Review by Booklist Review
*Starred Review* London psychotherapist Frieda Klein's past comes back to haunt her when a former classmate asks for Frieda's help with her troubled teenage daughter, Becky. Anorexic and anxious, the girl tells Klein that she was recently raped by a masked man in her own bedroom, an account Klein believes because it is identical to her own experience 23 years earlier, but Becky's mother doubts her daughter's word. Soon after Becky decides to go to the police, she's found hanging in her room; her death is ruled suicide, but Klein believes it was murder. So Klein returns to the hometown she left abruptly after her own rape which her mother, now fatally ill, did not believe either and revisits that horrible night when her friends went to a concert but she, newly broken up with her boyfriend, stayed home. Klein, a full-bodied, fallible character, is particularly prickly here, as when she ends a relationship unexpectedly. But her clearheaded tenacity prevails as she searches for a serial rapist and killer, possibly in her own circle of friends. Complex psychological suspense at its best.--Leber, Michele Copyright 2016 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
At the start of French's stunning fourth mystery featuring psychotherapist Frieda Klein (after 2014's Waiting for Wednesday), a former classmate of Frieda's from her hometown of Braxton, Maddie Capel, appears at her London office. Maddie is desperate for help with her troubled 15-year-old daughter, Becky. Frieda, who feels no love for Braxton, reluctantly agrees to see Becky, who divulges that she was raped in her bed by a masked man who whispered: "Don't think of telling anyone, sweetheart. Nobody will believe you." This strikes a chord with Frieda, who was the victim of a similar crime in her youth, and when Becky apparently commits suicide, Frieda vows to find justice for them both. This visceral read tackles a sensitive subject with empathy, anger, and grace. A skillfully woven plot and deftly drawn characters complement the central mystery, which engages and satisfies while developing the series arc. Nicci French is the pseudonym for British couple Nicci Gerrard and Sean French. Agent: Joy Harris, Joy Harris Literary Agency. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
When the mother of an anorexic teenager asks Frieda Klein for help, the eccentric psychotherapist quickly discovers that an eating disorder is only the outward manifestation of a far more serious crime, one that mirrors an incident in Frieda's own troubled past and compels her to travel from London to her hometown in Suffolk. There, her former classmates, an odd assortment long ago abandoned by her without explanation, are about to gather for a reunion. Before she can get far in her investigation of the teen's apparent suicide that may be murder, Frieda learns that her own mother, from whom she has long been estranged, is dying from a brain tumor. Trying to track down the man responsible for horrible crimes past and present, Frieda must confront not only numerous suspects known more than 20 years earlier but also the current disarray in her own life. VERDICT The fourth Frieda Klein mystery (after Waiting for Wednesday) starts slowly, gathers interest about midpoint, and then meanders to a tepid close. While astute in their analysis of character, coauthors Nicci Gerrard and Sean French seem to have lost the intensity of the earlier books in this series. Advise potential readers to start with the first book or they may abandon the strange Frieda Klein.-Ron Terpening, Univ. of Arizona, Tucson © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Psychotherapist Frieda Klein's fourth case is a lot more personal than she'd like, in all the worst ways. Though they were never friends back at Braxton High School, Madeleine Capel knows all about Frieda's celebrity (Waiting for Wednesday, 2014, etc.), and she wants her to have a chat with her 15-year-old, Becky, find out why she's suddenly so withdrawn, and straighten her out. Becky's not eager to talk to Frieda, but during a second session, she reveals that she's been raped by an unidentifiable man who told her, "Don't think of telling anyone, sweetheart. No one will believe you." The revelation is just as shattering to Frieda as it is to Becky, for 23 years ago, when she was about Becky's age, Frieda was raped herself by a man who parted from her with the very same words before a desultory investigation by the Braxton police led to the arrest of a man who died years ago in prison. What to do? Frieda begins by telling the friends she thinks most need to knowher builder buddy, Josef; her old analyst, Reuben; her lover in America, Sandyabout her own long-buried secret. Reuben is astonished and pained that she never said anything about this painful episode before, and Sandy's reaction is, to put it mildly, disconcerting. Determined that the man who raped both Becky and herself be brought to justice, Frieda urges Becky to go to the police. Becky reluctantly agrees, but before she can act on her newfound resolve, her mother finds her hanging from her bedroom ceiling. Stung by Maddie's furious accusations about her part in the death of her daughter, Frieda returns to Braxton to reopen her own caseand runs smack into a tsunami of new suspicions and rejections among the people she once thought were her friends. Even though the identification of the murderous rapist is something of a letdown, you'll ache for Frieda as she tears open old wounds and cheer when she finally shows signs of healing from her lacerations. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
