Publication Date: 17th November from Orion
Source: Review Copy
Troubled San Francisco homicide detective Valerie Hart is planning a rare weekend away from the job when she gets the call. A body has been found. A woman, brutally murdered. And the cryptic note left by the body is addressed to Valerie.
The victim is unknown to her, but as Valerie analyses the scene, the clues begin to point in a deeply disturbing direction: to a maximum security prison where a woman called Katherine Glass is awaiting execution for a series of gruesome killings. And Valerie was the cop who put her there.
The last thing Valerie wants to do is re-enter Katherine’s twisted world, but when a second body is discovered, with another puzzling clue, she realises she has no choice. Katherine Glass holds the key to the killings, and Valerie needs to find out what she knows before the murders come even closer to home.
Even if it means playing a deadly game where once again, the psychopathic killer holds all the cards.
I was a bit of a fan of the first book in this series – The Killing Lessons – at that point I didn’t realise that there would be a second book featuring Valerie Hart but hey, here we are and genuinely, I was utterly enthralled again.
See I like a good serial killer thriller me. Not many authors are writing them these days and those that are well, lets just say they are not terribly exciting. There are exceptions – one of which I’ll be telling you about in another 2017 Ones to Watch very soon – but for now we have Saul Black. Who is writing them terribly well. Both terrifying and intriguing, LoveMurder is a bit of a roller coaster ride.
We have some murders and some clues and Valerie is once again on the knifes edge of reason as she attempts to sort it all out. Her relationship with Nick is developed, you have some character arc stuff going on which is ALL great, well plotted, incredibly addictive and beautifully (horrifically beautifully at times) written.
But for me the heart of this novel and where it fascinated me the most was in the relationship drawn between Valerie and the enigmatic Katherine Glass – a killer like no other and a character that just lights up the page. When these two are in a scene together you hold your breath – its almost like watching it unfold in front of you – there is a unique vibe to those portions of LoveMurder that is like a holding pattern, a short sharp moment in time before you are off to the races again. The rest of the plot moves in and out and around those moments in an exceptionally compelling way. To my mind very clever writing.
The rest of the story is just as good just with a different sense and the mystery element is intelligently drawn without being convoluted or unlikely. There are plenty of edge of the seat moments, especially as you head into the final chapters, Saul Black in this case has written a wonderfully engaging and often heart pounding thriller with a touch of class. Or Glass. Yes had to be done…
Highly Recommended.
You can purchase LoveMurder HERE
Happy Reading!
HUGE fan of Saul Black/Glen Duncan and so grateful for you bringing this to my attention. I purposely didn’t read your review and will await the paperback, impatiently.