Crossing the Line by Kerry Wilkinson

NetGalley has offered two of Kerry Wilkinson's stand-alone psychological suspense novels that I read and enjoyed.  I didn't review Two Sisters here, but I did review The Girl Who Came Back. When I realized that Wilkinson's police procedurals featuring DS Jessica Daniel were available through Kindle Unlimited, I went through them like candy.

There are ten books in this UK series, and Crossing the Line, is the eighth installment here in the U.S.  

I like the complex characters who become more fully developed and interesting with each new book and the skillful and well-thought out plots that are fresh and original.  Oh, and I should not fail to mention the dialog that feels natural and is often cleverly amusing. 

Although the books can be read as stand-alones, this is a series that benefits from seeing how the dynamic of each plot influences and alters the characters.  The series gains strength as Jessica evolves and adapts to each experience.  The changes in the secondary characters are less profound, but they, too, feel rounded and genuine.

Twenty-five ago, the Stretford Slasher was convicted.  When he dies in prison, the media note the occasion, but then several apparently random acts of violence occur in broad daylight that evoke some of the fear experienced twenty-five years earlier.  The attacks are violent, but not deadly, and the police have difficulty making any connections between the targets--except for the fact that they are all disagreeable bullies.  There are a couple of other secondary story lines as well that keep the pace moving.

While the book can function in isolation, it is the way the books build, one on another, that makes this series so interesting.  I can't wait for the next one.  

Read in Oct.; blog review scheduled for November 27.

NetGalley/Bookouture 

Crime/Police Procedural.  Dec. 12, 2017.  Print length:  300 pages.