Ask The River

by Dan Wheatcroft

With death taking a break, DCI Thurstan Baddeley, with nothing to do and too much time to do it in, agrees to delve into a 'something or nothing' job for one of his team. What seemed like a good idea at the time is gradually shoved on the back burner as 'normality' returns to the streets of Liverpool and the jobs start to stack up but it's not long before Thurstan suspects he has another problem; the return of an assassin.

Genres: Amazon, Ebooks

245 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 1, 2021

About the author

A former member of a north of England, gritty, metropolitan police force, the author has thirty years experience of day to day policing.

Breathless pursuits on foot, car chases, riots, firearms incidents, bomb searches, murder investigations, excessive tea drinking and hours of boredom were complimented by his knowledge of hiding in bushes and dodging wayward tanks, acquired in another life as a Military Policeman.

A recent diagnosis of ‘high functioning Aspergers’ has helped explain an almost obsessive interest in the Kennedy assassinations and lack of it in sport, big trucks, car parts in general and social events.

He lives on a small hill, in Romania, with his wife, three cuddly toys and Lily the dog. Dan Wheatcroft is a pseudonym.

Reviews

[Coco · Rating 5 out of 5]

A 3-part action-packed police procedural thriller set in Liverpool, I found each book unputdownable as I followed the investigation. The books could be read out of order but advisable to start at book one to recognise all the characters in the multiple plots. Exciting and very well written with plenty of twists and turns. Highly recommended.

I have one criticism, the plot often jumped from place to place without warning. A double space or **** to indicate a change would help the reader. Having said that, I intend reading this again some time and make a body count.

[Bonnie Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read

Character development was great as was the plot. Lots of syndicated espionage, internal police crime and history. Kept me interested.

[Mark Lukas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good Read in Series

This is book #2 in a series. It can be read as a stand alone, but the characters are better understood, if the books, are read in order. This is important because there are a lot of characters and at least part of the storyline carries over. The author provides a guide to UK abbreviations relating to police work, which also helps the reader understand police procedure and hierarchy. I've already bought book 3, so obviously I find the author enjoyable.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like the first book, I really enjoyed it. The POV is a lot easier to follow in this book and has less time jumping - apart from a few which are made obvious with dates or names used. The writing is very descriptive and almost reads like a script, I feel as I'm amongst the action.

There were a few more POV tellings which was a little confusing as no names were mentioned and I struggled finding a connection to the main story, but maybe it will make sense in the 3rd one - especially the story about the kids on bikes. This story also took a step back from the first with connecting Nick andThurstan together. It wasn't a game of chase, but rather i-spy.

I'm looking forward to the next book and excited to see how it comes together.

[helen roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cover up

Another intricate and intriguing storyline. Plot comes together well which keeps the reader guessing. Clever robust characters that interact together well

[Carolien · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lull in the Liverpool serious crime scene, allows DCI Baddeley to investigate what was deemed an accidental death of a Holocaust survivor. But crime does not take a holiday for long and he soon finds himself in a complicated local gang murder. The victim was the accountant of one of the local crime bosses, but since he was also sleeping with his wife, the perpetrator seems obvious. There isn't time to follow up on a suspicion that their mysterious assassin is back in town, but a string of dead bodies may be a clue. The complexity of running multiple investigations and managing budgets and resources is a challenge to DCI Baddeley and promoted DCI White. I am thoroughly enjoying this trilogy.

[MGB · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story is all about day to day policing in the UK, only it's not. There are two subplots weaving themselves around the day to day policing. One has international implications descending from WWII and the other is a serial killer.

Really has the potential to be a great story, but the reader is yanked from one scene to the next. Usually you spend the first part of the scene change trying to figure out where the story landed, who's talking and how is it related to the previous parts of the book.

If you are familiar with British slang, British policing and can track lots of characters in your head, this book will make a lot more sense.

[Mike Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

My review of Book 1 of this series - The Road To Eden Is Overgrown - was rather mixed, but Dan Wheatcroft was kind enough to engage in a message conversation with me, to sort out the issues. I had already started this book anyway, with the intention of reading the series.

Like Book 1, this has a strong, engaging storyline, with the characters from the previous book further developed. It's a more complex story, with a number of strands, including the main theme from the last book. The grammatical points that irked me in Book 1 are much fewer in this book, which is good!

A good continuation of this series, nicely paced and full of interest. On to Book 3...

[MR B P HUGHES · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this 2nd Instalment

A great 2nd instalment with a strong storyline and some strong recognisable characters. Merseyside remains central to the story and is well explored but the same can be said for a few other international destinations. The writer takes you on a fond journey through destinations, characters and the weaving storyline. I like it and I want more of Nicks and Thurston.

[Bill Pye]

Different but as good as the first in the tilogy

[Wayne Solberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting story and had some good twists. I would recommend this to anyone who likes astory with world war ties.

[Susannah Brooner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

Well developed storyline, characters, plots, twists, and turns. The proverbial page-turner. Full of police work, history, international espionage, syndicated crime and murder. What is not to love? Extremely well written that engages the reader from the first paragraph.