Review by Booklist Review
*Starred Review* The fire that rages through the top floors of Murchison House, a London public-housing project, claims several lives. But the one that immediately commands the attention of DC Maeve Kerrigan's homicide unit is that of right-wing MP Geoff Armstrong, found dead below an open tenth-story window. Kerrigan and her boss, brash DCI Josh Derwent who's chafing under the leadership of acting superintendent Una Burt work on the case of Armstrong, who was found to have been killed before he went out the window. Then there are the charred bodies of two women found locked in their eleventh-story rooms, the woman with a three-year-old son who had fled her abusive husband only to be badly beaten while fleeing the fire, and the extended family with a suspiciously employed husband whose seven-year-old daughter is badly injured as they escape the flames. All during the investigation, Kerrigan suffering with a stomach ulcer and the disappearance of the man she loves also is being terrorized by Chris Swain, the psychopath who's been stalking and hunting her for years and seems to be closing in. The prickly Kerrigan-Derwent relationship takes some new turns, and both suspense and emotion run high in this compelling, more somber addition to the character-driven Kerrigan mysteries. Casey sets the bar higher each time out, but she never has trouble clearing it.--Leber, Michele Copyright 2016 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
A fatal fire rages through the rundown Murchison House, part of north London's Maudling Estate, in Casey's thrilling sixth mystery featuring feisty, determined Det. Constable Maeve Kerrigan (after 2014's The Kill). Surprisingly, among the dead is the "far-right, immigrant-hating, welfare-criticizing MP" Geoff Armstrong, who either jumped or was pushed from the 10th floor and who seemingly would have no cause to be in such a disreputable place. Uncertain whether the fire is arson, Maeve and her colleagues, including her rough-edged former partner, Det. Insp. Josh Derwent, painstakingly wade through the evidence, witness statements, and profiles of the estate's down-and-out residents. Maeve and her team succeed in identifying a number of suspects capable of criminal acts. Meanwhile, Maeve is battling health problems resulting from job stress and avoiding a rapist who has been following her for years. Well-drawn characters and engaging subplots compliment the intricate main investigation. Casey keeps the suspense high throughout. Agent: Ariella Feiner, United Agents (U.K.). (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
In Casey's latest series procedural (after The Kill), London police detective Maeve -Kerrigan and her team investigate a fatal fire at Murchison House, a concrete tower block in a seedy housing project. Among the dead is a racist, right-wing politician who is hated on the estate. Others include two young women, apparently the victims of human trafficking, found dead in a locked apartment, and a young mother badly injured but not by the fire itself, hiding from her abusive husband. The arsonist must also be caught, and Kerrigan and her colleagues are hard pressed to deal with the fallout. At the same time Kerrigan's personal demon is still stalking her, and she is determined to make him finally stop. VERDICT Another winner from Casey that is equal parts whodunit and thriller combined with strong characters and a continuing story line that will leave readers in suspense.-Lisa O'Hara, Univ. of Manitoba Libs., Winnipeg © 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
A suspicious fire that claims three livesno, make that fourin a high-rise London housing project provides a sixth case for DC Maeve Kerrigan (The Kill, 2015, etc.). DCI Una Burt, Kerrigan's acting boss, is attracted to the case not only because one of the casualtiesMP Geoff Armstrong, who apparently took the trouble to empty his pockets of his cellphone and identifying papers before plunging to his death from a 10th-floor window in Murchison Househas such a high profile, but because no one can imagine what such a race-baiting conservative would have been doing in Maudling Estate in the first place. Kerrigan, predictably, is drawn more strongly to Melissa Pell, a woman who, with her young son, had fled an abusive husband to take shelter in Murchison House only to get severely beaten by an unknown assailant after the fire broke out; to Mary Hearn, an elderly widow who survived the blaze but suffered an incapacitating stroke; and to the two unidentified girls who died locked in a closet in a neighboring flat. Nor can she forget the toxic family of self-styled "handyman" Carl Bellew, whose survival seems more nuisance than mercy. Throwing herself into the investigation despite her love/hate relationship with DI Josh Derwent, her continued dread of Chris Swain, the predator bent on her destruction, and the daunting news that Armstrong was strangled before he went out that window, Kerrigan comes up trumps, which is a lot more than you can say for Murchison House. Rococo plotting effectively tamed by Kerrigan's cleareyed narration. If you think there are too many perps wandering the halls, it's obvious that you've never lived in a place like Maudling Estate. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
