A review by jajorgen
The Dirty Secrets Club by Meg Gardiner
4.0
This is the second Gardiner book I've read (after seeing the column about her written by Stephen King). I agree with him that Gardiner really knows what she's doing. Her protagonists are interesting and she's got the suspense pacing down perfectly. In this one the investigator, Jo Beckett, is a forensic psychiatrist. She's called in when a death can't be easily identified as suicide, murder, or accidental.
I liked Jo, who has the expected painful backstory but who isn't wallowing in it. She goes about her business with common sense and intelligence and I look forward to seeing more of her. If there's a weakness here it's in the free-hand she's given by the police. Her gathering evidence and interrogating suspects struck me as a little off given the nature of the death, though Gardiner does just enough to make it mostly plausible.
I liked Jo, who has the expected painful backstory but who isn't wallowing in it. She goes about her business with common sense and intelligence and I look forward to seeing more of her. If there's a weakness here it's in the free-hand she's given by the police. Her gathering evidence and interrogating suspects struck me as a little off given the nature of the death, though Gardiner does just enough to make it mostly plausible.