A Random Kill
Andrew Barrett
The Ink Foundry
407 pages
Published Oct 4, 2024
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Amazon | GoodReads
A Random Kill is the new series opener from the author of the excellent Eddie Collins CSI series, and is set within the same fictional world, with Eddie making cameo appearances, but you don’t have to have read those to enjoy this. In fact, a slightly different version of Regan appears in the last Eddie Book, Death Warning, so I was a bit confused at them appearing to meet for the first time here, when she already played an important role in that book. I decided not to worry about it as the differences are minor and probably necessary for the separate arcs for each series. I was delighted that Regan now gets her own series, which switches the focus from forensics to the gritty awfulness of policing Leeds’ mean streets.
Regan Parker is furious to find herself transferred from the divisional CID unit she’s worked at for ten years to the Major Crime Unit by her vindictive soon to be ex-husband. Most people would regard this as career progression, but Regan has a problem – she hates dead bodies, and being the new sergeant at the city’s main homicide unit means she will encounter lots of them. Her first case is a nasty one – a young mother has been gunned down in the street and her baby kidnapped, and this sets off cascade of corpses for Regan and her initially resentful team to investigate.
The preface to this book states “There is no animal cruelty featured in my novels.” Unfortunately for Barrett’s characters, but luckily for readers who like dark, gritty and occasionally gory crime fiction, no such consideration applies to humans. The body count here is high, as callous criminals make mayhem, and only Regan seems willing to do what it takes to stop them, when her senior officers seem more interested in playing politics than protecting the public. I can’t say I actually liked her much – she’s reckless, arrogant and mouthy, and cares more about getting the glory of arresting bad guys than the greater good, but she’s an entertaining heroine who will probably grow on me just as Eddie did. Thanks to Andrew Barrett for the ARC.
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Andrew Barrett
Thanks for a terrific review, Joanna, I do hope she grows on you, and I hope the series does too.