you can familiarise with the areas involved. Would highly recommend you read her series of books. Now to read series 4
73 reviews1 follower
March 5, 2022
Brilliant could not put this book down as with book one and two fantastic really enjoyed this book
143 reviews1 follower
August 9, 2025
Disturbing, upsetting but a great read. Echoes of the past in our N Ireland history.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews

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