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.

Hardback | 416 pages

Publisher: Sphere (January 9th, 2020)

Read – 13th-18th April 2020.

Last year I loved reading Bryndza’s Erika Foster series, so when I heard this was coming out, I knew I had to read it. It is very different from Erika Foster but still holds much of Bryndza’s writing style.

Fairly easy. I must admit that I savoured this read and read it over a couple of days to prolong the experience.

How do I explain Kate? A survivor. A fighter. A Mother. A woman. Someone with spunk, determination and LOTS of flaws. She was genuine, unique even. Very relatable and easy to connect with. She was a great character to lead the story and push the narrative forward. I didn’t imagine her through descriptions like I normally do, but through her actions, her choices and her voice. She sung to me and I was very open to hearing her.

Tristan was a bigger character than I was thinking and I began viewing him as a bigger puzzle piece and less like an ‘assistant’ or cameo character. He mellowed Kate out and bought in a different perspective. He wasn’t afraid to push the envelope either.

Peter – what can you say about a notorious serial killer who has already been identified? (this is not a spoiler). Peter was cold, sadistic, frightening and scary. He had a powerful presence.

Easy. Gruesome at times but I put that down to my own vivid imagination.

Bryndza really captured making something new and different, yet still managed to stick to his same writing style and that’s something I really appreciated. I liked seeing the darker side of his writing and there was something very compelling about his characters. I believed them when they acted and talked. Kate has a lot of potential, I can see that clearly and I’m happy to join her on her journey.

It’s books like this that give me such joy in reading. It’s a team effort, the setting, characters, plot and writer all working together seamlessly to create a book that grips the reader. I looked forward to reading a couple of chapters of this a night and welcomed the characters into my heart. I predict great things from Kate Marshall.