Next Victim
Crime, Female Detectives, Mystery
Helen Durrant H.
Rachel King, Book # 1
Joffe Books
January 17th, 2019
ebook by Netgalley
195
English
January 22, 2019 January 23, 2019
A young man’s body is found burnt and tortured by a Manchester canal. Detective Rachel King investigates. But she has a secret, the love of her life is a well-known villain. He has recently come back on the scene. But what does he really want? A brutal serial killer with a taste for good-looking young blonde men.
A student who believes she has a lost brother. But even her own father doesn’t believe her. She was involved with the first victim.
As the murders continue, can Rachel keep her family together and stop the killer?
The Detective DCI Rachel King. Thirty-nine year-old mother of two teenage daughters. Divorced from Alan. She lives in the Cheshire village of Poynton – about ten miles from central Manchester. She is good at her job, gets results but does make mistakes. One of them was getting involved with a budding villain in her teens. No one, family, friends or colleagues know anything about this.
About the book
I would like to thank NetGalley, Joffe Books and the author Helen H. Durrant for my ARC in exchange for an honest review. I chose this book because I knew the author, I’ve already read one of her series, so I didn’t read the synopsis, I saw that I could read a book of an author that I knew for free by giving my honest opinion and I immediately applied for it. Obviously I read it in English.
The book is set in Manchester, England and the protagonist is Rachel King, a detective at the head of the homicide squad. The book starts with a mystery, a 15-year-old girl who believes she had a twin brother named Alfie in the past. 3 years later and the body of a 20-year-old boy with a tattooed name, Alfie, is found.
Is it the boy’s name? Is he Alice’s twin brother who disappeared so many years ago? Alice’s father continues to deny having a son but why not clarify that better?
I like the style of the author, I like when the killer talks and has a dedicated chapter, I like short chapters so I read more and I like the fact that there is a crime, investigating police force while the killer prepares for the next murder. I loved the mystery about Alfie from the beginning and I imagined that it had to do with the murders. I must say that the case was simple to understand, for one who reads a lot. I got the various connections of who was who and what all involved but despite that the book was pleasant and quick to read (it took me less than 24 hours). I like when the author doesn’t write so much about various facts but he immediately comes to the point without neglecting anything.
The only thing I didn’t like was Rachel’s story with Jed. I don’t like when the police officers are involved with criminals especially when these police officers look like girls at the first crush. It’s my personal taste, I know, but especially when the boss is a woman and gets entangled in shady deals, I lose interest.
I repeat I liked the book, the case is fascinating and engaging, but I don’t know if I will continue to read the series because the protagonist is entangled with a criminal (at what level you have to find out for yourself because I don’t want to give any anticipation) and this will surely lead to problems with her boss in the future. But if this doesn’t bother you, I recommend this series.
