“Murder on an abandoned housing development―and a web of dark secrets stretching back decades…

Looking for clues about her sister’s death amid the crumbling decay of a derelict and near-deserted London neighbourhood, urban explorer Connie Darke makes a terrifying discovery: William Stark, the estate’s architect and long-time resident, is hanging from the church’s vaulted ceiling.

For DI Lew Kirby, there’s no doubt that Stark was lured to his death―but who wanted him dead, and why? As Connie begins a covert investigation, desperate to find a connection to her sister, Kirby soon discovers that the remaining residents have something to hide.

Could there be a connection between Stark’s death and the unsolved case of Kevin Shires, a boy who went missing from the estate decades ago? And with Kirby and Connie both digging into the long-buried history of the estate’s darkest corners, what other secrets will be unearthed from the ruins of Grasmere?”

Hello and welcome to damppebbles. Today I am delighted to share my review of The Drowning Place by S.W. Kane. The Drowning Place was published by Thomas & Mercer yesterday (that’s Wednesday 18th October 2023) and is available in paperback, audio and digital formats. I chose to read a free eARC of The Drowning Place but that has in no way influenced my review.

The Drowning Place is the second book in the Detective Lew Kirby series written by S.W. Kane. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the first book, The Bone Jar, towards the end of 2021 so when I saw the second book was on the brink of being published, I couldn’t help myself and requested an early read. And what a fantastic sequel it is! One of the things I most admired about The Bone Jar was the way the author created a real sense of place with the setting coming to life on the page and really moving the story along. Kane has done the same with Grasmere, an almost derelict housing estate in South London where a handful of occupants still remain amongst the crumbling brickwork and walkways. When the estate’s architect, William Stark, is discovered hanging in the estate’s abandoned church, Detective Lew Kirby and his team are called in to solve the murder.

But this book gives the reader so much more than your average police procedural does. The characters are wonderfully written. For example, DI Kirby has real depth to his character. Unlike many of his senior police officer counterparts in other books, he’s not driven by addiction, nor does his life revolve around his flaws. But Lew Kirby does have a secret, one that he only discovered himself at the end of the first book in the series. And it’s a whopper! I won’t go into detail here but I immediately took to Google to discover more. Will he? Won’t he? Would you? I’m really not sure what I would do in the same situation! Then we have Connie Darke, an urban explorer who turned up in the first book and assisted the investigation. Connie’s sister, Sarah, was also an urban explorer who tragically fell to her death from a water tower. Connie is obsessed with tracking down one of the people present at the time and asking difficult questions. This particular storyline started in the first book and continues into the second. You can’t help but like Connie. She’s tenacious and strong willed. Her relationship with Kirby develops in this latest instalment – more to landlord and tenant, rather than anything more….interesting but I can’t help but feel there’s something there which I hope the author builds upon!

Would I recommend this book? I would, yes. The Drowning Place is a highly intriguing mystery which kept me turning the pages, keen to discover what had happened to William Stark. The plot moves at a nice pace, keeping the reader fully engaged in the story. There are quite a few characters to remember (there are eight remaining Grasmere residents, DI Kirby plus his regular partner, Detective Pete Anderson, add to that three Detective Sergeants plus a DCI, and of course, Connie – not forgetting a few other smaller characters) but despite this, I was able to keep track of who everyone was most of the time. The only characters I became a little muddled with were two of the male residents – Falke and Hoffmann, which doesn’t really make a lot of sense when you read the book! The setting was beautifully drawn by the author who has a real talent for bringing their locations to life through their words. I think I mentioned in my review of The Bone Jar that the setting is such an integral part of the story that it feels like a character in its own right. Well, Kane has done it again. There’s a superb sense of place throughout the novel which transports the reader to the heart of this South London housing estate. All in all, I very much enjoyed The Drowning Place. I do believe you could read it as a standalone but why do that when you could pick up the first instalment of this terrific series and really get to know the characters from the beginning. A very well-written mystery where character, plot and setting all shine through. I for one cannot wait for book three in this marvellous series. Bring it on! Recommended.

I chose to read and review a free eARC of The Drowning Place. The above review is my own unbiased opinion.

The Drowning Place by S.W. Kane was published in the UK by Thomas & Mercer on 18th October 2023 and is available in paperback, audio and digital formats (please note, the following links are affiliate links which means I receive a small percentage of the purchase price at no extra cost to you): | amazon.co.uk | bookshop.org | Goodreads | damppebbles bookshop.org shop | damppebbles amazon.co.uk shop | damppebbles amazon.com shop |

S W Kane has a degree in History of Design and worked at the Royal Institute of British Architects before taking on a series of totally unrelated jobs in radio and the music industry. She has an MA in Creative (Crime) Writing from City University. She began reading crime fiction at an early age and developed an obsession with crime set in cold places. A chance encounter with a derelict fort in rural Pembrokeshire led to a fascination with urban exploration, which in turn became the inspiration for her crime novels. She lives in London.