Pretty standard for crime fiction these days, but the way David Jackson develops this character and gradually reveals more and more about Nathan's background and history is brilliant. For some reason, this ex can't let things go, though she behaves like an agony aunt, who actually makes matters worse. By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Despite this there is a large aspect of mystery throughout that doesn’t get revealed until the very end at which point everything makes sense. And that is one of the main reasons that this series will work well-we are made to really care about this fictional policeman!

A cop killer is on the loose in Liverpool and the police are panicked as a dead bird on the victim's face- along with a suitably cryptic message - is left at each murder scene. Beginning with an epigraph from The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe (one extra point allocated by this reviewer) reflecting the title of the book, we are immediately plunged into a nerve shredding opening, to which we must thank Mr Jackson for giving all us single ladies the right heebie jeebies. Nathan especially as he is soon working alongside a former lover, a former lover who just so happens to be engaged.I don't think it's wise to compare one author to another because in the end, it's a matter of taste and personal preference which one you prefer; however, right on the front cover of this book, there's an excerpt from a review by the Guardian. Prefaced by some lines from Edgar Allan Poe’s poem The Raven, rarely have I been so spooked by a book as I was on opening this book where Terri Latham is sat at home having a glass of wine when she hears a tapping at her door… I’m don’t have a particularly nervous nature but I was there, alongside Terri while she debated whether or not to investigate!

In the main, the chapters featuring the murderer give little detail, except for their obsession with birds. David has clearly put real thought and effort into creating and establishing this character and I just can't wait to read about him again. This book starts off like one of those creepy horror films that I pretend I don't mind watching but end up seeing more of the back of a cushion than my tv screen!I was so totally engrossed in the plot from page one that I didn't even see where it was going until it slapped me in the face! This book doesn’t lie within the police procedural genre, though it is a team of officers investigating the murders, Jackson focuses more on the narrative than any procedure. The interactions between Nathan and the other characters in this book were great and often provided some light relief from what is a very intense, dark and emotional plot. Cody, now in the Murder Investigation Team, is partnered up with an ex-girlfriend – DC Megan Webley and although there is clearly some issues between them relating to their past history, the chemistry works very well and Webley is more than a match for Cody’s unpredictable nature. There is a note attached to the bird’s leg, with the message: ‘ Nevermore‘, a reference to Edgar Allan Poe’s poem, The Raven.

Many thanks to Emily at Bonnier Zaffre for an advanced readers copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I'm now at 93%, right in the middle of the "Great Resolution" on the roof of the Liver Building in Liverpool and I still almost can't be bothered to read to the end. Scared, she opens the door to find a large raven and then things get seriously creepy as she realises the raven is not alone…. DS Cody also seems to share an interest in Liverpool’s most famous group, with several songs and places of interest to fans mentioned throughout the book.

It's knocked me for six if I'm honest because it's just something that I did not see coming and it's the reason I immediately went onto Twitter to shout about how I had been left speechless by the ending.I see that I'm in the minority as most reviewers loved the book but it just didn't work that well for me. During the course of the book we also meet a slimy reporter, a browbeaten wife with a brute of a husband and - I kid you not - a cop who comes to an unfortunate end on his last job. David Jackson, really made this into a great read that keeps you interested till the very last page. I don't know what made my ears bleed more - the awful cardboard characters or the ridiculous mystery behind it all. In this first novel, readers don't wonder if DS Cody will survive because of course this is going to be a series so he has to.