When a woman rescued by a fishing boat off the coast of Grimsby disappears without trace, it turns out to be only the beginning of a dark investigation. Crane is soon contacted by another woman when she receives a letter out of the blue from her estranged son, not seen since he left to become a fighter for Islamic State. Drake is called in and forced to go back to his old stomping ground to infiltrate the underground network that took Jason abroad.

Meanwhile Drake’s old partner investigates the brutal murder of a journalist that appears to have worrying ties to a previous case. While Crane is in pursuit of the mystery woman, Drake finds himself drawn further into the company of a dangerous group as terror and organised crime intersect.

Review:

Sharp, intricate, and twisty!

In this latest novel in the Crane & Drake Mystery series, The Trenches, Bilal has written a clever, chilling thriller featuring former DS turned PI Calil Drake and his partner, forensic psychologist Dr. Rayhana Crane as they work together on the investigation of a missing man who seems to have vanished without a trace after leaving to fight for the Islamic State, but when it seems that their case might also be tied to a missing woman and infant who were rescued by a fishing boat and a journalist violently murdered while in the home of her MP lover, it becomes quickly apparent that something a lot more sinister is going on and this case may actually be a lot more complicated than anyone ever could have imagined.

The writing is tight and crisp. The characters are astute, diligent, and multi-layered. And the plot is a fast-paced, riveting tale full of twists, turns, action, intrigue, power, corruption, politics, duplicity, terror, manipulation, immorality, violence, murder, and organized crime.

Overall, The Trenches is another complex, diverse, engrossing thrill ride by Bilal that is an eerie reminder of just how cold, calculating and ruthless the criminal underworld truly is.

This book is available now.

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