Today is my stop on the blog tour for Unjust Bias, the latest instalment in Liz Mistry’s series of police procedurals featuring D.I.Gus McGuire.
Unjust Bias
A murdered boy disowned by his family.
A teen terrified his past will catch up with him.
A girl with nowhere to go.
Men with rage so visceral they will do anything.
With the unsolved murder of a homeless boy still preying on his mind, DI Gus McGuire is confronted with a similar murder, a missing teen and no clues.
Does the answer lie with an illegal dark web site where ‘slaves’ are auctioned off? Or with an online forum for teens?
How can Gus keep people safe when unjust bias rears its head and being different could cost you your life…?
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My thoughts:
‘Dark, gloomy, and forelorn’
My first book by Liz Mistry turned out to be a dark, absorbing, and compelling read and I can see now why this author and her D.I.Gus McGuire series has numerous fans.
The beginning of the book was intense (a desperate mother fleeing an abusive husband) and it set the overall pace of the book, which never relented. An emaciated body of a homeless teenager starts D.I. McGuire’s investigation, but, unfortunately, leads dry up, the boy’s family won’t accept him in death no more than in life, and it would appear the case is destined to go cold. Then another teenager pays with his life for his courage to bear witness to the way society fails to ensure safety of transgender teenagers. Another dark and disturbing case of an Online Slave Auction on the dark web threatens the life of two children who have already been through a world of suffering. When Gus’s team discovers that these two cases are connected, the race to get to the perpetrators of these sick crimes becomes even more urgent as it could mean saving innocent lives from criminally insane as well as one heartless criminal.
I would recommend reading this series in order. Gus has a very complicated private life (no spoilers- sorry!) and is considering some potentially life-changing decisions. Unlike other series, the focus here is on the cases, but the inclusion of these private details informs the reader and helps us see that in this world full of depravity and incomprehensible attitudes, there are people with steady moral compass, people who have their heart in the right place.
Liz Mistry creates a range of interesting characters, some of whom you will hate from the word go, some you will care about and mourn for. Gus’s team are more than a close-knit working group of talented professionals, they are caring individuals who do their job of protecting more vulnerable and serving justice.
I’m glad to have discovered a new gripping series and now can’t wait to read the next book!
Thank you to Rachel from Rachel’s Random Resources and the author for the review copy, provided in exchange for an honest opinion.
Author Bio –
Born in Scotland, Made in Bradford sums up Liz Mistry’s life. Over thirty years ago she moved from a small village in West Lothian to Yorkshire to get her teaching degree. Once here, Liz fell in love with three things; curries, the rich cultural diversity of the city … and her Indian husband (not necessarily in this order). Now thirty years, three children, two cats and a huge extended family later, Liz uses her experiences of living and working in the inner city to flavour her writing. Her gritty crime fiction police procedural novels set in Bradford embrace the city she describes as ‘Warm, Rich and Fearless’ whilst exploring the darkness that lurks beneath.
Struggling with severe clinical depression and anxiety for a large number of years, Liz often includes mental health themes in her writing. She credits the MA in Creative Writing she took at Leeds Trinity University with helping her find a way of using her writing to navigate her ongoing mental health struggles. Being a debut novelist in her fifties was something Liz had only dreamed of and she counts herself lucky, whilst pinching herself regularly to make sure it’s all real. One of the nicest things about being a published author is chatting with and responding to readers’ feedback and Liz regularly does events at local libraries, universities, literature festivals and open mics. She also teaches creative writing too. Liz has completed a PhD in Creative Writing on Diverse voices in crime fiction.
In her spare time, Liz loves pub quizzes (although she admits to being rubbish at them), dancing (she does a mean jig to Proud Mary – her opinion, not ratified by her family), visiting the varied Yorkshire landscape, with Robin Hoods Bay being one of her favourite coastal destinations, listening to music, reading and blogging about all things crime fiction on her blog, The Crime Warp.
Social Media Links:
Twitter: @LizMistryAuthor
Facebook: @LizMistryBooks
Website: lizmistry.com
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Great review, Tony! I have heard a lot about this series, and after reading your review, I will surely check it out.
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Thank you, Debjani! I can see why it is so popular. I think I’ll go back to the beginnning and start from Book 1 🙂 Hope we both enjoy reading this series!
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