As J D Oswald, James has written a classic fantasy series, The Ballad of Sir Benfro. Inspired by the language and folklore of Wales, it follows the adventures of a young dragon, Sir Benfro, in a land where his kind have been hunted near to extinction by men. The whole series is now available in print, ebook and audio formats. James has also introduced the world to Detective Constable Constance 'Con' Fairchild, whose first outing was in the acclaimed No Time To Cry. Nothing to Hide is a terrific addition to the series. It’s very interesting to follow DC Constance Fairchild’s career and to follow her relationship with her family and colleagues. On compassionate leave following the death of her mother, Detective Constable Constance Fairchild thought renting a cottage near Aberystwyth, Wales would get her far enough from London to finally relax. But trouble always seems to find Con, and it's not long before she is cooling off in a police station cell after defending herself from two would-be rapists. Oswald’s USP if you will, is his ability to weave just the right amount of supernatural into his stories in such a way that he leaves it open to the reader to decide if they are spooky goings on, or just easily explained coincidence. It makes his novels a little like a choose your own adventure story. You want to believe that Madame Rose lives in a magic house you can, or if you want to believe Constance doesn’t leave the house for three days because she’s exhausted – you can. It’s so cleverly done, in all of his books. So you kind of get a two for one deal. A police procedural, and a fantasy book rolled into one.

DC Con Fairchild is recovering her balance, her health and her career following a high profile case which has left her the focus of media attention and forced her into hiding to escape that. Returning to London from a Highland retreat she finds herself confronted by a mutilated young man, barely alive and almost on her doorstep. Although she's supposed to be suspended from work, work seems not to be willing to suspend itself from her and she is pulled into a new investigation. Con has multiple issues to deal with. The trail of devastation behind her and in front of her is incessant with no sign of letting up. Supposedly off-duty, Con finds herself unwittingly caught up in this new case. With the paparazzi still hounding her, Con can find no peace in her own home. At her place of work, many of her colleagues are keeping their distance and passing snide remarks in her wake. Following on from her previous case, members of the police team are under investigation and Con is the scape-goat in her station, as the now additional workload is allocated out to those still in their jobs. I loved Constance Fairchild, the main character, and the attitude she has to what other people think which was very inspiring. She really doesn’t care what others think of her and is able to stand up for herself when needed which had me cheering for her in all the awkward situations she finds herself in. I liked that she is so supportive to other female police officers and lends her support to them when needed. My frustration with how her colleagues were treating her meant I was firmly on her side and I wanted to keep reading to find out if she would prove them all wrong. James Oswald is, primarily, a Scottish farmer who doubles up as an author. He studied psychology at the Aberdeen University where he had a penchant for penning comic strip books. Among the literary figures that influenced Oswald are English authors J.R.R. Tolkien and Terry Pratchett, and American writers Robin Hobb and Tad Williams. It feels like the investigation is happening elsewhere. You feel more like a spectator than being really involved at times. And being subjected to repeated insults, abuse and misogyny may be realistic (or not, don’t know), but it’s not that enjoyable to read when it’s so constant. There’s not a lot of relief in terms of humour or interaction with more sympathetic or empathetic characters.

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As we meet her again at the beginning of Nowhere to Run, she is sorely in need of positive energy. Battered and bruised from everything she has experienced, she is suffering from PTSD and has taken compassionate leave combined with a sabbatical. She’s now camping out in a cottage on the rugged coat of Ceredigion, hoping that nature’s positive energy will work its own brand of magic on her troubled soul. She’s been suspended since then, awaiting her opportunity to testify at the trial of wealthy businessman Roger De Villiers and D.S. Gordon Bailey who between them ran a murky business empire. In 2014, James Oswald’s debut book, Natural Causes, was nominated for the Dagger Award, proffered by the Crime Writers’ Association. Furthermore, the said book was among the nominees for the National Book Awards in the Newcomer of the Year category. The fact that I finished this book at all, and until near the end was contemplating giving it four stars is a testament to Oswald’s skill as a writer. I don’t like Con Fairchild, but the story kept me going until close to the end – it was only then, and when I sat down to think about what I’d read, that the weaknesses became apparent. But she does her best to ignore them and finds allies in Karen Eve, Bain and Diane Shepherd. They do their best to include her in the investigation that concerns the young man she found and others that have died from their injuries.

Cover note advertising claims "hallmarks of Val McDermid Ian Rankin" - publishers need to print something on a cover to attract buyers who might believe such a claim. Con is suspended, while awaiting the trial of Roger DeVilliers, a paedophile, and the corrupt detective Bailey.Propaganda writing is not entertaining to the reader, even when presented as a thriller, the characters have to fit the new woke patterns of a world that does not exist and has never existed the main character is a woman but her relations with men is obscure and mostly horrible, she is upper class and rich but she hates it and has joined the proletariat to show her family she is better, we have the obligatory transgender character, that is also asexual (to complicated to explain sexual tates, suffice to add one of the required quotas and the writing will be fine; after all it is just propaganda) when a religious ritual of blood and torture is performed by a person or group of different culture it must be explained that they are not practicing their religion in the right way this covers all possible complications of being culturally insensitive or worst. Con offers to help Lila though soon realises that she has stumbled into a very dangerous situation. No further details to avoid spoilers. Will I carry on? I honestly don’t know. I hope that this series gets better; I wonder if some of the weaknesses come from the difficulty inherent in trying to write a police procedural when the main character isn’t on active duty for most of the book, especially with a main character who seems to have no friends to interact with. However, my main problem was with Con herself. A lot of the action was a result of her acting really stupidly again and again. She didn't let people know what was happening, she failed to pay attention and constantly got captured, and she ended up with more concussions than a rugby prop! This is the second book in the Constance Fairchild series by author James Oswald. I was really looking forward to this one following the first book 'No Time to Cry' which I thoroughly enjoyed. In all honesty the first half of this book was an improvement but I am not sure why I felt it just fizzled out.

The pacing is superb - bursts of action and dread then quieter moments to process what we've just experienced, plus plenty to get the "just one more chapter" muscles working overtime - and the setting is beautifully realised, showing the darker sides of this seemingly idyllic area. James Oswald fills this book with easter eggs and references to his hugely successful Inspector McLean Series. Locations and characters that will fill McLean fans with unbridled joy when they pop up. Yet Oswald still manages to do it in a throwaway, blink or you’ll miss it fashion that won’t confuse or deter readers new to this, the Constance Fairchild Series. My thanks to Headline/Wildfire for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘Nowhere to Run’ by James Oswald in exchange for an honest review. Con doesn’t get on with her parents as they disapproved of her choice to become a police officer. Despite her upbringing she is far from being the lady she was raised to be. With tattoos on her arms, she likes to drink a pint when in the local pub and her language is hardly that of a refined lady!

Dystopian Fiction Books Everyone Should Read: Explore The Darker Side of Possible Worlds and Alternative Futures Lady Constance Fairchild or Con as she likes to be called, is a Detective Constable currently suspended from duty after the case she worked on in the previous book, which led to some high profile arrests of people of importance including some police officers. Which explains why she is not well liked around the station. She is being hounded by the press being called ‘posh cop’. James Oswald was a writer of Fantasy books before he was persuaded by fellow Scottish author Stuart MacBride that crime fiction was a better and more popular genre and so he launched the very successful Inspector McLean series of books which whilst they were police procedurals as is the Constance Fairchild series have an element of fantasy in them. I enjoyed the Welsh mythology at the centre of the plot, and it was good to have a story set in Ceredigion, but there was some terrible cod-Welsh dialogue of the "see boyo" variety that really grated. This wasn't helped by an audiobook narrator who couldn't do a Welsh accent or pronounce some basic Welsh words. With my previous knowledge of both the character and the author I still enjoyed the read but not as much as I had initially hoped. A minor blip but feel sure the next book in the series will be much better.