TO BE A MEMBER OF THE CHIRON CLUB YOU MUST BE:
1. Filthy rich
2. Extremely powerful
3 Totally ruthless
4. Guilty?
WELCOME TO
THE CUTTING PLACE
I am thrilled and honoured to be kick-starting the blog tour with Harper Collins Ireland today for The Cutting Place by Jane Casey. Yes folks Maeve Kerrigan is back in this very dark and sinister read. Starting a Jane Casey book comes with expectations so the bar was set very high!!
Read on for my thoughts..
[ About the Book ]
You’ve got to be in the club to know the truth.….
Everyone’s heard the rumours about elite gentlemen’s clubs, where the champagne flows freely, the parties are the height of decadence . . . and the secrets are darker than you could possibly imagine.
DS Maeve Kerrigan finds herself in an unfamiliar world of wealth, luxury and ruthless behaviour when she investigates the murder of a young journalist, Paige Hargreaves. Paige was working on a story about the Chiron Club, a private society for the richest and most privileged men in London. Then she disappeared.
It’s clear to Maeve that the members have many secrets. But Maeve is hiding secrets of her own – even from her partner DI Josh Derwent. Will she uncover the truth about Paige’s death? Or will time run out for Maeve first?
[ My Review ]
The Cutting Place will be published in TPB (Trade Paper Back) on April 16th but readers got a surprise last week when the ebook got an early release. Anyone who reads a Jane Casey book is already primed at the starting blocks for the next one and I was no exception. The Cutting Place is Book 9 in the series and is described as a book ‘exploring #MeToo, toxic masculinity and domestic abuse’ but it is also, as expected, much more than that. The Cutting Place is a thriller, a breathtaking, heart-pumping ominous read and just cements Jane Casey as a writer on top of her game.
The Cutting Place is a title that evokes terrifying and threatening images, one that immediately unsettles the reader before the cover is even opened.
Maeve Kerrigan is called to a scene where the partially dismembered remains of a body are discovered. It’s by the shore of the Thames, not too far from St. Paul’s. With the Marine Police unit carefully trawling the area for further body parts and evidence, Maeve is faced with the task of discovering who the victim is. Never one to shy away from a challenge, Maeve accepts the job with her usual determination and gusto. As she gathers snippets of information, the evidence points to it being the body of missing journalist, Paige Hargreaves.
Paige was brutally murdered, but why? What information had she discovered? As Maeve meets with friends of Paige, she builds a profile of this young woman. Paige was a journalist who wanted to be taken seriously and had been chasing a story, one she felt would garner her respect in journalistic circles.
Maeve Kerrigan sets out on discovering what happened to Paige Hargreaves and finds her attention directed to The Chiron Club, a private club in London. The Chiron Club is a very exclusive place, where membership is a privilege and only offered to a select and chosen few. Senior members of The City are among it’s clientele and it is clear that a police investigation is not welcome. An imaginary wall is no deterrent for Maeve Kerrigan and with her usual determination and inventiveness she finds away to get into the seams of this place and unearth the truth.
Maeve Kerrigan does not work alone. With her trusted colleagues, she establishes timelines and slowly links chains of events that keep pointing back to The Chiron Club. She is fearless and gutsy, at times with little regard for her own safety, something that her partner DI Josh Derwent is well aware of.
The relationship between Kerrigan and Derwent is one with a constant lingering tension, leaving the reader, at times, both exasperated and curious. In The Cutting Place Derwent’s radar is heightened but he just cannot put his finger on any specific reason. Maeve is doing her job but something is amiss. Maeve’s personal life is to be respected but there is a shadow lurking in the background. Maeve is keeping secrets but why?
The Cutting Place is an engrossing thriller, a contemporary crime novel that captures the attention from the get-go and keeps the reader enthralled until the final page is turned. Jane Casey writes very authentically, bringing the police procedural to a whole new level. The plot feels real. The characters are all very visual and, as a reader, there is that all important connection.
The Cutting Place is a riveting read, one written with perception and an astute penmanship. It is pertinent in the societal themes it explores. It is disturbing. It is gripping. It is intriguing. It is intelligently written. The Cutting Place is an impeccably executed and plotted tale, another sure-fire winner for the remarkable Jane Casey.
[ Bio ]
Jane Casey is no stranger to the crime world. Married to a criminal barrister, she’s got the inside track on some of the country’s most dangerous offenders, giving her writing an unsettling realistic feel.
This authenticity has made her novels international bestsellers and critical successes. They have been nominated for several awards and in 2015 Jane won the Mary Higgins Clark Award and the Irish Crime Novel of the Year for The Stranger You Know and After the Fire, respectively, and won the Irish Independent Crime Novel of the Year Award for Cruel Acts, at the Irish Book Awards 2019. She is also an active member of Killer Women, a London-based group of crime writers.
Born in Dublin, Jane now lives in southwest London with her family.
Twitter ~@JaneCaseyAuthor
Great review for a fabulous book. This series just keeps getting better and better.
It really is top of the charts Janet. Such consistency in the writing. Thank you!
Wow, that’s a brilliant review! I want to start reading the book straight away! x
Oh thanks so much Meggy. Wonderful to hear that x