In this 1980s-set prequel to the popular Henry Christie mysteries, the rookie Lancashire cop is out to prove himself in ways that nearly get him killed.
It’s 1982, and twenty-three-year-old Henry Christie is determined to make detective in record time. His brief transfer to the Blackburn Criminal Investigation Department ended in disaster. Now he’s back in uniform, patrolling the quiet streets of Rossendale Valley, and dreaming up a way to make it back to the CID. He needs to make his mark. And he’s about to learn how dangerous ambition can be.
Disobeying orders at the scene of a bank robbery gets Henry shot at, and a burglar escapes on his watch. His impetuous actions put him—and his fellow officers—in harm’s way. But when a fellow constable is shot down, Henry hunts down her killers with a new sense of resolve in this gritty procedural from the author of Bad Tidings.
“A number of twists in the plot will catch even longtime series fans by surprise.” —Publishers Weekly
Nick Oldham was born in Belthorn, Lancashire, in 1956. He was a police officer from the age of nineteen, spending the majority of his service in operational roles, before retiring in 2005. He lives with his partner, Belinda, on the outskirts of Preston.