As soon as you start to read this book you know you are going to be entwined in the dark side of Leeds crime gangs and with this new DS Regan Carter you are not disappointed, we also get a bit of Eddie Colins humour throne in for good measure.

This is the first in a new series by this author and it's off to a great start. Regan Carter has been transferred to a new station where she is immediately disliked and doesn't go out of her way either to make a good impression on her new colleagues. She is straight into the action when a woman is shot dead and her baby boy is taken. The story is gritty with links to drug gangs and people who have no qualms about killing each other. I found the pace relentless throughout and this was a real page-turner for me. Regan is a strong tough character and I found her determination admirable yet so frustrating at times. Her gung-ho tendencies ensure she is in the middle of danger throughout. There is even some sideline appearances here from our favourite CSI Eddie Collins. If the quality of the rest of the series comes close to matching this, we're in for a real treat.

Having read and loved all the Eddie Collins series, I was really looking forward to this new series and I wasn’t disappointed. Still dark, gruesome and realistic but gripping and unputdownable, the new character Regan is a refreshing whirlwind who refuses to admit when she’s beaten. The same attention to detail and real procedure that only comes from genuine inside knowledge is strongly evident, and I love the mix of real and fictitious locations (so you can even look them up on Google Maps and Street view!). I do enjoy it when an author writes crossover stories, drawing in characters from their previous series, and this was done seamlessly as Eddie appeared throughout - it’s like the reader and the new character have a mutual friend, and adds a layer of comfort for the reader when getting to grips with a new central figure. Very much looking forward to book 2 The Dark Arches now.