Human Remains by Jo Callaghan

The truth will always come out, but at what cost? 

Fresh from successfully closing their first live case, the Future Policing Unit are called in to investigate when a headless, handless body is found on a Warwickshire farm. But as they work to identify the victim and their killer, the discovery of a second body begins to spark fears that The Aston Strangler is back. And as the stakes rise for the team, so do the tensions brewing within it.

When DCS Kat Frank is accused of putting the wrong man behind bars all those years ago, AIDE Lock – the world’s first AI detective – pursues the truth about what happened with relentless logic. But Kat is determined to keep the past buried, and when she becomes the target of a shadowy figure looking for revenge, Lock is torn between his evidence-based algorithms and the judgement of his partner, with explosive results. 

When everything hangs in the balance, it will all come down to just how much an AI can learn, and what happens when they do…

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I didn’t mean to do this.  I typically try to avoid reading the books in a series back-to-back because it makes them harder for me to review.  I find myself becoming repetitive, and no one wants to read the same the comments over and over, however apt they are.  But, having read and loved In the Blink of an Eye and then deciding that I just couldn’t wait to find out what happened next in Leave No Trace, this third instalment appeared as a Kindle Daily Deal.  Who am I to resist such a sign?!  I bought it, and while I didn’t have to read it straightaway, I was on holiday and having enjoyed the first two so much, I decided to roll with it. 

What I really like about Human Remains is the exploration of the case that effectively made Kat’s career.  There have been references to the Aston Strangler throughout both novels, but here we get the background to that case and see just how big a deal it was.  Kat went against the forensic profile drawn up as part of the case, arresting a fellow police officer who has since died in prison.  But now a podcast is revisiting that case, claiming a miscarriage of justice, planting of evidence, and claiming that Kat got the wrong man.  Kat vehemently refuses to discuss it – shutting down the conversation, changing the subject, even leaving the room – but comes under increasing pressure to do so as the theory gains momentum and as her admittedly suspicious reactions lead to more questions. 

As if that weren’t enough, there is a second case ongoing when the team are called upon to investigate a body found on a farm, the head and hands removed thereby preventing easy identification.  As the team start to build up their evidence, the victim does, unfortunately for Kat, begin to resemble those of the Aston Strangler, something that the podcast gets wind of and immediately uses to its advantage.  I never doubted Kat for one minute, but the same can’t be said of all those around her.  While I enjoyed the Aston Strangler plot thread, I also enjoyed this second, live case.  It’s once again an original and innovative idea that goes in an unexpected direction. 

In all three novels, I’ve enjoyed the interaction of AIDE Lock and his human counterparts.  I’ve enjoyed watching him learn and have found his very literal interpretation of his instructions quite amusing at times.  While I can’t say too much for obvious reasons, this book takes things in a slightly different direction to what I was expecting as the question of whether Lock would benefit from a corporeal form arises.  A hologram only to this point, having Lock be able to interact physically with the world has some obvious benefits, and yet there’s some reluctance on all sides.  I’m really looking forward to seeing how this idea plays out in the next (please let there be a next!) novel, particularly given the explosive ending to Human Remains. 

So, from being three books behind, I’m all caught up with a new favourite series!  I’m sure it’s come across, but I can’t recommend this series enough – each one has been an excellent police procedural, and I’ve loved the added element of AIDE Lock which sets them apart from others in the genre. 

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Book 7 of 15 Books of Summer (#ShouldHaveGoneForTen)