★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
This... is one of the most gruesome books I have ever read in my life. I was quite taken aback, but really, with that title, what else should I have expected? Either way, this dragged on more than I would have liked. There is potential for sure, but I could barely wait for it to end.
After an accident that caused significant injuries to DI Eve Hunter, she is forced to take a six-months break. Circumstances have required her to undergo treatment. During this period, she drowns herself in guilt and the determination to redeem herself. Eve gets her chance when she is finally allowed back to work, and is thrust into a bizarre murder case. A woman has been killed and mutilated. Pinned to her clothes is a newspaper cutting with a blazing headline that is connected to the victim herself. With little to no clues, we find the detectives at a loss. A woman is found dead every week. Surely they'll be able to capture him before the next one dies?
The author dove straight into the case. Straight-forward. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but my first impression of it wasn't good. It felt too technical, going very much in detail about police work; a tad boring, even if the crime scene is very interesting. I thought at first this was going to be a mystery book with not much development to its characters, but then it proved me wrong. I began to appreciate Masson's style, enjoying as I learnt more about Eve and her other subordinates. I could understand Eve's remorse and the frustration towards those who remained nasty towards her because of the accident. There was a significant number of pages used to describe it all, but to say that it dampened the story would be untrue.
What did dampen the story was the series of events that led up to how the murderer was found out. It's a seriously loooong chain of events, I tell you. They couldn't find a clue about who it is even after the fifth victim. Like Cooper constantly mentioned in the book, they always return to where they started. They are frustrated — so am I as a reader. And this isn't a short book. How is it that every single scene didn't leave a clue that is easy to track? It dragged too long.
But as a mystery novel, it definitely did its job with all the twists (even though some parts are pretty predictable, with foreshadowing and stuff) and creepy vibes. It's written in multiple POVs in the second-person, the murderer's included. Recommended to all mystery fans who don't mind much of a slow read!
This review is written based on the ARC provided by the publisher through Netgalley.