I was very lucky to discover this author at a local writers talk at
my library. Her passionate for her story-telling came across immediately. Not to mention the fact that she has actually worked in the local crime units described in the book, so her credentials for crime drama are superb. I knew immediately that I had to read her novels and I was not disappointed.
This story follows three characters:
- Cass a crime scene manager for the North East police force, who along with some awful murders has her own personal traumas to deal with. Shutting herself off from the world and creating her own isolation comes with some very big risks.
- Alex, DCI on the murder investigation. Alex grows increasingly frustrated with the case and lack of sufficient evidence linking the victims. Alex also finds a conflict of emotions when he discovers he has feelings for the slightly odd, very private Cass.
- The Killer. The author allows brief looks into the killer’s world and his patient observational hunt, prior to the murders.
I enjoyed the authors writing style in this novel, especially the dialogue it is very well written and doesn’t rely on heavy accents as some stories do to represent regional areas.
My only slight (and it is slight) complaint was the introduction of Alex’s brother, it felt unnecessary to introduce the character at a late stage, it was maybe to get out of the tricky situation or to introduce him for any future novels but for me it didn’t quite sit right for some reason. That being said it didn’t detract too much from the rest of the story which is very fluid and very enjoyable.
Readers of any crime novel will really enjoy these books. The use of a crime scene manager gives this novel a really unique perspective, which makes it stand out in the genre. The closest in author style that I have read is Karin Slaughters Grant County series (medical examiner with a police officer) but it’s quite nice to come across something different written like that (with a slant on the police team).
Summary – A very enjoyable read, and a fresh take in the crime genre. I am looking forward to reading more from this exciting new author.
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