#BookReview of #AStrangerInTheFamily by @JaneCaseyAuthor | @Hemlock_Press

‘The gripping new thriller featuring DS Maeve Kerrigan and DI Josh Derwent from the Top Ten Sunday Times bestselling author‘
– A Stranger in The Family

[ About A Stranger in The Family ]

Every mother’s worst nightmare . . .

When nine-year-old Rosalie Marshall vanished from her bed one summer night, her disappearance tore her family apart.

Now, sixteen years later, her mother Helena is found dead, her husband by her side. It looks like a straightforward murder-suicide but DS Maeve Kerrigan and DI Josh Derwent soon discover nothing about this case is straightforward.

The Marshalls have been keeping secrets. And someone is prepared to kill to hide the truth. Until Maeve finds out what happened to Rosalie, no one will be safe . . .

[ My Review ]

A Stranger in The Family by Jane Casey will be published with Hemlock Press (Harper Collins) March 14th and is Book 11 in The Maeve Kerrigan series. Anyone who is invested in these books will know that these are more than just crime fiction novels. The characters of DS Maeve Kerrigan and her superior, DI Josh Derwent, are central to the whole package, with the sexual chemistry between the pair sizzling just below the surface at all times. Book 10, The Close, saw the lines between the two being somewhat blurred, when Maeve joined Josh on a stake-out that required them living together, while posing as a couple, in a quiet rural estate. 

In this latest novel, A Stranger in The Family, the pair are investigating an apparent murder-suicide of an elderly couple. On closer inspection, it soon becomes clear that there is a lot more going on than initially thought. Bruce and Helena Marshall had, once upon a time, maintained a high standard of living, with a beautiful home and three children. Now their lives have come to an end in a gloomy apartment, far removed from their earlier years.

Sixteen years previously the Marshall family was shattered when the youngest, Rosalie, went missing. Rosalie was only nine-years old, the baby of the family, with two older brothers, Ivo and Magnus. Helena awoke early one morning, checked on the two boys, leaving Rosalie alone. She did a few jobs, then settled down to do a bit of work, only to discover later that Rosalie was not to be found anywhere.

Years of searching, and a media clampdown on any troublesome rumours and hearsay, left the Marshalls’ lives ravaged. The family unit was destroyed, fractured beyond repair, and the years since then hadn’t been kind to any of them. Now, the discovery of the bodies of Helena and Bruce lead the investigation down multiple paths, with one being the possibility that their deaths are in some way linked to Rosalie’s disappearance.

As Maeve, Josh and the team crack on with the case, it soon becomes obvious that there are skeletons in the cupboard with more layers than originally thought. Maeve has a great radar for picking up on pieces of evidence that can appear insignificant to others, but she is sensing something is very much off in her personal relationship with Josh, yet she just can’t put her finger on what it is.

Jane Casey writes top-class and compelling crime fiction, of that there is no doubt, but she also writes tantalising and smouldering scenes of bridled passion that just keeps her fans returning for more. Most crime fiction readers have little interest in a story being injected with too much romance but an allowance is made every single time for Jane Casey. The ‘will-they-won’t-they’ aspect of Maeve and Josh’s relationship leaves readers frustrated and hungry for more. I am not getting into any of the details about what transpires in this novel but, let’s just say, I need Book 12 in this series to land pronto!! The tension is real folks…

From a crime fiction perspective, the Marshalls are a fabulously dysfunctional family, providing plenty of fodder for the investigative team to examine. As the clock ticks, the intensity of the case propels forward at speed with ample explosive twists to keep every reader engaged. Author Chris Whitaker described A Stranger in The Family as ‘a twisting, seductive, sensational thriller’  and it most definitely is all that, with some very dramatic reveals and some thrilling and shocking moments in evidence.

Vague to that last I know, but look what can I say, Jane Casey is an ace writer in this genre and knows her fans well. Is there an end to this series in sight? Who knows, except for Jane Casey. My advice, immerse yourself in the addictive world of Maeve Kerrigan and Josh Derwent, a pair who have almost transcended fiction at this point!

Stimulating and tense, A Stranger in The Family is another exciting and first-class addition to this series that just keeps on giving. Highly recommended.

**** I would like to thank Harper Collins Ireland for an advance copy of A Stranger in The Family, in exchange for my, as always, honest review.

[ Bio ]

Jane Casey was born and brought up in Dublin. A former editor, she has written twelve crime novels for adults and three for teenagers. Her books have been international bestsellers, critically acclaimed for their realism and accuracy.

The Maeve Kerrigan series has been nominated for many awards: in 2015 Jane won the Mary Higgins Clark Award for The Stranger You Know and Irish Crime Novel of the Year for After the Fire. In 2019, Cruel Acts was chosen as Irish Crime Novel of the Year at the Irish Book Awards. It was a Sunday Times bestseller.

The Killing Kind was a Richard and Judy Book Club pick in 2021, and is being adapted for television.

Jane lives in southwest London with her husband, who is a criminal barrister, and their two children.

X ~ @JaneCaseyAuthor