Review: HOUSE OF CORRECTION, Nicci French

• 
  **SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2021 CWA GOLD DAGGER AWARD**
  
• This edition an e-book on Kindle (Amazon)
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B089T6R8VW
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Simon & Schuster UK, Publication date ‏ : ‎ 1 September 2020
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 528 pages
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1471198571 

Synopsis (Amazon)

In this heart-pounding standalone thriller from bestselling author Nicci French, a woman accused of murder attempts to solve her own case from the confines of prison--but as she unravels the truth, everything is called into question, including her own certainty that she is innocent.

Tabitha is not a murderer.

When a body is discovered in Okeham, England, Tabitha is shocked to find herself being placed in handcuffs. It must be a mistake. She'd only recently moved back to her childhood hometown, not even getting a chance to reacquaint herself with the neighbors. How could she possibly be a murder suspect?

She knows she's not.

As Tabitha is shepherded through the system, her entire life is picked apart and scrutinized --her history of depression and medications, her decision to move back to a town she supposedly hated . . . and of course, her past relationship with the victim, her former teacher. But most unsettling, Tabitha's own memories of that day are a complete blur.

She thinks she's not.

From the isolation of the correctional facility, Tabitha dissects every piece of evidence, every testimony she can get her hands on, matching them against her own recollections. But as dark, long-buried memories from her childhood come to light, Tabatha begins to question if she knows what kind of person she is after all. The world is convinced she's a killer. Tabatha needs to prove them all wrong.

But what if she's only lying to herself? 

My Take

After her lawyer advises her to plead guilty, Tabitha, who can't really remember what happened on the day of the murder, decides she will take on her own defence. She is thorough in her preparation but there is so much working against her, she is really unsure that she will be successful. A fascinating read.

My rating: 4.8

I've also read

4.3, BLUE MONDAY

4.5, TUESDAY'S GONE

4.7, WAITING FOR WEDNESDAY

4.7, FRIDAY ON MY MIND

4.7, THE LYING ROOM

4.5, DAY OF THE DEAD

4.7, SECRET SMILE

4.6, THE UNHEARD 

4.8, THE FAVOUR

5..0, HAS ANYONE SEEN CHARLOTTE SALTER?

5.0. THE LAST DAYS OF KIRA MULLAN  

5.0, WHAT HAPPENED THAT NIGHT 

Review: WHAT HAPPENED THAT NIGHT, Nicci French

• 
  This edition published by Simon & Schuster 2026
• ISBN 978-1-3985-2419-4
• 434 pages  

Synopsis (publisher) 

After nearly thirty years in prison for the murder of his university friend Leo Bauer, Tyler Green is finally free. Meeting up with the group of friends who were there the night that Leo died, Tyler is looking to reconnect – but he’s also looking for answers. When another friend is found dead that night, his new found freedom is put in jeopardy. Detective Maud O’Connor is called to investigate – but can she discover the truth, or is Tyler Green never going to be free?

My Take

Tyler Green, young university student, convicted of murdering one of his friends, spends nearly 30 years in gaol as a result. He knows he didn't commit the murder which means that one of the others did. Now, nearly 30 years later, he has been freed under licence and he is determined to find out who did.

He arranges to meet everyone at dinner and to confront them all at once. At the very least he wants them to understand what losing 30 years of his life has been like.  And then he wants to wash his hands of them. But things don't go well and before the night is out another is killed in the same way, each of his friends has been confronted by some home-truths, and Tyler is back in prison.

Detective Maude O'Connor is under a lot of pressure to solve this murder quickly and it takes all of her intuition to get it done. The story moves at a cracking pace.

Highly recommended. 

My rating: 5.0

I've also read

4.3, BLUE MONDAY

4.5, TUESDAY'S GONE

4.7, WAITING FOR WEDNESDAY

4.7, FRIDAY ON MY MIND

4.7, THE LYING ROOM

4.5, DAY OF THE DEAD

4.7, SECRET SMILE

4.6, THE UNHEARD 

4.8, THE FAVOUR

5..0, HAS ANYONE SEEN CHARLOTTE SALTER?

5.0. THE LAST DAYS OF KIRA MULLAN 

 

Review: THE LAST DAYS OF KIRA MULLAN, Nicci French

• 
   this edition published in 2025 by Simon & Schuster
  
• ISBN 978-1-3965-2414-9
• 438 pages 

 Synopsis (publisher)

She thinks it was murder.
But if she can’t trust herself, can anyone else?

Nancy North and her boyfriend Felix are making the move across London to Harlesden. A new flat, a new area, a new start. Because while Nancy is fine now, she wasn’t fine before. But settling into the new flat and meeting the new neighbours isn’t helped by Felix’s hovering concern. She is all right. She is sticking to her breathing exercises and doctor-prescribed help.

So, when their new neighbour Kira Mullan is found dead by suicide, Felix is understandably worried about Nancy’s frame of mind. But Nancy saw Kira the day before she died and she didn’t strike her as someone who was suicidal – she was upset and angry, yes, but was she upset and angry enough to take her own life?

Nancy is the only one convinced that there’s more to Kira’s death than has been discovered. But all the police and the neighbours see is a vulnerable woman who isn’t sure of what she saw, and might even be imagining things . . .

Is Nancy imagining things, or are there more questions that should be asked about the last days of Kira Mullan?  

My Take

Once you've started this book, it just sort of grabs you and you have to know how it finishes.  Nancy North is the only one in the flats who rejects the idea that Kira Mullan's death is suicide. And what would she know? She only met Kira for a few minutes, and her own mental health is fragile.

Nancy insists on telling the police about her suspicions, but those around her including her boyfriend Felix are  worried about her state of mind and take steps to ensure she is "safe".

Now, I am not going to tell you any more, but believe me the middle part of the story left me gasping over the injustice of what happened to Nancy.

There are always unexpected twists and red herrings with this superb British author, and I wasn't disappointed. 

My rating: 5.0

I've also read

4.3, BLUE MONDAY

4.5, TUESDAY'S GONE

4.7, WAITING FOR WEDNESDAY

4.7, FRIDAY ON MY MIND

4.7, THE LYING ROOM

4.5, DAY OF THE DEAD

4.7, SECRET SMILE

4.6, THE UNHEARD 

4.8, THE FAVOUR

5..0, HAS ANYONE SEEN CHARLOTTE SALTER?

Review: HAS ANYONE SEEN CHARLOTTE SALTER? Nicci French

• 
   this edition from Amazon on Kindle
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0C8JWHT8S
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Simon & Schuster UK (February 29, 2024
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 541 pages
• Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 006329835X

Synopsis (Amazon)

She’s loved by all who meet her. But someone wants her gone . . .

Then

When beautiful and vivacious Charlotte Salter fails to turn up to her husband Alec’s 50th birthday party, her kids are worried, but Alec is not. As the days pass and there’s still no word from Charlie, her daughter, Etty, and her sons, Niall, Paul and Ollie, all struggle to come to terms with her disappearance.
How can anyone just vanish without a trace?
Left with no answers and in limbo, the Salter children try and go on with their lives, all the while thinking that their mother’s killer is potentially very close to home.

Now

After years away, Etty returns home to the small East Anglian village where she grew up to help move her father into a care home. Now in his eighties, Alec has dementia and often mistakes his daughter for her mother.
Etty is a changed woman from the trouble-free girl she was when Charlie was still around - all the Salter children have spent decades running and hiding from their mother’s disappearance.
But when their childhood friends, Greg and Morgen Ackerley, decide to do a podcast about Charlotte’s disappearance, it seems like the town’s buried secrets – and the Salters’ – might finally come to light.

After all this time, will they finally find out what really happened to Charlotte Salter?

My Take

An absolutely gripping read. 

The story opens with Alec Salter's 50th birthday party, the one that his wife Charlie never appeared at, even though she was expected. The party finished early but Charlie never came home.

A police investigation was held but Charlie was never found. 

And now, 30 years later, Alec has dementia and his children have made the decision to move him into a care home, and to sell the house. A podcast revisits the events of 30 years ago, opens old wounds, and asks locals and family to remember what happened.

Another death results in another police investigation.

There is plenty of opportunity for readers to pit their little grey cells against the evidence and to come up with their own theories of what happened to Charlotte Salter.

My rating: 5.0 

I've also read

• 4.3, BLUE MONDAY
• 4.5, TUESDAY'S GONE
• 4.7, WAITING FOR WEDNESDAY
• 4.7, FRIDAY ON MY MIND
• 4.7, THE LYING ROOM
• 4.5, DAY OF THE DEAD
• 4.7, SECRET SMILE
  
• 4.6, THE UNHEARD 
• 4.8, THE FAVOUR

Review: THE FAVOUR, Nicci French

• 
  this edition published by Simon & Schuster UK 2022
• ISBN 978-1-3985-2345-6
  
• 431 pages

Synopsis (publisher)

A good deed
Can turn deadly…

When Liam unexpectedly turns up in Jude’s life after ten years of no contact, asking her for a favour, she just can’t say no. He was her first love, and even though she is now a successful doctor and about to get married, he will always be someone special to her.
But after she does the favour, she is contacted by the police, informing her that Liam has been found dead, and suddenly she is caught up in a murder investigation.

And she realises this one decision could cost her everything – even her life… 

My Take

Ten years before Liam had done Jude a favour, and now it is payback time. Although she has had no contact with him in the intervening period, and they have gone their separate ways, Jude has no hesitation in agreeing to Liam's request. He assures her that he will describe it more fully later, but that there is nothing illegal about what he wants her to do. It starts with her driving his car to a country cottage, and then waiting for him there.

This is a tightly plotted, very intriguing, novel, and at the start Jude can have no idea of how much her life will be changed because of her decision to go along with Liam's request.

An excellent read.

My rating: 4.8

I've also read

• 4.3, BLUE MONDAY
• 4.5, TUESDAY'S GONE
• 4.7, WAITING FOR WEDNESDAY
• 4.7, FRIDAY ON MY MIND
• 4.7, THE LYING ROOM
• 4.5, DAY OF THE DEAD
• 4.7, SECRET SMILE
  
• 4.6, THE UNHEARD  

Review: SECRET SMILE, Nicci French

This edition provided as an e-book on Libby by my local library

Published: 24 November 2003

ISBN: 9780718145200

Pages: 320

Synopsis (publisher)

You have an affair.
You finish it.
You think it's over. You're wrong.
When Miranda Cotton gets home from work to find her new boyfriend, Brendan, reading her diary, she breaks off the relationship and throws him out of her flat. Getting Brendan out of her life, however is not that easy. Two weeks later her sister, Kerry, phones in ecstasy. She's in love. She has a new boyfriend. His name is Brendan . . .
So Brendan is back in Miranda's life - with a vengeance. Why has he done this? And what does he want from her? Soon, what began as an embarrassment becomes like an infestation, and then more terrifying than her worst nightmares . . .

My Take

Given that this book was published in 2003, I was surprised to find that I had not read it. But perhaps just not in the life of this blog, I thought. So I investigated further, in an older database, and found that I had indeed read, and enjoyed, it back in 2005.!

When Miranda throws Brendan out of her flat, he attaches himself to her sister, and then to her best friend.  Miranda is amazed that her family and friends can't see Brendan with her eyes, and that they all think he is wonderful, and that she is the one that needs help. Brendan gets a policeman on his side and there is talk of Miranda being charged with stalking. But she thinks she knows what Brendan is doing and the damage that he is causing in her family. She starts looking for others who may have been his victims.

A very good read.

My rating: 4.7

I've also read

• 4.3, BLUE MONDAY
• 4.5, TUESDAY'S GONE
• 4.7, WAITING FOR WEDNESDAY
• 4.7, FRIDAY ON MY MIND
• 4.7, THE LYING ROOM
• 4.5, DAY OF THE DEAD
• 4.6, THE UNHEARD  
  

 

Review: THE UNHEARD, Nicci French

• 
  this edition an uncorrected proof
  
• Book published by Simon and Schuster September 2021
• Length: 464 pages
• ISBN13: 9781471179327

Synopsis (publisher)

He did kill. Kill and kill and kill.’
 
Tess’s number one priority has always been her three-year-old daughter Poppy. But splitting up with Poppy’s father Jason means that she cannot always be there to keep her daughter safe.
 
When she finds a disturbing drawing, dark and menacing, among her daughter’s brightly coloured paintings, Tess is convinced that Poppy has witnessed something terrible. Something that her young mind is struggling to put into words.
 
But no one will listen. It’s only a child’s drawing, isn’t it?
 
Tess will protect Poppy, whatever the price. But when she doesn’t know what, or who, she is protecting her from, how can she possibly know who to trust . . . ? 

My Take

Three year old Poppy can't always tell her mother what she means. But Tess becomes alarmed when she finds a disturbing drawing which Poppy tells her is a woman being killed. Poppy increases her sense of anxiety by asking her mother if she is dead. Tess at first thinks Poppy is telling her about something her father Jason, whom Poppy stays with a couple of times a week, has done. Until now both she and Jason think they have been handling their separation, and his new marriage, pretty well. Now Tess is anxious about who Poppy has been having contact with when she is not with Tess.

Poppy is showing clear signs of anxiety: wetting the bed, biting other children and so on. Now Tess does not know who she can trust, and she doesn't know who she should tell. She stalks Poppy's father and his new wife, and does not like what she finds out, things that were happening when they were together. 

She tries to report things to the police, but, as they point out, there is no body, no evidence of a crime. By her 11th report they are threatening to take action, against her.

Nicci French has come up with a very believable scenario.

My rating: 4.6

I've also read

4.3, BLUE MONDAY
4.5, TUESDAY'S GONE
4.7, WAITING FOR WEDNESDAY
4.7, FRIDAY ON MY MIND
4.7, THE LYING ROOM
4.5, DAY OF THE DEAD  

 

Review: DAY OF THE DEAD, Nicci French

• this edition published in 2018 by penguin UK
• ISBN 978-0-718-17969-4
• 374 pages
• source: my local library

Synopsis (Fantastic Fiction)

Now the final book in this extraordinary series is here. And it's an ending you'll never forget.

A decade ago, psychologist Frieda Klein was sucked into the orbit of Dean Reeve - a killer able to impersonate almost anyone, a man who can disappear without a trace, a psychopath obsessed with Frieda herself.

In the years since, Frieda has worked with - and sometimes against - the London police in solving their most baffling cases. But now she's in hiding, driven to isolation by Reeve. When a series of murders announces his return, Frieda must emerge from the shadows to confront her nemesis. And it's a showdown she might not survive.

Criminology student Lola Hayes has tracked Frieda down with a single-minded pursuit: she wants to delve inside the mind of a woman besieged by darkness. But in following every move Frieda makes, Lola is exposing herself to the same terrors - and the same twisted fixation of a diabolical psychopath.

This gripping cat-and-mouse thriller pits one of the most fascinating characters in contemporary fiction against an enemy like none other. Smart, sophisticated, and spellbinding, it's a book that will leave you breathless.

My Take

Frieda is determined to bring her relationship with Dean Reeve to an end. For 8 years he has been tracking her, invading her home, involving her in his crimes. Now she has had enough and she is determined to meet him and bring it all to an end. But will she survive?

She has deliberately gone into hiding and so criminology student Lola Hayes, who wants to base her dissertation on Frieda, finds her incredibly hard to track.And when she does, Dean brings her into his "sphere of influence" and so Lola joins Frieda on the run.

Dean leaves bodies all over London and Frieda tries to predict where the next one will be found. But then she realises that Lola is in touch with Dean.

It is always a bit sad when a series comes to an end, but I think it was time.

My rating: 4.5

I've also read
4.3, BLUE MONDAY
4.5, TUESDAY'S GONE
4.7, WAITING FOR WEDNESDAY
4.7, FRIDAY ON MY MIND
4.4, DARK SATURDAY
4.7, THE LYING ROOM

Frieda Kelin series
Frieda Klein
   1. Blue Monday (2011)
   2. Tuesday's Gone (2012)
   3. Waiting for Wednesday (2013)
   4. Thursday's Children (2014)
   5. Friday on My Mind (2015)
   6. Saturday Requiem (2016)
     aka Dark Saturday
   7. Sunday Morning Coming Down (2017)
     aka Sunday Silence
   8. Day of the Dead (2018) 

Review: THE LYING ROOM, Nicci French

• this edition published by Simon & Schuster 2019
• ISBN 978-1-4711-7924-2
• 417 pages
• source: my local library

Synopsis (publisher)

Neve Connolly looks down at a murdered man.
She doesn't call the police.

‘You know, it’s funny,’ Detective Inspector Hitching said. ‘Whoever I see, they keep saying, talk to Neve Connolly, she’ll know. She’s the one people talk to, she’s the one people confide in.’

A trusted colleague and friend. A mother. A wife. Neve Connolly is all these things.
 
She has also made mistakes; some small, some unconsciously done, some large, some deliberate. She is only human, after all.
But now one mistake is spiralling out of control and Neve is bringing those around her into immense danger.
She can’t tell the truth. So how far is she prepared to go to protect those she loves?
And who does she really know? And who can she trust?
A liar. A cheat. A threat. Neve Connolly is all these things.
Could she be a murderer?

My Take

A stand-alone from Nicci French, well worth reading.

After 20 years of marriage, 3 children, one about to leave for university, Neve Connolly's life has become predictable in fact you could set your clock by her. And then she has an affair with someone who makes her feel valued and special. When she gets a message on her phone to meet as soon as possible, she doesn't question who it is from, or where to go, she just gets on her bike and leaves.

What she finds on her arrival turns her life upside down.

Neve's reaction and what she does next has the reader questioning how she/he would react in the same circumstances. We read on to find out how Neve will fare. The book is a compulsive page-turner, and readers will discover elements that they share with Neve.

My rating: 4.7

I've also read
4.3, BLUE MONDAY
4.5, TUESDAY'S GONE
4.7, WAITING FOR WEDNESDAY
4.7, FRIDAY ON MY MIND
4.4, DARK SATURDAY

Review: DARK SATURDAY, Nicci French

• aka SATURDAY REQUIEM
• this edition published (large print) by Gale in 2017
• ISBN 978-1-4328-4275-8
• 561 pages
• #Freda Klein series: 6
• source: my local library

Synopsis (Fantastic Fiction)

Thirteen years ago eighteen year old Hannah Docherty was arrested for the brutal murder of her family. It was an open and shut case and Hannah's been incarcerated in a secure hospital ever since.

When psychotherapist Frieda Klein is asked to meet Hannah and give her assessment of her she reluctantly agrees. What she finds horrifies her. Hannah has become a tragic figure, old before her time. And Frieda is haunted by the thought that Hannah might be as much of a victim as her family; that something wasn't right all those years ago.

And as Hannah's case takes hold of her, Frieda soon begins to realise that she's up against someone who'll go to any lengths to protect themselves . . .

Saturday Requiem is the sixth addictive and intriguing novel in the Frieda Klein series by the bestselling author Nicci French.

My Take

There are threads and characters that connect this novel to ones earlier in the series of which it is #6. You'll see from my list below that I haven't read #5 so I guess that explains why I struggled to "remember" some of the connections.

Once Frieda is asked to look at the case of Hannah Docherty, it is almost inevitable that she is going to consider whether Hannah was wrongly convicted. Hannah is certainly being badly treated, not protected at all from abuse by other inmates, in the psychiatric hospital. And Hannah herself looks much older than she actually is. She is also almost totally uncommunicative. She seems convinced that she actually did kill her family, her mother, stepfather and young brother, but she is also confused and traumatised by the thought.

Frieda becomes convinced that the police investigation was too hasty. In addition only Hannah was  asked to identify the victims and she did that when she was in total shock. The police became quickly convinced that Hannah was the murderer, but also unfit to stand trial.

As Frieda expands her investigation it becomes clear that someone does not want her to find the truth.

The other thread that runs through these novels is about Dean Reeve, a man who stalks Frieda, but at the same time appears to protect her. He is elusive but Frieda is convinced he has recently been in her house.  This thread is designed to link the novels together, but I actually find it annoying and distracting.

My rating: 4.4

I've also read
4.3, BLUE MONDAY
4.5, TUESDAY'S GONE
4.7, WAITING FOR WEDNESDAY
4.7, FRIDAY ON MY MIND

Review: FRIDAY ON MY MIND, Nicci French

• this edition published 2015 by the Penguin Group Australia
• ISBN 978-0-78-17963-2
• 375 pages
• source: my local library
• #5/7 in the Freda Klein series

Synopsis ( publisher)

When a bloated corpse is found floating in the River Thames the police can at least sure that identifying the victim will be straightforward. Around the dead man's wrist is a hospital band. On it are the words Dr F. Klein . . .
 
But psychotherapist Frieda Klein is very much alive. And, after evidence linking her to the murder is discovered, she becomes the prime suspect.

Unable to convince the police of her innocence, Frieda is forced to make a bold decision in order to piece together the terrible truth before it's too late either for her or for those she loves.

My Take

Freda Klein is not popular with the police. They have noticed that people around her seem to die; not only that, she often seems to have been responsible for the killing although so far no case has yet stuck. To rub salt into the wound, often Freda has been a conducting a police consultation at the time.

So when her name crops up in connected with the corpse retrieved from the Thames, Commissioner Crawford takes it upon himself to warn the investigating officer that Freda Klein is bad news. And then, just as they are ready to lay charges, Freda disappears. According to the police this is tantamount to a confession of guilt, but that is not how Freda herself sees it.

An excellent read.

My rating: 4.7

I've also read
4.3, BLUE MONDAY
4.5, TUESDAY'S GONE
4.7, WAITING FOR WEDNESDAY

Review: WAITING FOR WEDNESDAY, Nicci French

• Published in 2003 by the Penguin Group (Australia)
  
• ISBN 978-0-7181-5697-8
• 499 pages
• source: library book
• #3 in the Freda Klein series

Synopsis (author website)

Ruth Lennox, beloved mother of three, is found by her daughter in a pool of her own blood. Who would want to murder an ordinary housewife? And why?

Psychotherapist Frieda Klein finds she has an unusually personal connection with DCI Karlsson’s latest case. She is no longer working with him in an official capacity, but when her niece befriends Ruth Lennox’s son, Ted, she finds herself in the awkward position of confidante to both Karlsson and Ted.

When it emerges that Ruth was leading a secret life, her family closes ranks and Karlsson finds he needs Frieda’s help more than ever before.

But Frieda is distracted. Having survived an attack on her life, she is struggling to stay in control and when a patient’s chance remark rings an alarm bell, she finds herself chasing down a path that seems to lead to a serial killer who has long escaped detection. Or is it merely a symptom of her own increasingly fragile mind?

Because, as Frieda knows, every step closer to a killer is one more step into a darkness from which there may be no return . . .

My take

For me this is a series that simply gets better, and if you've enjoyed the first two in the series, you'll love WAITING FOR WEDNESDAY.

For Frieda Klein the demons from her previous case just won't go away. She is still recovering from the injuries she received at the end of TUESDAY'S GONE and she longs for a quiet life. Around her are people who feel guilty about how they have treated her, and they are trying to make amends. She hasn't officially returned to work yet but fate and connections draw her into the Lennox case.

I found this an engrossing read despite the fact that it was incredibly long. Frieda doesn't need official work though to send her chasing threads and strange ideas. Neither will her own sense of compassion allow her to take things quietly when questions are unresolved and others are in need.
 
My rating: 4.7

I've also reviewed
4.3, BLUE MONDAY
4.5, TUESDAY'S GONE

Planned for 2014: THURSDAY'S CHILDREN

Crime Fiction Alphabet 2013: N is for Nicci French, TUESDAY'S GONE

Following a pattern established in 2012, my contributions to the Crime Fiction Alphabet in 2013 will mainly feature authors or books that I have read recently.

My choice this week is TUESDAY'S GONE by Nicci French

This is #2 in Nicci French's series featuring London psychotherapist Frieda Klein.

I read it because I enjoyed the first, BLUE MONDAY
I already have an order in at my library for the next, WAITING FOR WEDNESDAY.

Read my review of  TUESDAY'S GONE

See what others have chosen for the letter N.

Review: TUESDAY'S GONE, Nicci French

• Format: Kindle (Amazon)
• File Size: 711 KB
• Print Length: 464 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (July 19, 2012)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0086741R2
• Source: I bought it

Synopsis (Amazon)

Nicci French, returns with the second book in the gripping new series that began with Top Ten Bestseller BLUE MONDAY. Fans of Peter James' Roy Grace series and Peter Robinson's DCI Banks series will love central character psychotherapist Frieda Klein, who is consulted on a grisly and seemingly unsolvable crime.

For Frieda Klein the days get longer, the cases darker . . .

Psychotherapist Frieda Klein thought she was done with the police. But once more DCI Karlsson is knocking at her door.

A man's decomposed body has been found in the flat of Michelle Doyce, a woman trapped in a world of strange mental disorder. The police don't know who it is, how he got there or what happened - and Michelle can't tell them. But Karlsson hopes Frieda can get access to the truths buried beneath her confusion.

Painstakingly, Frieda uncovers a possible identity for the corpse: Robert Poole, a jack of all trades and master conman. But the deeper Frieda and Karlsson dig into Poole's past, the more of his victims they encounter - and the more motives they find for murder. Meanwhile, violent ghosts from Frieda's own past are returning to threaten her.

Unable to discover quite who is telling the truth and who is lying, they know they are getting closer to a killer. But whoever murdered Poole is determined to stay free - and anyone that gets too close will meet the same fate.

A gritty heroine, a gruesome crime and a terrifying hunt for a psychotic killer, Tuesday's Gone is not to be missed by fans of psychological thrillers.

My Take

TUESDAY'S GONE is connected to the earlier novel BLUE MONDAY  not just by Frieda Klein as the central character but by unfinished business that keeps cropping up, particularly the disappearance of Alan Dekker.

Chapter One begins on Tuesday. The main story is that of Michelle Doyce, discovered by her social worker sitting on a sofa in her small flat next to a naked man who has obviously been dead for some time. A good deal of the plot is concerned with identifying this man and working out whether Michelle actually killed him.

But there are a number of mini plots too adding to the complexity of the novel and making it a satisfying read. Freda's character gains more substance. A very readable novel with some intriguing plot lines, some of which carry over into the next in the series, WAITING FOR WEDNESDAY to be published in 2013.

My rating: 4.5

I've also reviewed 4.3, BLUE MONDAY

Review: BLUE MONDAY, Nicci French

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 616 KB
• Print Length: 320 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1309457722
• Publisher: Penguin (June 23, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0051UPKLI
• Source: I bought it

Publisher's blurb for BLUE MONDAY (Amazon)
Monday, the lowest point of the week. A day of dark impulses. A day to snatch a child from the streets ...The abduction of five-year-old Matthew Farraday provokes national outcry and a desperate police hunt. And when his face is splashed over the newspapers, psychotherapist Frieda Klein is left troubled: one of her patients has been relating dreams in which he has a hunger for a child. A child he can describe in perfect detail, a child the spitting image of Matthew.
Detective Chief Inspector Karlsson doesn't take Frieda's concerns seriously until a link emerges with an unsolved abduction twenty years ago and he summons Frieda to interview the victim's sister, hoping she can stir hidden memories. Before long, Frieda is at the centre of the race to track the kidnapper. But her race isn't physical. She must chase down the darkest paths of a psychopath's mind to find the answers to Matthew Farraday's whereabouts. And sometimes the mind is the deadliest place to lose yourself.

My take

It seemed to take a while for BLUE MONDAY to get going, for the main characters and the major stories to be put in place.

BLUE MONDAY begins with an unsolved abduction over twenty years ago, when on their way to a sweets shop after school, nine year old Rosie loses her 5 year old sister Joanna. It happened on a Monday in November.

Rosie ran to the corner where she had last seen Joanna and stared around, squinting. She called again, though her voice was drowned by a lorry. Maybe she had crossed the road, had seen a friend on the other side. It wasn’t likely. She was an obedient little girl. Biddable, their mother called her. 

‘Can’t find her?’ Hayley appeared at her side. ‘She’s probably gone home without me,’ said Rosie, aiming at nonchalance, hearing the panic in her tone.

The horror of Joanna's disappearance is well described, as is the impact on both Rosie's life and that of the police investigator who fails to find her.

And then we jump twenty years and meet Freda Klein, psychotherapist, insomniac, walking the streets of London in the wee hours of a Monday morning. It is also November.
Later on the same Monday Alan Dekker has a panic attack and promises his wife he will go back to the doctor to get a referral to a psychiatrist. Dekker becomes Frieda's patient on the following Monday.

Readers are introduced via italics to another character who is watching children in a school playground.
We also meet Detective Constable Yvette Long and her boss Detective Chief Inspector Malcolm Karlsson.

The novel is nearly 25% done when five year old Matthew Faraday disappears, and the disparate strands of themes, events, and characters begin to converge. It seemed to take ages to get to this point, but in retrospect it seems that French is populating a huge canvas the main characters of which will reappear in subsequent titles.

We are promised that BLUE MONDAY is the beginning of a new series, that presumably will be xxx Tuesday, xxx Wednesday and so on. Some see it as an attempt to capture the series market, after the publication of 12 successful stand-alone novels. Quirkily, there will apparently be 8 titles in the series.

As I commented in a post earlier this week about "missing children" crime fiction, this is a theme many novelists have explored. It felt a bit as if French was determined to give the reader something different to think about. For example, there are passages in the second half of the novel where we see the situation through Matthew's eyes. There are a couple of plot twists in the latter part of the novel, but for me both of them were a bit predictable.

I do like the police team of Long and Karlsson and the way Karlsson in particular meshes with Freda Klein. I will interested to see where the next in this series goes.

My rating: 4.3

Check Bernadette's review on Reactions to Reading 
and Maxine Clarke's review on EuroCrime