The Forgotten Gun

Book 1 of the DCI Steve Burt series.

First Published 31 August 2021

A London Metropolitan Police detective, about to be dismissed, is given a second chance by his old boss, who is now a police commander. Steve Burt is given a new unit to run and two misfit detectives to assist him. All three are told their status is temporary. Their first case together is an impossible double murder. Both murders are identical. The victims were expertly shot in the head from long range, but the postmortems reveal no bullets were used in the shootings. The CSI teams calculate that in both cases there was no place for the marksman to have fired from, unless suspended over busy roads. Although it is apparently impossible to solve, Steve Burt, now a Detective Chief Inspector, reluctantly agrees to investigate with his new team. Their enquiries lead them into the murky world of greed, corruption, fraud and money laundering, but they are no nearer solving the murders. The team is stumped until the DCI meets a retired army major and a WW2 veteran who unwittingly hold the keys to solving these impossible murders.

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Reviews of The Forgotten Gun

Compelling and engaging

This novel is about as far from my typical fiction reading as possible while still being on the same planet, and yet I loved every minute of it! Told through an impartial, even stoic, voice it managed to intrigue me from the start, and I couldn’t wait to discover how this discarded group of misfits would work together to solve a seemingly unsolvable murder. Compelling, engaging, and riveting, this phenomenal, well-paced story will carry you effortlessly through to its shocking, satisfying conclusion. Fans of mystery, thrillers and crime fiction will quickly devour this fantastic, spellbinding read.

Reviewed by BookAddict on 16 August 2021

Wonderfully unexpected

There are so many things I enjoyed about this read. Firstly I like that "the killer" is the terminology used in those particular chapters. It reveals nothing about them making it packed with suspense. I also love the dream team with their nicknames (although had to cringe at poor Twiggy love her) a superb bunch of misfits that work superbly together and shock everyone, even themselves. This is an intricate plot, some clues I picked up on, but nowhere close to working out the ending. Wonderfully unexpected.

Reviewed by Emma on 4 August 2021

A gripping thriller

This is an unputdownable gripping thriller. The story kept me on the edge the whole time I was reading it. Cover photo of the book is nice and the title is suitable. Characters are very interesting and written well by the author. Pace of the story is fast and I enjoyed every bit of it. If you love reading crime thrillers, don't miss to grab this one

Reviewed by _sassy_39 on 25 August 2021

interesting and intriguing

The Forgotten Gun by John Reid is a mystery crime thriller about a police detective who is given a second chance and will run a new unit for six months before he must retire. He will now be in charge of two detectives who are in a similar position. The unit is assigned a seemingly impossible-to-solve case and they slowly begin to gather clues.

This book was so interesting and intriguing. It was fast-paced, shocking, and had an intricate plot. The book was very engaging and chapter after chapter revealed mind-blowing twists and turns. The mystery and plot were so captivating, it became hard to put the book down at some point.

Reviewed by Nagma on 10 November 2021

no bullets were found!

Three detectives that are seen as unfit for their work are given the task of solving impossible murder cases. When the first case comes in they are determined to solve the case before they’re forced to leave the police. However, how will you solve a case in which two people were shot, but no bullets were found? Only one way to find out...

What I liked about this mystery is that the murder case is an intriguing one that actually seems impossible to solve. No weapon, no bullets, no motive, no suspect, no killing sites. Although I think this is maybe repeated a bit too often for my taste, it is what makes the case intriguing. And when clues slowly started to appear I was flabbergasted, and amazed by the imagination of the writer!

Reviewed by Vera on 30 August 2021

interesting and well written

The mystery in itself was well pondered and well written. It was slightly predictable, but I liked the way the detectives went through each step to finally catch the killer. Each small deduction made the book more and more interesting. I found the premise of the book to be extremely interesting as well. I highly recommend this book to all lovers of whodunnit style mysteries. I am definitely looking forward to reading the other books in this series.

Reviewed by Kaushani on 18 November 2021

with a twist at the end

🚨Mr. Reid has penned an unputdownable crime/police procedural novel. The three detectives may have been on their way out, but they had such tenacity and determination. I was rooting for all of them as they attempted to solve the “perfect” crime. The storyline held me captive from beginning to end. I NEEDED to know who the killer was. And, the twist at the end was perfection.

🚨If you enjoy challenging your sleuthing abilities with a compelling, suspenseful crime novel, then I recommend you grab a copy of The Forgotten Gun.

🚨Also, a caveat: there is a lot of coffee drinking going on throughout this tale, so brew yourself a big pot because once you start reading, you won’t want to stop.

Reviewed by Donna on 14 September 2021