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debralewi's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
kcfromaustcrime's review
2.0
Now a little housekeeping before we go too far. Beautiful Death is the second DCI Jack Hawksworth book, published under the author's real name of Fiona McIntosh. The first, Bye Bye Baby, was published under the pseudonym Lauren Crow. Fiona is a well known Fantasy writer in Australia, and these two books are her first foray into crime fiction.
DCI Jack Hawksworth has a good working relationship with his team - they are a close group who have worked together on dreadful cases before. The team, and his superiors are more than used to Jack getting the personal and the professional deeply entwined, as happens again in BEAUTIFUL DEATH.
There's a strange serial killer in London. He seems to be selecting a wide range of victims, with no obvious connections between them. The strangest thing of all is the way that the victims have had organs removed, and their faces trophied. Human organ trading seems the only possible conclusion as the removal appears to have been done with considerable skill, but the face mutilation is still very strange - particularly as two of his victims are newly arrived illegal immigrants. Why would you want to obscure their identities? Public and political pressure increases with every new victim, but the personal intrudes even more dramatically for Jack when he sees something about one of the victim's that shocks him to his core.
There are a lot of elements that are similar in both Hawksworth books - romantic tension, unrequited love, Jack's personal life being hopelessly (and dangerously) entangled in the current investigation and another one of those open ended "see our next instalment" type endings. The crimes themselves are somewhat unique, although this is a serial killer with a substantially different motive to most - ultimately, it's a slightly mad person with an obsession. I'm sorry to say it's not hard to pick the perpetrator, despite a pretty carefully laid out trail of alternatives and red herrings, and the motive is flagged pretty early on. Combine that with the level of personal involvement yet again of Jack and I was really disappointed in this book, which just seemed more of the same old same old from the first book. Definitely the level of knowledge of the author of the central subject matter - cranio-facial surgery shone through, and there were small sprinklings of that throughout the book that proved quite interesting. Unfortunately there was just too much personal angst, personal involvement, loves lost and love lies bleeding for this reader. Perhaps this book will appeal more to people who like that level of romance and personal angst in their crime fiction, perhaps it might work really well for anybody who hasn't read the first book and isn't seeing the same themes emerge. Notwithstanding, if there's a third book, I'd give it a try as the first one appealed, if not simply because it was good storytelling.
DCI Jack Hawksworth has a good working relationship with his team - they are a close group who have worked together on dreadful cases before. The team, and his superiors are more than used to Jack getting the personal and the professional deeply entwined, as happens again in BEAUTIFUL DEATH.
There's a strange serial killer in London. He seems to be selecting a wide range of victims, with no obvious connections between them. The strangest thing of all is the way that the victims have had organs removed, and their faces trophied. Human organ trading seems the only possible conclusion as the removal appears to have been done with considerable skill, but the face mutilation is still very strange - particularly as two of his victims are newly arrived illegal immigrants. Why would you want to obscure their identities? Public and political pressure increases with every new victim, but the personal intrudes even more dramatically for Jack when he sees something about one of the victim's that shocks him to his core.
There are a lot of elements that are similar in both Hawksworth books - romantic tension, unrequited love, Jack's personal life being hopelessly (and dangerously) entangled in the current investigation and another one of those open ended "see our next instalment" type endings. The crimes themselves are somewhat unique, although this is a serial killer with a substantially different motive to most - ultimately, it's a slightly mad person with an obsession. I'm sorry to say it's not hard to pick the perpetrator, despite a pretty carefully laid out trail of alternatives and red herrings, and the motive is flagged pretty early on. Combine that with the level of personal involvement yet again of Jack and I was really disappointed in this book, which just seemed more of the same old same old from the first book. Definitely the level of knowledge of the author of the central subject matter - cranio-facial surgery shone through, and there were small sprinklings of that throughout the book that proved quite interesting. Unfortunately there was just too much personal angst, personal involvement, loves lost and love lies bleeding for this reader. Perhaps this book will appeal more to people who like that level of romance and personal angst in their crime fiction, perhaps it might work really well for anybody who hasn't read the first book and isn't seeing the same themes emerge. Notwithstanding, if there's a third book, I'd give it a try as the first one appealed, if not simply because it was good storytelling.
trinyweeny's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
kayla_jade's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
lazyowl's review
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I'm struggling to review this adequately, as typically I don't really enjoy detective/police procedural books. However, I read this for a book club.
I found the main character of Jack annoying. Jack was a bit of a cliche, good looking, women always falling for him. I found him terribly shallow. He's apparently experiencing grief and then 2 seconds later is noticing another attractive woman.
There is also the character of Kate who is in love with Jack and annoyingly pines after him almost the whole time.
In saying all this though, the book is readable and there was an element of enjoyment to it. I just wouldn't be enthusiastic about continuing with the series if there were further books released. Again, this may be due to my reading preferences and there may be others into the genre that enjoy more than I did.
I found the main character of Jack annoying. Jack was a bit of a cliche, good looking, women always falling for him. I found him terribly shallow. He's apparently experiencing grief and then 2 seconds later is noticing another attractive woman.
There is also the character of Kate who is in love with Jack and annoyingly pines after him almost the whole time.
In saying all this though, the book is readable and there was an element of enjoyment to it. I just wouldn't be enthusiastic about continuing with the series if there were further books released. Again, this may be due to my reading preferences and there may be others into the genre that enjoy more than I did.
shelleybaird's review against another edition
4.0
Another ripping read from Fiona McIntosh! If you like your crime novels to have a layered plot with lots of clues so you can form your own theory about who the killer actually is, then this is your book! While I love the surprise of not knowing until the end, I also love getting clues along the way and wondering if the main hero will solve the crime!
In this book, DCI Jack Hawksworth is back and solving a crime that's a little too close to home in more than one way. Will his compromised state affect the case? No spoilers here - this is a book that drew me in and again, I finished it in a few days - a sure sign of a great read!
In this book, DCI Jack Hawksworth is back and solving a crime that's a little too close to home in more than one way. Will his compromised state affect the case? No spoilers here - this is a book that drew me in and again, I finished it in a few days - a sure sign of a great read!
angelahayes's review
4 Stars
Beautiful Death (DCI Jack Hawksworth Book #2) by Fiona McIntosh...
Book Club Reading Challenge.
Review to come...
Beautiful Death (DCI Jack Hawksworth Book #2) by Fiona McIntosh...
Book Club Reading Challenge.
Review to come...
eli53s's review
4.0
Not quite as gripping as the first, but still enough twists and turns to make me appreciate the exceptional talent it takes to keep a reader captivated right until the last page. Hopefully this isn't the last we hear from DCI Jack Hawksworth