The Kill

By Jane Casey

ISBN: 9781250048844

Series: Maeve Kerrigan Novels Book #5

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Publication Date: 6/2/2015

Format: Hardcover

My Rating: 4 Stars

Detective Maeve Kerrigan is away for a colleague’s wedding, and she’s enjoying an excuse to spend a beautiful fall weekend relaxing in the English countryside. It’s a much-needed break from the grit and grime of her daily life on the London police force. But even at a wedding, the job is never far away.Midway through the reception, Maeve and her abrasive but loyal partner on the police force, DI Josh Derwent, are called back to London. A fellow policeman has been murdered, in a compromising position in a public park at night.

And when Maeve and Derwent arrive to speak with the victim's family, his wife and daughter are surprisingly cold and reticent, which adds further layers of complexity to an already delicate investigation. And Maeve knows the victim and his family aren't the only ones with things to hide: the dark secret that her boss, Superintendent Godley, has been keeping for years is threatening to blow up in his face, and if that happens, they'll all be caught in the aftermath.Pulled between her loyalties to Godley, Derwent, the victim of a murder, and her own driving sense of right and wrong, Maeve will be forced to decide how much she's willing to risk in the name of justice in The Kill, Jane Casey’s most intimate, compelling novel yet.

About the Author

Born and brought up in Dublin, Jane Casey has been twice shortlisted for the Irish Crime Novel of the Year Award. She is the author ofThe Missing and two previous Maeve Kerrigan novels The Burning and The Reckoning.

Married to a criminal barrister, Jane lives in south-west London. Jane has also written a Young Adult novel, How To Fall. Follow Jane on Twitter: @JaneCaseyAuthor Website

My Review

A special thank you to St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Jane Casey delivers a gripping crime fiction thriller with THE KILL with a mix of wit, humor, grit, mystery, corruption and suspense, with a great balance between work and personal for an engrossing read. For DC Maeve Kerrigan’s fifth adventure, leads her to a police officer shot to death in his car and DI Josh Derwent is along to assist with the investigation. There is more than one policeman shot; however, they all are afraid as they do not know when the killer will strike again. A scary thought, if the police cannot keep the citizens safe, who can? Are the murders linked? Instead of personal, it appears someone is targeting the police as a whole. However, they do not know why? As Maeve and Josh work together, they are quite the team; they have their disagreements and he is a pig most of the time (bad boy); however they trust and respect one another. Of course, Maeve has gotten accustomed his attitude, and kept me laughing out loud. Love these two together, as reminds me of my other crime favorite duos. Mauve’s boyfriend Rob is kind of in the background. The wedding they were to attend, afterwards she had planned this romantic night so they could be alone together, as they had not gone away on holiday for over two years. When they are at the wedding in Somerset, she is called back to London with Derwent to Richmond Park. More later in the book with some secrets. The police are being targeted by an unknown assassin and the media aided and abetted by a politician trying to make a name for himself are keen to point out that the Metropolitan Police have bought this on themselves when they shot and killed an innocent boy. The plot was amazing, very complex with police officers dying all over London in horrific ways. From underhanded and crooked police officers, guns, to gangsters. The author highlights the London riots of 2011. Being an American, this was quite interesting. She did a bang up job of demonstrating how the fiction version side works, as an exploration into society and law (I recall reading something about the author's inspiration behind the book). Well-researched. Lots going on and secrets everywhere; from Superintendent Godley, going down-hill mentally, with his life falling apart and of course Mauve’s personal relationship issues. I love crime thrillers and cop procedurals, and when an author can combine both professional and personal with human dynamics – makes for perfect combo in order to keep the reader engaged. My first book by Casey and even though I have not read the others in the series, she gave a good back story so I was able to catch-up. With that being said, would like to go back and read the back stories. I find myself doing this quite often since I mainly read new releases and when I find an author’s style I enjoy, I then go back and at least try and get the audio books. Loved, Maeve . . she is smart, strong, loyal, and independent with a wild sense of humor and her enjoyed her Mum phone conversations. Pulled between her loyalties to Godley, Derwent, the victim of a murder, and her own driving sense of right and wrong, Maeve will be forced to decide how much she's willing to risk in the name of justice. A solid murder mystery with twists and turns, keeping you guessing. Look forward to reading more from this talented author and the next in the series. PS I see Casey’s British Mauve has to deal with the politics on police force (woman in a man’s world), similar to US Karin’s Slaughter’s women detectives dealing with the Atlanta police force.

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