It’s tough and gritty, but very addictive and I stopped reading anything else so I could finish this. Warren's cruel brother Victor barges his way into their lives, he rapes their mother Frenchie nightly and beats the children. But can she escape the long arm of the law and the hangman's noose, when the crimes of her past finally catch up with her? There is pain, love and hardship, life laid bare, it’s a real rip roaring piece of historical crime fiction.

Diamond Butcher is a feisty female lead character who has to put up with abuse with her family in London and has to cope with a move to Paris where her life is far from easy. Her mother's 'friend' in Paris, Mimi, isn't all she seems to be and exploits Diamond whenever she can. Eventually, after suffering the death of both parents, her brother Aiden and miscarrying her baby, Diamond's life starts on its upward spiral and it looks like her life is changing for a more settled future.We follow Diamond Butcher and her family, once high up in the echelons of London gangland crime - now forced under the heel of her Uncle Victor who runs things. If I had one one small quibble in parts, this book jumps from one character to another within the same paragraph which made the read feel disjointed in parts.

His dislikes: being told what to do, drunks, and having fought free of his poor background, he NEVER wants to go back there. In my opinion this is the best book to date written by Jessie Keane and I really hope there is a sequel as I’d love to read more about Diamond. We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues.As ever, Jessie Keane's characters are brilliantly written and the end of this book lends itself to a follow up which will hopefully be on the horizon soon. At first I thought I would give this book a go and I'm glad that I dis from the first chapter till the last it was so different . The supporting characters fit firmly into two categories, good or evil, and there are some truly evil, despicable characters in this book that made this book such an exciting read.