Book Review: Bleeding Heart Yard by Elly Griffiths

Bleeding Heart Yard
Author: Ellie Griffiths
Series: Harbinder Kaur (Book 3)
Publication: Mariner Books (November 15, 2022)

Description: A murderer strikes at a school reunion—but the students are no strangers to death— in this propulsive, twisty thriller from the internationally bestselling author of the Ruth Galloway Mysteries

Is it possible to forget that you’ve committed a murder?

When Cassie Fitzgerald was at school in the late 90s, she and her friends killed a fellow student. Almost twenty years later, Cassie is a happily married mother who loves her job—as a police officer. She closely guards the secret she has all but erased from her memory.

One day her husband finally persuades her to go to a school reunion. Cassie catches up with her high-achieving old friends from the Manor Park School—among them two politicians, a rock star, and a famous actress. But then, shockingly, one of them, Garfield Rice, is found dead in the school bathroom, supposedly from a drug overdose. As Garfield was an eminent—and controversial—MP and the investigation is high profile, it’s headed by Cassie’s new boss, DI Harbinder Kaur, freshly promoted and newly arrived in London. The trouble is, Cassie can’t shake the feeling that one of them has killed again.

Is Cassie right, or was Garfield murdered by one of his political cronies? It’s in Cassie’s interest to skew the investigation so that it looks like it has nothing to do with Manor Park and she seems to be succeeding.

Until someone else from the reunion is found dead in Bleeding Heart Yard…

My Thoughts: When a controversial politician is murdered at a high school reunion, newly promoted and transferred Harbinder Kaur gets a high profile first case. The class at Manor Park included two politicians, a rock star, a famous actress and one of Kaur's subordinates Cassie Fitzgerald. They along with their friend Anna called themselves The Group.

Cassie is convinced that she and the other members of The Group killed one of their classmates just after they completed their A-levels. Cassie has managed to bury the memory and built herself a new life with a husband, two children, and a career as a police officer. 

The murder brings back some of her repressed memories leaving her not knowing what to do. Things get even more tense when the second politician in the group is also murdered. It is uncertain if the cause of the murders relates to the death of their fellow student or if it has something to do with their present political stances. 

The story is told from multiple viewpoints including Kaur and Cassie. It was a very twisty sort of thriller.

I bought this one July 8, 2025. You can buy your copy here.