In The Dark

Product Information

And when she finally learns the truth what really happened and why, it isn´t only a surprise for her. Just because Billingham doesn't rely here on the cunning of his long-serving DI, Tom Thorne, for the leg work, it doesn't mean that the plot is not stuffed with some fancy twists and turns. The clock is ticking to find Poppy alive and clear Bates's name, but to Paul's vexation, Helen seems increasingly disturbed by being in Polesford. The plot line was reasonably good and the characters were interesting in a minor sort of way, but none of them truly engaged me.

In the Dark is a four-part British crime drama that premiered on BBC One from 11 July to 1 August 2017. The Evening Herald – presumably Dublin – remarks “A story with a twist that I guarantee even veteran crime fiction aficionados won’t see coming. A Shocking Twist, in a city where violence can be random or meticulously planned, where teenage gangs clash with career criminals and where loyalty is paid for in blood, nything is possible. It's pointless and stupid; asking us to follow a character when we don't know his goal is just going to get frustrating and annoying. I should add that this “veteran crime aficionado” doesn’t read many of these anymore because the plot devices become obvious after a while and I can pretty much guess the outcome about a third of the way in; this also had the plot device I hate worst, the amazing coincidence, the chance meeting that brings two main characters and storylines together.I really enjoyed this engrossing tale of pregnant DC Helen Weeks and her complicated home life, allied with a slice of south-east London gun culture. Helen and Paul continue to have misapprehensions about the case, bolstered by the advice of their colleague Phil, an MPD coroner. This incident has wide-ranging consequences for a large cast including the shooter, the ageing gangster planning a deadly revenge, and the victim’s pregnant wife just two weeks away from giving birth.

I’m not at all swayed by cover blurbs – after all, how many “BEST TEN BOOKS OF THE YEAR” can there be? He’s the man behind programmes such as Ordinary Lies and the David Morrissey-starring crimer The Driver, and learned his trade writing for shows like Clocking Off and Shameless. As she tries to reconcile the facts of her loss with her own doubts, Helen digs deeper into Manchester's criminal underworld, only to be hit with a betrayal she never saw coming. Also, the cover says that the heroine's explorations make her a target, but I never saw any sign of that.

For the first hundred pages, we're introduced to a bunch of characters and their lives before the crime in question.