The Dark Edge by Nick Louth

Published by Canelo,
24 April 2025.
ISBN: 978-1-80436889-3 (PB)

Did she fall or was she pushed? This becomes the burning question for Detective Inspector Jan Talantire and her team when the body of Joanne Dexter was found lying part of the way down a really high cliff in Devon. A man on the clifftop found Joanne’s frail old mother Margaret Omerod, wandering around confused, it was really cold and the rain was torrential. He guided her to his car and she wanted to know where her daughter was. She told him Joanne had gone to look for her mother’s hat, it had blown off in the wind. He then took her back to the local nursing home where she was a patient suffering from dementia.

Events then take a rather sinister turn when it is found Joanne worked for Special Branch at a listening station in Bude and was an intelligence officer employed by GCHQ. On investigation suspicions arise, could she have been a Russian spy?

Digging deeper into Margaret’s and Joanne’s personal lives, events take a very complicated turn involving a Marquess many years ago. Jan is thoroughly baffled, can this really have anything to do with Joanne’s death? It seems more and more likely it may well have.

Then there is another body found; this time it is definitely a murder. To add to the mystery, DNA is found at the crime scene, which is seemingly impossible, what is going on? Jan and her team are really confused; it seems they have never had two such complicated deaths to solve. Are they even connected?

While all the investigations are going on, Jan also has to deal with a complaint she has made about a senior officer she once had an affair with. Things turn quite nasty for her.

Can she discover the truth behind the two deaths, solve the problems in her personal life, and emerge unscathed?

Another absorbing crime for Detective Inspector Jan Talantire to tackle from her clever creator Nick Louth.  Really highly recommended.
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Reviewer: Tricia Chappell

Nick Louth is a best-selling thriller writer, award-winning financial journalist and an investment commentator. He self-published his first novel, Bite, which was a No. 1 Kindle best-seller. It has sold a third of a million copies and been translated into six languages. Freelance since 1998, he has been a regular contributor to the financial Times, Investors Chronical and Money Observer. Nick is married and lives in Lincolnshire.

Tricia Chappell. I have a great love of books and reading, especially crime and thrillers. I play the occasional game of golf (when I am not reading). My great love is cruising especially to far flung places, when there are long days at sea for plenty more reading! I am really enjoying reviewing books and have found lots of great new authors.