Catching the Aston Strangler was the case that launched DCS Kat Frank but when a body is found buried on a Warwickshire farm, doubts begin to form that the right man was arrested for the crime. A new podcast is accusing Kat of arresting the wrong man and now with a new victim, pressure is mounting on the Warwickshire police to establish the truth.

As Kat and AIDE Lock – the world’s first AI detective – investigate the murder, tensions are mounting within Future Policing Unit. But with Kat keeping secrets from the team about the original Strangler case, and not everyone appreciating Lock’s increasing abilities and effect on the department, things are heading to an explosive confusion – and everything is going to change…

First thing – am I imagining it or is the new cover design playing down the AI aspect of the books by the cover image not even hinting at it? I wonder if people hear the concept and worry about the sci-fi element, so the powers-that-be have decided to downplay it. Well, on the cover at least.

It’s a shame, because if you’ve read the reviews of In The Blink Of An Eye and Leave No Trace, you’ll know how much I loved those books. The AI aspect enhances things – this is no eighties sci-fi cop show (Automan is the obscurity that I’m thinking of) – highlighting the human relationships both within the team and in the cases they are investigating.

After building things up with Lock in the first two books, now is the time that things start to get serious. At Stockport Noir, Jo Callaghan intimated that this series clearly has an end point – as Lock develops more and more, the problems with AI – and this AI in particular – start to become more important to the overarching story.

I’m going to be honest, I didn’t enjoy one development in this one. I can’t say why, because it’s a massive spoiler, and I can see why it happens as it’s massively important for whatever is coming next, but being a certain type of person…

All in all, I did enjoy this book a lot, but it did feel like a sort-of transitional book leading into the finale (?). The central case(s) felt a little less complex (although not in the effect that they have) but the final section is absolutely gripping. And for the second book in a month – what an epilogue!

Looking forward to what comes next.