Always nice to find a new series to read. This one, the first of the series, has a lot going for it. The story is complex, with several murders that are somehow related, but it's not apparent how. Add to this the complications added by the fact that the participants and victims are mostly poor, undocumented foreign workers who don't trust the police and can't speak English well, if at all, not to mention victims who don't always remain dead, and you've got a story that will grab your interest to find out what is going on.

It's a good look at a part of society most of us don't usually see much of. The main protagonists, Zigic and Ferreira, are an interesting pair also. They are both police, working in the hate-crimes division, one male and one female. They are pretty different in their methods, so they make a good team, in a way.

If you want to read something a bit different, you might enjoy this one. However, I personally wouldn't recommend this audiobook, as I found it a little hard to understand at times. But that might just be me. ( )

[2021] DNF at 25%. This came highly recommended but I just couldn't get into it. I found none of the characters sympathetic (victim, witnesses/suspects, or cops) and the world building is just dreary and depressing. ( )

The story begins with a fire burning in Phil and Gemma Barlow's outside shed. When the blaze dies down the police discover the shed was padlocked shut with someone sleeping inside. DI Dushan Zigic and DS Mel Ferreira of the Hate Crimes Unit believe the dead man was Jaan Stepulov, an alcoholic Estonian immigrant, who had taken over the Barlow's shed and refused to leave. They become chief suspects because they didn't report the fire and even claim that they didn't notice it burning right below their bedroom window. Soon Zigic and Ferreira finding additional suspects including a convicted arsonist and member of a far-right movement who has just been released from prison, and a slumlord that's often been accused of exploiting migrants.

DI Zigic has a Serbian background, DS Ferreira is Portuguese, and both have suffered incidents of racism from the community. In an interesting character twist, Ferreira is always on edge, always the “bad cop”. She rolls her own cigarettes and makes snap decisions on guilt based on her own prejudices. Zigic, a family man, is pragmatic and less prone to impulse. The question of immigration and integration is one that is heating up around the world and is skillfully described in this book.

These are fascinating new characters who are original and believable. Long Way Home is that start of a series featuring them and I definitely plan to read another. ( )

This story is set in the Fenlands city of Peterborough where migrant workers have flooded into jobs in the town, in the factories, the building industry, the factories, and the pubs.

The newly created Hate Crimes Unit is called when a body is found to have been burnt in a garden shed doubling as accommodation. DI Zigic has a Serbian background, and DS Ferreira has Portuguese background.

Then the body is identified and is found to be related to another body discovered near some railway tracks, cut into pieces by a suburban train.

The investigative net gets wider and branches out into the migrant community where workers, some legal, some illegal, are being treated like slaves, and at the mercy racketeers, among simmering racial tension.

There are several authentic voices in the narration: the police, the owners of the shed, building site workers, and local petty criminals.

The final truth comes as a surprise.

This is the first title in a series that now has 5 titles:
1. Long Way Home (2014)
2. Tell No Tales (2015)
3. After You Die (2016)
4. Watch Her Disappear (2017)
5. Between Two Evils (2020) ( )

Eva Dolan's first Zigic and Ferreira mystery features two very different leads. Zigic is older, married, used to people being unable to pronounce his name, and adept at not letting people's intended-- or unintended-- racism get to him. Ferreira is the opposite-- younger, female, opinionated (sometimes to the point of blindness), convinced that she knows what's best and determined not to put up with any of this racist crap. Dolan gives readers two different approaches to solving hate crimes, and between the two detectives, they get the job done. I can't say that I warmed to either character. Zigic is almost too quiet, too used to flying under the radar to avoid obstacles and get his work done. On the other hand, Ferreira is too abrasive and pig-headed, and although I didn't like her, I have to admit that I'm interested in seeing if her personality changes the longer she's on the job.

Dolan has created a strong mystery with a very human touch. Migrant workers play an important role in the story, and readers could very well feel uncomfortable as they learn why migrant workers are used, how they are abused, and how all levels of society look at them. The burned corpse that brings the two detectives to the scene leads to other crimes, and I enjoyed watching everything unfold-- the teasing out of whodunnit and the motives from the rest of the threads of the plot.

Long Way Home is an enlightening, sometimes uncomfortable, read with two strong leads and an intricate, engrossing plot. I know I will be visiting with Zigic and Ferreira again in the future. ( )