Because She Looked Away

Book excerpt: 'Admirers of Bruce's superb DC Goodhew series will seize on this - the first book in her new Cambridge-set series. Utterly engrossing, and with plot twists that keep you guessing till the end, this is a brilliant start to what promises to be a terrific new series.' Christina Koning 'A powerful and absorbing story that stayed with me long after I'd finished reading. A writer at the top of her game' Elly Griffiths 'Because She Looked Away is fast paced, twisty, clever, and satisfying, an engaging start to a new series from an established author' Emily Winslow 'One of our most interesting crime writers' Daily Mail After the sudden death of her sister, devastated detective DS Ronnie Blake relocates to Cambridge to help her brother Alex raise their sister's young son, Noah. She reports for her first day but instead finds herself being questioned by a special investigations unit, nicknamed the DEAD Team. With a small group of six, led by DI Fenton, the once-successful DEAD team has a single outstanding case, Operation Byron, and the failure to resolve it threatens the unit's existence. Their most promising lead is an anonymous note linking three seemingly unconnected people: a convicted fraudster, a dead academic... and Ronnie's sister Jodie. When Ronnie is denied information about Operation Byron, she follows a lead slipped to her by Malachi, the youngest member of the team, and makes a discovery which links Operation Byron to a disturbing unsolved murder. She is rapidly drawn into an intricate web of deceit, buried secrets and tragedy and the discovery that her connection to Cambridge is far darker than she could ever have guessed. Praise for Alison Bruce 'Alison Bruce always delivers. Her latest is tense, twisty, terrific' Ian Rankin ' [Alison Bruce] has written a superior thriller, full of suppressed menace' The Times Crime Club 'Unpredictable, challenging and compelling' Sophie Hannah 'Alison Bruce has long been one of the most adroit crime fiction practitioners in the UK. The Moment Before Impact is . . . her most accomplished outing yet' Barry Forshaw, Financial Time 'As always, Bruce produces a rewarding read' The Times 'I Did It For Us held me from the off. It's compelling, slickly plotted and brilliantly written' Amanda Jennings