DS Declan Miller is tends to get the unusual and bizarre cases, and the one he has been assigned is no different.Miller has a man claiming he’s guilty for a murder that hasn’t happened. This attracts the attention of a rogue enforcer and a gangland boss, an unforgiving lady who doesn’t mess about. If that’s not enough a student is kidnapped, and all of it seems related, along with his personal issues to deal with, life is never straightforward for our budding detective.If he is to solve the case he will have step out of the shadows and put his life on the line.The Shadow Step is a fantastic piece of work by Mark Billingham.The creation of the character DS Declan Miller is one the best things to come along in fiction in a very long time.He’s wonderfully sarcastic, incredibly funny, but most importantly he cares about the job, and he deep down has a kind heart.I’m a massive fan of this series and I highly recommend it.

DCI Miller returns in his third outing in this excellent comedic thriller. This book is a much lighter tone than Billinghams Tom Thorne series, with Miller constantly making wise cracks that make me imagine a younger Bill Murray in the role. The sarcasm and wit rarely misses and had me smirking and laughing throughout. There's not much of a murder mystery to solve this time round, with an accident, then leading to murder and a kidnapping, but we know who does each, and so does Miller. We just sit back and enjoy the ride. I was so pleased to see the return of Alex, Millers dead wife. A sounding board for him to reminisce and deal with his grief, as well helping him talk through his cases and personal problems. He knows she's not really there but those scenes do tug on the heart strings. You certainly can read this as a stand alone but there are so many references to the previous two books, with all of the characters returning here, you're much the better off if you've read them before picking this one up. I hope this series continues for many more books a this was the perfect tonic following the trauma Billingham caused me in What the Night Brings! I would like to convey my thanks to Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for the chance to review this novel. All opinions are my own.

Declan Miller returns in The Shadow Step by Mark Billingham and it is another excellent book with great main and supporting storylines with some nice humour thrown in for good measure.The book is well paced and keeps the pages turning from the beginning to the end.A definite winner

I’d been looking forward to reading this and it definitely lived up to my expectations. It’s one of those books where you sit down intending to read a couple of chapters and suddenly realise you’re halfway through because it’s so easy to get caught up in the story. The story itself is full of surprises. What starts off as a fairly odd situation soon grows into something much bigger, with plenty of twists along the way. Every time I thought I’d worked out what was going on, the plot took another turn and I was back to guessing again. It kept me hooked from beginning to end. I also really enjoy the people around Miller. The relationships between the team feel natural, and the balance between the lighter moments and the darker side of the case works really well. Blackpool is becoming a character in its own right and gives the series a different feel from a lot of crime novels. It’s nice to read something that stands out rather than following the same formula. For me, this is another really strong instalment, and I think the series just keeps getting better. I’m already looking forward to seeing what Declan Miller gets himself into next. Many thanks to Little, Brown Book Group UK and NetGalley for providing this advanced copy

I really love Mark Billingham books and have really enjoyed the Tom Thorne series - so Detective Declan Miller was always going to be a hard act to follow. This is the third in the series and now the mystery surrounding the demise of Millers wife has been resolved - this story came into its own. There was one aspect of a spectral nature I found a little odd but to say more would provide unacceptable spoilers. As always the bookwas well written and cleverly woven together and I think Detective Miller is growing on me - even his rats. I look forward to more Mark Billingham