- Format: Kindle Edition
- File Size: 939 KB
- Print Length: 416 pages
- Publisher: Sphere (1 Nov. 2019)
- Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
- Language: English
- ASIN: B07PLNY832
Synopsis
Kate Marshall was a promising young police detective when she caught the notorious Nine Elms serial killer. But her greatest victory suddenly became a nightmare.
Fifteen years after those catastrophic, career-ending events, a copycat killer has taken up the Nine Elms mantle, continuing the ghastly work of his idol.
Enlisting her brilliant research assistant, Tristan Harper, Kate draws on her prodigious and long-neglected skills as an investigator to catch a new monster. But there’s much more than her reputation on the line: Kate was the original killer’s intended fifth victim . . . and his successor means to finish the job.
Review
I am a huge fan of Robert Bryndza’s Detective Erika Foster series, which has become one of my favourite crime series, so was excited to see he had a new series of books out, with a new female protagonist. Kate Marshall is a university lecturer but fifteen years ago she was the detective who caught the Nine Elms Cannibal. Not only did she catch the serial killer but she was the fifth victim who survived, and the fall out cost her her job. Now there is a copy cat killer, using the same modus operandi, and Kate is drawn into the investigation as the killer moves towards his fifth victim, her, to finish what the original killer didn’t. Dark, chilling and completely riveting this book had me hook, line and sinker.
It’s always with a sense of trepidation that I pick up the first book in a new series from an author whose previous books I have loved; will the characters be as engaging, the plot as compelling. The answer to these worries is a huge yes from me. Nine Elms has a very different feel from the Erika Foster series, this is not police procedural but more of a thriller, and the main character of Kate Marshall is very different from Erika Foster. The writing is brilliant as expected, with a chilling and tense opening chapter that sets the scene for the rest of the book. The killings themselves are shocking and brutal, and as the killer moves towards the famous fifth victim Kate the tension rises as they try to stop him before he sets his sights on Kate, his ultimate prize.
You would think that the detective who solved the Nine Elms Cannibal case would be rewarded and go on to have a brilliant career, but not Kate. After the conclusion of the case, she was used as a scapegoat and lost her job, which is how she finds herself lecturing in cold cases, and scarred both mentally and physically from the ordeal. She has battled with alcohol addiction which has a huge impact on her personal and family life. What does shine through is her strength, and self belief when others doubt her. She is not taken seriously by the police when she goes to them with the copycat claims, but she doesn’t back down, and continues to investigate with her university assistant Tristan. Her relationship with Tristan shows the caring side to her character, a maternal side, but together they make a strong team that compliment each other. There are some very disturbed characters in this book, whose actions are appalling but who are integral to the darkness of the plot.
Nine Elms is another tour de force from Robert Bryndza. Kate as the damaged survivor of a serial killer is a formidable and fascinating main character and I can’t wait to find out more about her and see her relationship with Tristan develop as they turn private detective. There are plenty of spine tingling moments that will have you on the edge of your seat and a killer who is depraved and horrifying. This all makes for the perfect thriller, and one you will want to read in one sitting.
