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Harbinder Kaur #3
Bleeding Heart Yard
A murderer strikes at a school reunion—but the students are no strangers to death— in this propulsive, twisty thriller from the internationally bestselling author of the Ruth Galloway Mysteries
Is it possible to forget that you’ve committed a murder?
When Cassie Fitzgerald was at school in the late 90s, she and her friends killed a fellow student. Almost twenty years later, Cassie is a happily married mother who loves her job—as a police officer. She closely guards the secret she has all but erased from her memory.
One day her husband finally persuades her to go to a school reunion. Cassie catches up with her high-achieving old friends from the Manor Park School—among them two politicians, a rock star, and a famous actress. But then, shockingly, one of them, Garfield Rice, is found dead in the school bathroom, supposedly from a drug overdose. As Garfield was an eminent—and controversial—MP and the investigation is high profile, it’s headed by Cassie’s new boss, DI Harbinder Kaur, freshly promoted and newly arrived in London. The trouble is, Cassie can’t shake the feeling that one of them has killed again.
Is Cassie right, or was Garfield murdered by one of his political cronies? It’s in Cassie’s interest to skew the investigation so that it looks like it has nothing to do with Manor Park and she seems to be succeeding.
Until someone else from the reunion is found dead in Bleeding Heart Yard…
RUN TIME: 9 hours and 16 minutes
Is it possible to forget that you’ve committed a murder?
When Cassie Fitzgerald was at school in the late 90s, she and her friends killed a fellow student. Almost twenty years later, Cassie is a happily married mother who loves her job—as a police officer. She closely guards the secret she has all but erased from her memory.
One day her husband finally persuades her to go to a school reunion. Cassie catches up with her high-achieving old friends from the Manor Park School—among them two politicians, a rock star, and a famous actress. But then, shockingly, one of them, Garfield Rice, is found dead in the school bathroom, supposedly from a drug overdose. As Garfield was an eminent—and controversial—MP and the investigation is high profile, it’s headed by Cassie’s new boss, DI Harbinder Kaur, freshly promoted and newly arrived in London. The trouble is, Cassie can’t shake the feeling that one of them has killed again.
Is Cassie right, or was Garfield murdered by one of his political cronies? It’s in Cassie’s interest to skew the investigation so that it looks like it has nothing to do with Manor Park and she seems to be succeeding.
Until someone else from the reunion is found dead in Bleeding Heart Yard…
RUN TIME: 9 hours and 16 minutes
Audiobook
First published September 29, 2022
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About the author
Elly Griffiths
74 books9,410 followersElly Griffiths' Ruth Galloway novels take for their inspiration Elly's husband, who gave up a city job to train as an archaeologist, and her aunt who lives on the Norfolk coast and who filled her niece's head with the myths and legends of that area. Elly has two children and lives near Brighton. Though not her first novel, The Crossing Places is her first crime novel.
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July 28, 2025
Bleeding Heart Yard (Harbinder Kaur #3) by Elly Griffiths
Narrated by Jane Collingwood, Candida Gubbins, Nina Wadia
In this third book in the Harbinder Kaur series, Kaur is now working at the Met as a DI in the Homicide and Serious Crimes Unit. When she finally gets her first murder case it turns out to be a doozy, with a prominent murder victim and his prominent former school friends. Nothing like getting thrown into the deep end on your first murder case at your new job.
We are dealing with two timelines, the past timeline being twenty one years ago when the popular school friends were in the last month at Manor Park School before each of the kids would be heading off for higher education. In the present day timeline, the former schoolmates have gotten together to celebrate graduating from Manor Park School twenty one years ago. The members of the group have been successful in one way or another. There are two MPs, a rock star, a movie star, a DS working under DI Kaur, and one of their group is even the head honcho at Manor Park School. The evening's celebration party is stopped in its tracks when one of the group is found dead.
Oh, did I say tracks? I did! There is a connection to train tracks twenty one years ago when a less liked schoolmate fell in front of a train near an empty warehouse. Several of the popular kids were there and everybody says it was an accident, that the kid, David, was high and it's so sad that he fell. The popular kids are traumatized by that event, each in their own personal way. They don't like to talk about that guy who fell but it seems he's being brought up lately.
As DI Kaur investigates the present day murder, interviewing each of the former schoolmates, she keeps hearing mention of the dead guy, David. Is the death of David connected to what is going on now? Why does it seem like these friends are holding things back from her?
There are three narrators for the audiobook and they do a good job. It did take me until about 20% in the book before I was able to mostly keep track of all the people, past and present. And the timeline can be jerky, we get POVs from one person and then go over similar information with another POV or two. I was getting whiplash with the jumps in time, back and forth but at least I eventually was able to keep the school chums straight. Overall it was an interesting story and, as with the other books in this series, there is some humor sprinkled throughout the plot. I like being in DI Kaur's head, she always has funny asides that keep me entertained.
Pub Nov 15, 2022 by HarperAudio
Thanks to my library and Libby for this audiobook
Narrated by Jane Collingwood, Candida Gubbins, Nina Wadia
In this third book in the Harbinder Kaur series, Kaur is now working at the Met as a DI in the Homicide and Serious Crimes Unit. When she finally gets her first murder case it turns out to be a doozy, with a prominent murder victim and his prominent former school friends. Nothing like getting thrown into the deep end on your first murder case at your new job.
We are dealing with two timelines, the past timeline being twenty one years ago when the popular school friends were in the last month at Manor Park School before each of the kids would be heading off for higher education. In the present day timeline, the former schoolmates have gotten together to celebrate graduating from Manor Park School twenty one years ago. The members of the group have been successful in one way or another. There are two MPs, a rock star, a movie star, a DS working under DI Kaur, and one of their group is even the head honcho at Manor Park School. The evening's celebration party is stopped in its tracks when one of the group is found dead.
Oh, did I say tracks? I did! There is a connection to train tracks twenty one years ago when a less liked schoolmate fell in front of a train near an empty warehouse. Several of the popular kids were there and everybody says it was an accident, that the kid, David, was high and it's so sad that he fell. The popular kids are traumatized by that event, each in their own personal way. They don't like to talk about that guy who fell but it seems he's being brought up lately.
As DI Kaur investigates the present day murder, interviewing each of the former schoolmates, she keeps hearing mention of the dead guy, David. Is the death of David connected to what is going on now? Why does it seem like these friends are holding things back from her?
There are three narrators for the audiobook and they do a good job. It did take me until about 20% in the book before I was able to mostly keep track of all the people, past and present. And the timeline can be jerky, we get POVs from one person and then go over similar information with another POV or two. I was getting whiplash with the jumps in time, back and forth but at least I eventually was able to keep the school chums straight. Overall it was an interesting story and, as with the other books in this series, there is some humor sprinkled throughout the plot. I like being in DI Kaur's head, she always has funny asides that keep me entertained.
Pub Nov 15, 2022 by HarperAudio
Thanks to my library and Libby for this audiobook
February 3, 2023
I used my ear holes for half and my eyeballs for half
Writing: 4/5 | Plot: 4/5 | Ending: a lil cray cray/5
SYNOPSIS
A 21-year class reunion at an esteemed high school ends in murder. And another murder shortly afterward points to an old secret coming to light.
MY OPINION
Yes, this is my first Elly Griffiths book and yes, I started with #3 in a series. Did you expect anything more? Since I read half of this with the good ole peepers, I'm writing a full review. I was actually vibulating with the audio so much, I wanted to read it with my eyes. The narrator did a fabulous job playing all the different roles. Even her Italian accent was pretty legit. I highly recommend this one to audio lovers.
I really liked Griffiths writing style. Her dry wit is right up my alley and reminded me of my faves: Jo Spain, Cara Hunter, Angela Marsons, Sharon Bolton, etc. I don't know what goes on in the U.K, but the police procedural ladies can WRITE write.
Yeetage of disbelief required; especially for the ending. It's so hard write a satisfying ending. I feel that authors want to go for the shock value to leave you reeling thinking 5 stars!!! But I'm always silently praying to a non-denominational God for a bland ending. Just answer the pertinent questions and avoid the "catching up with a friend" epilogue. Don't throw in razzle dazzle when I'm already dazzled; now I'm just over-stimulated and freaking LOL.
I just finished The Stranger Diaries before writing this, and I've noticed a trend. While the mystery is certainly juicy and I like the complexities of the kills, I find that there's no explanation for WHY the killer is so fancy. The motive is pretty regular degular, so why go to such extremes with all the literature references etc? Why is this type of "showboating" for lack of better word, necessary to the killer? Anywayzzz.
I did like the distinct characters, but for their level of fame, they seemed to lack some basic security. I can't imagine MPs and world-famous movie stars and singers just trotting about on their own unprotected. I'm not a celebrity (shocker!) but it seems like in this modern day and age, you'd have at least one bodyguard accompanying you are town.
If you like dark academia and police procedurals, I highly recommend this one. A satisfying read/listen that had me add the entire series to my TBR. And yes, I started from the beginning after this one 😂
PROS AND CONS
Pros: narration on point, juicy j case, pace was pacing, dry wit
Cons: the killer's motive just wasn't doing it for me, no breadcrumbs really, ending was doing a LOT
Writing: 4/5 | Plot: 4/5 | Ending: a lil cray cray/5
SYNOPSIS
A 21-year class reunion at an esteemed high school ends in murder. And another murder shortly afterward points to an old secret coming to light.
MY OPINION
Yes, this is my first Elly Griffiths book and yes, I started with #3 in a series. Did you expect anything more? Since I read half of this with the good ole peepers, I'm writing a full review. I was actually vibulating with the audio so much, I wanted to read it with my eyes. The narrator did a fabulous job playing all the different roles. Even her Italian accent was pretty legit. I highly recommend this one to audio lovers.
I really liked Griffiths writing style. Her dry wit is right up my alley and reminded me of my faves: Jo Spain, Cara Hunter, Angela Marsons, Sharon Bolton, etc. I don't know what goes on in the U.K, but the police procedural ladies can WRITE write.
Yeetage of disbelief required; especially for the ending. It's so hard write a satisfying ending. I feel that authors want to go for the shock value to leave you reeling thinking 5 stars!!! But I'm always silently praying to a non-denominational God for a bland ending. Just answer the pertinent questions and avoid the "catching up with a friend" epilogue. Don't throw in razzle dazzle when I'm already dazzled; now I'm just over-stimulated and freaking LOL.
I just finished The Stranger Diaries before writing this, and I've noticed a trend. While the mystery is certainly juicy and I like the complexities of the kills, I find that there's no explanation for WHY the killer is so fancy. The motive is pretty regular degular, so why go to such extremes with all the literature references etc? Why is this type of "showboating" for lack of better word, necessary to the killer? Anywayzzz.
I did like the distinct characters, but for their level of fame, they seemed to lack some basic security. I can't imagine MPs and world-famous movie stars and singers just trotting about on their own unprotected. I'm not a celebrity (shocker!) but it seems like in this modern day and age, you'd have at least one bodyguard accompanying you are town.
If you like dark academia and police procedurals, I highly recommend this one. A satisfying read/listen that had me add the entire series to my TBR. And yes, I started from the beginning after this one 😂
PROS AND CONS
Pros: narration on point, juicy j case, pace was pacing, dry wit
Cons: the killer's motive just wasn't doing it for me, no breadcrumbs really, ending was doing a LOT
November 15, 2022
“Memory is a dynamic thing, it’s constantly being updated” ….“ But, is it possible to forget that you’ve committed a murder?”
Manor Park’s graduating class of ‘98 was quite distinguished. “The group” as they were known in school included seven members.
Isabelle Istar, a famous Actress, Kris Foster, a well known Pop star, and two Politicians with opposing views about Climate change-Garfield Rice and Henry Steep.
Anna Vance, now teaching English to students in Italy, was also a member, having dated Chris, as was Sonoma Davies, who is now the Headteacher at Manor Park.
Oh, don’t forget Cassie Fitzherbert, who is now a DS on DI Harbinder Kaur’s new “Murder Investigation Team”.
She killed fellow student David Moore, 21 years ago, and got away with it, as she will tell you in the prologue. And, ALL of “the group” was complicit in the crime.
Harbinder Kaur is back for the third installment of the series (The Stranger Diaries #1 and The Postscript Murders #2) but she is now sharing a flat in London with two other women, and heading her own team, graduating from DS to DI.
Her first major case…when one of “the group” is murdered at Manor Park’s 21st reunion, organized by Sonoma Davies.
Cassie who was in attendance has secured the guests in the library, but after overhearing a private conversation, she is afraid that one of the group has killed again to make sure that what they did to David Moore remains a secret from the past, so she tries to steer her new boss away from those at the reunion, suggesting an alternate motive instead.
But then another member of the group is found dead in the legendary Bleeding Heart Yard, a courtyard in Holborn named after the murder in the seventeenth century of Lady Elizabeth Hatton, second wife of Sir William Hatton- and the pressure to solve this case is ramped up!
Lady Elizabeth’s body was found, torn limb from limb, with her heart still beating blood.
And, a heart is found with this body too.
These books seem like a “modern” take on a cozy series to me- the stories aren’t “cute” and they touch on the relevant themes of Politics, Privilege, and Prejudice with a unique lead character, but as in cozies-all violence occurs off page.
Although “The Stranger Diaries” remains my favorite of the three, I enjoyed getting to see a more mature version of Kaur, as she confidently leads her team which includes new characters -Detective Sergeants Kim, Jake and Tory.
DS Kim Manning is a character I hope we will see more of.
And, now that Harbinder has finally moved out of her parents home, at the age of 38, will she also find the courage to introduce her traditional Sikh parents, to her first official girlfriend?
I look forward to seeing what happens next!
3.5 ⭐️ rounded up!
A buddy read with Pat-be sure to check out her “always” amazing review!
NOW AVAILABLE in the U.K. AND the U.S.
Thank You to Mariner books who gifted me a copy through NetGalley. It was my pleasure to offer a candid review!
Manor Park’s graduating class of ‘98 was quite distinguished. “The group” as they were known in school included seven members.
Isabelle Istar, a famous Actress, Kris Foster, a well known Pop star, and two Politicians with opposing views about Climate change-Garfield Rice and Henry Steep.
Anna Vance, now teaching English to students in Italy, was also a member, having dated Chris, as was Sonoma Davies, who is now the Headteacher at Manor Park.
Oh, don’t forget Cassie Fitzherbert, who is now a DS on DI Harbinder Kaur’s new “Murder Investigation Team”.
She killed fellow student David Moore, 21 years ago, and got away with it, as she will tell you in the prologue. And, ALL of “the group” was complicit in the crime.
Harbinder Kaur is back for the third installment of the series (The Stranger Diaries #1 and The Postscript Murders #2) but she is now sharing a flat in London with two other women, and heading her own team, graduating from DS to DI.
Her first major case…when one of “the group” is murdered at Manor Park’s 21st reunion, organized by Sonoma Davies.
Cassie who was in attendance has secured the guests in the library, but after overhearing a private conversation, she is afraid that one of the group has killed again to make sure that what they did to David Moore remains a secret from the past, so she tries to steer her new boss away from those at the reunion, suggesting an alternate motive instead.
But then another member of the group is found dead in the legendary Bleeding Heart Yard, a courtyard in Holborn named after the murder in the seventeenth century of Lady Elizabeth Hatton, second wife of Sir William Hatton- and the pressure to solve this case is ramped up!
Lady Elizabeth’s body was found, torn limb from limb, with her heart still beating blood.
And, a heart is found with this body too.
These books seem like a “modern” take on a cozy series to me- the stories aren’t “cute” and they touch on the relevant themes of Politics, Privilege, and Prejudice with a unique lead character, but as in cozies-all violence occurs off page.
Although “The Stranger Diaries” remains my favorite of the three, I enjoyed getting to see a more mature version of Kaur, as she confidently leads her team which includes new characters -Detective Sergeants Kim, Jake and Tory.
DS Kim Manning is a character I hope we will see more of.
And, now that Harbinder has finally moved out of her parents home, at the age of 38, will she also find the courage to introduce her traditional Sikh parents, to her first official girlfriend?
I look forward to seeing what happens next!
3.5 ⭐️ rounded up!
A buddy read with Pat-be sure to check out her “always” amazing review!
NOW AVAILABLE in the U.K. AND the U.S.
Thank You to Mariner books who gifted me a copy through NetGalley. It was my pleasure to offer a candid review!
August 4, 2022
Harbinder Kaur #3 and I think possibly my favourite so far! Harbinder is now serving in the Met as a DI in the Homicide and Serious Crimes Unit and jolly happy she is too with her promotion. One of her team DS Cassie Fitzgerald has a big secret, so big she’s tried to wipe it from her memory bank. However, fate or something more sinister has a habit of resurrecting the past. The storyline centres around Manor Park School, a posh Chelsea State School with several well-known former pupils all contemporaries and former classmates of Cassie. At the 21st anniversary celebration of this golden gang leaving school, one of their number Conservative MP Garfield Rice is found dead, a suspected drugs overdose but Cassie suspects this links to the past. Is she right? The story is told via Harbinder, Cassie and Anna another school friend of Cassie’s. This is done so well as each voice is unique and adds to the growing intrigue.
First of all first of all, let’s reflect on Harbinder! I think Elly Griffiths has created one of the best female detectives around at the moment. I love hearing her “voice“, she’s such a character with her wry, droll comments which make me laugh and her thoughts often directed at one member in particular of her team! I can picture them too, Jake with his wide leg stance and much more likeable Kim. An excellent part of the plot is having one of their number, Cassie, at the centre of the investigation which could make things very difficult for Harbinder as the newcomer to the team.
The plot is excellent, there’s a lot going on with several subplots and the golden gang are good characters adding plenty of colour as we have two MPs, a famous actress and a well-known musician which means there’s never a dull moment. The fast paced plot builds well, there’s plenty of tension and your suspicion antennae twitches in several directions. The ending is one of those never saw it coming scenarios and I do so like a finale like that! I love how Harbinder becomes ‘Susie’ to her team at the end - you’ve arrived girl!!
I really enjoy the use of London that the author utilises so effectively and creatively including legends and stories which add an extra frisson of atmosphere. I think London gives way more scope as a setting much as I love Sussex!! Looking forward to number 4 with eager anticipation!
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Quercus for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.
First of all first of all, let’s reflect on Harbinder! I think Elly Griffiths has created one of the best female detectives around at the moment. I love hearing her “voice“, she’s such a character with her wry, droll comments which make me laugh and her thoughts often directed at one member in particular of her team! I can picture them too, Jake with his wide leg stance and much more likeable Kim. An excellent part of the plot is having one of their number, Cassie, at the centre of the investigation which could make things very difficult for Harbinder as the newcomer to the team.
The plot is excellent, there’s a lot going on with several subplots and the golden gang are good characters adding plenty of colour as we have two MPs, a famous actress and a well-known musician which means there’s never a dull moment. The fast paced plot builds well, there’s plenty of tension and your suspicion antennae twitches in several directions. The ending is one of those never saw it coming scenarios and I do so like a finale like that! I love how Harbinder becomes ‘Susie’ to her team at the end - you’ve arrived girl!!
I really enjoy the use of London that the author utilises so effectively and creatively including legends and stories which add an extra frisson of atmosphere. I think London gives way more scope as a setting much as I love Sussex!! Looking forward to number 4 with eager anticipation!
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Quercus for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.
July 28, 2022
This latest by Elly Griffith's in her DI Harbinder Kaur series, the 38 year old gay Sikh police detective, may well be my favourite so far, and there are major changes that have taken place. Kaur has been promoted to DI in the London Met, leaving her home town of Shoreham in West Sussex, in charge of her new MIT team based at West Kensington, she has moved into a shared place with 2 other professional women, one of them the tall attractive Scandinavian architect, Mette, her own place out of her financial reach. This is the first time she has not lived with her family, and she feels a few pangs of homesickness, and a few nerves as whether she will be accepted by her team, and when, if ever, she can be open about her sexuality at work. Kaur feels the pressure of having a lot to prove when she lands her first high profile case, an apparent drug overdose death of the well known climate change denying Conservative MP, Garfield Rice, in the male toilets at the exclusive comprehensive, Manor Park. It is soon clear they have a murder on their hands, and it will not be the only one.
Rice had been there as part of the school reunion, the 21st anniversary of the class of 1998, along with others from a close knit group that he had been a key member of, all now 38 years old. They include the famous actress, the beautiful Isabelle Ishtar, popstar Chris Foster, the current Manor Park head, Sonoma Davies, foreign language teacher, Anna Vance, Labour MP Henry Steep, and a member of Kaur's police team, DS Cassie Fitzherbert, a complication that has the potential to be useful to the police inquiry. The narrative goes back and forth in time, relayed from the perspective of Cassie, Anna and Harbinder, with Kaur having to deal with some of her team being starstruck by some of the celebrity suspects. The team begin to focus on a number of angles, including threatening bleeding heart notes sent to Rice, and the tragic death in 1998 of a Manor Park student celebrating the end of A levels, David Moore, falling onto the rail tracks.
Griffiths provides an excellent sense of location in London that features the House of Commons and Bleeding Heart Yard with its fascinating history. Kaur makes a wonderful first impression on her team, including DS Kim Manning with her invaluable social skills and DS Jake Barker, all of whom have nicknames, by the end Kaur is to become 'Susie'. Kaur is professional, competent, leading the inquiry whilst at the same time getting hands on involved, getting to know the suspects, and shows remarkable judgement when it comes to Cassie. This was a wonderfully entertaining crime read, full of intrigue and surprising twists, with Kaur settling in well with her team and in London, and I loved the insights into her personal life and the relationship that develops. Looking forward with anticipation to the next in the series! Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.
Rice had been there as part of the school reunion, the 21st anniversary of the class of 1998, along with others from a close knit group that he had been a key member of, all now 38 years old. They include the famous actress, the beautiful Isabelle Ishtar, popstar Chris Foster, the current Manor Park head, Sonoma Davies, foreign language teacher, Anna Vance, Labour MP Henry Steep, and a member of Kaur's police team, DS Cassie Fitzherbert, a complication that has the potential to be useful to the police inquiry. The narrative goes back and forth in time, relayed from the perspective of Cassie, Anna and Harbinder, with Kaur having to deal with some of her team being starstruck by some of the celebrity suspects. The team begin to focus on a number of angles, including threatening bleeding heart notes sent to Rice, and the tragic death in 1998 of a Manor Park student celebrating the end of A levels, David Moore, falling onto the rail tracks.
Griffiths provides an excellent sense of location in London that features the House of Commons and Bleeding Heart Yard with its fascinating history. Kaur makes a wonderful first impression on her team, including DS Kim Manning with her invaluable social skills and DS Jake Barker, all of whom have nicknames, by the end Kaur is to become 'Susie'. Kaur is professional, competent, leading the inquiry whilst at the same time getting hands on involved, getting to know the suspects, and shows remarkable judgement when it comes to Cassie. This was a wonderfully entertaining crime read, full of intrigue and surprising twists, with Kaur settling in well with her team and in London, and I loved the insights into her personal life and the relationship that develops. Looking forward with anticipation to the next in the series! Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.
October 18, 2022
EXCERPT: Is it possible to forget that you've committed a murder? Well, I'm here to tell you that it is. Not entirely, obviously. But, day to day, it just doesn't register. Pete and I even had a phase of going to murder mystery parties. We'd get all dressed up and go to a friend's house and act out a script. There'd be cue cards, props, even background music. The setting was usually a country house or a Mississippi river boat. Something like that. I progressed from playing Miss Ellie, high spirited daughter of Black Jack Roulette, to Mrs Beacham the cook. We'd start off in character but, as the evening progressed, everyone would get drunk and forget the clues. This annoyed me. I like following rules.
The kids used to love playing Murder in the Dark. It really is a very easy party game and kept them quiet for ages. They would all shut themselves in the downstairs bathroom, about ten of them. The detective would be left outside, sitting disconsolately on the stairs. After a few minutes of giggling, a blood-curdling scream would ring out and the door would open to reveal someone lying on the floor between the loo and the basin. The law enforcer would then have to solve the crime, sometimes with a little help from me. 'That's not fair Mum,' Lucy and Sam used to say.
The actual murder was so long ago that it genuinely feels like it happened to someone else. I suppose we all think of our eighteen-year-old selves as different people, but I could honestly look at pictures of the blonde, smiling girl and not recognize her. What did she think, who did she love, what music did she listen to? I simply couldn't remember. Dissociation is a word I remember from my psychology degree. I think I once wrote the definition on a cue card. 'A mental process where a person disconnects from their thoughts and feelings . . . . . often linked to trauma in childhood.' But I never thought it was possible to live so happily with this condition. Who was the girl in the school photo? Nothing to do with me.
ABOUT 'BLEEDING HEART YARD': DS Cassie Fitzgerald has a secret - but it's one she's deleted from her memory. In the 1990s when she was at school, she and her friends killed a fellow pupil. Thirty years later, Cassie is happily married and loves her job as a police officer.
One day her husband persuades her to go to a school reunion and another ex-pupil, Garfield Rice, is found dead, supposedly from a drug overdose. As Garfield was an eminent MP and the investigation is high profile, it's headed by Cassie's new boss, DI Harbinder Kaur. The trouble is, Cassie can't shake the feeling that one of her old friends has killed again.
Is Cassie right, or was Garfield murdered by one of his political cronies? It's in Cassie's interest to skew the investigation so that it looks like the latter and she seems to be succeeding.
MY THOUGHTS: Bleeding Heart Yard - what an evocative title! It refers to a courtyard in Holborn, London, where Lady Elizabeth Hatton was murdered in the seventeenth century.
Bleeding Heart Yard is the third in this series, but it can easily be read as a stand-alone.
Harbinder Kaur, although the central character in this series, seems to almost be overshadowed by the school friends around whom the investigation is concentrated. I wonder if this is why I didn't enjoy Bleeding Heart Yard quite as much as its predecessors which focused more on Harbinder.
While I raced through the earlier two books in one sitting, I merely dawdled through Bleeding Heart Yard, not fully involved in the storyline like I usually am.
I enjoyed, but didn't LOVE this. The murders didn't really make sense to me until the perpetrator is revealed. There are a good range of suspects and motives, but Harbinder is convinced that the murder relates to a historic accidental death. Is she right? Read Bleeding Heart Yard to find out. The answer shocked me!
⭐⭐⭐.8
#BleedingHeartYard #NetGalley
I: @ellygriffiths17 @quercusbooks
T: @ellygriffiths @QuercusBooks
#crime #detectivefiction #murdermystery #mystery
THE AUTHOR: Elly Griffiths' Ruth Galloway novels take for their inspiration Elly's husband, who gave up a city job to train as an archaeologist, and her aunt who lives on the Norfolk coast and who filled her niece's head with the myths and legends of that area. Elly has two children and lives near Brighton.
DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Quercus via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of Bleeding Heart Yard by Elly Griffiths for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.
For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com
This review and others are also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
The kids used to love playing Murder in the Dark. It really is a very easy party game and kept them quiet for ages. They would all shut themselves in the downstairs bathroom, about ten of them. The detective would be left outside, sitting disconsolately on the stairs. After a few minutes of giggling, a blood-curdling scream would ring out and the door would open to reveal someone lying on the floor between the loo and the basin. The law enforcer would then have to solve the crime, sometimes with a little help from me. 'That's not fair Mum,' Lucy and Sam used to say.
The actual murder was so long ago that it genuinely feels like it happened to someone else. I suppose we all think of our eighteen-year-old selves as different people, but I could honestly look at pictures of the blonde, smiling girl and not recognize her. What did she think, who did she love, what music did she listen to? I simply couldn't remember. Dissociation is a word I remember from my psychology degree. I think I once wrote the definition on a cue card. 'A mental process where a person disconnects from their thoughts and feelings . . . . . often linked to trauma in childhood.' But I never thought it was possible to live so happily with this condition. Who was the girl in the school photo? Nothing to do with me.
ABOUT 'BLEEDING HEART YARD': DS Cassie Fitzgerald has a secret - but it's one she's deleted from her memory. In the 1990s when she was at school, she and her friends killed a fellow pupil. Thirty years later, Cassie is happily married and loves her job as a police officer.
One day her husband persuades her to go to a school reunion and another ex-pupil, Garfield Rice, is found dead, supposedly from a drug overdose. As Garfield was an eminent MP and the investigation is high profile, it's headed by Cassie's new boss, DI Harbinder Kaur. The trouble is, Cassie can't shake the feeling that one of her old friends has killed again.
Is Cassie right, or was Garfield murdered by one of his political cronies? It's in Cassie's interest to skew the investigation so that it looks like the latter and she seems to be succeeding.
MY THOUGHTS: Bleeding Heart Yard - what an evocative title! It refers to a courtyard in Holborn, London, where Lady Elizabeth Hatton was murdered in the seventeenth century.
Bleeding Heart Yard is the third in this series, but it can easily be read as a stand-alone.
Harbinder Kaur, although the central character in this series, seems to almost be overshadowed by the school friends around whom the investigation is concentrated. I wonder if this is why I didn't enjoy Bleeding Heart Yard quite as much as its predecessors which focused more on Harbinder.
While I raced through the earlier two books in one sitting, I merely dawdled through Bleeding Heart Yard, not fully involved in the storyline like I usually am.
I enjoyed, but didn't LOVE this. The murders didn't really make sense to me until the perpetrator is revealed. There are a good range of suspects and motives, but Harbinder is convinced that the murder relates to a historic accidental death. Is she right? Read Bleeding Heart Yard to find out. The answer shocked me!
⭐⭐⭐.8
#BleedingHeartYard #NetGalley
I: @ellygriffiths17 @quercusbooks
T: @ellygriffiths @QuercusBooks
#crime #detectivefiction #murdermystery #mystery
THE AUTHOR: Elly Griffiths' Ruth Galloway novels take for their inspiration Elly's husband, who gave up a city job to train as an archaeologist, and her aunt who lives on the Norfolk coast and who filled her niece's head with the myths and legends of that area. Elly has two children and lives near Brighton.
DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Quercus via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of Bleeding Heart Yard by Elly Griffiths for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.
For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com
This review and others are also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
March 8, 2024
3 ½ * rounded up to 4
Harbinder Kaur has moved to West London after her promotion to DI and is excited to be working in the “big city” and adjusting to life with two flatmates.
She is only on the job for a few days and barely knows her team when Garfield Rice, a conservative member of Parliment is found murdered during a class reunion.
This was the class reunion for a posh school, Manor Park Comprehensive; this class has a lot of high profile graduates!!
The most “popular” kids were part of “The Group” which included:
Garfield Rice, the murder victim
Isabelle Istar, a famous actress
Henry Steep also an MP
Chris Foster, a now famous pop star
Anna Vance, a promising writer in town to care for her ailing mother
Cassie, a member of Hardbinder’s team
Sonoma Davies, now the headmaster of Manor Park
From the blurb you know “DS Cassie Fitzgerald has a secret - but it's one she's deleted from her memory. In the 1990s when she was at school, she and her friends killed a fellow pupil”. This leaves the reader with the presumption that one of the group has killed again!
PROS:
*A good police procedural, with lots of secrets to discover
*The setting of “Bleeding Heart Yard” was interesting and its history quite macabre!
CONS:
*I’m not sure how I feel about DI Hardbinder, she seems quite insecure for the head of a team involving a high profile case.
*There is a lot of repetition when all of the suspects are interviewed and then re-interviewed.
*Switching from past to present tense with many of the suspects was confusing
*There is a lot of “telling not showing” which I never enjoy
My expectations were very high as I have loved the Ruth Galloway Series and “The Stranger Diaries”. These novels were all very intricately plotted while I thought this was a straight up police procedural.
I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through Edelweiss. It was my pleasure to read and review this novel.
Harbinder Kaur has moved to West London after her promotion to DI and is excited to be working in the “big city” and adjusting to life with two flatmates.
She is only on the job for a few days and barely knows her team when Garfield Rice, a conservative member of Parliment is found murdered during a class reunion.
This was the class reunion for a posh school, Manor Park Comprehensive; this class has a lot of high profile graduates!!
The most “popular” kids were part of “The Group” which included:
Garfield Rice, the murder victim
Isabelle Istar, a famous actress
Henry Steep also an MP
Chris Foster, a now famous pop star
Anna Vance, a promising writer in town to care for her ailing mother
Cassie, a member of Hardbinder’s team
Sonoma Davies, now the headmaster of Manor Park
From the blurb you know “DS Cassie Fitzgerald has a secret - but it's one she's deleted from her memory. In the 1990s when she was at school, she and her friends killed a fellow pupil”. This leaves the reader with the presumption that one of the group has killed again!
PROS:
*A good police procedural, with lots of secrets to discover
*The setting of “Bleeding Heart Yard” was interesting and its history quite macabre!
CONS:
*I’m not sure how I feel about DI Hardbinder, she seems quite insecure for the head of a team involving a high profile case.
*There is a lot of repetition when all of the suspects are interviewed and then re-interviewed.
*Switching from past to present tense with many of the suspects was confusing
*There is a lot of “telling not showing” which I never enjoy
My expectations were very high as I have loved the Ruth Galloway Series and “The Stranger Diaries”. These novels were all very intricately plotted while I thought this was a straight up police procedural.
I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through Edelweiss. It was my pleasure to read and review this novel.
July 24, 2022
Bleeding Heart Yard was a solid, intriguing, steadily-paced 4.5 for much of the book, but then the phenomenal conclusion to the mystery saw me bumping it up to 5.
It’s the 21st year school reunion for Manor Park School – a Chelsea based, London Elite Comprehensive, catering to the super rich and powerful. And the night has ended on a devastating note – a class of ’98 pupil, Garfield Rice, now a Conservative MP, has been found dead in the men’s bathroom. I’m sorry, but if someone’s ever introduced to me with the unfortunate name of “Garfield” I’m going to struggle to contain my laughter. Thankfully he’s referred to as “Gary” for the most part. At first glance it appears to be a straightforward case of a drug overdose, but the absence of cocaine in his bloodstream, and the presence of increased levels of insulin, leads the pathologist to conclude that he was deliberately injected with a lethal dose.
Notable Manor Park school reunion guests/witnesses/potential suspects, nearly all of whom graduated the same year as Garfield Rice – 1998.
Chris Foster – a famous pop star. Stage name Kris Foster. A member of the popular crowd at school (known as “The Group”) which also included Garfield (Gary), Henry, Anna, Izzy, Cassie, and Sonoma.
Henry Steep – a Labour MP. Member of “The Group”.
Isabelle “Izzy” Istar – a well known actress. Member of “The Group”.
Anna Vance – Lives in Florence where she teaches English to foreign students, but is currently visiting, and staying with, her terminally-ill mother. Member of “The Group”.
Sonoma Davies – Headteacher at Manor Park. Planned the reunion, and was meant to attend, but cancelled at the last minute. Member of “The Group”.
Aisha Mitri – a doctor. Unsuccessfully tried to revive Garfield at the scene.
Pete Fitzherbert – Cassie’s husband. Two years above “The Group” in school.
Cassie Fitzherbert (Note: it’s Fitzgerald in the official book blurb so may be changed upon publication) – Member of “The Group”. A police officer, and one of newly-appointed DI Harbinder Kaur’s DS’s. Cassie has a massive secret in her past that she’s kept hidden for twenty-one years – in 1998 she killed a fellow pupil.
As well as the “school reunion” connection, Garfield Rice has been receiving threatening letters of a political nature, signed Bleeding Heart. Garfield attended several prominent dinners regarding climate-change near the London landmark of Bleeding Heart Yard.
Bleeding Heart Yard marks the third book in the series featuring Harbinder Kaur, and it was a definite improvement on the previous instalment – The Postscript Murders – which was a little two cosy and fun for my tastes. It’s not quite as good as the first book – The Stranger Diaries – but it was a close contender, and I loved that both had an academic tie. Harbinder Kaur has received a promotion from DS to DI, and ditched her old life, living at home with her parents in Shoreham, West Sussex (setting of the first two books), and moved to the bright lights of London. I thought it was a bold move uprooting the main character in a series to a new location, but it really paid off, as I preferred Harbinder’s police team over her partner Neil, and also enjoyed the fact that she had a secretive traitor in her midst in DS Cassie Fitzherbert, even though Cassie was on paid leave, and not part of the active investigation. Have to say though, I was surprised by Harbinder’s promotion, as in my review for The Postscript Murders I remember mentioning how unprofessional she was at times, which thankfully she wasn’t in this one, and the crimes depicted in Bleeding Heart Yard were a lot more serious than it’s predecessor.
You are probably thinking that a murder at a school reunion, with flashbacks to student days has been done to death, but Bleeding Heart Yard did contain plenty of originality, and I really liked the idea that one of the suspects in the current murder was not only part of the police team, but was also hiding the fact that she had killed in the past. Not a spoiler by the way, as the confession occurred in the prologue. The mystery was twisty and plausible, with scattered clues throughout, that all came together in the end in an explosive and unexpected way. There were drama and romantic subplots that really added to my emotional investment, made me care about the characters, and had me not wanting one, or more of them, to turn out to be a killer. Also, a lot of the thrillers this year have been overly long, but this one wasn’t – every scene was crucial to the overall plot.
Due to the new London setting, and since Harbinder is the only character in this (apart from a brief appearance by her parents) who featured in this one, Bleeding Heart Yard could easily be read as a standalone. It was a pleasure to read this thrilling novel, and has me so excited for the next in the series.
I’d like to thank Netgalley UK, Quercus Books, and Elly Griffiths for the e-ARC.
Publication Date: 29th September, 2022.
It’s the 21st year school reunion for Manor Park School – a Chelsea based, London Elite Comprehensive, catering to the super rich and powerful. And the night has ended on a devastating note – a class of ’98 pupil, Garfield Rice, now a Conservative MP, has been found dead in the men’s bathroom. I’m sorry, but if someone’s ever introduced to me with the unfortunate name of “Garfield” I’m going to struggle to contain my laughter. Thankfully he’s referred to as “Gary” for the most part. At first glance it appears to be a straightforward case of a drug overdose, but the absence of cocaine in his bloodstream, and the presence of increased levels of insulin, leads the pathologist to conclude that he was deliberately injected with a lethal dose.
Notable Manor Park school reunion guests/witnesses/potential suspects, nearly all of whom graduated the same year as Garfield Rice – 1998.
Chris Foster – a famous pop star. Stage name Kris Foster. A member of the popular crowd at school (known as “The Group”) which also included Garfield (Gary), Henry, Anna, Izzy, Cassie, and Sonoma.
Henry Steep – a Labour MP. Member of “The Group”.
Isabelle “Izzy” Istar – a well known actress. Member of “The Group”.
Anna Vance – Lives in Florence where she teaches English to foreign students, but is currently visiting, and staying with, her terminally-ill mother. Member of “The Group”.
Sonoma Davies – Headteacher at Manor Park. Planned the reunion, and was meant to attend, but cancelled at the last minute. Member of “The Group”.
Aisha Mitri – a doctor. Unsuccessfully tried to revive Garfield at the scene.
Pete Fitzherbert – Cassie’s husband. Two years above “The Group” in school.
Cassie Fitzherbert (Note: it’s Fitzgerald in the official book blurb so may be changed upon publication) – Member of “The Group”. A police officer, and one of newly-appointed DI Harbinder Kaur’s DS’s. Cassie has a massive secret in her past that she’s kept hidden for twenty-one years – in 1998 she killed a fellow pupil.
As well as the “school reunion” connection, Garfield Rice has been receiving threatening letters of a political nature, signed Bleeding Heart. Garfield attended several prominent dinners regarding climate-change near the London landmark of Bleeding Heart Yard.
Bleeding Heart Yard marks the third book in the series featuring Harbinder Kaur, and it was a definite improvement on the previous instalment – The Postscript Murders – which was a little two cosy and fun for my tastes. It’s not quite as good as the first book – The Stranger Diaries – but it was a close contender, and I loved that both had an academic tie. Harbinder Kaur has received a promotion from DS to DI, and ditched her old life, living at home with her parents in Shoreham, West Sussex (setting of the first two books), and moved to the bright lights of London. I thought it was a bold move uprooting the main character in a series to a new location, but it really paid off, as I preferred Harbinder’s police team over her partner Neil, and also enjoyed the fact that she had a secretive traitor in her midst in DS Cassie Fitzherbert, even though Cassie was on paid leave, and not part of the active investigation. Have to say though, I was surprised by Harbinder’s promotion, as in my review for The Postscript Murders I remember mentioning how unprofessional she was at times, which thankfully she wasn’t in this one, and the crimes depicted in Bleeding Heart Yard were a lot more serious than it’s predecessor.
You are probably thinking that a murder at a school reunion, with flashbacks to student days has been done to death, but Bleeding Heart Yard did contain plenty of originality, and I really liked the idea that one of the suspects in the current murder was not only part of the police team, but was also hiding the fact that she had killed in the past. Not a spoiler by the way, as the confession occurred in the prologue. The mystery was twisty and plausible, with scattered clues throughout, that all came together in the end in an explosive and unexpected way. There were drama and romantic subplots that really added to my emotional investment, made me care about the characters, and had me not wanting one, or more of them, to turn out to be a killer. Also, a lot of the thrillers this year have been overly long, but this one wasn’t – every scene was crucial to the overall plot.
Due to the new London setting, and since Harbinder is the only character in this (apart from a brief appearance by her parents) who featured in this one, Bleeding Heart Yard could easily be read as a standalone. It was a pleasure to read this thrilling novel, and has me so excited for the next in the series.
I’d like to thank Netgalley UK, Quercus Books, and Elly Griffiths for the e-ARC.
Publication Date: 29th September, 2022.
November 16, 2022
This is the third book in a police procedural series featuring detective Harbinder Kaur. Although you can definitely read this as a standalone, I recommend you go back and start from the beginning in order to get the full development of this character. I feel like the books have improved as the series has progressed, this one was taut and complete and my favorite so far.
Harbinder has been promoted to DI in London, and her first big case involves a murder that occurs at a class reunion. One of the Met's own, DS Cassie Fitzgerald, was a member of the class, a part of "The Group" which included the deceased. She was present at the reunion, so this one hits close to home. As the team begins to investigate the crime, they find that many of the classmates have deep secrets and there are echoes back to 21 years before, when another classmate died in a violent way.
I adore the character of Harbinder. She's smart, tough, but also trying to forge her way in the law enforcement world where she is "other"--she's a lesbian person of color. She's not exactly sure of herself in the new setting, but I saw the growth of her confidence as the investigation progressed. Props to Griffiths for not being content to leave a character in a familiar place and allowing her to grow. In this book she finds love--and the ending epilogue left me with a huge smile on my face. The interaction between the members of the team is excellent as well, I always dread books where there's a ton of office politics and this book doesn't really have that. The team works together and plays off of each other incredibly well.
I definitely recommend this series and anxiously await book four!
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book, all opinions are my own.
Harbinder has been promoted to DI in London, and her first big case involves a murder that occurs at a class reunion. One of the Met's own, DS Cassie Fitzgerald, was a member of the class, a part of "The Group" which included the deceased. She was present at the reunion, so this one hits close to home. As the team begins to investigate the crime, they find that many of the classmates have deep secrets and there are echoes back to 21 years before, when another classmate died in a violent way.
I adore the character of Harbinder. She's smart, tough, but also trying to forge her way in the law enforcement world where she is "other"--she's a lesbian person of color. She's not exactly sure of herself in the new setting, but I saw the growth of her confidence as the investigation progressed. Props to Griffiths for not being content to leave a character in a familiar place and allowing her to grow. In this book she finds love--and the ending epilogue left me with a huge smile on my face. The interaction between the members of the team is excellent as well, I always dread books where there's a ton of office politics and this book doesn't really have that. The team works together and plays off of each other incredibly well.
I definitely recommend this series and anxiously await book four!
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book, all opinions are my own.
August 27, 2022
There is a notable change between this book and its predecessors in that they were both inventive and cunning whereas Bleeding Heart Yard is a straight forward mystery. It is still a good book but I was expecting something different.
Harbinder has moved to London and is starting afresh as a DI in the London Met in charge of a team. This introduces a parcel of new characters at work plus she moves in with two other women in a shared house. Her first case becomes very high profile when an MP is murdered. Most of the suspects are old friends of the victim and they all get opportunities to express their own points of view. There are red herrings aplenty and the murderer is. There is a nice romance for Harbinder too which lightens up the action.
It is all very standard mystery writing and there is nothing wrong with that, especially as Griffiths always writes well. Despite a teeny bit of disappointment in the change of direction I will still be one of the first in line to read the next book.
Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.
Harbinder has moved to London and is starting afresh as a DI in the London Met in charge of a team. This introduces a parcel of new characters at work plus she moves in with two other women in a shared house. Her first case becomes very high profile when an MP is murdered. Most of the suspects are old friends of the victim and they all get opportunities to express their own points of view. There are red herrings aplenty and the murderer is. There is a nice romance for Harbinder too which lightens up the action.
It is all very standard mystery writing and there is nothing wrong with that, especially as Griffiths always writes well. Despite a teeny bit of disappointment in the change of direction I will still be one of the first in line to read the next book.
Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.
September 26, 2022
DI Harbinder Kaur was called to a school reunion where an MP's body had been found in the men's room, with visible signs of cocaine use. DS Cassie Fitzgerald was one of the guests, immediately turning on her cop mode as they waited for the police to arrive. The investigation into the people who were students together twenty one years prior was a big one and as another murder occurred and more came to light, Harbinder was sure the current murders had something to do with what had happened all those years ago.
Bleeding Heart Yard is the 3rd in the Harbinder Kaur series by Elly Griffiths and although I've enjoyed the past two books in the series, I really couldn't engage with the characters this time. It felt very jumbled, with the back and forth at times confusing. I expected to love it, so am disappointed but will check out #4 when it publishes. Recommended.
With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.
Bleeding Heart Yard is the 3rd in the Harbinder Kaur series by Elly Griffiths and although I've enjoyed the past two books in the series, I really couldn't engage with the characters this time. It felt very jumbled, with the back and forth at times confusing. I expected to love it, so am disappointed but will check out #4 when it publishes. Recommended.
With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.
March 15, 2023
Loved the setting as London is always a favorite but this story required me to S-T-E-T-C-H my imagination so much that I wonder about getting it back to its original size.
Right now it’s the third book in The Stranger Diaries series. Then again, one never knows if there will be a fourth, fifth, ninety/-ninth?
Harbinger is back, the gay Indian police person relocated to London gaining a promotion as a DS. She heads up a case which traces its roots back to the collapse, (college) days of some people who have grown to be on the whole successful. Two are PMs, one a film star, one a rock star, one a police person. Everyone has been or is in love with someone within the group and years ago a murder was committed with said group involved.
It all gets very muddled as we are presented with motives such as revenge, retribution, and climate change (I said it was a stretch)
The author incorporates the themes of the day gayness, white male patriarchy, climate change, etc and the whole thing is held together on very slender threads.
It had its moments but overall was less than thrilling. Pulled together at the end, lots of happy people and a not so happy a murderer. 🤒
2.5 stars.
Right now it’s the third book in The Stranger Diaries series. Then again, one never knows if there will be a fourth, fifth, ninety/-ninth?
Harbinger is back, the gay Indian police person relocated to London gaining a promotion as a DS. She heads up a case which traces its roots back to the collapse, (college) days of some people who have grown to be on the whole successful. Two are PMs, one a film star, one a rock star, one a police person. Everyone has been or is in love with someone within the group and years ago a murder was committed with said group involved.
It all gets very muddled as we are presented with motives such as revenge, retribution, and climate change (I said it was a stretch)
The author incorporates the themes of the day gayness, white male patriarchy, climate change, etc and the whole thing is held together on very slender threads.
It had its moments but overall was less than thrilling. Pulled together at the end, lots of happy people and a not so happy a murderer. 🤒
2.5 stars.
August 28, 2022
3.5 rounded up.
Twenty-one years ago Cassie killed a man, David Moore. She lured him to one of London’s mothballed underground stations promising him he can get drugs there. Her friends are all lurking nearby. The plan is kill to him or, at the very least, scare the living daylights out of him. You see David r@ped Cassie and had tried it on with two of her other friends. It didn’t seem like he would ever stop this behaviour. Cassie and David struggle and there’s a loud noise as a train approaches and David Moore falls in front of the speeding train.
In the present Harbinder Kaur has been promoted to DI in the CID of the MET and is in charge of the MIT at West Kensington. Apologies for all the acronyms but I’m sure they are pretty self explanatory. Cassie is now DS Cassie Fitzherbert. She has a husband and two children. Cassie attends a reunion at her alma mater, Manor Park school. Everyone in her friendship group will be there
Garfield Rice - now Tory MP
Kris (formerly Chris) Foster - lead singer for The Cubes
Isabelle Istar -actress
Henry Steep - now Labour MP
Anna Vance - now lives in Italy
And Cassie of course, the only friend who doesn’t turn up is Sonoma who is now the school principal. Before the night is out Garfield Rice is murdered. Cassie cannot be on the case as she present at the reunion.
Suspects are batted backwards and forwards faster then a tennis final. Red herrings appear and enquiries and interviews yield nothing. Then, a couple of days later Henry Steep is found dead in Bleeding Hear Yard - a strangely named courtyard outside an old pub. Harbinder marshalls her troops very effectively. It is wonderful to see her flourish in the new environment. She is ably assisted by DS Kim Manning. Manning is an older woman who has a real skill in calming people down and getting them to talk. It was interesting to read about some of the more hidden parts of London too.
I did not enjoy this book quite as much as the previous two. It didn’t quite have the same sense of drama, in fact the case itself seemed to go around in circles a lot. The ending was, however, a very surprising twist. I enjoyed reading this one but I didn’t love it. Many thanks to Netgalley and Quercus books for the much appreciated arc which I reviewed voluntarily and honestly.
Thank you for the buddy read Jayme. Be sure to check Jayme’s fantastic review as well.
Twenty-one years ago Cassie killed a man, David Moore. She lured him to one of London’s mothballed underground stations promising him he can get drugs there. Her friends are all lurking nearby. The plan is kill to him or, at the very least, scare the living daylights out of him. You see David r@ped Cassie and had tried it on with two of her other friends. It didn’t seem like he would ever stop this behaviour. Cassie and David struggle and there’s a loud noise as a train approaches and David Moore falls in front of the speeding train.
In the present Harbinder Kaur has been promoted to DI in the CID of the MET and is in charge of the MIT at West Kensington. Apologies for all the acronyms but I’m sure they are pretty self explanatory. Cassie is now DS Cassie Fitzherbert. She has a husband and two children. Cassie attends a reunion at her alma mater, Manor Park school. Everyone in her friendship group will be there
Garfield Rice - now Tory MP
Kris (formerly Chris) Foster - lead singer for The Cubes
Isabelle Istar -actress
Henry Steep - now Labour MP
Anna Vance - now lives in Italy
And Cassie of course, the only friend who doesn’t turn up is Sonoma who is now the school principal. Before the night is out Garfield Rice is murdered. Cassie cannot be on the case as she present at the reunion.
Suspects are batted backwards and forwards faster then a tennis final. Red herrings appear and enquiries and interviews yield nothing. Then, a couple of days later Henry Steep is found dead in Bleeding Hear Yard - a strangely named courtyard outside an old pub. Harbinder marshalls her troops very effectively. It is wonderful to see her flourish in the new environment. She is ably assisted by DS Kim Manning. Manning is an older woman who has a real skill in calming people down and getting them to talk. It was interesting to read about some of the more hidden parts of London too.
I did not enjoy this book quite as much as the previous two. It didn’t quite have the same sense of drama, in fact the case itself seemed to go around in circles a lot. The ending was, however, a very surprising twist. I enjoyed reading this one but I didn’t love it. Many thanks to Netgalley and Quercus books for the much appreciated arc which I reviewed voluntarily and honestly.
Thank you for the buddy read Jayme. Be sure to check Jayme’s fantastic review as well.
June 18, 2023
3.5 stars
Bleeding Heart Yard is the third book in the Harbinder Kaur series and can be read as a standalone novel. In this book, Harbinder has moved to London and has been promoted. After a murder at a reunion with celebrities and politicians, Harbinder has been assigned this high profile case.
I really like this series, don't let the rating fool you. This book fell a bit flat for me because I felt the killer came out of nowhere. All the focus is on this group of people so you really pat attention, but then I was annoyed with the outcome. I wish we got more of Harbinder than the side characters in this one, she's the most interesting person to me. But overall I enjoyed listening and will definitely be continuing this series.
Bleeding Heart Yard is the third book in the Harbinder Kaur series and can be read as a standalone novel. In this book, Harbinder has moved to London and has been promoted. After a murder at a reunion with celebrities and politicians, Harbinder has been assigned this high profile case.
I really like this series, don't let the rating fool you. This book fell a bit flat for me because I felt the killer came out of nowhere. All the focus is on this group of people so you really pat attention, but then I was annoyed with the outcome. I wish we got more of Harbinder than the side characters in this one, she's the most interesting person to me. But overall I enjoyed listening and will definitely be continuing this series.
November 11, 2022
My what a tangled web the former students of Manor Park weave. Is it possible to forget that you've committed a murder twenty one years ago?
Harbinder Kaur's team is called in to investigate when Garfield Rice, one of the former students is found murdered at their school reunion. Supposedly from a drug overdose? Or was Garfield killed by one of his political cronies?
Then we find out that twenty one years earlier David Moore, another student was murdered. Was it an accident or something more sinister?
Now yet another former student, Henry Steep is also found murdered.
Are all the murders connected? Could one of Harbinder's own team be involved?
The only minus with this book, and it's a small one is the number of character's involved. It became a bit hard to keep track of them all. But still highly recommend the book.
Elly Griffiths is a new author for me but found the book very enjoyable as a mystery lover and plan to go back and read the rest of Elly Griffith's books.
A huge Thank You to Elly Griffiths and Mariner books for a free copy in exchange for a review.
Publication date November 15 2022.
Harbinder Kaur's team is called in to investigate when Garfield Rice, one of the former students is found murdered at their school reunion. Supposedly from a drug overdose? Or was Garfield killed by one of his political cronies?
Then we find out that twenty one years earlier David Moore, another student was murdered. Was it an accident or something more sinister?
Now yet another former student, Henry Steep is also found murdered.
Are all the murders connected? Could one of Harbinder's own team be involved?
The only minus with this book, and it's a small one is the number of character's involved. It became a bit hard to keep track of them all. But still highly recommend the book.
Elly Griffiths is a new author for me but found the book very enjoyable as a mystery lover and plan to go back and read the rest of Elly Griffith's books.
A huge Thank You to Elly Griffiths and Mariner books for a free copy in exchange for a review.
Publication date November 15 2022.
September 25, 2022
A very welcome third instalment in the Harbinder Kaur series, with several wonderful new personal developments for my favourite gay, Sikh detective! This time there's another noticeable change in style (as compared with #2 The Postscript Murders), but overall I'd say it's reverted back to align more closely with #1 The Stranger Diaries. I'm a happy reader either way, as I've enjoyed them all.
Along with her promotion to DI, Harbinder has taken a job with the Met, and as a result has had to leave the comfort of her parents' home and move to London. She's living in a sharehouse with two other professional women and enjoying the excitement of all the new in her life - even if she is a little lonely at times. One Saturday night she gets a call to attend the scene of her first suspicious death in the big city - that of prominent MP Garfield Rice - and suddenly her life is too busy to think about her loneliness. Rice had been attending a school reunion at the time of his death, and amongst the attendees were most of his close friends from 21 years earlier at Manor Park school, including Cassie Fitzherbert who just so happens to be a DS on Harbinder's new team.
That's the setup. Although this time the mystery is a bit more straightforward, it does include many of the elements of the previous books; multiple narrators and perspectives, lots of red herrings, a good dose of very dry humour. But what I really appreciated about it was that Harbinder herself is more in the spotlight than she was last time. While The Group (i.e. Rice's Manor Park friends) does try to work out how/why their friend died, I didn't think it overshadowed the police investigation this time. There are minor references to events of the previous two books, including a brief appearance from Natalka and Co, but this book can definitely stand on its own. Recommended.
With thanks to NetGalley and Quercus Books for an advance copy to read and review.
Along with her promotion to DI, Harbinder has taken a job with the Met, and as a result has had to leave the comfort of her parents' home and move to London. She's living in a sharehouse with two other professional women and enjoying the excitement of all the new in her life - even if she is a little lonely at times. One Saturday night she gets a call to attend the scene of her first suspicious death in the big city - that of prominent MP Garfield Rice - and suddenly her life is too busy to think about her loneliness. Rice had been attending a school reunion at the time of his death, and amongst the attendees were most of his close friends from 21 years earlier at Manor Park school, including Cassie Fitzherbert who just so happens to be a DS on Harbinder's new team.
That's the setup. Although this time the mystery is a bit more straightforward, it does include many of the elements of the previous books; multiple narrators and perspectives, lots of red herrings, a good dose of very dry humour. But what I really appreciated about it was that Harbinder herself is more in the spotlight than she was last time. While The Group (i.e. Rice's Manor Park friends) does try to work out how/why their friend died, I didn't think it overshadowed the police investigation this time. There are minor references to events of the previous two books, including a brief appearance from Natalka and Co, but this book can definitely stand on its own. Recommended.
With thanks to NetGalley and Quercus Books for an advance copy to read and review.
November 12, 2022
4 reunion stars
This is the third installment in this series with DI Harbinder Kaur. In this one, she’s made the big move to London and is finally away from her parents. I found that she really grew in this one personally, which made for good character development.
Of course, there’s a murder to investigate at a school reunion, and this time it involves one of the officers that Harbinder now supervises – Cassie. We learn early on that there was a student’s death while she was going to school, and Cassie and the Gang were responsible. Just exactly what happened is part of the mystery of the book. And does that death have something to do with the current murder?
We get Cassie’s perspective for part of the book, and I wondered if she was an unreliable narrator, or if maybe we were getting the full truth. The gang of friends is an interesting one, two of the men are politicians, one is a rock star, and one is an actress. Another is Anna, an artist, who has been living in Italy for years.
As the investigation proceeded, my wild guesses were all over the place. I never did get it quite right, but the ending did make sense.
I really like the writing style of this author and the British elements. Harbinder is definitely growing on me, and I can’t wait to read the next one in the series.
My thanks to Scene of the Crime Early Read/Mariner Books for the opportunity to read and honestly review this one.
This is the third installment in this series with DI Harbinder Kaur. In this one, she’s made the big move to London and is finally away from her parents. I found that she really grew in this one personally, which made for good character development.
Of course, there’s a murder to investigate at a school reunion, and this time it involves one of the officers that Harbinder now supervises – Cassie. We learn early on that there was a student’s death while she was going to school, and Cassie and the Gang were responsible. Just exactly what happened is part of the mystery of the book. And does that death have something to do with the current murder?
We get Cassie’s perspective for part of the book, and I wondered if she was an unreliable narrator, or if maybe we were getting the full truth. The gang of friends is an interesting one, two of the men are politicians, one is a rock star, and one is an actress. Another is Anna, an artist, who has been living in Italy for years.
As the investigation proceeded, my wild guesses were all over the place. I never did get it quite right, but the ending did make sense.
I really like the writing style of this author and the British elements. Harbinder is definitely growing on me, and I can’t wait to read the next one in the series.
My thanks to Scene of the Crime Early Read/Mariner Books for the opportunity to read and honestly review this one.
March 20, 2023
The people in this book behave/think in such bizarre ways that if I started trying to describe it I’d be here all day. Also, so many mistakes and inconsistencies I have to wonder if it was edited at all.
November 26, 2022
The third novel in this enjoyable series finds Harbinder Kaur, at the grand old age of 38, finally leaving her family home in Shoreham and now sharing a flat with two other women in London. She has been promoted to Detective Inspector and leads a small team in the Criminal Investigation Division of the Metropolitan Police. However, little does Harbinder know that one of her team is a possible murderer.
21 years before, the woman now known as Detective Sergeant Cassie Fitzherbert believes she was at least partially responsible for the death of David Moore, a fellow pupil at Manor High School, a day before they were due to receive their A-Level results. Then, when Cassie attends a school reunion party, another of her former classmates, controversial right-wing MP Garfield Rice is also murdered.
When Harbinder is assigned the new case, Cassie, although not actively involved as she is a “potential witness”, attempts to steer the investigation into thinking Rice was murdered for political reasons, rather than his death being linked to David Moore’s. Then another of her old friends, who was also at the reunion, is killed. Is it possible the same person killed all three victims?
Yet another thrilling read with all the usual Elly Griffiths hallmarks: an unusual plot with plenty of twists, frequent splashes of wry humour and a cast full of memorable characters.
21 years before, the woman now known as Detective Sergeant Cassie Fitzherbert believes she was at least partially responsible for the death of David Moore, a fellow pupil at Manor High School, a day before they were due to receive their A-Level results. Then, when Cassie attends a school reunion party, another of her former classmates, controversial right-wing MP Garfield Rice is also murdered.
When Harbinder is assigned the new case, Cassie, although not actively involved as she is a “potential witness”, attempts to steer the investigation into thinking Rice was murdered for political reasons, rather than his death being linked to David Moore’s. Then another of her old friends, who was also at the reunion, is killed. Is it possible the same person killed all three victims?
Yet another thrilling read with all the usual Elly Griffiths hallmarks: an unusual plot with plenty of twists, frequent splashes of wry humour and a cast full of memorable characters.
October 14, 2022
I love the Ruth Galloway series, but I just didn't like this book.
I don't know if it's the difference between listening to audio books as I do with the RGs, or reading as I did with this but I just don't find the characters convincing, plus there's just the main one so far and not the hinterland of RG.
There are also several errors, such as here in ch. 1: "... the tree outside Harbinder's window is turnng from green to amber to red, like a traffic light in reverse". That IS the sequence ! In reverse it would be red, red and amber and then green. The error is repeated at the start of ch. 25.
JK Jerome's classic is not Three Men AND a Boat, they are IN a boat, as I would expect any author and her editors to know. And would her Mum really serve THREE different breads with the butter chicken ?
And finally there is the casual dismissal of all Tories as venal lying bastards. Many of them are, but the same is true of many politicians more generally. If we are going to have an un-written assumption that the left is always right, climate change is an unavoidable catastrophe and other woke positions are unassailable, then I am afraid this author will become a no-go area.
As for the plot, I didn't find that plausible either, with people forgetting what they saw years earlier and then remembering, or believing things about themselves that had never been true. It's a facile way of cheating the reader of any chance of guessing the real murderer.
I don't know if it's the difference between listening to audio books as I do with the RGs, or reading as I did with this but I just don't find the characters convincing, plus there's just the main one so far and not the hinterland of RG.
There are also several errors, such as here in ch. 1: "... the tree outside Harbinder's window is turnng from green to amber to red, like a traffic light in reverse". That IS the sequence ! In reverse it would be red, red and amber and then green. The error is repeated at the start of ch. 25.
JK Jerome's classic is not Three Men AND a Boat, they are IN a boat, as I would expect any author and her editors to know. And would her Mum really serve THREE different breads with the butter chicken ?
And finally there is the casual dismissal of all Tories as venal lying bastards. Many of them are, but the same is true of many politicians more generally. If we are going to have an un-written assumption that the left is always right, climate change is an unavoidable catastrophe and other woke positions are unassailable, then I am afraid this author will become a no-go area.
As for the plot, I didn't find that plausible either, with people forgetting what they saw years earlier and then remembering, or believing things about themselves that had never been true. It's a facile way of cheating the reader of any chance of guessing the real murderer.
September 22, 2022
Thank you to NetGalley and Quercus for the eARC copy of this title.
I am a massive lover of crime and thriller stories; it is one of my top (if not THE top) genres. The description of the plot sounded fantastic and I was very much looking forward to it... however my expectations were unfortunately not lived up to.
The novel didn't engage me much. It took me roughly 2 weeks to read this when I could usually finish a novel this length in a couple of days. I found that the beginning chapters that opened with the murder and backstory of The Group were well written, however after this the chapters began to fall very flat. I found that in between revealing snippets of the past, the chapters were very repetitive; going over information that had been mentioned in the previous chapter (e.g Anna's baker boy cap, Gary and Henry being political rivals etc.), and reading this repeated information just got boring.
I did guess the twist at the end. I'm not sure if this was down to me, or the writing, however I do believe that I came to the conclusion early on because each suspect was eliminated early on, or had very minor motivations.
That being said, I did enjoy reading some of the characters. I enjoyed the relationship between Anna and Chris, and particularly had a soft spot for Star. Izzy was irritating, but I felt that added to her overall character of her being the successful actress. I also really appreciated the use of a real life location for the setting of the murder as it connected it to the real world.
All in all, the book failed to engage me and draw me in, however some of the characters were entertaining to read
I am a massive lover of crime and thriller stories; it is one of my top (if not THE top) genres. The description of the plot sounded fantastic and I was very much looking forward to it... however my expectations were unfortunately not lived up to.
The novel didn't engage me much. It took me roughly 2 weeks to read this when I could usually finish a novel this length in a couple of days. I found that the beginning chapters that opened with the murder and backstory of The Group were well written, however after this the chapters began to fall very flat. I found that in between revealing snippets of the past, the chapters were very repetitive; going over information that had been mentioned in the previous chapter (e.g Anna's baker boy cap, Gary and Henry being political rivals etc.), and reading this repeated information just got boring.
I did guess the twist at the end. I'm not sure if this was down to me, or the writing, however I do believe that I came to the conclusion early on because each suspect was eliminated early on, or had very minor motivations.
That being said, I did enjoy reading some of the characters. I enjoyed the relationship between Anna and Chris, and particularly had a soft spot for Star. Izzy was irritating, but I felt that added to her overall character of her being the successful actress. I also really appreciated the use of a real life location for the setting of the murder as it connected it to the real world.
All in all, the book failed to engage me and draw me in, however some of the characters were entertaining to read
August 8, 2022
The first two Harbinder Kaur books were delightfully different and so much fun. This third one feels like, well, like any procedural you'd pull off the shelf. Especially as the old-school-friends-who-were-involved-in-a-murder has been one of the most overused tropes for the last two decades. At one point I thought it was getting interesting except that no it wasn't really.
The ending is deeply disappointing, which doesn't help matters at all.
The ending is deeply disappointing, which doesn't help matters at all.
September 7, 2022
Bleeding Heart Yard is the third novel by award-winning British author, Elly Griffiths to feature Harbinder Kaur. Having made Detective Inspector and moved to London, Harbinder Kaur’s boring Saturday night is livened up by her first case as lead investigator for the Metropolitan Police. Conservative MP Garfield Rice, a notoriously vocal climate change denier, has been found dead at Manor Park School during a class reunion.
What initially looks like a drug overdose is soon revealed to be murder, and her team has quite a task ahead of them, interviewing and investigating the reunion attendees, one of whom, it turns out, is a DS under Harbinder’s command. Cassie Fitzherbert has to be excluded from the investigation, but Harbinder might rely on her for some inside information about those present. Wise?
Research alerts the team to the death of another Manor Park student back in 1998: David Moore’s fall under a train at a decommissioned tube station was ruled as accidental, but Gary Rice was apparently the only witness. And he had recently been talking to others about it. Now he, too, is dead. And all this time, Cassie has been holding a guilty secret.
Of interest are the class of 1998, in particular, members of The Group, a tight clique with a BAFTA-winning actress, a pop star, a teacher, a Labour MP, Manor Park’s headmistress and a Police detective, Cassie, in their number, all but one of whom attended the reunion. Harbinder assigns her somewhat star-struck team to question them, selecting some to chat to personally.
By the time alibis are checked, CCTV footage examined, and each has been interviewed several times, it looks like a number had the means and opportunity to murder their classmate. And if, as is looking more likely, David Moore was murdered, his murderer or murderers would have a motive too. Not that this could be the only motive, considering Gary’s political stance.
And then, three days later, another of The Group is murdered…
Griffiths uses three narrative strands: Harbinder’s perspective can certainly be trusted, even if some of her decisions are a little puzzling; classmates Cassie Fitzherbert and Anna Vance offer different points of view on the events of both 1998 and the reunion and aftermath. Cassie’s narrative seems reliable, but is Anna’s? After all, as a classmate tells her: “it’s perfectly possible to convince someone they experienced something they didn’t… all that’s necessary is for someone you trust to tell you that you did something and you start to believe it.”
With Harbinder’s move to London, Griffiths introduces a whole new cast of characters: colleagues and flatmates, while not completely abandoning those from earlier instalments. Not all of Harbinder’s team seem to be on the same page, but she and DS Kim Manning do make a good team. And one of her flatmates is both entertaining and of a handy stature during a nasty situation. The reveal will have most jaws dropping: someone not even on the reader’s suspect radar. Cleverly plotted, Harbinder’s third outing is excellent British crime fiction.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Quercus.
What initially looks like a drug overdose is soon revealed to be murder, and her team has quite a task ahead of them, interviewing and investigating the reunion attendees, one of whom, it turns out, is a DS under Harbinder’s command. Cassie Fitzherbert has to be excluded from the investigation, but Harbinder might rely on her for some inside information about those present. Wise?
Research alerts the team to the death of another Manor Park student back in 1998: David Moore’s fall under a train at a decommissioned tube station was ruled as accidental, but Gary Rice was apparently the only witness. And he had recently been talking to others about it. Now he, too, is dead. And all this time, Cassie has been holding a guilty secret.
Of interest are the class of 1998, in particular, members of The Group, a tight clique with a BAFTA-winning actress, a pop star, a teacher, a Labour MP, Manor Park’s headmistress and a Police detective, Cassie, in their number, all but one of whom attended the reunion. Harbinder assigns her somewhat star-struck team to question them, selecting some to chat to personally.
By the time alibis are checked, CCTV footage examined, and each has been interviewed several times, it looks like a number had the means and opportunity to murder their classmate. And if, as is looking more likely, David Moore was murdered, his murderer or murderers would have a motive too. Not that this could be the only motive, considering Gary’s political stance.
And then, three days later, another of The Group is murdered…
Griffiths uses three narrative strands: Harbinder’s perspective can certainly be trusted, even if some of her decisions are a little puzzling; classmates Cassie Fitzherbert and Anna Vance offer different points of view on the events of both 1998 and the reunion and aftermath. Cassie’s narrative seems reliable, but is Anna’s? After all, as a classmate tells her: “it’s perfectly possible to convince someone they experienced something they didn’t… all that’s necessary is for someone you trust to tell you that you did something and you start to believe it.”
With Harbinder’s move to London, Griffiths introduces a whole new cast of characters: colleagues and flatmates, while not completely abandoning those from earlier instalments. Not all of Harbinder’s team seem to be on the same page, but she and DS Kim Manning do make a good team. And one of her flatmates is both entertaining and of a handy stature during a nasty situation. The reveal will have most jaws dropping: someone not even on the reader’s suspect radar. Cleverly plotted, Harbinder’s third outing is excellent British crime fiction.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Quercus.
October 15, 2022
Been generous and given this two stars but I actually didn’t enjoy this book as much as I thought I would.
The synopsis on the cover made the book sound really good but end up miserably disappointed!
The murderer is not one of the main characters that you read about all through the book. It’s somebody totally random and very disappointing.
Weak plot, weak characters and the reader ends up at the end regretting the wasted hours reading it!
The synopsis on the cover made the book sound really good but end up miserably disappointed!
The murderer is not one of the main characters that you read about all through the book. It’s somebody totally random and very disappointing.
Weak plot, weak characters and the reader ends up at the end regretting the wasted hours reading it!
March 25, 2023
Fan of the Harbinder character, decent audio and interesting storyline.
November 28, 2022
Detective Inspector Harbinder Kaur is now living in London--and away from her family. She has a promotion and is leading her own team. Her first big case involves the murder of a MP, Garfield Rice. When Harbinder arrives at the scene, she discovers one of her own team already there: DS Cassie Fitzgerald. Cassie and Garfield were at their school reunion, joining back up with a group of friends with whom they share a close past friendship... and secrets. Now Harbinder must figure out if Garfield's death is tied to those friends, or his political leanings.
I'm so glad Harbinder Kaur is in my life. Elly Griffiths tells all of her stories with such ease, and I love getting to know her characters. This is the third Harbinder book and while it certainly can stand-alone, I recommend reading the first two as well: both because they are excellent and because you can pick up on some nuances of her character. Plus, I just love Griffiths for writing a lesbian Sikh lead character.
I will admit, I was a little slow to follow the beginning of YARD due to its early emphasis on English schooling and politics. That's just my own ignorance. Everything made sense in time. There are a lot of characters introduced quickly (all of Cassie's friends at the reunion), but you soon learn who's who. The story is told not just from Harbinder's POV but Cassie and others, which adds an extra level of intrigue.
Griffiths gives us an interesting and timely tale filled with apt political aspects. I absolutely adore Harbinder (and her dry wit and sarcasm). Garfield's murder is a fascinating case that keeps you guessing. 4+ stars.
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley / Scene of the Crime and Mariner Books in return for an unbiased review.
I'm so glad Harbinder Kaur is in my life. Elly Griffiths tells all of her stories with such ease, and I love getting to know her characters. This is the third Harbinder book and while it certainly can stand-alone, I recommend reading the first two as well: both because they are excellent and because you can pick up on some nuances of her character. Plus, I just love Griffiths for writing a lesbian Sikh lead character.
I will admit, I was a little slow to follow the beginning of YARD due to its early emphasis on English schooling and politics. That's just my own ignorance. Everything made sense in time. There are a lot of characters introduced quickly (all of Cassie's friends at the reunion), but you soon learn who's who. The story is told not just from Harbinder's POV but Cassie and others, which adds an extra level of intrigue.
Griffiths gives us an interesting and timely tale filled with apt political aspects. I absolutely adore Harbinder (and her dry wit and sarcasm). Garfield's murder is a fascinating case that keeps you guessing. 4+ stars.
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley / Scene of the Crime and Mariner Books in return for an unbiased review.
October 11, 2022
3,5 ⭐️
Is it possible to forget you’ve committed a murder? That’s the interesting premise Bleeding Heart Yard parts from. This is the third installment in the DI Harbinder Kaur series.
Newly promoted DI Harbinder Kaur is now living in London, still accommodating to her new live, when her first big case lands at her feet. During a school reunion in a posh school, one of the former students, now a MP, is murdered. He was a part of a group of friends that called themselves “The Group”, that now will be forced to face their shared past, as their friend’s death might be related to another death they were involved with 21 years ago.
I’ve been loving this series so much! Harbinder Kaur is such a fantastic character. It’s been great seeing her out of the comfort of her hometown and her parent’s wings. She’s still caustic and has a dark sense of humour, but is much more mature this time around. Her move to London means she has new colleagues at work, and they were such a nice team. Her duo with DS Kim Manning was a really interesting one.
While I’ve enjoyed all three books in the series, this time I had a harder time engaging with the cast of characters. While The Postcript Murders (2nd book in the series) was full of really charming characters that made for a fantastic read (they make a small appearance here), in Bleeding Heart Yard, they felt a bit cold and detached, and I could not connect with any of the characters in “The Group”. The back and forth between them felt a bit confusing at times. It also seemed to focus too much on the incident in the past and that was a bit repetitive.
The first two books in the series had more of a unique and original feel, while this one read more like a traditional police procedural. Nice on its own, but lacking a bit when compared to the other two. At least the ending still delivered some surprises!
Nice, easy to read mystery that, although not my favorite from the author, brings back a much beloved main character I can’t get enough of, so I’m really looking forward to reading more of this series.
Thanks to NetGalley and Quercus for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Is it possible to forget you’ve committed a murder? That’s the interesting premise Bleeding Heart Yard parts from. This is the third installment in the DI Harbinder Kaur series.
Newly promoted DI Harbinder Kaur is now living in London, still accommodating to her new live, when her first big case lands at her feet. During a school reunion in a posh school, one of the former students, now a MP, is murdered. He was a part of a group of friends that called themselves “The Group”, that now will be forced to face their shared past, as their friend’s death might be related to another death they were involved with 21 years ago.
I’ve been loving this series so much! Harbinder Kaur is such a fantastic character. It’s been great seeing her out of the comfort of her hometown and her parent’s wings. She’s still caustic and has a dark sense of humour, but is much more mature this time around. Her move to London means she has new colleagues at work, and they were such a nice team. Her duo with DS Kim Manning was a really interesting one.
While I’ve enjoyed all three books in the series, this time I had a harder time engaging with the cast of characters. While The Postcript Murders (2nd book in the series) was full of really charming characters that made for a fantastic read (they make a small appearance here), in Bleeding Heart Yard, they felt a bit cold and detached, and I could not connect with any of the characters in “The Group”. The back and forth between them felt a bit confusing at times. It also seemed to focus too much on the incident in the past and that was a bit repetitive.
The first two books in the series had more of a unique and original feel, while this one read more like a traditional police procedural. Nice on its own, but lacking a bit when compared to the other two. At least the ending still delivered some surprises!
Nice, easy to read mystery that, although not my favorite from the author, brings back a much beloved main character I can’t get enough of, so I’m really looking forward to reading more of this series.
Thanks to NetGalley and Quercus for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
July 25, 2022
Harbinder Kaur is now a DI in London. Her first big case at her new job is a death at a 21st school reunion. One of her officers, Cassie, was at the reunion, and was in a clique of friends with the deceased. When another of the clique is murdered, there's a question of whether it all goes back to a friend who died right after A level results were posted. Did he fall in front of the train, or did someone push him? Griffiths is, as usual, great at fleshing out all of her characters, and challenging the reader to guess the outcome. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.
July 13, 2025
A great addition to this series and I really enjoyed the relationships between the officers and how they solved this crime.
August 28, 2022
Bleeding Heart Yard is the third instalment of the Harbinder Kaur series, about a British Sikh CID detective solving complicated murder mysteries, although it would work fine as a stand-alone too. I loved the first book (The Stranger Diaries) but found the second rather too cosy In style. However I liked Harbinder enough to continue the series regardless - a good decision as this one is the best to date. It’s a more conventional police procedural, and change in direction for the series, but worked brilliantly in my opinion because of the intriguing cast of characters.
Harbinder has moved to West London following her promotion to DI, and her first case with a new team involves the death of a prominent Tory politician at a school reunion. Her suspects include the man’s former friends, all part of a popular clique known as The Group, one of whom just happens to be Cassie, Harbinder’s DS - who has been keeping a terrible secret for twenty years…
I like the nostalgia of a school reunion plot line - and Manor Park Comprehensive, though fictional, is set very close to where I went to school, so I enjoyed all the geographic references. Having a cast of celebrity suspects, and the flashbacks to their teen years, had me engaged from the start, and contrasted nicely with Harbinder’s down to earth murder investigation team and comic relief flatmates. I wasn’t sure how the Bleeding Heart Yard of the title would fit in, with its gory backstory, but when it does the mystery deepens further - I was interested to learn from the afterword that it is a real place.
I’m fairly sure that the defunct Imperial underground station doesn’t exist though, as I rode that tube line for six years so surely would’ve noticed.
The story is told from Cassie and Anna’s third person past perspective, and Harbinder’s in third person present, but I was mostly able to tolerate this. It’s set in 2019, presumably to avoid having to incorporate Covid into the plot. I didn’t like the jumping timelines where events happen, then we go back half a day to get the build-up to those events from someone else’s POV. Apart from this minor quibble, I thoroughly enjoyed this and flew through it in a day, wanting to know both whodunnit and how it would all turn out. I did suspect the killer’s identity but only because they seemed the least likely culprit! (You can tell I read too much crime fiction.) 4.5 rounded up for good writing and a satisfying ending.
Thanks to NetGalley and Quercus for the ARC. I am posting this honest review voluntarily. Bleeding Heart Yard is published on September 29th.
Harbinder has moved to West London following her promotion to DI, and her first case with a new team involves the death of a prominent Tory politician at a school reunion. Her suspects include the man’s former friends, all part of a popular clique known as The Group, one of whom just happens to be Cassie, Harbinder’s DS - who has been keeping a terrible secret for twenty years…
I like the nostalgia of a school reunion plot line - and Manor Park Comprehensive, though fictional, is set very close to where I went to school, so I enjoyed all the geographic references. Having a cast of celebrity suspects, and the flashbacks to their teen years, had me engaged from the start, and contrasted nicely with Harbinder’s down to earth murder investigation team and comic relief flatmates. I wasn’t sure how the Bleeding Heart Yard of the title would fit in, with its gory backstory, but when it does the mystery deepens further - I was interested to learn from the afterword that it is a real place.
I’m fairly sure that the defunct Imperial underground station doesn’t exist though, as I rode that tube line for six years so surely would’ve noticed.
The story is told from Cassie and Anna’s third person past perspective, and Harbinder’s in third person present, but I was mostly able to tolerate this. It’s set in 2019, presumably to avoid having to incorporate Covid into the plot. I didn’t like the jumping timelines where events happen, then we go back half a day to get the build-up to those events from someone else’s POV. Apart from this minor quibble, I thoroughly enjoyed this and flew through it in a day, wanting to know both whodunnit and how it would all turn out. I did suspect the killer’s identity but only because they seemed the least likely culprit! (You can tell I read too much crime fiction.) 4.5 rounded up for good writing and a satisfying ending.
Thanks to NetGalley and Quercus for the ARC. I am posting this honest review voluntarily. Bleeding Heart Yard is published on September 29th.
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