Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book
Rate this book
Trouble in the Dales. A brutal gang of poachers. When one of the unsavories is killed, can a DCI stop a river of revenge from overflowing with blood?

Detective Harry Grimm is reaching another milestone in the Dales. As he completes the purchase of his new house, his plans for moving in are disrupted when a trespasser falls into a grisly calculated trap and bleeds out.

Tracking back to a recent violent confrontation in a local pub, Grimm and his team assemble a long list of suspects. But when a principal lead disappears in a potentially murderous payback, he fears it’s the start of an all-out slaughter across his idyllic countryside.

Can he halt a killer stalking human prey before the butchery destroys his beloved land?

368 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 31, 2022

1822 people are currently reading
201 people want to read

About the author

David J. Gatward

36 books519 followers

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
3,503 (66%)
4 stars
1,428 (27%)
3 stars
286 (5%)
2 stars
25 (<1%)
1 star
16 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 128 reviews
Profile Image for Hans.
357 reviews8 followers
October 21, 2022
It's impressive how much progress David J. Gatward has made as a writer of crime fiction in a very short time. I mean, one would hope for improvement when an author is pumping out a new novel every other month for the past two years, but it might just as well have gone the other way. Admittedly, Gatward sticks to a certain formula that might get stale at some point in the future, but thus far, wear and tear isn't anywhere in sight.

About 20-30% of the novel (just a rough guess according to my personal impression) once again consist of Harry and members of his team fawning over the beauty of the Yorkshire Dales, at least when they are not digging into some cake with cheese or devouring some other greasy treat. That might feel repetetive by now, but oh boy, the scenery really is gorgeous and the familiarity with these friendly characters and their habits gives the whole thing a cozy atmosphere that is sharply contrasted by the increasing brutality of the crimes Gatward comes up with.

That being said, the criminal investigation is probably the best one in the series so far. The premise is engaging, the motive not as clear as it first seems and there are a lot of twists and turns that keep you guessing right up until the end. Plus, the team actually investigates this time and doesn't seem as purposefully dense as in some of the previous installments! To think that this is the same author who basically gave away the culprits as soon as they appeared on page just a little over a year ago really goes to show how much David J. Gatward has upped his game. Keep 'em coming!
180 reviews
September 26, 2022
SUPERB!

I cannot begin to say how much I love this series other than I'm like a kiddie on Christmas morning before I settle down without interruption to start the latest DCI Harry Grimm book. David has such a beautiful flow to his stories that I'm there right in the centre of each book with such wonderful characters I feel I have known all my life. Disturbing events have the team working hard to track down one of their most sickening cases to hit their beautiful peaceful village. David is up there amongst my favourite authors very similar humour to JD Kirk who I also adore. May this series continue to keep your faithful fans happy with Harry and his loyal team. Barbara Sheffield x
Profile Image for Jenny.
2,313 reviews73 followers
November 20, 2022
Fair Game is book one in the DCI Harry Grimm series by David J. Gatward. DCI Harry Grimm was in the middle of purchasing his house in the Dales when he caught a new case of a brutal killing of a poacher. More DCI Harry Grimm and his team investigate this case; they realise it is not just a simple murder case. The readers of Fair Game will continue to follow the twists and turns in DCI Harry Grimm and his team's investigation to discover what happens.

Fair Game is the second book I read in this fantastic series and an excellent addition. I engaged with the characters and the plot of Fair Game, which allowed me to enjoy reading this book. I love David J. Gatward's portrayal of his characters and the way they interact with each other. Fair Game is well-written and researched by David J. Gatward. I like David J. Gatward's description of the settings of Fair Game, which allowed me to imagine being part of the book's plot.

The readers of Fair Game will learn about the meaning of the Gaelic word Ghillie. Also, the readers of Fair Game will learn about living in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales.

I recommend this book.
68 reviews2 followers
December 20, 2022
Hits the very soul

This was, for me, a book which dealt with one of the saddest and heartwrenching subjects. It was, as always, excellently scripted and balanced the warmth of the team's camararderie, Harry's love life and humorous interchanges against the desolation of the victims and the sheer evil of the perpetrators. All this was delightfully encapsulated within the perfect locations and uplifting descriptions of the Wensleydale countryside.

I read this book, as I do with all David Gatward's offerings, in one sitting and I think I held my breath from the first crime to the final denouement, such was the impact on me. I particularly liked the epilogue which I felt was perfect!
79 reviews
December 10, 2022
What more can you say about Grimm

Utterly fabulous read from start to finish. Grimm is an amazing character which you form an unique bond with thinking you know everything about him, then you learn something new .....this book is a real page turner. Thanks the read David look forward to the next one
Profile Image for Cherry Mischievous.
595 reviews289 followers
September 27, 2023
Pheasant

My Thoughts:

I think this book is titled Fair Game because the story involves pheasant shooting that is quiet popular here in Britain and has been since the 18th century. So, pheasant shooting is a well-established industry. I'm not about to argue the pros and cons of it. But, here is a picture of a pheasant for those wondering what a pheasant is.

Opening salvo of the story and this book is breaking my heart already!

We have a few of those car wash stations about usually manned by non-English men. I've taken my car to those car wash places a few times myself! Now, this book has me wondering if those blokes washing my car with little English and Eastern European accent were treated well... maybe I ought not go to those places...

In Chapter 1, Luca had a daughter. Later on in the book, that daughter morphed into a son. I don't like inconsistencies!

Do you know who Daniel and Robert Bell twins remind me of? The Fulci brothers, that's who! The Fulcis of the Charlie Parker series by John Connolly. Yeah, I know! Reading too many crime fictions!

I think Aubrey Parsons ought to be awarded accolades for being a fantastic narrator! Because he truely is!


Quantitative Evaluation:

Story telling quality = 4.5
Character development = 4.5
Story itself = 4
Writing Style = 4
Ending = 4
World building = 4.5
Cover art = 4
Pace = (9 hrs and 9 mins listening time)
Plot = 4
Narration = 5


Overall Rating: 4 out of 5
Profile Image for Mark Crowther.
190 reviews1 follower
March 7, 2025
Great book

Really enjoyed this book, with each book i read the series improves greatly, loving the characters, even down to the dog.

Looking forward to reading unqiet bones, need to complete this series, looking forward to seeing what happens with Grimm and his personal life/career
Profile Image for Christine Rennie.
2,948 reviews40 followers
September 2, 2022
Fair Game by David Gatward is book 11 in the DCI Harry Grimm police thrillers series. This is a particularly gruesome story with a murder of a severely malnourished male, and other deaths.
It started with poachers and ended with an arrest for much more serious crimes.
Is this episode Harry and his brother Ben are making steps to stay in the area with people they care about.
Highly recommended
5 reviews
September 15, 2022
Best yet.

The other reviews are correct. Best one of the series so far. When is the next one out, can,t be soon enough.
Profile Image for Emma L.J.
497 reviews
September 21, 2022
cracking

I absolutely love this series, totally hooks you right from the very first page to the very last
Simply cracking
67 reviews2 followers
September 26, 2022
Grimm ain't so grim after all!

Couldn't put the book down, I got trapped in the story and needed to know what happened. thoroughly recommend this series.
Profile Image for Judy & Marianne from Long and Short Reviews.
5,476 reviews177 followers
April 8, 2023
DCI Harry Grimm is on the brink of making his biggest commitment yet to the Dales – signing on to purchase his own home. But life in the Dales continues along as normal, only this time some particularly grisly trouble is brewing. A small band of local poachers are roaming the area and many of the locals are taking matters into their own hands – and this ends up when a grisly trap turns deadly, and a man is left alone to bleed out in the dark night. Can Harry and his team figure everything out before more bodies are left behind in this idyllic small community?

I’ve been really enjoying the Grimm series and have found these last few books in particular to be strongly written and quite thick – with intriguing plots and numerous subplots all woven together to form a really engrossing and well layered story. Harry and his team are quite well meshed now, working well together and with solid relationships that are beginning to run really deep.

While I feel this extra depth and history between the characters would make it harder for a reader to pick this book (eleventh in the series) up by itself, I feel the story itself can stand well alone. It would be all the smaller interactions and deeper connection between the characters and their shared history that the reader would miss out on. The story itself – particularly this plotline – is very well encapsulated in this book and stands just fine by itself.

That said half the fun for me personally is seeing Harry and his team mesh and work together, and particularly Harry and his brother and how well their relationship has progressed and grown. All that is a real pleasure to read, and I feel adds a lot to the story. I feel the murder mystery is very well plotted and deep enough to keep me guessing – it’s a slower style police procedural plot but I feel the author really did an excellent job adding enough sub plots and false starts that it should keep even veteran mystery readers on their toes.

A great book with a number of linking plots and some exceptional small-town characters – this is a great British murder mystery and an excellent book I thoroughly enjoyed.
Profile Image for David Ward.
Author 2 books17 followers
December 12, 2022
As an author myself I appreciate the immense amount of work that goes into getting a book published. That is one reason why I very rarely give a star rating below 3 stars. It is even more rare that I give up on a book half way through. But that is what I had to do with Fair Game. Why?
* I got bored with not only being given facts at crime scenes or interviews, but then having exactly the same information repeated at staff meetings and police discussions.
* While fully acknowledging the need for descriptions of locations, David Gatward overdoes this in my opinion, so that it may take several pages to get police to their destinations while the dales are being described.
* The story starts well enough, but then the action slows until it almost stops. What is there is a little predictable.
* And if he tells me once more about the tradition in Yorkshire of eating cheese with cake, I'll scream. Like some other things, this is overdone.

Some of this may be my own fault. I'd been reading the Harry Grimm stories one after the other, so maybe I invited the problem of repetition. Also I'd just read J.D. Kirk's "Eastgate" book, a story that was compelling and beautifully written. There's little I've ever found in crime fiction to compare with a J.D. Kirk book. So, although 2 stars may have been fairer, I've given three. I'm really sorry, but I need to be honest.
Profile Image for Grey853.
1,553 reviews61 followers
January 15, 2025
This is the eleventh in the Harry Grimm series. Harry's brother has moved out to be with his girlfriend. Harry's relationship with Grace is moving along nice and he's decided to buy a house of his own. That gets disrupted when he's called to the scene of a gristly murder. A man has been killed by a "man trap", his leg amputated which leads to shock and him bleeding to death. First they have to identify the victim and then they have find his killers.

It's a complicated case with lots of twists and turns. The more Harry and his team learn, the more baffling it is. None of the pieces seem to fit together.

This is definitely not a cozy mystery. There are graphic depictions of violence, victims and crime scenes. The topics involved, vigilante justice and slave labor, are extremely serious. However, the author does a great job of keeping the reader involved as he changes points of view to each of the characters who are moving the story along. While it could be described as a police procedural, it's also got heart. The reader is pulled into the individual personal stories of each of the team, especially when it comes to Harry.
Profile Image for Jordan.
1,878 reviews
August 1, 2024
2.5 rounded up to 3 stars. I almost didn’t continue on to read this one, but I already had access to the audiobook so I went ahead. A great deal of this one seemed really apparent, yet the detectives often were quite slow to catch on. Maybe some people feel smart in this case, figuring things out ahead of the detectives(!) but they felt like really slow pitches to me which were just kind of tiring. I’ve enjoyed a couple from this series, but I think ultimately it’s sort of a strange mixture of ‘cozy’ mysteries, going on about the beauty of the countryside, pet cuteness, etc. but then also dealing with considerably more serious crimes than just a bookclub solving a local mystery or something. There’s probably an audience for just that sort of hybrid, but it’s not my preference and I’m, for real this time, leaving the series here. 🙂
Profile Image for Donna ~ The Romance Cover.
2,907 reviews323 followers
December 31, 2024
This series is one of my favourite finds of the year. To say that I am invested is a severe understatement. Harry Grimm is one of those characters that you cannot help but fall in love with. Despite his spiky, ornery demeanour, he is just misunderstood. He believes that he is Grimm by name and grim by nature, but that could not be further from the truth. An army veteran (medical discharge) he joins the force in Bristol, however, his maverick attitude and lack of rule abiding soon has him sent to "coventry" out of sight, out of mind. He is seconded to the Dales, as far from his comfort zone as possible. However, the Dales are magical, and Harry soon becomes to love it there, including the Wensleydale on fruit cake. Each book is fabulously written, the characters are amazing and you cannot help but fall in love with them and the Dales. One of my favourite series.
Profile Image for Missjoanie.
315 reviews2 followers
November 8, 2023
I listened to the audible book and Aubery Parsons's narration as before really makes you feel that you are in the Yorkshire Dales.
I love this series but do not always review the books but I felt the need to say that this is an excellent addition to the series.
We have DCI Harry Grimm looking to seriously lay his roots down up North (England) but that is a tough decision to make. So he initially finds it easy to be pulled into his next case but as the case takes him down some very dark paths when man's inhumanity to man does not bear thinking about, it is Harry and his team's moral compass that continues the drive to find justice even when for as many steps they go forward they are pulled backwards.
A sad and riveting listen.
101 reviews
June 29, 2023
Masterful

Skilfully paced novel. From poaching to — well, you need to read it! But poaching leading, without spoilers, to more serious crimes, and a trade so despicable as to be almost unbelievable. But are these atrocities going on right under our noses? Probably, unfortunately. Good for David to bring these horrific, inhuman practices to the fore.
Bog Myrtle as a clue? It is to Harry Grimm.
“Bollocks to procedure,” said Harry. A classic Grimm quote. Read to find out what’s what. Recommended. And Mr Parsons—you are a terrific narrator. Me, I’m going on to Book 12 with excited anticipation.
309 reviews1 follower
September 8, 2022
Fabulous

Fantastic series, just gets better. Love all the characters, whom are all so different but make a great team, including the dog's. In this book in particular they all play their part in solving the crime which is certainly a puzzle. I laughed and cried in equal measures, a truly fabulous addition to this series. The descriptive writing is amazing and you feel like you are with the team in the dales, a truly beautiful part of Yorkshire. Can't wait for the next book, but please leave Harry and his team together 🙏
Profile Image for Donna.
378 reviews4 followers
January 25, 2023
Great plot and characters

This would be one of my favourite UK crime series to read. It's always a great balance of crime and the characters personal lives as we read about Harry, his team, the locals and the beautiful towns and landscape. Being well written and having a good pace to the stories keeps you interested from the first page, I'm always left wanting to read more by the end of the book and this one was no exception. If you love your UK crime with a great lead character a bit different from the rest, you can't go past the Grimm series.
Profile Image for Patricia White.
293 reviews3 followers
September 7, 2023
Another Thriller

All I can say is this book baffled me. I figured out some things, but was confused by several others. You can easily determine who the culprits are just by the characters themselves. Either way the book was a FANTASTIC READ!!! The book keeps you on the edge of your seat. Especially in the last 60-70 pages.

The way the author describes scenery, I had to look up several times on Google places just to see pictures. Also had to do that with several cars that were mentioned.
594 reviews9 followers
April 17, 2024
Fair Game: A Yorkshire Mu4der Mystery (DCI Harry Grimm Crime.Thrillers Book11)

a story with so many levels running through it. Had to concentrate to follow sometimes but always worth it. I can actually picture the Yorkshire Countryside when the author describes where he is in the books. The description is so much a part of the stories and he is so good at it. I really recommend any book the David J. Gatward has written as a good read. Try to start with the first book in the series though. Thank you David J. Gatward x
Profile Image for Betty A. Preece.
19 reviews
January 4, 2025
Love Harry Grimm!

I love this series. These books have become like an old friend. I always come back for more This series is truly captivating and engaging. The storyline is well-crafted, the characters are compelling, and the overall production value is exceptional. I find myself eagerly anticipating each new episode, as the series consistently delivers thrilling plot twists and memorable moments. The attention to detail and the immersive world-building truly make this series stand out as a must-watch for any fan of the genre.
283 reviews3 followers
October 29, 2025
I cannot begin to say how much I love this series other than I'm like a kid on Christmas morning before I settle down without interruption to start the latest DCI Harry Grimm book. David has such a beautiful flow to his stories that I'm there right in the centre of each book with such wonderful characters I feel I have known all my life. Disturbing events have the team working hard to track down one of their most sickening cases to hit their beautiful peaceful village. David is up there amongst my favourite authors very similar humour to JD Kirk & Alex Smith.
494 reviews2 followers
September 9, 2022
Really Good Mystery

David Gatward is amazing. He keeps writing really good mysteries and each one is better than the previous ones. Book 11 has really good plot and character development that doesn't slow throughout the book. There's also good police work undertaken by Grimm's police staff and lots of interesting personal interactions between them. The upshot is that his books are can't put it down good.
Profile Image for Julia Buckley.
Author 31 books803 followers
January 29, 2024
I am still loving this series at Book Eleven. It's fun to watch Harry Grimm fall under the spell of Yorkshire and its inhabitants. The characters change and evolve in an enjoyable way. In some ways Harry reminds me of Cormoran Strike, another character I love. My only complaint about the books is that they have several downright cozy elements, but the crimes tend to be over-the-top violent. I could do without the gruesome and extended descriptions of pain and suffering.
33 reviews
September 6, 2022
Fair does, Fair Game is maintaining Mr Gatwards steady improvement..although the bar is already set pretty high! Once again the genuine love of the dales comes through, but its his solving existing crimes that are ignored in general by the mainstream that impresses me. Harry's new family, or team as some would call them, are gelling into a formidable force now, and I can't wait for the next book. Well played Sir!
Profile Image for Simone Wallnöfer.
156 reviews3 followers
September 6, 2022
Once again, a very tragic and unfortunately always actual topic is faced in the latest instalment of David Gatward's DCI Grimm series. Another gripping case, set in the stunningly beautiful Dales. I have never been in Yorkshire, but the scenery and its people come alive in these books, and by now the characters are old friends. Keep them coming, David
Profile Image for Ann.
52 reviews
September 7, 2022
Another great read from David Gatward, featuring DCI Harry Grimm and his merry band. Love all the characters and their interactions, the scenery, the food, never mind the very topical plot! Well written and an engaging time out. If you've not read this series, it's definitely worth a look. Thanks David (and Noodle).
Displaying 1 - 30 of 128 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.