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Thursday, 3 July 2025

The Inside Man by Trevor Wood #TheInsideMan @TrevorWoodWrite @QuercusBooks #BookReview @trevorwoodwrite.bsky.social

 


The second Newcastle-set police thriller with a twist. DCI Jack Parker fights to hide his Early Onset Dementia while he continues to do the job he loves - investigating crimes and bringing villains to justice.

Still haunted by the death of a colleague in a hit and run for which he blames himself, he pursues the case with a determination bordering on recklessness when he encourages her replacement, DS Emma Steel, to get close to a local gangster who knows more than he's letting on, thereby endangering Emma and causing dissent among his team.

Jack is called in to investigate the disappearance of a young woman, Maria, and her son who appear to have vanished off the face of the earth. His boss tells him to focus on her ex-husband, but though the evidence points in his direction, Jack has his doubts. The woman has form with toxic men and the husband is just the latest in a long line.

As Jack's plans to hide his condition become more challenging, he begins to wonder if Maria is really the innocent victim she's been portrayed as - until a body turns up. As he starts to discover the truth in both these investigations, Jack comes to understand that nothing in this world is as black and white as it seems.




The Inside Man by Trevor Wood is published today; 03 July 2025 by Quercus. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review. 

I read and reviewed the first in this series; The Silent Killer, in October last year. I've since heard the author speak about the series at fiction festivals and have been looking forward to this next instalment. 

Once again, this clever author presents a thrilling and compelling crime drama, interwoven with a generous and empathic look at the effects of early onset dementia. He does it with such style.  DCI Jack Parker is a wonderful creation; he's passionate about policing, but often makes rash decisions that come to affect him long term. Jack is still trying to get over the fact that his work partner was killed, he feels responsible for her death and it is his ultimate aim to track down how did it. Meanwhile, he's putting his new partner Emma in danger by encouraging her to get close to a local gangster. 

Jack is leading the investigation into the disappearance of a local woman and her small child. All fingers point at the woman's ex-husband at first, but it soon becomes clear that her life was quite complicated. The reader is more aware of what is happening in the case than Jack and his team and this adds a real depth and tension to the plot line. 

This is a really smart novel, readers cannot help but love Jack Parker despite his questionable decisions and his grumpiness. He deals with the devastation of his diagnosis in his own way, and is also now involved in drugs trials. He is determined that his illness and its effects will not stop his career. 

There's humour, there is some tenderness, there is drama and there's a cast of wonderfully created characters who the reader will really care for. Highly recommended by me. 




Trevor Wood has lived in Newcastle for 30 years and considers himself an adopted
Geordie, though he still can’t speak the language. 

He's a successful playwright who has also worked as a journalist and spin-doctor for the City Council. 

Prior to that he served in the Royal Navy for 16 years joining, presciently, as a Writer.

 Trevor holds an MA in Creative Writing (Crime Fiction) from UEA. 

His first novel, The Man on the Street, won the CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger, the Crimefest Specsavers Best Crime Debut Award and was shortlisted for the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. It was followed by two more critically-acclaimed books in the Jimmy Mullen trilogy, One Way Street and Dead End Street. 

His next book, You Can Run, a standalone thriller set in a remote Northumberland village, was also long-listed for the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. 

His latest book, The Silent Killer, is the first in a police procedural series featuring Detective Chief Inspector Jack Parker, who is in the first stages of Early Onset Dementia.

 Trevor is represented by Oli Munson at AM Heath. 

He is one of the founding members of the Northern Crime Syndicate.




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