My plan is to finish my back log on Helen Grace books this month. With just finishing “Into the fire” which leaves me just one more to read. Have to pause on the last one for a few days so I can read the book club book of this month.

Haven’t read forget me not yet? Then please don’t read this review as there will be some spoilers on that book in here.

With the previous book ending with Helen quitting her job not being able to work as a DI as it looks like all the higher ups seem to care about is positive publicity, spinning stories to their narrative instead of giving credit where credit is due. The CID seemed corrupt, with multiple detectives being corrupt and eventually let go. Charlie is sad and a bit angry with Helen’s choice; you can’t change something from the better from the outside, you have to be in the thick of it and take the bs with a pinch of salt.

Months after Helen resigned from her job, Helen has been living live; having a lover with whom she now is inside a hotel room, enjoying an evening together. When Christopher is taking a shower and Helen gazes outside, she sees something that alarms her, a lone woman running into a deserted place where only a Kebab shop is open; not long after Helen spots a white van tailing the woman with high speed. Once the van is onto her, her assailants leave the van and take their bike chains to do maximum damage to the young woman. Helen sprints out of her hotel room seeing the injustice done to the woman. Trying to take the assailants down Helen crosses over to the woman, asking if she can stand, if she’s okay and what her name is. One mistake made though, taking her eyes off of the assailants, not noticing one has risen and comes at her with the bike chain, knocking her on the head with it. Helen hears the woman tell her her name is Selima before going out cold.

The CID has three new detectives and we are months past Helen’s departure but Charlie can’t seem to ease the team into a good rhythm. Never wanting the leader role and having a hard time with standing her ground and getting the cases she’s working on to work out the way she hoped it would.

Meanwhile Helen is in full detective mode even though she isn’t one anymore. Working out who Selima is and where she might have been taken is difficult when you don’t have the proper channels to tap into but she’ll do whatever it takes even if it means illegally login into Charlie’s police account to get who the van is registered to.

Emilia Garanita is from a drug smuggling family, her father was imprisoned a long time ago leaving her to look after her younger siblings but it gave her a way out of the trade. In leaving that live behind she did pay an awful high price. Some man with a dutch accent threw acid in her face and broke her legs for getting out. Now, years later her father wants to talk to her. Something about gold he stored somewhere and it could be all hers if she retrieved it since he’s going to die soon anyway. Little did Garanita know she would be set up by her father once again but is determined to get the man who did this to her years ago. So, even though she was set up, it gave her an in to the man and identity she was looking for maybe even getting her revenge.

Helen didn’t know that Selima would set something in motion that was so big and dangerous, a huge human trafficking ring. But, how to take it down? In the end, one of her old colleagues will pay a high price, the question is; will they make it?

I liked the story a lot and was wondering how the story would progress since Helen quite her job. It’s been smart to focus on Helen and put a few events of the old team in as well. The Emilia side quest also was a good one and will continue in the latest book.

I’m giving this book ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5 stars