Reviews

A fire in a tower block leaves 3 dead and Maeve and her colleagues are on the case.
As they pick their way through the wreckage they find that everyone has something to hide.
Meanwhile Maeve's personal life is falling apart at the seams and she struggles to ask for help.

This was another great installment of the Maeve Kerrigan series. I really enjoyed delving into the stories of all of the residents to try get to the bottom of what happened. As usual although I kept guessing I was totally wrong anf surprised by the reveal!

This book also wrapped up the ongoing Chris Swain storyline. I didn't enjoy that part as much and felt the resolution scene just jarred with me.

Derwent is showing some more cracks of humanity and I especially liked his lecture on consent.

Overall I enjoyed it and look forward to getting stuck into the next book!

Content Warnings

sarahhyatt's review against another edition

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5.0

ellelainey's review against another edition

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4.0

After the Fire (Maeve Kerrigan, Book 6)
by Jane Casey
★★★★☆

496 Pages
1st person, single character POV
Themes: murder, crime, violence, romance, relationships
Triggers: murder, violence, stalking, violent murder, depression, kidnapping, domestic violence, burn injuries, endangerment of a child, mentions of cancer, sex trafficking, sexual slavery, death of a minor, and threats of rape; mentions homophobic and transphobic attitudes/remarks
Genre: Crime, Contemporary, Murder Mystery

~

After the Fire is Book 6 in the Maeve Kerrigan series, and finally resolves the Chris Swain stalking situation head-on. As well as that, there's a fire in a block of flats, with countless suspects, witnesses and victims that show the harrowing reality of a small fire burning out of control.

The book starts with an Author's Note, stating that anyone who dips into this book without reading the other books in the series doesn't need to have read the others to follow the plot – which I don't agree with. Then, the author says that if you want to read about the related incidents, you can start at Book 1 – which, honestly, means that you can't read this series out of order. And you can't. I've been saying it all along. The events – from Rob, to Chris Swain, to Derwent and Maeve's work history, to the storyline about Godley and Una – are impossible to follow without having read any of the previous books. So, if you're considering it, don't do it. Start at Book 1.

The story starts with an awkward and not wholly necessary double Intro. The first introduces us to a handful of families within the Maudling Estate (a location featured heavily in the previous book). Then, the second shows us their reaction as the fire begins. Honestly, there was nothing in those two long intro chapters that I felt we desperately needed to see. Like the other Intros, of the other books, they didn't offer any insight or knowledge into what happened that couldn't be seen later, as the cops came to investigate the case. I've said the same about every Intro included in this series – they're unnecessary.

This time, for some reason, the Intros were told in 3rd person POV, with multi POV's that sometimes dipped into the omnipresent. Meaning, the POV's were a bit all over the place, for these two chapters. Also, it tries really hard to keep the identify of “the man” in one of the flats a secret, but the blurb already tells us that Geoff Armstrong, an MP from the previous book, died in the fire, so...what's the point of the big secret? It felt (and I feel I use this word too often, for this series) unnecessary.

I can't say that I was comfortable with the second Intro, either. It describes in detail, a little girl going to open a door, getting her hand burned during the fire, and then opening the door to a wall of flames. That was completely unnecessary and disturbing to read.

Once we get into Maeve's POV, it takes a couple of pages to discover that it's been 2 months since the events of the last book, since Rob left, Liv was stabbed, and Godley attempted suicide.

I'm sad to say that, while Liv came back, Rob didn't. And the situation with him is complicated. He was depicted as Mr Perfect up until the last book, where he tried to force Maeve into sex – rape, in any sense of the word – but Maeve started this illogical defence, by blaming herself and denying that it was anything but non-consensual. Which, it was. Yes, she was consenting and actively interested at the start, but she verbally and physically said no multiple times before he stopped, and the damage was done – both mentally, and with physical pain.
THANK GOD for Derwent, who – while Maeve plays the victim role, in that she insists no one will listen to her that it wasn't Rob's fault, all because she hadn't told him quick enough – manages to give her a reasonable, logical lecture about how it was rape, whether she likes it or not, and that's why Rob left, because he couldn't face what he'd done.
However...there are serious undertones in most of the Maeve books, that really hit a raw nerve with me, and this was one. Maeve insisting that because they were in a relationship, Rob had “reasonable expectation” to think she wanted sex, is a cop-out and ignorant of all the women who are raped by their partners/husbands. It's, quite rankly, an insult. And that is why there is such a thing as Consent, whether that's verbal or non-verbal.

Another thing that bugs me are the constant, niggling little stereotypes that are insulting and borderline racist. I'm sorry to say that it comes across as bleed-through from the author's opinion, rather than the character, because it's not confined to one character's thoughts. For example, when meeting the Bellew's family from the flats, the description of their physical appearance is stereotypical, racist and racial profiling all in one, and I don't know how it ever got past an editor:
“They were dark-haired, with sallow skin, and reminded me of storybook gypsies – I half expected them to have gold hoop earrings glinting among their curls.”
It's not the first time in the series that something like this has happened, either – the underlying racism, the racial profiling – but it's too common to be comfortable.

Maeve continues to annoy me with her illogical reactions and decision making. She jumps to making sexual innuendo's whenever Derwent is nice to someone, has – for the second time! – stupidly let a suspect harm themselves while in her custody. And, she selfishly set a trap for Swain that – inevitably – backfired. You can't provoke a rapist/murderer and not expect there to be collateral damage. But, apparently, Maeve can. Because she never thinks about anyone else. Which is not me making judgement, as she says herself countless times – first with Derwent, then with Liv – that she knows she's doing something to hurt them, but she “can't care about that”. No. It's not “can't”, it's just that she's inherently self-centred and doesn't want to acknowledge her impact on anyone else's life.

Which all makes me sound mean and like I didn't enjoy the book. Well, I can't call it enjoyment. I don't like reading about children getting burned in a fire, dying, or victims of human trafficking being locked up and killed. But, the story was interesting, despite my problems with the execution and decision making. Yes, Maeve bugs the hell out of me. No, for some reason, Derwent does not. Yes, I'm excited to see how Derwent's decision at the end of the book pans out. No, I will not forgive Maeve if she blindly takes Rob back (no matter how much I liked him, before the author gave him a complete personality transplant in the last book) I would LOVE there to be less of an emphasis of black people vs the cops, which has been covered multiple times now. Not because it's not realistic, but because it always seems to end up grating my last nerve with underlying prejudice and racism. I would also LOVE there to be less male vs female, sexism, racism, and general judgements against other people. But that might be asking too much.

Again, there were a few instances of editing issues, like with “drugin fested” and weird spaces between words. The pacing was faster, however, which really helped get through the near-500 page book. And it was much better edited than the previous book.
Again, you can't seem to read a Maeve Kerrigan book without there being a a) crime of b) threat of c) casual mention of rape and sexual assault. Which, honestly, is getting really exhausting. It's like there is no other incentive in the world for murder or stalking, when that's not the case. I still long for just ONE book to never mention that word, because I am so sick of reading it, and being reminded of the reality that, to some men, all woman are nothing more than prey.

But...that ending. The whole situation with Chris Swain...that was illegal and borderline ridiculous and is presenting the idea that, if the cops won't act or you don't have enough evidence, it's perfectly fine to take matters into your own hands. Which is so NOT okay. Nor were the things they did to Swain, when he was already in custody. Maeve pushed Derwent into an impossible situation, and was lucky that it didn't trigger him, considering his serious background history.

In the end, I'll keep reading because I own up to Book 9, but I'm mainly following along for Derwent and the crimes. Maeve has, unfortunately, become someone who irritates me more than intrigues me, and I wouldn't be surprised if someone like Una finally got sick of her dangerous mistakes and made her pay her due diligence for them.
This book was a case of everyone has secrets, and you never know what your neighbours are hiding behind closed doors. For me, the realism that everyone has their problems, their solutions, and their struggles, was probably the most interesting part of the story. The reason for the fire, for the crimes committed during it, and the circumstances around the residents of Maudling Estate, were realistic and well worth giving their attention to.

Though, I would like to say that maybe more thought needs to be put into things, because “Maudling Estate” is really bang-on-the-nose, as if Dr Early... You know, just saying...

~

Favourite Quote

“‘So, this Melissa Pell thing,’ I said. ‘It’s because you know it will annoy Una Burt that I’m involved.’
The grin disappeared. All of a sudden he was as serious as I’d ever seen him. ‘Not at all. I meant what I said in the briefing. I want the best copper I know to investigate her case.’
I felt a warm, unfamiliar glow of pride mingled with surprise. ‘Oh. That’s—’
‘And if they can’t have the best,’ Derwent said, ‘you’ll have to do.’”

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