‘Because She Looked Away’ by Alison Bruce.

Published by Constable,
26 September 2024. 
ISBN: 978- 47212-390-9 (HB)

DS Ronnie Blake has just relocated to Cambridge from London.  She is still recovering from the sudden death of her sister, Jodie, and she and her brother Alex are raising Jodie’s son, eight-year-old Noah.  Ronnie is aware that this will impinge on her professional life, but she, she reports to Cambridge Police Station, expecting to be allocated some duties, but is instead told that she is still considered unfit to work.  Then, to her surprise, she is questioned by members of the Special Investigations Unit for the Eastern Region (nicknamed the DEAD Team).  Ronnie is puzzled by this and eventually discovers that, though the unit has had great success, it only has one outstanding case (Operation Byron) and that is proving difficult to crack.  They have the names of three apparently unconnected people:  a convicted fraudster, a dead academic, and her dead sister, and it seems to involve blackmail.

Despite warnings to stay out of the case, Ronnie cannot ignore it and tries to find out what is going on.  However, she quickly finds a possible lead which appears to connect Operation Byron to a shocking local murder.  She is seconded to the DEAD team and with the help of Malachi (a new member of the team) she tries to find out why her sister died.

The plot develops in a variety of ways:  Ronnie’s relationship with her professional colleagues and the tensions between the DEAD team and Superintendent Cooper (her new boss).  Returning to her childhood home, she is discovering things about Cambridge and her family.  And she and her brother Alex are learning how to care for and support Noah – new roles for both of them.

The various strands are teased out in unexpected ways and the twists and turns make it difficult to spot the criminals.  The story is a gripping read with some dark parts, but short chapters keep the pace going and encourage the reader to read just a bit more.  Ronnie is a great lead, a good detective, determined, persistent but not known for her team spirit.  The other characters are well-developed individuals, with their own hopes and problems, and it will be interesting to see how they develop in future stories.  

This is a great start to the new D S Ronnie Blake series, and one looks forward very much to the next instalment.
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Reviewer: Jo Hesslewood
Other books by this author:  The D C Goodhew series:  Cambridge Blue, Cambridge Siren, Cambridge Calling, Cambridge Silence, Cambridge Backs, Cambridge Promise; Stand-alones:  I did it for us, The Moment Before Impact; 

Alison Bruce was born in Croydon and grew up in Wiltshire. She had moved to the Cambridge area in 1998 and decided to make it the backdrop for the books because of its unique mix of characteristics. She writes the DC Gary Goodhew, Cambridge Blue series and has also written two standalone novels, I Did It for Us and The Moment before Impact. Alison has a first-class BSc (Hons) in Crime and Investigative Studies and works with the Eastern region police forces.  The first book in her new series set in Cambridge is, Because She Looked Away, published September 2024.

www.alisonbruce.com

Jo Hesslewood.  Crime fiction has been my favourite reading material since as a teenager I first spotted Agatha Christie on the library bookshelves.  For twenty-five years the commute to and from London provided plenty of reading time.  I am fortunate to live in Cambridge, where my local crime fiction book club, Crimecrackers, meets at Heffers Bookshop.  I enjoy attending crime fiction events and currently organise events for the Margery Allingham Society.