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Finish whatever you start. Everyone has a moment halfway through a creative project where they think they should give up – but don’t! You are supreme ruler for a day. Which law do you pass or abolish? This is the latest in Jane Casey's terrific DS Maeve Kerrigan and DI Josh Derwent series, and it has more than one murder mystery to be solved. At a hospital car park, 34 year old consultant Dr Hassan Dawoud is discovered murdered in his car, it's a murder inquiry that Maeve is struggling to lead, the trauma of previous events have left her sluggish, she has mostly recovered physically, although still getting excruciating headaches, but mentally and emotionally, she cannot put her past as a domestic violence victim behind her. Needless to say, this does not escape the sharp eyed Derwent, and when a pressurising and politically sensitive investigation which requires the police to go undercover at Jellicoe Close, Josh persuades Maeve to pose with him as a couple housesitting the home, and taking care of chaotic dog, Pippin, belonging to a academic. There’s a whole lot of “wanting what you can’t have” in this story, in more ways than one. As it happens, the residents on this street are hiding quite a few things, and the neighbours are always watching. Gossip is rife. Maeve and Josh can’t afford to relax for a single second, for fear they’ll be found out for what they really are, and their purpose in the Close. Lines are blurred, and as far as the whole “will they, won’t they” it’s all just a massive tease, and I couldn’t have been more invested if I tried. Obviously you’ll have to read for yourself to discover what happens, but I will say that the level of intensity has definitely left me wanting more. So now we have Maeve who’s worrying about Georgia and Josh who’s worrying about his marriage and his feelings for Maeve. And a street full of people who made it their hobby to know everything about the neighbours, without knowing that one of them may be a killer. Though on the face of it Jellicoe Close appears to be idyllic, nestled in a pretty little country village, suburbia at its best, Maeve and Josh are here to investigate the suspicious death of a skeletal young man, who had numerous injuries covering his body. They believe that one of the houses in Jellicoe Close is being used to temporarily house vulnerable young adults who are at serious risk of abuse.
EXCERPT: All murder investigations were different and yet all of them began the same way, at least for me: standing in silence near a body, trying to catch the faintest echo of what had happened. Sometimes the air still vibrated with violence and high emotion, and sometimes the silence was empty. It was a habit I kept to myself, but one that reminded me of the fundamental truth: this was more than a job. Someone's life had been ended too soon. Finding out who had done it, and why, was my duty. The latest book in the Maeve Kerrigan series and it is gripping, oozing with all kinds of tension and hard to put down. I have not read all the books in this series, just enough to have wet my whistle and have me wanting to read more! Jane writes one of my very favourite police series, and this is her best yet. Terrifying, intense and devastatingly astute’ Sarah HilaryAt first glance, Jellicoe Close seems to be a perfect suburban street - well-kept houses with pristine lawns, neighbours chatting over garden fences, children playing together. But there are dark secrets behind the neat front doors, hidden dangers that include ruthless criminals who will stop at nothing. It's up to DS Maeve Kerrigan and DI Josh Derwent to uncover the truth. Posing as a couple they move into the Close, blurring the lines between professional and personal as never before. A teenage girl is killed on a London bus. The case should be simple. The bus was full of witnesses, and there are cameras everywhere. One sentence review: Half Kerrwent (Maeve Kerr + Josh Derwent) romance, half police procedural, all the vibes
The author’s character development is second to none and it’s impossible to not immediately entwine yourself in the lives of the protagonists. “The Close” can easily work as a one off mystery but already being familiar with Maeve, made this book all the more intriguing (and smouldering!) No matter how many books I read, I will never ever read a book with a male on the cover without his shirt on and covered with tattoos. And while Josh Derwent probably had no tattoos, and the cover of the book is quite nice, I couldn’t escape the feeling that this book is more about the sexual tension between Maeve and Josh than anything else. There is a suspicious death; a young man is found dead in his car and his husband is a suspect but he has a strong alibi. Maeve has to find out what happened, along with her younger colleague Georgia. Maeve isn’t doing a lot more than worrying about Georgia, whether she’s up to the task or not. Only a day into the case, and Maeve and Josh have to go undercover in Jellicoe Close because there is another suspicious death. Tense, dramatic and sharply written yet still contains the moments of tenderness and humour that makes Casey's writing stand out from the crowd.’ Sinéad Crowley There's a lot more going on in The Close than is at first apparent and, despite Maeve and Josh's intention to not get involved in any crime other than the one they are investigating, fate and their natural instincts work against them.This book is juicy almost like Louisa Scarr’s series but on steroids. You kind of have everything, police procedure, murder investigation, under cover investigation two deprived human beings that have a lot of internalised issues like we do portrayed. Although this was my first book of the series, I’m definitely joining the ride on this one!
He suggests a new case, one that requires a different approach, one that could make or break a career. Josh offers Maeve the opportunity to join him on a stake-out but it will require them living together and posing as a couple in a quiet rural estate. This is a definite situation of lines being blurred and Maeve is nervous of what to expect and the challenges they will face, but decides to take Josh up on his offer. A new scene might just be what she needs to shake her out of this reverie.There are some interesting characters resident in the Close. There is Gillian, an elderly woman with dementia, who is terrified of 'the devil'. Is it just her dementia talking, or does someone pose a threat to her life? Ruth, a complainer, and her overly-friendly husband, Alan. Judy is the local do-gooder. She volunteers at charity shops, and takes in the homeless. If something is going on, Judy's involved. There's a neurotic housewife, and another undergoing IVF; a couple of sports-mad husbands, a single antique dealer, Gillian's son and caregiver, and an assortment of children. Apart from that I thoroughly enjoyed it. There's no particularly gory scenes, which I also find gratuitous on occasion. The story doesn't involve one crime but several and Maeve is a great character who brings just enough of her personal life to bear on the cases (excepting the Derwent nonsense). The Cutting Place is SO good. I love Maeve so much and this is a really gripping, timely plot’ Elly Griffiths Maeve Kerrigan arrives at a hospital car park to open an investigation into a murder, following the discovery of a body in a car. The male victim has suffered brutal injuries. With little evidence and no obvious motive, the team are perplexed. But Maeve is off form, not feeling on top of her game. Her edge is gone, her focus is slipping and she finds herself preoccupied, her mind elsewhere and clearly not on the job. Maeve’s mood is not missed by the observant Josh Derwent and he sees an opportunity to provide her with a very unexpected distraction. As I mentioned tensions mount in this book and some of the tension is between Maeve and Josh. They have engaging and fun banter. There has always been a spark there, will it ignite in this book?
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