Month: May 2014

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Post Script: The 7th Woman – Frederique Molay

The 7th Woman

A Paris Homicide Mystery

Frédérique Molay

Le French Book

ISBN: 9781939474032

 

 

Description:

There’s no rest for Paris’s top criminal investigation division, La Crim’. Who is preying on women in the French capital? How can he kill again and again without leaving any clues? A serial killer is taking pleasure in a macabre ritual that leaves the police on tenterhooks. Chief of Police Nico Sirsky–a super cop with a modern-day real life, including an ex-wife, a teenage son and a budding love story–races against the clock to solve the murders as they get closer and closer to his inner circle. Will he resist the pressure? The story goes behind the scenes with the French police and into the coroner’s office, with the suspense of Seven, with CSI-like details. Winner of France’s most prestigious crime fiction award; named Best Crime Fiction Novel of the Year; and already an international bestseller with over 150,000 copies sold.

 

My View:

This narrative really went overboard on the detail – in the autopsy room and in the details of the crimes being committed and the crime scene investigation; whilst the descriptions were authentic and accurate (I believe) there was just too much detail and horror for my reading pleasure. Further I could not tell if the book wanted to be a cozy crime fiction, the instant- falling- in- love- at- first- sight by the dashingly handsome super cop Nico Sirsky alluded to this genre but the level of intense sadistic violence took the book on a different journey.

 

I am sorry to say I found the characterisation flat and unimaginative – maybe something got lost in the translation or maybe it was lacking in the writing –maybe it would have flowed better if read in its original language? Who knows but I was expecting so much more from the creative side and less of the forensic violent details.  The bones of the plot were quite compelling but I would have liked to have seen the narrative handled in a different way, more psychological tension than actual sadistic detail.   Sometimes less is more.

 

 

 

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Post Script: Lost – Michael Robotham

Lost

Joseph O’Loughlin #2

Michael Robotham

Mulholland Books

Mulholland Books

ISBN: 9780316252270

 

Description:

BOOK TWO IN THE JOSEPH O’LOUGHLIN SERIES

Please join us in celebrating the long-awaited paperback release!

Detective Inspector Vincent Ruiz doesn’t know who wants him dead. He has no recollection of the firefight that landed him in the Thames, covered in his own blood and that of at least two other people. A photo of missing child Mickey Carlyle is found in his pocket—but Carlyle’s killer is already in jail. And Ruiz is the detective who put him there.

Accused of faking amnesia, Ruiz reaches out to psychologist Joe O’Loughlin to help him unearth his memory and clear his name. Together they battle against an internal affairs investigator convinced Ruiz is hiding the truth, and a ruthless criminal who claims Ruiz has something of his that can’t be replaced. As Ruiz’s memories begin to resurface, they offer tantalizing glimpses at a shocking discovery.

 

My View:

Brilliant! Compelling! Drop everything else and sit down and read!

 

I loved this book – the second in the Joseph O’Loughlin series. The plot is based on a scenario – that of a missing child, that will tug at all consciences’ and has a protagonist who doesn’t give up and investigates this crime with heart and little regard for his own safety – if ever needed this is the type of policeman I would like to think would be there for me…Vincent Ruiz has the exuberance of a terrier – he never gives up.

 

Once more Michael Robotham demonstrates his wonderful ability to portray well developed characters, write engaging and compelling story arcs and a realistic police procedural all in one seamless mesmerising book.  And it reads as if these narrative was written effortlessly – what a great skill. I can’t wait to read the next in this series.