Two by Nicci French

When I received Tuesday's Gone from Net Galley, I didn't realize it was part of a new series by the husband-wife team of Nicci Gerrard and Sean French.  I've read their stand-alone novels before and enjoyed them, but on meeting the characters in Tuesday's Gone, it was immediately apparent that this was part of a series.

The series features Frieda Klein, a psychotherapist in London, who uses her walks about the city, often following the buried rivers, as a means of thinking and gaining clarity.  Although she often appears aloof, Frieda is a concerned and caring therapist with remarkable poise and self-possession.

Perhaps I should have stopped there and found the previous book at once, but I was so quickly immersed in the characters and the narrative, that I read on.

As soon as I finished, however, I downloaded Blue Monday and read it. I'll review it first; while Tuesday's Gone works as a stand-alone, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, reading the novels in order would certainly be preferable.

Blue Monday is the first novel in this series featuring psychotherapist Frieda Klein.  When a new patient tells her of his longing for a son (he and his wife have been unable to have children), he explains that he wants his own son, one that looks like him, and he doesn't want to adopt.  He describes this imaginary child in vivid detail, and when a few days later, a child matching her patient's description is abducted, Frieda must examine her professional obligation to keep her patient's sessions confidential and her moral duty to notify the police.  Eventually, she is drawn into the investigation and strange twists continue to develop, especially when it comes to light that her patient is an identical twin, separated at birth, with no knowledge of his brother.

Tuesday's Gone was an ARC from Net Galley and the Penguin Group and will be released on April 4.
 ISBN-13: 978-0670025671

 I read it before reading Blue Monday and actually consider Tuesday's Gone the better novel, although I'd still recommend reading them in order for a number of reasons including back stories.

In Tuesday's Gone the authors seem to have become better acquainted with their protagonist, more comfortable with who she is and how she thinks, and have further developed some of the secondary characters.

When Michelle Doyce, a mentally disturbed woman, is found by her social worker caring for a naked corpse, the police are baffled.  Did she kill him?  And who is he?  Discovering the dead man's identity takes some time, and DCI Karlsson once again requests Frieda's aid, hoping that Frieda can make some sense of Michelle's seemingly nonsensical statements.

Characters good and bad from the previous book are included, adding interest and suspense, and some threads from the previous book are picked up, expanded on, and in at least one case, resolved.

The Nicci French team has created another suspenseful psychological thriller, and I eagerly await the next novel featuring Frieda!

Mystery/Suspense/Psychological.  April 4, 2013.  print version 384 pages.