A review by kate66
The Close by Jane Casey

4.0

I have no doubt that Jane Casey devotees will give this book 5 stars so I'd better admit that this is only my third Maeve Kerrigan novel. I know all about the "Kerrwent" situation though due to other fans posting. So I have to make a second confession - I really couldn't care less whether they got together. I know I'm bad, I've not a romantic bone in my body etc etc. Truth is that the whole on again/off again romance drives me nuts, very much like it does with the Strike series by JKR. Its also the reason I knocked a star off. It just takes up too much of the book for me. Personal taste folks.

Apart from that I thoroughly enjoyed it. There's no particularly gory scenes, which I also find gratuitous on occasion. The story doesn't involve one crime but several and Maeve is a great character who brings just enough of her personal life to bear on the cases (excepting the Derwent nonsense).

The Close deals with some serious issues of child abuse, domestic violence and abuse if vulnerable persons. Jane Casey doesn't shy away from tackling subjects such as this and she's good at it. What I also like a lot is her dialogue. It's so easy to read and the characters speak so naturally. That's a talent for an author of crime thrillers that can come across as procedural handbooks in some cases.

All in all a thoroughly enjoyable read and I'll definitely read more (whilst skipping through the romance bits).