Title: After You Die (DI Zigic & DS Ferreira Book 3)
Author: Eva Dolan
Format reviewed: Paperback
Source: Review copy from author
Publisher: Harvill Secker
Publication Date: 21st January 2016
Rating: 3 Stars
Dawn Prentice was already known to the Peterborough Hate Crimes Unit.
The previous summer she had logged a number of calls detailing the harassment she and her severely disabled teenage daughter were undergoing. Now she is dead – stabbed to death whilst Holly Prentice has been left to starve upstairs. DS Ferreira, only recently back serving on the force after being severely injured in the line of duty, had met with Dawn that summer. Was she negligent in not taking Dawn’s accusations more seriously? Did the murderer even know that Holly was helpless upstairs while her mother bled to death?
Whilst Ferreira battles her demons, determined to prove she’s up to the frontline, DI Zigic is drawn into conflict with an official seemingly resolved to hide the truth about one of his main suspects. Can either officer unpick the truth about mother and daughter, and bring their killer to justice?
The previous summer she had logged a number of calls detailing the harassment she and her severely disabled teenage daughter were undergoing. Now she is dead – stabbed to death whilst Holly Prentice has been left to starve upstairs. DS Ferreira, only recently back serving on the force after being severely injured in the line of duty, had met with Dawn that summer. Was she negligent in not taking Dawn’s accusations more seriously? Did the murderer even know that Holly was helpless upstairs while her mother bled to death?
Whilst Ferreira battles her demons, determined to prove she’s up to the frontline, DI Zigic is drawn into conflict with an official seemingly resolved to hide the truth about one of his main suspects. Can either officer unpick the truth about mother and daughter, and bring their killer to justice?
I found After You Die to be a slow and not particularly engaging police procedural. I was struggling to keep interested in it. I had heard fantastic things about the previous two books in this series and was under the impression that this would work as a standalone.
After You Die does work as a standalone novel, however I can't help but feel if I had read the other two, I would have felt more connected to DI Zigic and DS Ferreira, especially with the references to what I have to assume was the previous book.
There is nothing at all wrong with the writing, it was simple enough to follow, and I understood what was going on, but I felt like I couldn't connect with any of the characters, and the only possible person of interest in the case that I enjoyed the story of was Nathan. Nathan being a youngish child, who was on the run, and the scenes focusing on him were what kept me going, but few and far between.
There were points that I found myself wanting to know what was going on, but even with the solving of the case, I was left feeling flat.
Unfortunately I suspect with After You Die, it just wasn't quite what I was after in a book, and I'm fairly neutral in my opinion of it. To me there are many better books in this genre out there, but there are also many that a lot worse.
Thank you to Eva Dolan for the opportunity to read this book. This was my honest opinion.
After You Die does work as a standalone novel, however I can't help but feel if I had read the other two, I would have felt more connected to DI Zigic and DS Ferreira, especially with the references to what I have to assume was the previous book.
There is nothing at all wrong with the writing, it was simple enough to follow, and I understood what was going on, but I felt like I couldn't connect with any of the characters, and the only possible person of interest in the case that I enjoyed the story of was Nathan. Nathan being a youngish child, who was on the run, and the scenes focusing on him were what kept me going, but few and far between.
There were points that I found myself wanting to know what was going on, but even with the solving of the case, I was left feeling flat.
Unfortunately I suspect with After You Die, it just wasn't quite what I was after in a book, and I'm fairly neutral in my opinion of it. To me there are many better books in this genre out there, but there are also many that a lot worse.
Thank you to Eva Dolan for the opportunity to read this book. This was my honest opinion.
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