Gallowstree Lane: 'An authentic depiction of gang life and police politics' From the author of ITV's The Tower

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The police procedure was also excellently done, with a detailed understanding of the issues and plausible behaviour by the officers (yes, really! What I enjoyed the most was the shining authenticity, the dark, often oppressive atmosphere and the originality; I have never read a crime novel quite like this before. I think it shows the skill of the author to make Ryan, the witness to the murder of his friend, in any way a sympathetic character. The author was clearly using her experience as a police officer to inform her creation of these characters. Ryan introduces his friend Spence to his new world and together they set out on a path that would be short lived.

Just published today with Corvus Books, it is described as ‘an explosive police procedural about the epidemic of gang violence in London’. Going too much into the details and the thoughts and explanations and losing track of the fact that this is supposed to be fiction.I enjoyed getting an insight into the police as well, they had a reality to them and the procedural aspects were very well done and fully explained so you didn’t feel lost in them.

He's happy to pick Lizzie up on what he perceives as her failings as a mother, but he's not prepared to actually help with anything practical. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. Oh well, I don't think it marred my enjoyment of this book at all though so I think I've got away with it.I didn't realise this was the third in the Collins and Griffiths series set in London, but this works just fine as a standalone. The young man dies on the roadside and as the police arrive it initially looks like just another turf war but it soon becomes apparent that it reaches much, much further than that. For me, it wasn’t so much about the investigation but the gang culture, their use of vulnerable young teens desperate for money, but most of all admiration and attention. How this book made me feel: I read an extract before requesting this book, and I picked it mainly because of the language used in this novel.

When a teenage boy steps out of the shadows of Gallowstree Lane and asks a passer-by for help, it’s already too late. A powerful crime fiction novel exposing the Gang warfare and criminality infecting our inner cities.The book provides a vivid picture of gang culture and how young men, often from deprived backgrounds, can be drawn into drugs, petty crime and violence by manipulative individuals, with often tragic outcomes. It shows the emotional pressures and stress the police officers are under all the time, the mention of dealing with a rail crash it so real. In this third book, London’s main characters of Collins, Griffiths and Shaw continue to develop as the pressures of their life as detectives impinge on their attempts to have normal lives. I am curious, how much actual truth was in Ryan’s thoughts compared to real life youth who act like “wannabe gangsters”.