Thoughts

I've been reading the DCI Matilda Darke books in order, and enjoyed the last one, so moved quite rapidly on to this follow up. Last time, I was slightly disappointed at how passive our lead character was, so I was hoping for a bit more action this time round.

I got it! Right from the start, we're into a tense situation. One of our very own, Adele, is on a date and as the two go their separate ways at the end of the night, we see the danger lurking at home - but whose home? Matilda is thrust straight into the heart of the investigation, and this time round, is present and active throughout - even when they try and put her on sick leave.

The book carries on in that vein for most of the chapters, setting up great tense moments and then revealing what's happened. Thankfully, it's not all doom and darkness, as Matilda's excellent team are on hand to provide a lighter view on things. Seeing how their relationships are evolving, new people coming in but plenty of older long-term friendships established as well, it makes you feel part of the team. When debating who will get to talk to Adele at the station:

"But why are they allowed to interview her if they know her, yet you’re not?" "Because they’ve never held her hair while she’s vomited a bottle of Prosecco down a toilet."

The book does get a bit graphic in places, and there are a lot of depictions of hanging (a given, considering the title, but worth knowing if you're thinking about picking this up). You don't need to have read previous books in the series to enjoy this one, but I think it will help - particularly the first book - as there's finally some movement in Matilda's baggage (kidnapping gone wrong that happened before our series starts).

The story doesn't shy away from difficult topics, and similarly to the previous book in the series, raises interesting ideas. Last time was about nature versus nurture in murderous teens, this time we're focused on the rights and wrongs of a vigilante hunting down criminals (former or otherwise). For the most part, everyone's in agreement that murdering people is wrong, whoever they are. But there's always that niggling doubt that the streets might just be a bit safer the longer you don't catch the vigilante.

It's exciting to read, full of twists alongside a team that you grow to love, so I'm not sure why I don't want to give this the full 5 out of 5. It's not quite there, but it's as close as you can get.

Rating: 4 / 5