All readers can rely on Mark Billingham, he is one author who cares passionately about his characters.

I would like to thank Net Galley and Grove Atlantic for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.Overall a really excellent, entertaining yet hugely thought provoking read that I would actually like to throw at everybody. When two young Asian friends go missing after a night out, it becomes clear that this is no straight forward case of families taking revenge. Those who choose to ignore rules about how to behave, how to dress, who they are supposed to have children with. Her partner Susan has been brutally murdered, and Tanner is convinced that it was a case of mistaken identity and that she was the real target. In each chapter, Billingham adeptly unspools a new thread, a new twist, which pushes the reader onward into the story, as he deftly manages an expansive plot without slowing down the momentum of the characters or the story.

Tanner wants to work the case unofficially as she believes that Susan was targeted as she had been driving Tanner's car and it was a case of mistaken identity. The subject matter is very well chosen and of the moment, the police investigation of the finest, the characterization and familiarity of the "cast" most welcome, and the perpetrators Muldoon and Riaz evil and well suited to the task of hired assassins. In one particular chapter there is a great and memorable moment when D I Tom Thorne is driving down the road singing at the top of his voice. Thorne is one of my favourite fictional detectives and I love his friendship with Phil Hendricks, his general outlook on life, his love of curries and country music, just everything about him.And when a young couple goes missing, they have a chance to investigate a case that is anything but cold. Turning to her good friend Tom Thorne she persuades him to help her uncover the truth behind the killings within the Muslim community, contracted out to hired assassins. They get tantalisingly close to those responsible for the killings but the pair always stay one step ahead.