Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Review: Dead Lucky by Matt Brolly

Dead Lucky (DCI Michael Lambert, Book #2)
by Matt Brolly
Release Date: January 11th 2016
2016 Carina
Kindle Edition
ASIN: B0150UOADM
Genre: Fiction / Mystery / Suspense
Source: Review copy from publisher

5 / 5 Stars

Summary

When a woman is murdered, the twisted killer forcing her husband to watch her slow and painful death, DCI Michael Lambert knows that his next case might be his toughest yet.

And when a second set of killings are discovered, with exactly the same MO, the race is on the find the lethal sociopath before he strikes again.

But Lambert never expected to receive an anonymous call from the killer. This time, it’s personal: if Lambert doesn’t find the murderer soon, his own loved ones will be next…

My Thoughts
Dead Lucky is one of those books I just started reading because I was looking for another mystery story, knew almost nothing about it, and absolutely loved it.  The style of writing reminds me a lot of Mark Billingham, and since he's one of my favourite authors, it's not surprising I was quickly wrapped up into the goings-on of DCI Lambert and company.

First of all, I really enjoy police procedural novels; I like the tedious work that is described, the door-to-door scenes, the interviews, and everything that goes along with detective work as the murder is resolved piece by piece and clues are revealed bit by bit.  I'm not a huge fan of those novels where you know who the murderer is right from the beginning; this is definitely more my kind of thing.  And I also love the rebellious streak that Lambert has, similar to Tom Thorne, Inspector Banks, and Armand Gamache, not quite breaking all the rules, but certainly bending them when he has to in order to get what he wants.

What I really liked about this book is that character development did not get lost in the story or vice versa; both were equally important and an equal focus.  I enjoyed Lambert quite a bit, loved his rebellious streak, but was also really intrigued by his 'illness', something that was not very developed in this story.  I am very curious as to exactly when this illness will land him in a lot of trouble, as I am sure it will.  I also liked that Lambert's personal issues didn't muck up the story but added to it; he's got a wife who had an affair with a lawyer and they had a child together, causing intense emotional pain for Lambert as he deals with his own daughter's death three years ago. Quite interesting to say the least, and provides some interesting dynamics.

I'm still on the fence about DS Mathilda Kennedy as the killer told Michael, in very precise terms, to look up facts on Kennedy's father to see what he discovered.  I'm not convinced it's a diversionary tactic and am wondering exactly what this will lead towards in the future.  And Tillman?  Like him, but when do we ever trust the boss?  Quite a bit of secondary story lines happening in this book, many of which appear to continue on to future novels, leaving me quite in suspense.  While this tactic doesn't always work in novels as it leaves the reader feeling unsatisfied, it definitely works in this one.  I never felt the characters and their story lines detracted from the main arc of the novel, which was about the killer.

Verdict
Dead Lucky was definitely my kind of novel; for those who was squeamish about these things, there are some disturbing moments though.  The author has a way of writing that just draws you into the story, and I admit to having a difficult time putting it down.  With many twists and turns, and a few red herrings, I admit to being a bit surprised as to the murderer, and as it's not often I don't figure it out, I definitely like this book for that alone.  I was a bit shocked at the ending, partly because I was not expecting it at all, and partly because there were so many unanswered questions that will have to wait until book three is released.  Without question, I recommend this one to anyone who enjoys police procedural. 


1 comments: