Eileen Dewhurst

The plot: four young girls are found strangled and each body bears the signature of a killer who is dubbed 'the Monster' by the press. Then a fifth killing occurs whihc is different from the others. Detective Chief Superintendent Maurice Kendrick obsessivelt pursues the murderer and his friend Humphrey Barnes also becomes intensely interested in the case, both men trying to get to the truth via different means.

The characters: quite hard to identify with at times. Each has something unique about them and I found myself liking them then thinking they were a waste of time and so forth. Kendrick was the easiest to identify with, I felt that Dewhurst had written a lot into him to allow the readers to bond with him and follow him on his journey to capture 'the Monster'. At the beginning I didn't feel anything for Doreen as a character but as the novel progresses I began to feel involved with her.

The writing style: this became confusing at times. I'd suggest that this book is read quite quickly without leaving too much gap (if any) between sittings. It is possible to read it in one go as it's simple to read. The reason I think this is because there are so many characters who could potentially be involved in some way. The fifth killing brings all sorts of skeletons out of the closet for the characters and this is where it can get confusing.

Overall: typical of its genre but without clarity until the end. I became confused with whether I was trying to work out the details of the fifth killing or 'the Monster' at one point. Very pleased I read it, it's simple and good. However the fact I felt confusion every now and again prevents it from being 5/5 and being 4/5 instead.… (altro)