Val McDermid - Killing the Shadows (2001)
Academic Psychologist Fiona Cameron fell out with the Metropolitan Police after they went against her advice during the investigation of a serial rapist. As a result, the case collapsed, and Fiona was left angry and embittered, sworn never to work with them again.
A favor is then called upon Fiona by a member of the Spanish police force. Foreign tourists are being murdered in Toledo, and he needs her help and analytical skills to help catch the killer. So, Fiona leaves for Spain, leaving her lover, best-selling thriller writer Kit Martin, back in England.
Meanwhile, a vicious killer slaughters writer, Drew Shand, in a scene almost identical to a murder in his first novel. Fiona returns to find Kit upset.
Drew was a friend, and his death affects Kit quite deeply. But then another writer, Jane Elias, is brutally slain as well, her death also mirroring a killing from one of her books. Two writers, both of whom have made heroes out of professional profilers. An action for which, apparently, they had to die.
It is then that Kit becomes worried. Fiona tries to reassure him, battling against her own persistent doubt. Police all around the country seem blissfully unaware of what is really going on, especially since they have a credible motive for the Elias murder. But it is only when a third writer goes missing that people start to take notice, and even Fiona begins worry. The plot then becomes a thrilling race against time, as the possibility surfaces that Kit may well be the next victim on the killer's list.
Killing The Shadows, while not being the masterpiece of atmosphere that McDermid's break-out novel A Place of Execution was, is still a damn good thriller, in some ways even better than the former. The plot may be a tiny bit far-fetched, but if you are willing to suspend that initial disbelief and let the story carry you along, this is a non-stop powerhouse of a book. It races along at great speed, and the multiple plots are mixed together excellently.
McDermid's portrayal of the publishing world is realistic and very interesting. It is a section of life which people rarely get to see, and here the intimate relationships and strong bonds are laid bare. It is coupled with excellent writing, and even excerpts from the victims' fictional books.
Posted by Fiona Walker in Book Reviews | Permalink
