Unjust Bias by Liz Mistry
A murdered boy disowned by his family.
A teen terrified his past will catch up with him.
A girl with nowhere to go.
Men with rage so visceral they will do anything.
With the unsolved murder of a homeless boy still preying on his mind, DI Gus McGuire is confronted with a similar murder, a missing teen and no clues.
Does the answer lie with an illegal dark web site where ‘slaves’ are auctioned off? Or with an online forum for teens?
How can Gus keep people safe when unjust bias rears its head and being different could cost you your life…?
About the author
Born in Scotland, Made in Bradford sums up Liz Mistry’s life. Over thirty years ago she moved from a small village in West Lothian to Yorkshire to get her teaching degree. Once here, Liz fell in love with three things; curries, the rich cultural diversity of the city … and her Indian husband (not necessarily in this order). Now thirty years, three children, two cats (Winky and Scumpy) and a huge extended family later, Liz uses her experiences of living and working in the inner city to flavour her writing. Her gritty crime fiction police procedural novels set in Bradford embrace the city she describes as ‘Warm, Rich and Fearless’ whilst exploring the darkness that lurks beneath.
Struggling with severe clinical depression and anxiety for a large number of years, Liz often includes mental health themes in her writing. She credits the MA in Creative Writing she took at Leeds Trinity University with helping her find a way of using her writing to navigate her ongoing mental health struggles. Being a debut novelist in her fifties was something Liz had only dreamed of and she counts herself lucky, whilst pinching herself regularly to make sure it’s all real. One of the nicest things about being a published author is chatting with and responding to readers’ feedback and Liz regularly does events at local libraries, universities, literature festivals and open mics. She also teaches creative writing too. Now, having nearly completed a PhD in Creative Writing focussing on ‘the absence of the teen voice in adult crime fiction’ and ‘why expansive narratives matter’, Liz is chock full of ideas to continue writing.
In her spare time, Liz loves pub quizzes (although she admits to being rubbish at them), dancing (she does a mean jig to Proud Mary – her opinion, not ratified by her family), visiting the varied Yorkshire landscape, with Robin Hoods Bay being one of her favourite coastal destinations, listening to music, reading and blogging about all things crime fiction on her blog, The Crime Warp.
Review
‘Unjust bias’ gets its claws into you and won't let go until you have frantically devoured it. Enthralling and engaging, this is just my cup of tea - Yorkshire, strong and with a pinch of spices. Sorry couldn't resist that! Just pass the chai!
This is the first book by Liz Mistry that I have read but it will not be the last! I was always aware of her series but just hadn't gotten round to reading them. What a mistake that was. It instantly felt as if I was reading about friends rather than people I did not know of and that is a testament to the strength of the writing. The characters were engaging and complex and I embraced them from the start. Although this is book 8 in the Gus McGuire series you can read this as a standalone. Normally I am loathed to jump into a series this established I am glad I did as it was fantastic!
When Gus and his team are called to a crime scene, they find a young Asian man stuffed behind some bins, discarded as rubbish. He has been disowned by his family for being gay and has been surviving on the streets before his murder. Gus chases down all the clues but they lead to nowhere. It's not until a young girl is found murdered in a similar manner months later that they begin to connect the dots. Plus, when Jo Jo turns up hysterical as he has spotted his sister on a porn site on the dark web the team try desperately to take the image down. But the auction stops and someone offers a very large sum for her location…
This was a cracker of a book and it pulled me in instantly in the world that Liz has woven with such amazing characters and an excellent narrative. Gus, Alice, Taffy and Compo are all brilliant characters but I liked the cheek of Alice and the passion of Gus and Compo. The issues of transgender, conversion therapy and the associated issues were dealt with in such a sensitive and emphatic way and it was clear that Liz has done her research on this topic. The scene where the kids were in a zoom meeting had me shed a tear. Despite people reading books like these as entertainment its also a chance to educate the reader on these issues and Liz has struck this balance perfectly!
This was my introduction, or shall I say indoctrination, into the Gus McGuire series but it's now an auto-read and I will be delving into the previous books as well!
Let me know if you pick this one up!
