I read A Life for a Life without having read the first two books in the series and consequently this hampered my enjoyment initially as I struggled to catch up with Detective Kate Young’s history and all the characters. I’d definitely recommend that anyone wanting to read these books, starts at the beginning as you’ll get far more out of it.

We start with a major tragedy for a family, which leads into some horrendous crimes. Against this is the backdrop of Det Young’s thirst for revenge against those she believes murdered her husband and other colleagues. Kate is decidedly flawed and on the edge most of the time, but somehow manages to keep it together – just. There are some twists and red herrings along the way as she and her team struggle to catch the rather unique killer, before we are led to a satisfying conclusion. Definitely not your run of the mill murders.

Fans of police procedurals and contemporary detective fiction with a female lead might enjoy this read.

A Life for a Life is on pre order and comes out on March 15th, so there’s still time to read the first two if you haven’t already met Det Kate Young.