Detective Constable Kate Ellis isn’t out to be a hero. She’s just trying to hold the line. In Mercia Police’s Violence Against Women unit, the work is harrowing and relentless: domestic abuse, sexual assault, the damage no one wants to talk about. And Kate? She’s angry. She has every right to be. But anger, for her, is structure. It’s armour. It’s how she gets through.

The ten stories which make up this composite novella trace the sharp edges of Kate’s early years in the job — the grind of cold interviews and broken systems, the flickers of real connection inside the unit, and the private grief she carries like contraband. We see her learning where to bend the rules and where to break them. Ghosts from the past refuse to stay buried. Trust is given sparingly, earned slowly, and sometimes turned against her.

Minor Injuries is not a redemption arc. It’s a reckoning — with grief, with justice, and with what’s left when survival becomes routine.
First Response

The Storm Breaks

The Sound of Sirens

Time Out

The Other Foot

A Buswoman’s Holiday

Hot and Cold

Some Assembly Required

The Consequences of Our Actions

Personal Matters

Minor Injuries is available for pre-order (20-10-25): buy here