'No Comment is essential reading for anyone interested in the questions being asked of the Met today' Katherine Faulkner 'A must-read for anyone who has ever wondered what happens after they've called 999 and a shocking indictment of a system not fit for purpose' Angela Kirwin Jess McDonald was a true crime junkie and Line of Duty sofa sleuth with a strong sense of justice. Under a year later, thanks to a controversial new initiative, she was a detective in the London Metropolitan Police Service. The Met Police's Direct ...
Read More
'No Comment is essential reading for anyone interested in the questions being asked of the Met today' Katherine Faulkner 'A must-read for anyone who has ever wondered what happens after they've called 999 and a shocking indictment of a system not fit for purpose' Angela Kirwin Jess McDonald was a true crime junkie and Line of Duty sofa sleuth with a strong sense of justice. Under a year later, thanks to a controversial new initiative, she was a detective in the London Metropolitan Police Service. The Met Police's Direct Entry Detective scheme was aimed at turning people with no experience of the police into detectives. When it was launched, to tackle an unprecedented recruitment crisis, over 4,500 people, Jess included, applied. But why, within just a year of qualifying, had the majority of Jess' cohort resigned? No Comment is Jess' candid, eye-opening and often shocking account, exploring the reality of being a detective in the Met and responsible for 'keeping London safe for everyone'. In her incisive book she explores the challenges of life on the front line, dealing almost exclusively with serious crimes against women, and what that reveals about the Met Police now. 5***** Mail on Sunday 'An absolute gripping read' Andrew Marr
Read Less
Add this copy of No Comment to cart. $11.97, new condition, Sold by Books2anywhere rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Fairford, GLOUCESTERSHIRE, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2024 by Bloomsbury Publishing PLC.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
PLEASE NOTE, WE DO NOT SHIP TO DENMARK. New Book. Shipped from UK in 4 to 14 days. Established seller since 2000. Please note we cannot offer an expedited shipping service from the UK.
Add this copy of No Comment to cart. $18.60, new condition, Sold by Books2anywhere rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Fairford, GLOUCESTERSHIRE, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2023 by Bloomsbury Publishing PLC.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
PLEASE NOTE, WE DO NOT SHIP TO DENMARK. New Book. Shipped from UK in 4 to 14 days. Established seller since 2000. Please note we cannot offer an expedited shipping service from the UK.
Add this copy of No Comment to cart. $11.32, new condition, Sold by Kennys.ie rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Galway, IRELAND, published 2024 by Raven Books.
Add this copy of No Comment: What I Wish I'd Known About Becoming A to cart. $11.73, new condition, Sold by GreatBookPricesUK5 rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Castle Donington, DERBYSHIRE, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2024 by Raven Books.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
New. In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
Add this copy of No Comment to cart. $12.73, new condition, Sold by Paperbackshop International rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Fairford, GLOS, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2024 by Bloomsbury Publishing PLC.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
PLEASE NOTE, WE DO NOT SHIP TO DENMARK. New Book. Shipped from UK in 4 to 14 days. Established seller since 2000. Please note we cannot offer an expedited shipping service from the UK.
Add this copy of No Comment: What I Wish I'd Known About Becoming A to cart. $18.96, new condition, Sold by GreatBookPricesUK5 rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Castle Donington, DERBYSHIRE, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2023 by Raven Books.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
New. In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
Add this copy of No Comment to cart. $19.76, new condition, Sold by Paperbackshop International rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Fairford, GLOS, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2023 by Bloomsbury Publishing PLC.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
PLEASE NOTE, WE DO NOT SHIP TO DENMARK. New Book. Shipped from UK in 4 to 14 days. Established seller since 2000. Please note we cannot offer an expedited shipping service from the UK.
Add this copy of No Comment: What I Wish IŽD Known About Becoming a to cart. $25.22, new condition, Sold by Kennys.ie rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Galway, IRELAND, published 2023 by Raven Books.
Add this copy of No Comment: What I Wish I'd Known About Becoming A to cart. $17.29, new condition, Sold by Booksplease rated 3.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Southport, MERSEYSIDE, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2024 by Raven Books.
Add this copy of No Comment: What I Wish I'd Known About Becoming A to cart. $19.42, new condition, Sold by Booksplease rated 3.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Southport, MERSEYSIDE, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2023 by Raven Books.
I donââ?¬â?¢t often read non-fiction but when I do, I usually choose memoirs which have a link to crime. Prison psychologists, prisoners, police officers all tie into my interest in true-crime and link to the crime thriller fiction books I love to read. No Comment is the story of Jess McDonald, also a true-crime junkie who joins the ranks of Met Detectives on the brand-new Direct Entry Scheme. This scheme was open for anyone to apply and would entail skipping the years of ââ?¬Ë?on-the-beatââ?¬â?¢ experience usually needed for a Detective and offer more streamlined training. This scheme was supposed to help not only bolster an over-worked workforce but also encourage diversity by giving the opportunity to people from all walks of life.
Jess� account of her experience is fascinating and harrowing in equal measures. There is a good balance of her personal life and backstory fed into the book, but it never felt like it dragged or made you want to skip over it, which has happened in some memoirs I have read. We start by learning about what made Jess want to apply and the training she went through before going into actual cases she dealt with along the way. Jess is also refreshingly honest throughout, talking about her battle with depression which saw her take time off from the Met and how difficult this was to achieve.
There are a few bits of repetition in the book which I think could have been edited a little better, and Jess sometimes comes across as a bit of a martyr. She is the first to refuse the tear gas training, she always tries to stick up for the downtrodden and takes every opportunity to state that she would not do something again that she found to be morally dubious. I�m sure she probably had a fair few faults that she does not disclose in this book but as she has since left the Met she doesn�t need to touch on these!
The book does not paint a particularly good picture of the Met itself, we hear of tales of bullying, disregard for mental health and sexism. We hear of how over-worked the people there are with cases that need so much paperwork and pile up endlessly that the recruits feel that they can�t make a difference. We also hear of how so many of the Direct Entry Scheme graduates ended up leaving, unable to cope with the darker side of the institution. We learn of cases where people are released without conviction, able to offend again when it seemed so simple that they should have been kept away from society from the overview of the case. Jess mainly worked in the Safeguarding unit which deals with Domestic Violence, so take this as a trigger warning.
Overall, No Comment is a fascinating but also tragic peek into the inner workings of the Metropolitan Police Department from an important outside perspective. Thank you to NetGalley & Bloomsbury Publishing â�" Raven Books for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
