There are pages in which I needed a few lines to understand where the plot now was and what character I had in front of me. Going into this book, I knew that there was a mind boggling twist at the end that was supposedly dificult to anticipate. The cover of this book has a quote from The Times – presumably London – which states that “…the final twist is brilliantly clever and shocking. Joining her on her trip back home is her partner and fellow DI Paul Hopwood (Ben Batt), an altogether more chipper, but similarly no-nonsense copper type.

She was unexpectedly home when someone broke into her house, but that person had no intention of harming her, and made no move to. It's OK to show a strong female character without going overboard on private life, and the impending sprog angle just seemed to add one unnecessary layer to an already complex character. There were also a couple of points where I had to check back for the exact role of some of the minor characters, as they were mostly sketched over and tended to blend into the background until they were needed to add to the story - a little like the chorus in a Shakespearean play. The narrators accents were truly awful, actually embarrassing and very very annoying, to the point they detracted from the story as I was bracing myself for the next onslaught for my ears, without the attempt at accent the narration was great.Americans who think the bleak world George Pelecanos brings to life is limited to the nation's capital will find Billingham's atmospheric maze of London byways just as sprawling and squiggling with desperate cops and robbers. But when his highly pregnant life partner Helen starts to ask questions, it soon becomes clear to her, that a few things don´t fit into the picture her colleagues want to draw. It was just a long, continuing disappointment, with a little more dished out every time a reveal or "surprise" came. A SHOCKING TWIST In a city where teenage gangs clash with career criminals and where loyalty is paid for in blood, anything is possible.

However, the real difference is that the author makes the reader care about the main characters in the book. It was mentioned in the description on the back, and in three blurbs on the front and back cover alone. I have just finished this book, and being a fan of Billingham's "Thorne" novels I admit that I bought this thinking it was the next in the series, so was cautious that I may not enjoy it. Whether he actually fired the shot that caused the killing or not, he was prepared to do so, so the premise that he was in some way a good person seems flawed.However, it seems that this may have been a dodgy copper with a link to some shady characters, who are also out for revenge and aren't constrained by the same rules as the police.

Again, this wasn't a big enough distraction to ruin the story, but it was enough to unsettle the pace of reading, especially as the pace and intrigue was kept fairly high. There is a real deft subtlety to her performance that belies the stereotype of a bereaved and damaged woman. Weeks is played to perfection by the ever-excellent Swedish actress, the feline-looking MyAnna Buring ( Ripper Street, The Twilight Saga, Kill List). But being tied up lying on that hotel room floor it was scary, which definitely fed into my first two books. Meanwhile, a novice gang member finds himself in over his head after his initiation, and unknowingly connected to Helen.In the Dark‘s third and fourth episodes see Weeks investigate a new case involving a young gang member coerced into committed murder as part of an initiation.

However I was surprised to be drawn into the story very quickly and as a Mum, found it a refreshing approach to this type of story to have a pregnant woman as the main character, for me it was unusual but worked.I can't shake off the feeling that the plot would have worked perfectly well without Helen being pregnant.