Since visiting his brother’s murderer in prison, Tomek’s nightmares have abated but he’s still in two minds as to whether or not he really saw a second killer, the mysterious Charlie in his dreams. Anyway, he has plenty to occupy his mind as the body of his favourite café owner Morgana has been discovered at a local tourist spot, the sunken Mulberry Harbour, held beneath the water and drowned. A man was seen standing over her body but ran before anyone could catch him. That’s the new case for the solid and very likable team at Southend CID, which includes Tomek, DCI “Nasty Nick” Cleaves (a father figure to Tomek despite their love/hate relationship), DI Victoria Orange, DS Sean Campbell, and DCs Chey Carter, Nadia Chakrabarti, Rachel Hamilton, Oscar Perez, Anna Kaczmarek and Martin Brown, each with their very own distinct skill set which produces a highly efficient investigation. Soon after, one key witness reports a stalker and another one is found dead and, with Nick suspended after links to a previous case, the pressure is on the rest of the team to find a motive for the murder and a decent suspect. Can Tomek battle through all the lies to finally reach the truth about Morgana’s death?
Tomek might have thought he was dealing better with his brother’s death thirty years ago but the old wounds are immediately reopened when he gets a tormenting letter from HMP Wakefield. Meanwhile he still sometimes struggles with understanding his newly discovered teenage daughter and balancing life with new girlfriend reporter Abigail as well. The team also feels divided now Victoria and Sean are an item, with Victoria creating a strained atmosphere, however the comradery and humour are still plentiful between all the detectives (I do like Oscar in particular!) as they plough through more bodies and seemingly fruitless leads in a gripping story with lots of twists and surprises and a grisly exciting ending. Having got to know the main characters so well now and left with a little teaser, I can’t wait to see what happens to them all next!
