Book Review: Fire on the Fens
What would you do if you knew you only had a year to live? Go on a great vacation? Quit your job so you can spend more time with people you love? What if the reason you only have a year to live is serial killer told you, you are his next victim?
The story kicks off when Dana Carrington is targeted by a serial killer. The killer shows her images of his last few victims and tells her to take the next year to enjoy life. His advice to her is to max out her credit cards because bill collectors can’t bug dead people.
Dana is not a sheep willing to go to slaughter. When she returns home to Chicago she seeks out a private detective Carter Mays. The killer finds out about the detective and becomes enraged. This kicks off a cat and mouse game between the killer, his potential victim, her family and the investigator.
This story is a good read. Just enough twists to keep the plot fresh and make you want to turn the page. Yet not so many twists that cause it to feel cliché. The killer always seems to be one step ahead of the investigation. That one step ahead though is never far enough ahead to truly put the killer in a major place of advantage. A constant specter of the killer taunting and narrowly escaping the police keep a feeling of urgency to solve the mystery of who this man is.
Carter Mays the hero of the story is an interesting guy. An Ex-Chicago cop who for various reasons is in business for himself. He still keeps close friends inside the Chicago PD and makes good use of these friendships. In addition, the author writes him as the kind of PI who knows when to back off and let the real LEOs step in.
The fact this story has the PI working well with the system is very refreshing. As a cop, I get sick of PI stories where the police are portrayed idiots hindering the case. If Carter Mays returns for more books I will be reading them.
Pick up your copy ofScheduled to Die on Amazon.
Note, a free review copy of this novel was provided by the publisher via the NetGalley service for this unbiased review.
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