‘The Heights’ by Parker Bilal is the second book in the Crane and Drake series. I didn’t even realise this as I was reading The Heights, so it obviously works as a standalone also. I will be reading the first at some point, I’m sure. I enjoyed this book that much!

Crane and Drake are hired by a childhood friend of Dr Rayhana Crane, Marco Foulkes to investigate a missing foreign student. At the same time, the police have been called out due to the discovery of a severed head on the London underground.
The head was found wrapped in a newspaper. A very particular page is used, which sheds light on the fact that both these cases are in fact connected. the link seems to be Drake, from his years undercover in the force.

The head of the severed head case is Drakes former police partner and they get together (unofficially of course, as Drake is no longer a serving policeman, but private investigator). This sharing of their cases aids both parties in discovering information of both cases. The deeper the investigation becomes the more Drake is in the centre of it. Someone is out to ruin him fully. Will they manage it or will Drake, Crane and his former partner get this solved before it’s too late for him?

I thought it a very well written thriller, not a high speed read but a more in-depth character-driven book that does take off as you get into the story. It’s set in London so we get to see all the sides of our capital city. The good high-end side right to the sad, gritty and purely bad side of the gang culture and all the negatives thrown in for good measure.In my eyes that is a good book as we get a rounded picture and it’s real.

I enjoyed Crane and Drake’s double act, sorry, partnership and can see they ain’t perfect people, with the baggage they carry but that’s fine, that’s life. It also gives me hope that there is plenty of material to expand this series, so I am happy.
Many thanks to Random Things Tours and Blackthorn for the copy of the book for this Blog tour today