From the author of In the Blink of an Eye, the Sunday Times bestseller, winner of the CWA ILP John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger and Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year.
DCS Kat Frank and AIDE Lock are back in a cutting-edge new thriller.
The truth will always come out, but at what cost?
Fresh from successfully closing their first live case, the Future Policing Unit are called in to investigate when a headless, handless body is found on a Warwickshire farm. But as they work to identify the victim and their killer, the discovery of a second body begins to spark fears that The Aston Strangler is back. And as the stakes rise for the team, so do the tensions brewing within it.
When DCS Kat Frank is accused of putting the wrong man behind bars all those years ago, AIDE Lock – the world’s first AI Detective – pursues the truth about what happened with relentless logic. But Kat is determined to keep the past buried, and when she becomes the target of a shadowy figure looking for revenge, Lock is torn between his evidence-based algorithms and the judgement of his partner, with explosive results.
When everything hangs in the balance, it will all come down to just how much an AI machine can learn, and what happens when they do . . .
Book Info: Print length: 400 pages. Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK. Publication Date: 24 April 2025
My Thoughts:
This is the third book in the fantastic Kat & Locke series by Jo Callaghan. It was published by Simon & Schuster UK on 24th April 2025. I was lucky enough to read a very early proof copy.
If you haven’t read the first two books, In the Blink of An Eye and Leave No Trace, then STOP reading this review now and go buy the first two books IMMEDIATELY.
This is fast becoming one of my favourite series. If you are still reading this review despite my comments above, I will try to summarise for you.
In The Blink of An Eye (book 1) introduces the reader to DCS Kat Frank. She recently lost her husband and is now a widowed single mother. After his tragic passing, she returned to work as a detective. She is picked to lead a new pilot programme where she is teamed up with an Artificially Intelligent Detective called Lock. It’s basically AI versus human experience and logic versus instinct as Kat and Lock investigate cold cases.
I would strongly recommend that you read the series in order. There are several members of the team you need to get to know. Books 1 and 2 introduce you to everyone in detail, including their back stories.
The latest book, Human Remains starts when a headless, handless body is found buried on a local farm. Kat, Lock and the rest of the team are tasked with finding out who the victim is. There is also a parallel story running as someone is watching Kat and wants revenge at whatever cost.
Kat is also battling her emotions as her only son is now away at University. She is struggling with an empty nest and loneliness. It doesn’t help that one of her team is now on maternity leave and she is feeling threatened because one of her past cases is hitting the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
The lines between AI and friend are beginning to blur. Kat and Lock start to depend upon each other more and more throughout this story.
I’m not going to say much more.. but THAT ending gave me the shivers too!
