Casey is fierce, obsessive and brilliant. Watt, herself an investigative journalist, provides a daunting insight into what the job entails as Casey blackmails and tricks her way to the truth

No second album syndrome for Watt; her follow-up to her debut is just as vivid and packed with journalistic lore, and just as adroit in mixing pulsating derring-do with painstaking detective work

Utterly convincing … Watt is also an expert at ratcheting up the suspense … A superbly crafted sequel in what one hopes will be a long running series

Heart-stoppingly exciting

A compelling thriller that also raises real-world questions about the cost of human lives and what it means to be responsible for one another

[A] heart-squeezingly exciting yarn

More than lives up to its promise … With plenty of action and lots of suspense, The Dead Line is hard-hitting, authentic and, sadly, all too relevant

Holly Watt’s first novel, To the Lions, won the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger and this, her second, is even better … This novel has something for everyone

Holly Watt expertly combines suspense with revelations about the workings of the unregulated surrogacy industry, and there is a strong dash of Ian Fleming in the surreal chase through a wrecked cruise liner

Watt’s high-octane second novel roams from London to Bangladesh via Greece and Washington DC … An award-winning former investigative journalist herself, Watt’s prose crackles with energy

A rip-roarer of a thriller that sucked me in and wouldn’t let go until the finish. Like To the Lions, The Dead Line confronts some of the worst of human nature head on, but also finds hope in the complex heroes who stand against it. In Casey Benedict, we have a brilliant creation who is as relentless in her pursuit of the truth as a helpless group of victims demands. I find myself wishing there were more Caseys in the world

Terrific, hair-raising and profoundly disturbing

Holly Watt is a master storyteller … A dynamic, globetrotting thriller with a strong, compassionate heart

Superbly entertaining … This promises to be an outstanding series

A first-rate Fleet Street novel … equally good on the spy-like ploys used by undercover hacks as it is on tensions and teamwork in the newsroom

Sensational! I loved it. Superbly plotted, and what a brilliant series lead! A sure hit

This fast-paced thriller follows journalist Casey Benedict on a dark trail of murder, political corruption and lies in a well-told tale that grabs you from the very first page