Split Second by R C Bridgestock #splitsecond @rcbridgestockauthor @orendabooks @randomthingstours #virtualbooktour #dylanandmann

 

What if one moment – one split second – changed everything?

When a firearms officer shoots a suspect dead and wounds another, who later dies in hospital, the official line is that the sun was in her eyes. Her body cam failed. Known only as Officer X, her anonymity is meant to protect her – until a judge releases her name and a media storm erupts.

Detective Superintendent Jack Dylan and DI Charley Mann are called in to determine whether it was a justifiable use of force – or something darker. And when it's revealed that Officer X knew the victim, and her brother died of a drug overdose linked to the same woman, the case becomes charged with personal and political tension.

As pressure mounts, a vulnerable witness dies and a lost phone surfaces with a photograph and a message that could unravel everything – and reveal the truth about what happened that day.

Split Second brings Dylan and Mann together for the first time, in an investigation that will test their instincts, their loyalties and the limits of justice itself, as both detectives must decide how far they'll go – and what they're willing to sacrifice – to uncover the truth.

Split Second by R C Bridgestock is published today; 27 August 2026 by Orenda Books and is the first in a new series. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review as part of this Virtual Book Tour 

It's been quite some time since I last read a book by R C Bridgestock, I've enjoyed their books in the past. This husband and wife writing as R C Bridgestock bring such a wealth of knowledge to their writing. I was delighted to hear that they were pairing up DS Jack Dylan and DI Charley Mann; characters from their previous two series, to begin a brand new, Yorkshire based police procedural series. 

I have enjoyed every single page of this tense, fast moving and original novel. The premise is really intriguing. A police firearms officer shoots dead the driver of a car, the passenger later dies in hospital. All incidents such as this have to be investigated internally and Dylan and Mann are put on the case. 

Officer X, the female officer claims that the sun was in her eyes, she had no idea who was driving the car. Further investigations discover that there is a link between X and the dead woman driver and this adds more layers into what should have been a straightforward case. When a judge identifies Officer X as Abi, the threat of revenge is large. 

The characters are created with such care; from the school children who bunked school and witnessed the shooting, to the vulnerability of Abi and the care shown by Kat; the officer tasked with supporting her. Each and every one of them are realistic, playing such an important part of the story. 

Split Second is a tense, thought-provoking police procedural that explores the difficult line between justified force and personal motive.  Bringing Detective Superintendent Jack Dylan and DI Charley Mann together for the first time is a brilliant move.  The investigation develops into a compelling examination of justice, loyalty and the pressures facing those tasked with policing the police. The authors steadily introduce new evidence and conflicting motivations, keeping the truth tantalisingly out of reach.

A combination of police procedure, moral dilemmas and personal stakes, Split Second offers plenty for crime-fiction readers to get their teeth into. It’s an absorbing investigation that asks whether one split-second decision can ever truly be understood once everyone has their own version of what happened.

Former Head of CID Bob Bridgestock is now an international best-selling author, along with his wife Carol, who also worked for West Yorkshire Police. 

The couple, who write under the pen name of R.C. Bridgestock, were voted the eight best crime writers of all time by WHSmith Readers. 

The writing duo created the character DI Jack Dylan, a detective from Harrowfield, with nine books in the Dylan series. 

In 2020, they launched a new series featuring a strong Yorkshire female, Detective Inspector Charley Mann. 

The couple were the storyline consultants/police procedural on BAFTA winning BBC1 police drama Happy Valley,Scott & Bailey and The Beast Must Die, as well as other police dramas.