The Blood Promise

DI Will Ashcroft, having overcome the trauma of a previous child murder case, is now recovering after being shot in an organised crime operation in London. The incident has made him question his future in the force.

In the north, his former partner DS Samira Byrne, battling prejudice in and outside her department, finds herself involved with a human trafficking ring with ties to the local police.

Disowned and wanted for questioning after a trumped-up drugs allegation, Byrne is forced to go on the run with a young woman she has rescued from the criminal gang.

Ashcroft returns to the north, determined to find Byrne and clear her name. He uncovers a web of corruption and narrowly escapes the gang’s dangerously unhinged enforcer, Dean.

The gang, however, are intent on finding both women and silencing them before their evidence can come to light. Ashcroft discovers that the corruption may have spread into the higher reaches of the force.

Facing a killer who takes pleasure in his work, Ashcroft must put his reputation – and his life – at risk.