I was lucky to get this short novella from the author to read. I have not read Shallow Waters the first book in the series and that Three Weeks Dead is a prequel to. But, I found no problems getting into the story.

In Three Weeks Dead, we get two POV. We have Jason Wells the husband to the kidnapped dead wife and then we have DC Sally Poynter, a young and inexperienced policewoman. Both are faced with troubles of them own, Jason with the moral dilemma of doing the right thing, not giving in to the kidnappers, but still wanting the body of his wife back. And, Sally is young, trying to balance marriage life with being a police and at the same time hoping to not doing anything wrong with the case.

For me was Three Weeks Dead an interesting book because I don't think I have ever read a book where the dead body is used as a bargaining chip. It was quite interesting to follow Jason as he wrestles with himself about not giving in to the kidnapper's demand. I mean it's easy to sit here and judge telling Jason mentally that she's just a dead body, she's not there anymore. But, for him, that's still his wife's body, a woman she loved. As for Sally, I have to admit that here newbie attitude was a bit grating for me, but I do like that Sally towards the end started to feel a bit more mature. However, here problems with a fellow male colleague in the book annoyed me, sure I can understand that some clashes occur, but it's not a long story, and I felt sometimes that it took a bit too large part of the story. It's not especially new in police books to have a male police hating a female police so it could be that I was just tired of an old cliché. It will be interesting to read Shallow Waters to see how I will feel about the situations.

Also, as much as I enjoyed the story was it pretty short and I often feel that short stories are like a synopsis of a book. Give it more flesh, more story, and you will have a great book. I felt it reading this one, the idea was great, and I would have loved reading a full-length book. As a novella was it not bad, but you only scratch the surface when it comes to the characters. I always want more!

I want to thank the author for providing me with a free copy for an honest review! ( )

I was lucky to get this short novella from the author to read. I have not read Shallow Waters the first book in the series and that Three Weeks Dead is a prequel to. But, I found no problems getting into the story.

In Three Weeks Dead, we get two POV. We have Jason Wells the husband to the kidnapped dead wife and then we have DC Sally Poynter, a young and inexperienced policewoman. Both are faced with troubles of them own, Jason with the moral dilemma of doing the right thing, not giving in to the kidnappers, but still wanting the body of his wife back. And, Sally is young, trying to balance marriage life with being a police and at the same time hoping to not doing anything wrong with the case.

For me was Three Weeks Dead an interesting book because I don't think I have ever read a book where the dead body is used as a bargaining chip. It was quite interesting to follow Jason as he wrestles with himself about not giving in to the kidnapper's demand. I mean it's easy to sit here and judge telling Jason mentally that she's just a dead body, she's not there anymore. But, for him, that's still his wife's body, a woman she loved. As for Sally, I have to admit that here newbie attitude was a bit grating for me, but I do like that Sally towards the end started to feel a bit more mature. However, here problems with a fellow male colleague in the book annoyed me, sure I can understand that some clashes occur, but it's not a long story, and I felt sometimes that it took a bit too large part of the story. It's not especially new in police books to have a male police hating a female police so it could be that I was just tired of an old cliché. It will be interesting to read Shallow Waters to see how I will feel about the situations.

Also, as much as I enjoyed the story was it pretty short and I often feel that short stories are like a synopsis of a book. Give it more flesh, more story, and you will have a great book. I felt it reading this one, the idea was great, and I would have loved reading a full-length book. As a novella was it not bad, but you only scratch the surface when it comes to the characters. I always want more!

I want to thank the author for providing me with a free copy for an honest review! ( )

This novella was well written with good plot, pace and characters. The idea was interesting. ( )

I am always looking for a good detective story or, better still, a good series. I chose this novella as an introduction to DI Hannah Robbins who features in the Detective Hannah Robbins Crime Series. (Shallow Waters and Made to be Broken)
I don’t read other reviews (except for scanning the ratings) before selecting/agreeing to a book for review. I did not realise that this story, although a prequal to the series, is about DC Sally Poynter not DI Hannah Robbins. Initially, this was a disappointment to me. After drafting up my review then reading other reviews, I realised that Sally Poynter, as a member of Robbins team, is a character in the two books of the series. Yes, I need to pay more attention in the future.
Having said that, while I didn’t get a strong impression of the main character of the series, I did get an insight into the quality of Ms Bradley’s writing and very much liked what I read. She certainly has imagination and her experience as a police officer brings reality to her story.
The story starts immediately with an unusual crime and moves smoothly and consistently; essential for a novella. It is an absorbing and interesting story line, well-paced, with short chapters and building tension at the end.
The characters are well developed and demonstrate not only good detecting skills but very much life as a police officer.
DC Sally Poynter is the newest team member and wants to show she can do a good job. She has the support of her boss and the other team members with one exception who is a misogynistic bully. She is capable but insecure with a willingness to try hard and learn while trying to balance her marriage.
I felt for Jason Wells, the young man who has recently lost his wife and now finds her body has been stolen. To get her back he has to commit a crime.
My heart went out to Lewis, who was Jason’s wife devoted dog. He is a totally loveable, if four-legged, character in the story. I kept hoping nothing would happen to him. One point that amused me was when Jason explained to Sally why he was named Lewis. He was named after the offsider of Morse from the television series. Sally explains that she doesn’t watch police crime shows because they are not realistic “they never do any paperwork.” It made me smile and wonder if this was a personal view of Ms Bradley’s
My rating 3*. I will certainly be getting copies of the other two book in the series.