Nighthawking by Russ Thomas #Blogathon

This is going to be a busy week on the blog and I'm kicking it off back on the Russ Thomas #blogathon with Nighthawking, book two in the DS Adam Tyler series. You can find my review of the first book in the series, Firewatching, here. Thank you to Tracy Fenton at Compulsive Readers for inviting me and to the publisher for my review copy. I also bought my own paperback copy.

 

The Blurb

NO SECRET CAN STAY BURIED FOREVER​

Sheffield’s Botanical Gardens is an oasis of peace – until one morning when the body of a young woman is found there, buried in a quiet corner. Police determine that she’s been there for months and would have gone undiscovered for years – except someone returned in the dead of night to dig her up.

DS Adam Tyler and his team have many questions to answer – who is the victim? Who killed her and hid her body? And who dug her up?

Tyler’s investigation draws him into the secretive world of nighthawkers: treasure-hunters who operate under cover of darkness, seeking the lost and valuable . . . and willing to kill to keep what they find.

Nighthawking by Russ Thomas is published by Simon & Schuster UK and came out on 29th April 2021.

My Review

Nighthawking sees the return of DS Adam Tyler. His love life is on the edge, he's still not endearing himself to other people and his relationship with his boss is strained. It's not a great starting point for him as he gets involved with this new case. 

A hand and part of an arm is found in the Sheffield Botanical Gardens by volunteer worker Dave Carver, who also happens to belong to a small group of nighthawkers - nighttime metal detectorists. It turns out Dave has some secrets of his own, and things all get very complicated and more than a little messy. In a sub plot, Adam, who is trying to find out more about his late father, befriends a young lad and risks upsetting the head of a local crime family. 

It was great to see Guy Daley back in the team following an incident in the first book, although it's unclear if he's properly for for duty. I have a real fondness DC Mina Rabbani and I was delighted to see her stepping up, standing up for herself with her make colleagues and not suffering any nonsense. Her and Tyler make a good team, albeit a reluctant one. 

The story really takes us to the dark side of late night treasure hunting and beyond with a well written complex plot centred mainly around a small number of key players. The tension builds throughout the book to a dark, violent and sad denouement. And the end of the novel sets things up very nicely for book three...

Nighthawking is a nicely tense police procedural bringing back an interesting team in another great story which touches on love, obsession, jealousy and murder. 

The Author

Russ Thomas grew up in the 80s reading anything he could get his hands on, writing stories, watching television, and playing videogames: in short, anything that avoided the Great Outdoors. After a few 'proper' jobs, he discovered the joys of bookselling, where he could talk to people about books all day. Now a full-time writer, he also teaches creative writing classes and mentors new authors.