‘No Going Back’ by the fabulous Casey Kelleher is the third DC Lucy Murphy book. This is a brilliant series but I am quite biased as I love Casey’s work.

A young pregnant woman is involved in an incident on a dark night in Richmond Park. Shelby Cooke was on her way to her parents when she is attacked. Lucy Murphy is called in to investigate the attack as Shelby has some murkier connections than you would think, so it has every possibility of being a revenge attack. The attack is very similar to another one that has been committed so the team are unable to rule out a more sinister motive for the attack.

Lucy’s past is a dark one and still affects her to this day. We see this investigation bringing it right back for her. Her D.I is the only person who is aware of what Lucy and her mother experienced. This investigation highlights her fragilities and it soon becomes clear that Lucy’s past may need to be explained to the team at some point. I liked seeing the other side to her appearing and that is a thread to the story that I think could have possibilities in the future.

The council estate that features throughout the series, the Griffin Estate, is the place that Lucy herself started from and is the estate that harbours criminals, junkies and everything in between. It always reminds me of the estate I grew up, there was always a police car there or an ambulance. A gritty, rough and dark place… I envision the Griffin Estate the same way. This does add a very tense and realistic edge to the story. Even Lucy with her back story that is a big part of her and I think these things make her as real as possible.

Casey Kelleher has delivered another fabulous instalment to the Lucy Murphy series and I can’t wait for her next one already.

Thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for the copy of the book.