Shelf Indulgence
There’s a plethora of ‘domestic noir’ novels in crime fiction, just now. You know the sort of thing: isolated woman, unreliable narrator, dark goings-on in suffocating relationships. Some good, some genuinely gripping, some, I’m sorry to say, that rather leave me cold. And if, like me, you feel the need to escape that claustrophobic world and glimpse a broader vista, this Shelf Indulgence choice, Sweet Little Lies could be just the ticket.
A protagonist with a mysterious past, and a slightly suspect memory of what went on eighteen years earlier between her father and a vanished teenager may seem like more of the same, but Cat Kinsella bucks the trend. She is a cop, for one thing. Ambitious, analytical and insightful, she has the measure of just about everyone around her – except her father. Her closest colleague is an avuncular, happily married sergeant, and DCI Steele, her boss, is chirpy, droll, and given to rallying her crew with a blend of humour and flint which makes a refreshing change in a police procedural.
Satisfying twists and turns and an accomplished writing style make Frear’s debut stand out as a rollicking good read.
Buy Sweet Little Lies, by Caz Frear
Order Dead Man Walking, by M.K. Murphy
More info on Dead Man Walking