What Falls Between The Cracks by Robert Scragg

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Allison and Busby; Reprint edition (20 Sept. 2018)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0749022949
• ISBN-13: 978-0749022945
• Product Dimensions: 12.7 x 19.8 cm

Synopsis

Did she slip through the cracks, or was she pushed? When a severed hand is found in an abandoned flat, Detective Jake Porter and his partner Nick Styles are able to DNA match the limb to the owner, Natasha Barclay, who has not been seen in decades. But why has no one been looking for her? It seems that Natasha’s family are the people who can least be trusted. Delving into the details behind her disappearance and discovering links to another investigation, a tragic family history begins to take on a darker twist. Hampered by a widespread fear of a local heavy, as well as internal politics and possible corruption within the force, Porter and Styles are digging for answers, but will what they find ever see the light of day?

Review

What Falls Between The Cracks is the debut novel from Robert Scragg and the first in a new series to feature Detectives Jake Porter and Nick Styles.  In this first book they are investigating a possible murder from over thirty years ago, a suicide that could be related and find their investigation mixed up with an ongoing drugs investigation.  All of these threads knit together to make this a fast moving, action packed crime thriller.

In crime fiction it seems we do like a damaged and flawed detective, and Porter certainly fits the bill.  From the beginning we learn that he was married and the his wife died in an accident.  This was a fairly recent event and something that still effects him daily and makes him determined to find out what happened to the potential murder victim Natasha Barclay, and make sure her attacker is caught.  His partner, Nick Styles, is his opposite in that he is happily married, younger, a smart dresser, whereas Porter is more disheveled.  Their relationship and interaction worked well and I thought  the insight into their private lives, and family life made them more personable.  I am sure that we will learn more about both of these characters in further books.  I also hope that we may see a relationship develop between Porter and Evie Simmons, a young officer who works on the drug team and has an attraction to Porter.

Robert Scragg certainly has the right ingredients for the perfect crime novel; the damaged detective, his younger partner, a potential murder, a suicide, drugs, a powerful business man and his associates at the centre and family secrets and lies.  However, I did feel that there was room for development in some areas of the plot, gaps that could have been filled and a few loose ends.  These did not distract too much, from what is a promising and compelling debut novel.

What Falls Between The Cracks is a fast paced, thrilling and gripping read.  I loved the the pairing of Porter and Styles, and look forward to reading the next book in the series; an exciting and dynamic debut novel.

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