The Nine Elms of the title of Robert Bryndza’s crime novel is an area of London where a serial killer once operated. Kate Marshall, as a Detective Constable, identified the killer and enabled his capture but it cost her the career she loved and she is now an academic, teaching criminology. It appears, however, that there is a copycat operating and Kate, and her son, may be in danger.
I have read a few books by this author, who writes enjoyable and fast-paced contemporary crime novels, mainly set in London. I picked up this book, which is in excellent condition, in a charity shop in Barnsley in September last year and it has awaited reading ever since – my to-be-read pile of crime books is the tallest of all the piles.
The narrative of this book switches between Kate, her assistant, the police officer investigating, the original serial killer, his mother and the copycat. We know what is happening, but the identity of the copycat is kept from us until near the end of the book. Tensions rise, the stakes become higher, and it is obvious that Kate and her son are in danger – can Kate, or the police, find the copycat in time ? Kate is also asked by the parents of a missing young woman to determine if their daughter could have been one of the original victims and her investigation into that mystery links with what is happening with the copycat killer.
Kate is a recovering alcoholic with significant trust issues and is terrified that the serial killer will make contact with her son, whom he fathered. She also has a very competent assistant, who is prepared to break a few rules, and a job that seems to give her a lot of free time to investigate. What I liked about her was that she engaged with the police at all stages and shared information, she didn’t try to do things on her own.
This is a good crime novel with plenty of action and characters that you care about. It’s got a few gory moments but overall the nastier bits happen without too much description. Thinking it through afterwards I realised that the motivation of the two killers isn’t well explained and may be a weak point, but I hadn’t noticed that when I read it and the knowledge didn’t spoil my enjoyment of the story. This is the first in a series of books featuring Kate as she decides to start up a private detective agency and I shall look for the others. Meanwhile, this book is off to Oxfam for a new reader to enjoy.
Anne Is Reading 