A gangland execution.

A missing witness.

A case someone wants buried.

When notorious crime figure Nicky Baxter is found tortured and executed in a derelict warehouse on the banks of the Tyne, Detective Chief Inspector Alanna Rooke is called in to lead the investigation.

It should be a routine gangland killing.

Until the witness disappears and the evidence starts to vanish.

As Rooke digs into Baxter’s empire, she finds herself pushing against something far more dangerous than organised crime. Doors close. Leads dry up. And pressure begins to come from places it shouldn’t — from inside the system she’s sworn to uphold.

Someone is watching the investigation. Someone with the power to control it.

The deeper Rooke goes, the clearer it becomes: this wasn’t just a murder.

It was a message.

ROOKE is the first novel in a gripping British crime thriller series set across Newcastle, Gateshead, and the wild Northumberland coast.

Perfect for readers of LJ Ross, Ian Rankin, JD Kirk and Anne Cleeves.