Title: The Killing Kind
Author: Jane Casey
Publisher: HarperCollins UK
Synopsis:
He tells you you’re special…
As a barrister, Ingrid Lewis is used to dealing with tricky clients, but no one has ever come close to John Webster. After Ingrid defended Webster against a stalking charge, he then turned on her – following her, ruining her relationship, even destroying her home.He tells you he wants to protect you…
Now, Ingrid believes she has finally escaped his clutches. But when one of her colleagues is run down on a busy London road, Ingrid is sure she was the intended victim. And then Webster shows up at her door…But can you believe him?
Webster claims Ingrid is in danger – and that only he can protect her. Stalker or saviour? Murderer or protector? The clock is ticking for Ingrid to decide. Because the killer is ready to strike again…
My Review:
The Killing Kind is a truly gripping, intense novel that effortlessly combines mystery, tension and a good dose of danger without feeling overly dramatic.
The story focuses on Ingrid, a barrister whose work means she encounters (and often defends) an array of less-than-savoury characters – but that’s her job. When one of her colleagues is killed, Ingrid is sure it’s down to one of her previous defendants, John Webster, mistaking the victim for herself. From then on, it’s a tense race against time to ensure Webster (if he IS the culprit) doesn’t strike again…
This may sound a bit like your typical action-packed thriller, but it’s so much more considered and tense. There’s lots of great character development – I felt like I got to know Ingrid, despite very much disagreeing with some of the work she’s done to defend questionable characters, and I was rooting for her to find out what had really happened.
There are surprises and twists along the way (some of which I guessed, and many I didn’t) so I don’t want to say too much about the plot in case it ruins anything. I’ve read and hugely enjoyed other novels by Jane Casey but those were part of the Maeve Kerrigan series so I wasn’t sure if this standalone novel would grip me as much, but it really did. The writing and plot are completely absorbing and gripping, and it had just the right level of action vs character development for me. I would definitely recommend The Killing Kind to anyone who enjoys intelligent crime fiction and/ or psychological thrillers – this one will keep you reading late into the night!
Rating: 4.5/5
Many thanks to the publisher, HarperCollins UK, for providing a copy of this novel on which I chose to write an honest review.