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Body of Lies
The crime thriller of 2026 from the award-winning and Sunday Times bestselling author of In the Blink of an Eye
By Jo Callaghan
Table of Contents
About The Book
The brand-new thriller featuring DCS Kat Frank and AIDE Lock, from the award-winning Sunday Times bestselling author of In the Blink of an Eye.
Human suspicion. AI manipulation.
When truth can be rewritten, who can you trust?
DCS Kat Frank is back at the Future Policing Unit after a devastating loss - and straight into her most disturbing case yet.
On Halloween night, a local MP is found murdered. Beside the body is a taunting message in binary code, aimed directly at Kat:
Catch me if you can.
The victim was a vocal opponent of AI. The motive looks political. But as Kat investigates with her partner, AIDE Lock - the world’s first AI detective - the case spirals into something far more dangerous.
Then a cyberattack takes down the National Grid.
With the country in chaos and lives on the line, Kat and Lock must track a killer who is always one step ahead. But in a world of deepfakes, deception and digital ghosts, instinct is no longer enough.
Kat must decide whether to trust the one thing she still fears most: her AI partner.
Because this time, Lock may not just be solving the case.
He may be changing what it means to be human.
Can Kat stop a killer before the lights go out for good?
PRAISE FOR JO CALLAGHAN:
'Terrifyingly timely and provocative' VAL McDERMID
'The most original crime novel you'll read this year' CLARE MACKINTOSH
'Just brilliant!' LISA JEWELL
'Sharp, perceptive writing and a brilliant new take on the detective duo' T. M. LOGAN
'Everything you could hope for in a thriller: heartbreaking, intelligent, deftly plotted and so original' FIONA CUMMINS
'A fresh take on the buddy-buddy cop trope . . . Provocative and compelling' VASEEM KHAN
'Wildly original, heartfelt, funny, and properly thrilling. Take a bow, Jo Callaghan' CHRIS WHITAKER
Human suspicion. AI manipulation.
When truth can be rewritten, who can you trust?
DCS Kat Frank is back at the Future Policing Unit after a devastating loss - and straight into her most disturbing case yet.
On Halloween night, a local MP is found murdered. Beside the body is a taunting message in binary code, aimed directly at Kat:
Catch me if you can.
The victim was a vocal opponent of AI. The motive looks political. But as Kat investigates with her partner, AIDE Lock - the world’s first AI detective - the case spirals into something far more dangerous.
Then a cyberattack takes down the National Grid.
With the country in chaos and lives on the line, Kat and Lock must track a killer who is always one step ahead. But in a world of deepfakes, deception and digital ghosts, instinct is no longer enough.
Kat must decide whether to trust the one thing she still fears most: her AI partner.
Because this time, Lock may not just be solving the case.
He may be changing what it means to be human.
Can Kat stop a killer before the lights go out for good?
PRAISE FOR JO CALLAGHAN:
'Terrifyingly timely and provocative' VAL McDERMID
'The most original crime novel you'll read this year' CLARE MACKINTOSH
'Just brilliant!' LISA JEWELL
'Sharp, perceptive writing and a brilliant new take on the detective duo' T. M. LOGAN
'Everything you could hope for in a thriller: heartbreaking, intelligent, deftly plotted and so original' FIONA CUMMINS
'A fresh take on the buddy-buddy cop trope . . . Provocative and compelling' VASEEM KHAN
'Wildly original, heartfelt, funny, and properly thrilling. Take a bow, Jo Callaghan' CHRIS WHITAKER
About The Author
(C) Edward Moss
Jo Callaghan works full time as a senior strategist, carrying out research into the future impact of AI and genomics on the workforce. She was a student of the Writers’ Academy Course (Penguin Random House) and was longlisted for the Mslexia Novel Writing Competition and Bath Novel Competition. After losing her husband to cancer in 2019 when she was just forty-nine, she started writing In the Blink of an Eye, her debut crime novel, which explores learning to live with loss and what it means to be human. She lives with her two children in the Midlands, where she spends far too much time tweeting as @JoCallaghanKat.
Product Details
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK (May 21, 2026)
- Length: 400 pages
- ISBN13: 9781398535572
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Raves and Reviews
'Jo Callaghan amazes again! With the breakneck pace of an action thriller and the emotional weight of a deeply human drama, Body of Lies delivers a hugely satisfying finale to a bold, moving and unforgettable series. A perfect farewell - Kat & Lock forever (sob!)' Caz Frear, bestselling author of Sweet Little Lies and Five Bad Deeds
'I loved Body of Lies so much. It was SO compelling and tense but also full of heart and really moving' Laura Marshall, author of Kiss, Marry, Kill
'A brilliantly satisfying way to end such an incredible series. Body Of Lies is another fantastic book - Jo has delivered a tense and pacy thriller combined with emotionally relatable characters who I have grown to love and was so sad to say goodbye to, as well as giving us a glimpse into the future and all that AI might bring. Thought-provoking and unsettling - bravo, Jo - I loved it' Nikki Smith, author of The Guests
'A murdered MP and a looming cyber attack propel this tense, tech-driven thriller. As DCS Kat Frank teams up with her partner - who just so happens to be the world's first AI detective - the book smartly probes trust, truth and the uneasy future of policing' I News
'The fourth book in Jo Callaghan’s series about DCS Kat Frank and her AI assistant, Lock, is the best yet – and that’s saying a lot . . .The hunt for evidence of the terrorists’ identity is exciting in itself and Callaghan increases the tension with moving personal stories of those at risk. She also raises disturbing and fascinating questions about the possibilities and dangers of AI . . . This is a hugely entertaining novel that deals with the most important of modern dilemmas' Literary Review
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