Crime Thriller
5*s
I am a huge Rachel Abbott fan and have been since I read the first book in this series which features Detective Chief Inspector Tom Douglas back in 2012. I have been eager to get each subsequent book full of anticipation to see what is served up next. This may be a series but the ‘feel’ of each of the books is quite different, often looking at a different type of criminal or victim and really getting to the heart of the thoughts of those involved.
In Kill Me Again we first witness a woman opening the door to two figures, their faces covered by Chinese masks and speaking with surprisingly refined accents. We don’t know who the woman and this is a chilling opening and intimates that the crimes that are going to be revealed are scary on a whole different level!
Next we meet Maggie Taylor, a defence lawyer, new to the firm and Manchester and being the chosen one to speak to a man she believes ‘is the devil himself.’ Maggie’s ambition to work with more complex criminal cases has got off to a tough start, after all she’s there to figure out the best defence possible for Alf Horton. Already spooked when she is driving back home she receives a call from her son, her husband has left eight-year old Josh and five-year old Lily alone in their secluded vicarage. Duncan it seems had received a message and just walked out, where he has gone and why, is a complete mystery. Over the next few days Maggie is forced to contemplate just how much she knows about her husband.
We don’t have too long to wait until we are back with the police and a corpse has been found and the victim looks like Tom’s ex-girlfriend Leo, DI Becky Robinson doesn’t know what to do but decides that involving their boss Detective Superintendent Philippa Stanley is her only option.
As all this is going on we also have some excerpts which appear to relate to crimes committed some twelve years ago, crimes that Tom was investigating on and yet remained unsolved.
As in her previous books the crimes are complex, the story-lines interesting and appealing. Not only is there a puzzle to be solved, a murderer to be found but as the storyline unfolds there is also plenty to ponder on obviously the motives of the perpetrator and in this instance how easy it can be to become a victim of lies whilst appearing to be the least likely person to be taken in by an out-and-out liar. Kill Me Again explores the psychology of psychopaths and sociopaths, it poses some good old-fashioned moral dilemmas and allowed me to play the game of ‘what would I do?’ Yet it does all this without once dropping a thread in the at times seemingly disparate threads, slowly weaving the tale together all the while ramping up the tension and giving a more than a few heart-stopping moments with some furious action.
I’ve given all this authors books five stars, they are my favorite kind of read with plenty to think about, and believe me that doesn’t stop when you’ve turned the last page, but this surpasses the previous novels, I was wowed by Kill Me Again on many different levels and the fact that I got one small piece of the puzzle figured just made me feel like perhaps I wouldn’t make a completely rubbish detective after all!
I have to say a huge thank you to Rachel Abbott who provided me with the advance review copy of this book to read, believe me you could do much better than pick up a copy of this book which will be published on 17 February 2016.
You can also contact Rachel Abbott at the following places and if you act quickly you can join in with her launch party next week which I will be attending, the previous ones have been loads of fun!
Web : http://www.rachel-abbott.com
Blog: rachelabbottwriter.com
Twitter: @RachelAbbott
Facebook: RachelAbbott1Writer
The Rachel Abbot Books in order:
Read more about the previous books in the series:
Only The Innocent
Blurb
When Laura Fletcher approaches her home in Oxfordshire to find hordes of photographers crowding the gates, she knows there is something terribly wrong. She is faced with the shocking news that her husband is dead –
brutally murdered – and according to Chief Inspector Tom Douglas, there is little doubt that the murderer is a woman.
In a marriage that has taken her from the glamorous five sar luxury of London, Venice and Positano to a bleak and draughty manor house in rural Oxfordshire, Laura has learned to guard her secrets well. She is not alone. It would appear that all the women in her husband’s life have something to hide.
But there is one secret that she has never shared, and when the investigation reaches its dramatic and horrific climax, she realises that she has no choice. She has to give Tom Douglas the final piece of the puzzle. And this changes everything, leaving Douglas with a terrible dilemma: whether to punish the guilty, or protect the innocent.
The Back Road
Blurb
A girl lies close to death in a dark, deserted lane.
A driver drags her body to the side of the road.
A shadowy figure hides in the trees, watching and waiting.
The small community of Little Melham is in shock.
For Ellie Saunders, last night’s hit and run on the back road could destroy everything she has. She was out that night, but if she reveals where she was and why, her family will be torn apart. She is living on a knife-edge, knowing that her every move is being observed.
Ellie’s new neighbour, former Detective Chief Inspector Tom Douglas has moved to the village for some well-deserved peace and quiet, but as he is drawn into the web of deceit his every instinct tells him that what happened that night was more than a tragic accident.
As past and present collide, best-kept secrets are revealed and lives are devastated. Only one person knows the whole story. And that person will protect the truth no matter what the cost.
Sleep Tight
click on the book cover to read my review
Stranger Child
click on the book cover to read my review
Nowhere Child
click on the book cover to read my review
