Early in 2014, I received an egalley from NetGalley of The Burning by Jane Casey. It was an excellent police procedural, the first in a series featuring Maeve Kerrigan.
The Reckoning is the second book in the series. This time, Maeve is partnered with the brash (and completely politically incorrect) detective Josh Derwent. The case they are investigating involves the gruesome murders of three sex offenders, and Derwent does all he can to make things uncomfortable for Maeve.
The characters are well-drawn and the plot has tension and twists in regard to both the murders and the characters. Maeve must not only put up with the offensive Derwent, but also with the attitudes of some of the other men in her department.
When the team manages to interrupt the torture of the latest victim, it turns out that an influential crime boss has been targeting the men because he believes his fourteen-year-old daughter has been abducted by a pedophile who groomed her online.
Gritty, but compelling, the novel has a romantic angle. Maeve and another detective have tried to keep their relationship under the radar, but their affair is revealed in a way that is a threat to more than the careers of the two.
The Reckoning is intense and difficult to put down.
Library copy.
Crime/Police Procedural. 2012. 382 pages.
I'm not too keen on Derwent after your description of him. LOL I do want to read this series at some point. I'm glad this was a good one.
ReplyDeleteDerwent is the kind of person you would probably hate in real life, and yet...in the novel he kind of grows on you. Strange. :)
DeleteI don't generally enjoy romances, even if it's only one layer of a novel in another genre. But this series really does sound good! I know a lot of cops, since my husband has been a police officer for 20 years, and brash and politically correct sounds about right. :-) I am adding this series to my list. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI'm don't read romance novels as such, but I don't mind a little romance as a sideline. I really do like Jane Casey's series, though, and Josh Derwent is an intriguing character. It is also interesting that Casey doesn't have Maeve takes the comments without liking them and without making a big deal of them unless they have an effect on her work. That sounds realistic to me.
DeleteI read THE BURNING last year and really enjoyed it. I want to continue this series and this is a good reminder to me. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI liked this one even better than The Burning!
DeleteAnother series to add onto my long wishlist! ;)
ReplyDelete:) Those long, long lists!
DeleteI really like this series too and am curious if there's another book out already. I have to investigate!
ReplyDeleteYes, there is another one--The Last Girl, which I will review soon!
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